THE TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 929, 18 September 1869, Page 8

THE TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT.

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The fifth annual report of the working and progress of i ibis Department, for the year ending on the 30fch June last, ,has been recently published. It is clearly and concisely written, and contains some interesting information. % ' The lines in course of construction at the close of the financial year 1867-8, and which have been completed during the year under notice, are thoße between Greymouth and Westport, and Blenheim and Woodend. The former of these two lines is stated to re the moat expensive yet constructed in New Zealand, owing to the natural difficulties encountered, and the high price of labour. The total length of this line is 67 miles, and the total cost of construction was L 7002 17a, being at the rate of LI 04 10s 8d per mile. The total cost of the re-construction of the line between Blenheim and Woodend was L 10,743 19a 9d, being at the rateof L 65 7s 7d per mile. The lines at present in course of construction are those between "Wellington and Wanganui, Napier and Taupo, and Hamilton and Cambridge, in the "Waikato. The total length of line open in the colony is (exclusive of the Cook's Strait Cable, the length of which is not given) 1329£ miles, of which 372^ are in the North, and 957 in the South, Island. The total number of miles of wire is 2495. With regard to the maintenance and repairs of lines, the General Manager, Mr Lemon, reports that the line between the Bluff and Balclutha will require reconstruction in some parks. The line between Balclutha and Dunedin will also, he says, require closer looking to, as the poles in some parts are in a very bad condition. It is intended for the future, where new poles have to be erected, not to make use of any other timber than totara, unless under special circumstances. The use of inferior timber for poles ia, in Mr Lemon's opinion, a fatal mistake, and one of the chief causes of the large expenditure incurred in the maintenance of the lines. In addition to the lines already mentioned, those between Dunedin and Christchurch, Christchurch and Greymouth, Blenheim and Nelson, Wellington and Napier, and Auckland and the Waikato, have also been repaired or partly re-constructed. Great pains have been taken to put a stop to the constant interruptions occasioned by floods in the Canterbury rivers. The method adopted to prevent this annoyance was to drive heavy iron bark piles to such a depth into the beds of these rivers, as to render them perfectly safe from disturbance by floods, and then to fix to the upper portion of these piles the poles on which the wires aro carried. This plan has been successfully carried out in theßakaia and Ashburton, where such piles have been driven into the shingle to the depth of 21 feet. The total number of telegrams of all codes transmitted during the year was 166,167, which, after deducting the number (4,502) of those transmitted on tho Auckland line, shows an increase of 53,180 on the number (98,485) transmitted during the preceding year. (This last number—9B,4Bs—does not, we may remark by way of parenthesis, tally with the number—loo,lo4 — given below.) While, however, the number of telegrams was so large, the number of registered complaints was remarkably small, being only nine, of which six were on account of messages late delivered, and three on account of errors in wording. These figures, as the Manager observes, evince great car© and attention on the part of the staff employed. The number of stations opened during the year "was seven, viz. : — The Spit (Napior), Waipawa, Maaterton, Temuka, Brighton, Charleston, and Westport. With regard to tho shipping telegrams supplied by tho Department, the Manager writes with somo asperity, caused probably by tho reflections cast in tho Assembly upon the officers for tho discharge of this portion of their duties. Ho sayu :—" The value of tho shipping tolograms transmitted during tho year amounts to tho largo sum of L 6,478 lla sd. There can bo no dotibt that a certain section of the community bonents to a very great oxtout by th« posting of those telegrams; but Inm still of opinion that tho Dopartmcnt loses thousands of poundsyoarly by the transaction, whilulho public gonorally reap no commensurate advantage Tho moans for furnishing those telegrams to tho various ofticos throughout tho colony is vory faulty, tho Dopartmont being dependent for its information on officer* over whom it has not tho slightest control. Noarly all tho complaints of negloct on tho part oC thia Department in publishing the roporto of tho arrivals and departures of utoaraors, have boon traced to cjiusob outside this Department. I think if tho sondtaff ot these tologrnm* is to bo continued, tho arrant?*mentt fur tho supply of tho information to tho various officot should be such m to I >lne© the power of dealing with tho nog* Wof an oflloer wore in our hands. Of

course this procedure would entail :a considerable increase in the expenditure of the Department, and this will be a weighty consideration before adopting any other plan than the present." „ The following table shows the number of interprqvincial letters and telegrams despatched during the year, as well as the proportion of the latter to the former :—: —

The total number of interprovinoial letters despatched in 1867-8 was 1,938,578, and of telegrams 106,104, the of telegrams to every 100 letters thus being 5.47. The total cash revenue of the line from the Bluff to Napier for the year is set down at L 18,178 10s Id, and the total value of the business done, including guarantees, at L 31,277 5s 4d; but according to the tables appended to the Report, the latter amount is only L30,426 17s Id. Taking the Manager's statement as correct, however, the account of this line stands thus :— Beceipta, L 31,277 5s 4d ; Expenditure, L 20,087 7a 4d ; Balance to the credit of the line, L 11,18 9185. " The returns of the Auckland line, treated in the same way, show," says the Manager, "an excess of expenditure over receipts of L 2062 13s 3d." According to Appendices B and 0, however, the account of the line stands thus : — Receipts, L 653 16s 9d; Expenditure, L 2726 10s; Balance to the debit of the line, L 2072 13s 3d, being L2O more than Btated by the Manager. Following the latter's figures, however, the sum total for the two lines i» ■.— Receipts, including guarantees, L 31,951 2s Id (another error—this time of L2O too much) ; Expenditure, L 22,813 17s 4d ; Balance to the credit of the Department, L 9137 4s 9d. The following tabular statement shows this error more clearly, A being tho Manager's figures, as given in his Report (page vii.) and B, the figures as contained in the Appendices B and O :—: — Receipts. A; B. Bluff &Napier Line. £31,277 5 4 ... £31,277 5 4 Auok'and. 653 16 8 ... 653 16 9 £31,951 2 1 ... £31,931 2 1 Expenditure. Bluff &Napier Line. £20,087 7 4 ... £20,087 7 4 Auckland . 2,726 10 0 ... 2,726 10 0 £22,813 17 4 .. £22,813 17 4 Or. Balance £9,137 4 9 ... £9,117 4 9 This result is obtained withoxit taking into consideration the fact that the total receipts by the Bluff and Napier Line are 0n1yL30,426 17sld, instead of L 31,277 5s 4d, as stated by the Mauager on page vii of his Report. According to Appendices X, L, M, N, which are corroborated by Appendix C, the roceipts by thia line are made up as follows :—: — Ordinary Telegrams £13,878 10 6 Press „ 2,229 6 9 Provl. Govt. „ 1,220 4 7 General „ „ 13,098 15 3 £30,426 17 1 Tho receipts of the Department during the year as shown above, will have, therefore, to be reduced by LBSO 8s 3d, making the Balancoat its credit, L8,260 16a Od. Ere concluding this article, we must once moro express our rogrot that more car© is not taken torendor documents of this kind thoroughly trustworthy.

i , Number Mb* £ $|™ 8 Wellington... 328,180 ... 24,412 .. 7.43 Marlborough 45,523... 6,819 ... 14.97 Nelson 203,537 ... 22,592 ... 11.09 Canterbury.. 539,010 .. 25,911 .. 4 8 Westland ... 251,108 ... 17,649 ... 7.02 Otaeo -595,062 .. 39,123 .. 6.57 Southland ... 84.235 .. 6,498 ... 7.71 Hawke's Bay 62.539 ... 8,661 ... 13 84 Auckland ... 439,694 ... 4,502 .. 1.02 2,549,488 , 156,167 6.12