F.-l

The colony's outward international and Australian cable business, not including Press, for the years 1904 and 1905 was as follows: — International. Number of Value. Messages. £ s. d. 1905... ... ... 23,905 37,855 10 5 1904... ... ... 22,508 37,994 12 10 Inc. 1,397 = 6-20 per cent. Dec 139 2 5 = 0-37 per cent. Australia. Number of Value. Messages. £ s. d. 1905... ... ... 66,873 " 12,916 4 11 1904... ... ... 64,691 12,846 5 2 Inc. 2,182 = 3-37 per cent. Inc. 69 19 9 = 0-54 per cent There was a total increase of 3,579 messages, and a decrease of £69 2s. Bd. in value. The forwarded and received cable Press business for the ten years ended the 31st December, 1905, was: —

TELEPHONE EXCHANGES. ' Sixteen new exchanges were opened during the year, and the number of subscribers increased by 1,910. The total number of exchanges now numbers 101, made up of 29 central and 72 sub-exchanges. The total number of connections is 15,333, compared with 13,423 in 1905. They may be classified as follows: Paying, 14,108; free, 296; bureaux, 929. New connections numbered 2,537, and those given up 627. The increase in connections is equal to 1423 per cent. On the 31st March, 1906, there were 885 miles of telephone-line and 12,798 miles of wire. The following is a comparative return of telphone-exchange connections for the years 1905-6 and 1904-5 :— ' i„hano» Number of Subscribers or Connections : Mcnange. Maroh lgQ6 _ Maroh lgQg Ashburton ... ... ... ... 138 ... 130 Auckland ... ... ... ... 2,036 ... 1,854 Cambridge ... ... ... ... 42 Devonport ... ... ... ... 37 ... 38 Onehunga ... ... ... ... 23 Blenheim ... ... ... ... 157 ... 137 Picton ... ... ... ... 41 Christchurch ... ... ... ... 1,887 ... 1,647 Akaroa ... ... ... ... 40 ... 40 Doyleston ... ... ... ... 7 ... 7 Duvauchelle ... ... ... 7 ... 8 Leeston ... ... ... ... 11 ... 10 Lincoln ... ... ... ... 6 ... 6 - Little River... ... ... ... 8 ... 9 Lyttelton ... ... ... ... 13 ... 8 Rangiora ... ... ... ... 15 ... 15 Southbridge... ... ... ... 5 ... 6 Dannevirke ... ... ... ... 127 ... 109 Makotuku ... ... ... ... 1 Dunedin ... ... ... ... 1,848 ... 1,702 Balclutha ... ... ... ... 33 ... 27 Clinton ... ... ... ... 11 ... 8 Kaitangata ... ... ... ... 13 ... 13

XXII

Forwari led. Receivei Year. Number of Number of Value. Value. Messages. Words. Messages. Words. 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1,069 1,294 1,154 1,570 1,034 1,420 1,830 1,595 1,551 2,226 92,946 128,839 133,342 182,066 139,295 148,400 202,968 159,732 161,094 181,196 £ a. d. 531 4 9 945 4 8 907 7 0 1,800 10 4 1,457 4 5 2,718 12 0 1,772 8 4 1,235 11 1 1,147 8 8 1,290 9 3 2,946 3,665 3,599 3,822 4,014 3,989 4,443 5,636 4,488 4,548 285,369 323,617 282,882 298,218 333,300 351,291 396,438 425,824 392,888 398,878 £ a. 1,576 1 1,752 7 1,599 7 1,690 12 1,878 9 1,967 19 2,200 10 2,333 10 2,169 1 2,254 18 d. 3 5 0 4 1 3 6 2 3 5