NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5791, 21 October 1879, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.

We hare received the fifteenth annual report of the above department, which has been pranared by the commissioner for presentation to the Gooeral Assembly. The telegraphic revenue for the year was estimated at £76,000, but that amount had been exceeded by £5435 14s, 4d. The gross earnings of the department, including subsidies for special wires, incidental receipts, and sundry recoveries, were £85,402, but this does not include the value of the Government telegrams transmitted, which is stated to be no less a sum than £26,926 13s. 7d. Adding these figures to the total amount of business performed, would be in round numbers £112,329. The total number of messages of all codes transmitted during the year was 1,448,943, being an increase of 188,619 over the previous year, or nearly 14 per cent. The working expenses for this period were £96,801 Bs. 3d., which, after taking credit for the Government messages, leaves a credit to the department of £15,527 ss. 6d., or 3 73 per cent, on the capital invested. The item for cost of maintenance of stations shows an increased expenditure of rather more than £IO,OOO over the previous year, which is accounted for by the constantly increasing work of the department, and the opening of new stations. During the ysar 109 miles of line, carrying 113 miles of wire, have been erected, and 296 miles o£ wire erected on existing lines, making the total mileage ox circuit to Juno 30 of 3543, and wire 8444. The number of stations open to the public to the same date was 196,16 of

these being opened during the past year. Of these 11 were in the North and 5 in the South Island, The mileage maintained during the year was 3434 at an average cost for maintenance of £5 os. 9J. per mile. The railway lines in the Snath Island referred to in the last report a- having been taken over by the department have men again transferred to the railwav authorities, who are organising a railway telegraph .usUru specially for train-signalling purnoses, entire]v distinct from the general teleg-iiphie sv.-tem of the colony, A large number of cadi-ts are being trained, and a room has been rent,;'! and fitted up with 24 instruments, by {which, with the old training gallery, the department can teach 30 cadets at one time. This will enable the item for over-

work to be d-cre ihkii, and officers will not be called upon to do more than eight hours work daily. The nominal strength of the department on .Tune 30 was 801, against 710 in the previous year. The “urgent code ” referred to in the last year’s report continues to inerec-e in public favor, and is largely mol. The number or urgent messages transmitted during the year was 30,100, giving a value of £1023 7s. 10d., an increase over that of the previous year of £2523 lls. 2d, A “delayed code” has also been introduced, and is greatly appreciated. The fee for those telegrams is one-half the ordinary fee, in addition to which o. uoitage fee of one parley is charged. The telegrams .arc accepted at any time throughout the d iv, and arc forwarded to their destination and posted the same evening after the cl >-c of business, so that they may be delivered by the first postal delivery the following mornlog. The system was introduced on the Ist of July, 1878, and since that date 66,721 delayed telegrams have been transmitted, yielding a revenue to the department of £2546 9s. 2d. The duplex system continues to work with the greatest success, and the introduction of the system is equal to an absolute saving of over £20,000. The report says of this system —“ It is a matter for congratulation that New Zealand is the first colony on this side of the Line which has introduced, and worked with success, this improved system of telegraphy ; and it is only fair to Dr. Lemon, the general manager of the department, to again express the indebtedness of the colony to him for his persevering and untiring efforts iu introducing to his department every new or improved system likely to prove advantageous to the colony.” Experiments upon the quadruplex system have been tried with success, and as soon as the necessary instruments arrive it will be put to practical use. During the past year the Agent-General has had New Zealand embraced in the Universal Telegraph Convention, being marked fourth class. The intercolonial and foreign work is still increasing, but it is feared that a considerable time will elapse before a reduction in the tariff on the New Zealand and Australian cable can be made, on account of the number of messages transmitted not having reached that number entitling the colony interested to claim the reduction in terms of the agreement. wires from Wellington to Masterton, and' from Masterton to Te Uui have been completed. Concerning the Cook Strait cables, we learn that the fault in No. 1 has received the careful attention of the Government, and anticipating the inconvenient results which an entire collapse of the cable would entail, provision has been made iu the new Estimates for a new cable, to be laid either across Cook Strait adjacent to the present cabje route, or along a new route from a point a few miles to the northward of the mouth of the Wanganui river to Wakapuaka. This route is considerably longer than that across Cook Strait to White’s Bay, but it is considered that by adopting this longer route, the additional expenditure would be more than covered by the insuring the cable from breakage, the bottom being so excellent throughout. Alternate estimates will ha laid before Parliament. The number of letters forwarded iu the Provincial District of Wellington for the year ending December, 31, 1878, was 1,239,165, number of telegrams forwarded in the same district for the year ended June 30 was 367,342, the proportion of telegrams seat for every 100 letters being 28‘40. A similar return for the same district for the previous year shows the number of letters to be 1,069,204 ; telegrams, 305,876 ; proportion of telegrams to 100 letters, 28 63. The following are the comparative returns - for the colony during tho past three years :

The total revenue derived from ordinary and Press telegrams despatched during the year ended June 30, 1878, was £/3,284 Is. lOd, of which £65,343 Bs. 6d. was for ordinary and the remainder for Press telegrams ; and for the same period of 1879 the total revenue was £81,435 14s. 4d.—namely : ordinary, £72,593 oa. lid.; Press, £8842 13s. sd. The following comparative statement will shew the progress of the department during the years named, and also the increase in the value of Government messages :

- 1378-79. 1877-7S. 1876-77. Total number of let7,374,786 6,073,384 §5,540,920 Total number of tele1,448,943 1,260,324 1,124,432 Proportion of telegrams to every 100 letters 19-01 20‘7l 20-20

o g 60 Miles r f Wire. S g * Number of Tele1 grams. Revenue. "Value of Government Messages. j £ s, d. £ s. d. 2495 45 156,157 18,520 10 4 13,430 11 fl 1873 4574 93 1 563,060139,680 18 9 11,105 2 0 1878 8035 182 jl.260,324 [73,234 1 10 19,148 12 4 1879 8117 195 1,448,943 85.402 0 2 26,949 2 2