F.—l.

In addition, 319 miles of toll and telegraph-pole line were reconstructed during the year. This work involved the replacement of 843 miles of wire. Other improvements to the plant and equipment used in connection with the toll and telegraph services include the following : — (a) The installation of toll switchboards at Dargaville, Maungaturoto, Paeroa, Matamata, Pahiatua, and Greymouth, and important extensions to the existing equipment at Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, and Wellington. (b) Increased facilities for the direct dialling of toll communications between MaungaturotoWhangarei, New Plymouth - Hawera, New Plymouth - Stratford, Eltham-Stratford, Kaponga - Stratford, Inglewood - Stratford, Whangamomona - Stratford, StratfordHawera, Eltham-Hawera, Manaia-Hawera, Patea-Hawera, Bulls-Marton, FeildingMarton, Bulls - Palmerston North, Marton - Palmerston North, Tokomaru - Palmerston North, Shannon - Palmerston North, Ashhurst - Palmerston North, PahiatuaPalmerston North, Rangiotu - Palmerston North, Paraparaumu-Wellington, PahiatuaMasterton, Eketahuna-Masterton, Carterton-Masterton, Martinborough-Masterton, Featherston-Masterton, Greytown-Masterton, Duntroon-Oamaru, Kurow-Oamaru. (c) The installation of new toll testboards at Napier, Hamilton, and Greymouth, and the replacement by combined filter racks and testboards of the testing-equipment previously installed at Maungaturoto, Warkworth, Wellsford, Waipu, Woodville, and Culverden. (d) The installation of special toll switching-equipment at Lower Hutt, thus providing for more prompt disposal of local traffic in the Hutt Valley - Eastbourne areas. (e) The laying of special underground cable providing a hundred and fifty trunk lines between Napier and Hastings. (/) The provision of special relay lines for the National Broadcasting Service between Napier and Opapa and Invercargill and Dacre. MAINTENANCE OF TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION SERVICES. Meteorological conditions of the type likely to interfere with telegraph and telephone communications were not widespread during the year, and many areas had no serious interruption of service. Towards the end of April phenomenally heavy rainfall was experienced on the east coast of the North Island, and flooded rivers and washed-out roads and bridges were responsible for numerous breaks in the toll and telegraph circuits between Napier and Taupo and Napier and Gisborne. For several days the line gangs worked under great difficulties, and the Department is indebted to settlers in the affected localities who generously provided the men with food, accommodation, and transport. In some localities the conditions for transport were so bad that food, clothing, line material, tools, &c., for the workmen had to be dropped from aeroplanes. The efficient service cheerfully given during the restoration operations was appreciated fully, and gratuities in recognition of outstanding work were granted to over thirty men. On the 30th July a very severe snowstorm was experienced in the Dannevirke, Norsewood, and Ormondville area, with the result that upwards of two hundred and fifty subscribers to the Dannevirke exchange were temporarily deprived of service, while at Norsewood and Ormondville practically every subscriber was without service. Communication was, however, restored promptly. Fire which broke out in an adjacent building early on the morning of the 2nd August was responsible for the destruction of the Motueka Post-office building. Immediate steps were taken to restore telegraph and toll communication, which had ceased at 5 a.m., and by 7.30 a.m. limited services were available. By 9 a.m. the post-office had been reopened in temporary premises and telegraph and toll services had been fully restored. The provision of service to the telephone-exchange subscribers, some five hundred and fifty in number, was a larger job, but continuous work by the Department's officers enabled the exchange to be reopened at 1 p.m. on the sth August. On the 9th August a severe gale struck the northern portion of the South Island, and the lines on the east-coast route north of Christchurch and the circuits on the west-coast routes north and south of Greymouth were extensively damaged. The dislocation of services on both routes, which occurred early in the afternoon, interrupted communication between the North and South Islands, with the exception that the Nelson and Blenheim districts still had circuits working to Wellington. Traffic conditions were made more acute owing to the heavy traffic occasioned by the Grand National Race Meeting, which was in progress at Christchurch. All available radio channels were brought into service with a view to disposing of traffic with a minimum of delay. Shortly after 9 a.m. on the following day it was possible to reopen a multiplex channel between Christchurch and Wellington, and the other circuits were restored gradually during the day. By 6 p.m. the situation was normal. The storm also interrupted the service to some hundreds of telephone-exchange subscribers throughout North Canterbury, but the major portion of the damage was repaired the following day. On Saturday, the 3rd December, exceptionally heavy rain was experienced in Dunedin, approximately 4 in. falling over a period of twenty hours. The resultant flooding of certain parts of the city was responsible for water penetrating to the Department's underground telephone cables, and service to approximately seven hundred subscribers was interrupted. By working long hours an augmented cable staff enabled full service to be restored early in the morning of the following Wednesday. An electrical storm of unusual severity was experienced throughout Marlborough, Nelson, and West Coast (South Island) districts on the night of the 7th and the morning of the Bth December. Electrical discharges caused the operation of many circuit fuses, resulting in numerous interruptions to telephone and telegraph service, while in some cases considerable damage was done to lines and

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