F.—l

XIII

TELEGEAPHS. There was a falling-off in the telegraph business proper, although the gross receipts show a. small increase. 1,765,863 telegrams o.f all codes were transmitted; a decrease of 69,531 telegrams compared with the number transmitted in 1887. The number of ordinary and delayed telegrams forwarded was 1,366,478, of the value of £70,667 9s. 2d. The number dealt with in 1887 was 1,414,569, for £77,975 9s. lOd. 181,755 Press telegrams, of the value of £10,284 13s. 5d., were transmitted ; an increase over 1887 of 6,553 in number, and of £2,254 11s. 7d. in value. The average value of a Press telegram increased from lid. for the year 1887 to a fraction above Is. ljd. in 1888. The comparative number and value of telegrams of all codes transmitted during the calendar years 1888 and 1887 are given below: — Ordinary and Delayed Telegrams. Press Telegrams. Government Telegrams. Number. £ s. d. Number. £ s. d. Number. £ s. d. 1888 ... 1,366,478 70,667 9 2 181,755 10,284 13 5 217,630 23,164 13 11 1887 ... 1,414,569 77,975 910 175,202 8,030 110 245,623 30,205 11 10 The telegraph receipts for the financial year ended the 31st March last—including telephoneexchange subscriptions, private-wire rents, &c. — were £105,488 7s. 6d., compared with £103,653 19s. 7d. the previous year. The expenditure for the same period (exclusive of £12,047 4s. sd. charged against loan on account of construction) was £100,169 18s. 4d., against £98,270 12s. Id. in 1887-88, or £5,318 9s. 2d. less than the revenue. The value of the services performed by telegraph—inclusive of the cost of Government messages, £23,164 13s. lid., and a sum of £823 45., collected on money-order telegrams—was £129,476 ss. sd_ The expenditure, as already stated, was £100,169 18s. 4d., which left a credit balance of £29,306 7s. Id. on the year's transactions; equal to 4-69 per cent, on the capital cost. 33,056 urgent telegrams, of the value of £4,544 11s. Bd., were forwarded; an increase over 1887 of 830 in number, and of £516 6s. Bd. in value. 475,776 delayed telegrams were transmitted, compared with 479,670 dealt with the previous year, and 415,977 in 1886. The public continue to make large use of the delayed system, more particularly between country offices, and the receipts from the ordinary messages are seriously diminished in consequence. The proportion of the delayed to the ordinary telegrams for the year was 5342 per cent. Government telegrams show a substantial decrease. They were 27,993 in number and £7,040 17s. lid. in value less than in 1887. Table No. 24 gives the value of free telegrams sent by Government departments during the year. The number of telegrams to each hundred letters posted for delivery in the colony was 9-05, compared with 9-80 in 1887. 16,464 money-order telegrams, f0r£56,878 15s. 10d., were forwarded, compared with 16,899, for £61,389 7s. Id., in 1887. The commission amounted to £939 35., and the telegraph fees £823 4s. The number and value of money-order telegrams, forwarded from offices in the several postal districts, is given in Table 25. A telegraph office has been opened at Cullensville. Telephone offices have been established at —■ Awatere Marsden Point Pouto (Kaipara Heads) Cape Foulwiud Matakanni Pukekararo Clevedon Matata Bahotu Cronaden Maxiriceville Eiwaka Georgetown Middlemarch Scarrott's Hakaru New Brighton Spring Grove Hikutaia Norsewood Waiwera South Hororata Oakura Wakapuaka (suburban) Inangahua Okato Wangarei Heads Kaiwarawara Owen Eiver Wellsford Little Grey Junction Papakaio Whirinaki. Mangamahoe Parua Bay A bureau has been established at Kaiwarawara. At the close of the year there were 240 offices connected by telephone. The number of offices, both telegraph and telephone, open at the end of the year was 473. There are 33 bureaux open in connection with the telephone exchanges. The offices at Castlepoint, Charleston, Papatoitoi, and Waitotara are worked by telephone instead of by Morse instrument, and at Brunnerton a Morse instrument has replaced the telephone. The number of miles of line maintained was 4,790, an increase of 144 miles; and the average cost per mile for maintenance was £5 os. Id., compared, with £4 13s. 9d., the cost for the previous year. The expenditure out of loan for telegraph extension was £12,047 4s. 5d., being £10,937 Is. Bd. less than in 1887. 3—F. 1.