25

H.—l9.

my decision was brought under the notice of the Minister of Lands by the applicant, and an attempt made to upset it. The accompanying return will shew the statistics of this branch under my supervision durinc the year; and while on this subject, having regard to the proper keeping and preservation of the deposited and other plans, I would suggest that the attention of the Registrar-General be called to this matter ■ pointing out the advisability of his recommending a sum of say sixty (£6O) pounds, being placed on the estimates, to be expended in fitting up the land transfer safe with proper shelves and tubes, as well as the requisite portfolios, in conformity with the survey regulations. Henry G. Clark, Chief Surveyor.

No. 12. HEAD OFFICE. Sir, Survey Department, N.Z., Head Office, Wellington, July Ist, 1879 I have the honor to report on the work done in the Head Office during the past year as follows :— Drawimg Office. Maps of the North and Middle Islands, on a scale of 16 miles to an inch, illustrating the manner in which the lands of the Colony are held in possession, were completed from data supplied by the district offices. A meridional circuit map of the Colony was constructed, shewing the initial stations of each circuit placed in their true positions, from the best observations'for latitude, and as nearly as could be ascertained in their proper longitude, on the projection designed by you as most applicable to New Zealand. Detailed maps of the following circuits recently completed have been drawn, viz., Collingwood, Amuri, Nelson, Grey, Buller, Karamea, and Marlborough; triangulation maps of eleven districts in Canterbury have been made for photo-lithographing. A map of Taranaki has been drawn on a scale of two miles to an inch for photo-lithographing on half that scale. Since last year maps of the counties of Wairarapa East, Wairarapa West, [Hutt, Manawatu, Rangitikei, and Patea, have been received, and on these, and on those which were here before, have been compiled monthly, the transactions in land, so as to have at the seat of Government, maps on which can be seen—in considerable detail—the existing state of the colonial lands. There are, however, many counties, including the whole of Canterbury and Nelson and part of Hawkes Bay and Marlborough, of which the Chief Surveyors have been unable to compile maps yet. A few of the 80 chains to inch district maps, have been put in hand for lithographing. A new edition of the Survey Regulations, embracing the circular instructions of the department issued since the publication of the first edition, and including new illustrative maps, has been compiled and published. During the months of December and January a considerable portion of the time of the draughtsmen was taken up with tracings and maps for the Land Tax department. The maps constructed have been chiefly photo-lithographed; a few have been drawn on transfer paper, and since Mr. Spreat joined the Head Office he has drawn three on stone. Mr. Spreat's work is, as usual, first-class. The drawings for photo-lithographing by Messrs Flanagan and Kemp have been well executed; some of the lithogrardis rival in sharpness drawings on stone. The miscellaneous work of the office, such as designing and constructing maps, calculations of differences of latitude and longitude, preparing and revising descriptions of parcels of land tracings, lithographs, &c, for various departments, cannot well be given in detail. Clerical. I have pleasure in stating that the clerical work of the head office has been efficiently conducted by Mr. Lakeman. His system of correspondence book-keeping, requiring as it does, care and skill, has the rare merit of being a ledger account of the transactions of the department. The number of letters and others papers recorded has been 6278. Lithographing and Philo-lithographing Branch. The returns appended give the out-turn of the work done in this branch of the department. Since the beginning of October, 1878, the photo-lithographic printing office, formerly under the department of Public Works, has been joined to that of this department, the whole being under the immediate supervision of Mr. McColl. Although, as will be seen from the returns, the work thrown on this branch has been very considerable, it has been Mr. McColl's endeavour to meet the demands of the departments requiring work done in such a way as to give general satisfaction. The rule has been to print the plans or other lithographs sent, in the order in which they are received, unless they are stated to be urgently required, when they take precedence, and are put in hand at once. It has been found necessary to employ an extra printer, and to erect the steam printing press which was purchased some time ago. This machine, one of Furnivall's express patent, has now been in operation for about a month, and is doing very fair work. It is, however, only capable of printing paper IS inches by 24 inches. The small steam engine used as a motor having at the same time to drive paper-cutting machines is scarcely powerful enough, and the consequence is considerable irregularity in its speed and therefore in the quality of the maps printed. When moving at its ordinary rate the machine prints at present 500 copies per hour. When the boys become more expert it will be possible to print 1,000 per hour.