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The Secbetaey, Makine and Inspection of Machinery Department, to the Hon. the Minister op Marine. Marine and Inspection of Machinery Department, SlR >— Wellington, 30th June, 1920. I have the honour to make the following report on the work of this Department during the year ended the 31st March, 1920. The whole of the various services of the Department have been well maintained during the year, and I can bear testimony to the zeal displayed by all the officers of the Department. The coast-lighting has been kept up without a break, and there were fewer changes amongst the keepers this year than in the previous year. The Department, so far as it can, makes the isolated life of the lighthouse-keeper as pleasant as possible. The usual visits by the Government steamer have been made to all stations and with great regularity. The Inspectors of Machinery have had an exceedingly busy year witli land machinery and prime movers, which have increased enormously since last year. Constant demands are being made in districts for all dairy factories to be inspected in the winter months, and in many cases the -requests have been granted, but the limit of such inspections has now been reached, as the staff is only a small one. Some of these factories are busy all the year round, and the future prospects of this industry are very bright. The shipbuilding industry has not been busy during the year, and the difficulty of getting skilled labour and material may account for part of the stagnation. The whole of the surveys of ships, both steam and auxiliary steamers and sailingships, is fairly well completed. The introduction of oil fuel is being adopted by some of our New Zealand steamers, and the s.s. " Niagara, " lias run with this fuel for a long time. Steam can be maintained with unvarying pressure all the time, and the crews are much reduced in numbers for the power developed, as the whole thing is automatic. The storage of oil in the tank spaces, formerly used for water ballast, affords a considerable increase in the cargo-carrying capacity of the steamer using oil fuel. The cleanliness of the stokehold as compared with boats using coal as a fuel is very marked, and the working-conditions of the firemen are, of course, much improved. The use of electric lifts in buildings is being adopted more and more every year, and it will be necessary to make regulations very soon governing their use, so that their inspection and construction may be made more uniform all over the Dominion. The speed will have to be regulated, and the electric equipment and safety appliances made effective and up-to-date. Far the number now in use very few accidents have occurred, which is a, very gratifying result. The boiler-inspections are not up to date, but we have inspected more than we did last 3'ear. An interesting discussion took place over the steel material used in the construction of a very large multitubular boiler made in the South Island, and this continued for some time until we had the proof of the correct tests of the plates from the works in Great Britain where the steel was made. These were supplied by Lloyd's Register, and were finally accepted. No boiler-explosion occurred during the year. The examinations of the various classes of marine engineers' examinations, of masters and mates, of land extra first-class engineers, engine-drivers, and electric-tram drivers have all been held as desired, and all applicants who applied were examined. Some of these candidates passed a really good examination, and it is noticeable how few New Zealand boys fail in the mathematical part of their examinations, which at least shows their aptitude. It also sets out clearly that their school-training has been of such a character as to make them real students, which is very marked by the answers to the viva voce part of these examinations on scientific subjects. I have visited a great many of the centres of industry in New Zealand and have met many manufacturers, shipowners, and engineers. I have also had an interesting and instructive visit to New South Wales and Victoria. While there I called on all Government Departments in Melbourne and in Sydney interested in services like our own and gleaned from them a great many hints useful to our own Department. The visit I paid to the Government dockyards in Sydney was full of interest, and the storage of oil fuel on shore was a new thing for me altogether. Nearly a whole day was spent in the Government naval training-ship in Hose Bay. At Newcastle 1 visited the steelworks there, which are on a very large scale, and saw the ore in all processes of being converted into steel. The ore used at these works is mined in South Australia, and to be near the coal-supply the works were placed in Newcastle. Rails for one of the Australian States were being rolled during my visit. The manufactures of this company are now on Lloyd's list, and are very good and up to date in every way. The frames of a steam-vessel at present being constructed in Auckland are being made by this firm. All those with whom I came in contact in Australia were exceedingly kind to me, and were anxious that I should not miss any point that might be of interest or of use. Survey op Steamships and Auxiliary-powered Vessels. New rules for the construction of steel boilers for ships are being considered by the Board of Trade. A brief statement of the approximate changes has been received by the Department, and these new rules are now being used for new marine boilers. Amendments have been made chiefly in the method of calculating the working-pressures for cylindrical shells, flat plates, longitudinal steel stays, and furnaces. Rules have also been promulgated for oil-fuel installation in steamships and for shafts of internal-combustion engines other than those of the Diesel type. The diameters of the shafts are determined by the rules of Lloyd's Register. The rules apply to shafts made of ordinary steel, but special consideration is given by this Department to shafts made of special steel, tobin bron/.e, manganese bronze, phosphor bronze, and other similar metals.