THE MARINE DEPARTMENT. WELLINGTON, July 19.

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 10

THE MARINE DEPARTMENT. WELLINGTON, July 19.

The annual report of the Marine department states that the cost and maintenance of lighthouses during the year was £12,987, nob including the < expenses of Government steamers' visits. Slaughter's cotton powder fog signal at Pencarrow Head was completed, and the signal was ready for use at the beginning of July last. On its completion, it was tested by Captains Fairchild and Allman in the Tutanekai. They reported that the first explosion took place when the vessel was two miles and a-half distant, and that the sound was moderately loud, sharp, and quick. The reports were beat wh-en^at a distance of from •five to seven miles. Pending further experience with this apparatus, it -is proposed to supply the most important lighthouses with rockets for use in foggy weather, and the department is in communication with the "Victorian authorities on the subject of the rocket system in use in that colony. The sum of £19,382 was collected for ' light dues during the year, as compared with £17,851 during the previous year. The sum of £2664- was collected fo,r pilotage and port charges, as against £2649 in the previous year. On the subject of oyster fisheries, the report states that the prohibition of the export o£ oysters in the North Island will entail a loss of revenue to' the department, as there was an export duty of 6d per owt on all North Island oysters exported from the colony, and the department has now to defray the cost of administration of the Sea Fisheries Act without receiving any revenue. -The beds in the northern oyster fishery will be closed during this season.' The ' New Zealand Native Oyster Fisheries Company at Wellington has applied for an alteration in the boundaries of its leasein 'Poriraa harbour. Sir- James ? Hector - reported thai* the company's 'attempts'tcK'cjijfcivaie oysterifliave so far not been. successful, and lia.B^ recommended that._the v b"6undaries of the -licensed holding should be '• altered ' so as to include foreshore better suited Tor oyster culture. The question' of allowing the alteffction is now under consideration. _ ..•,"., The question of testing the fishing ground by experimental trawling has been under the consideration of the Government. There are now several trawlers regularly at work in Hawke's Bay, the industry, having become quite an extensive one. As it was found that largo quantities of small fish were being destroyed by being caught and killed in the trawls, Mt Moorhouse, the inspector of fisheries for the Wellington district, was, sent to Napier to see what could be 'done to prevent this. He recommended that the mesh of the body of the net used should be-sin, and the cod end 4-Ain, so as to give the small fish an opportunity of escaping. - He also recommended that' the 'minimum size at which' flat fish should be taken should be llin for soles and lOin for flounders, instead of 9irf for--both fish, as at present. These recommendations are now under consideration. <- t Mr L. F. Ayson, curator of the, fish ponds at Masterlon, was sent by the Trovernment to Europe and America early last year, to obtain information respecting the introduction of suitable fresh aud salt water fishes into New Zealand, and had supplied valuable information to the Government as a, result of his trio. One hundred and . seventy persons passed tlioir examination for certificates of competency as masters, mates, and engineers, and 57 failed. Of those who passed, 120 were masters, mates, and engineers of sea-going vessels, and- 50 were masters and engineers of steamships plying within restricted limits. Twelve certificates of service were issued.

A lady hotelkeeper of Windeyer, New South Wales, has jusl taken out her fiftieth, license.- • - The latest innovation of the Post Office department at New York is the coating of the street letter-boxes with luminous paint, so that they can be seen easily at night. The idea is not a bad one, but we miestion whether' even a luminous-painted pillar-box will make a man remember that he has in his coat-tail pocket one of his wife's letters which he bos faithfully promised to Dost.