THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH IN NEW ZEALAND.

West Coast Times, Issue 202, 12 May 1866, Page 6

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH IN NEW ZEALAND.

; Although for some time post one or |two short lines of telegraph have beeu ,in operation in the middle island, chiefly used for tho t.ansmission of shipping, and occasionally of mail, intelligence, such as the Port Chalmers and Dunedin lino of seven miles, and the Bluff and Invercurgill line of nineteen miles, it is only withm tho last two or three months that anything ! liko a general system of telegraphic communication has been established throughout the middle island of New Zealand. At tho present moment there is a total stretch of wire, connecting Nelson at the 'northern extremity of the island with the Bluff Harbor, the southern point nearest to ,the Australian colonies, of 1042 miles. This line passes through all the principal towns of t the middle islani, nnd messages are published daily in the papers from the most extreme points when any matters of the slightest interest occur to report. To-day we furnish telegrams from Christchurch, a distance of 170 miles, aud from Dunedin, a distance of 450 miles. On the ■arrival of the English mail at the Bluff on 19th ult., our agents at once forwarded us a message containing a full summary of the intelligence, which was issued in the course of an hour or two after the steamer's landing her mails, the distance traversed by the electric wire being no less than 584 miles. As powerful and fast steamers ply reguarly between Melbourne and Hokitika, j the opportunity is frequently afforded to the most distant parts of the middle islandto receive summaries of important intelligence from the telegraphic office here. The following are particulars of the several lines now open to the public, their respective lengths and their proprietors, for which we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr 11. J. Jones, the very efficient and obliging telegraphist at the Hokitika station : Hokitika to Christohurch, 170 miles. Provincial Gtovornmoiifc of Canterbury, Proprietors. Nelson to Christchurch, 287 miles j ChristChristohurch to Bluff, 414 miles. General Government, Proprietors. ' Dnnedin to Tunpdta, H miles ; Tunprlia to Dunstan, 72 miles. Provincial Government of O(n«o, l'roprotors. Dunedin to Port Clinhncrs, 9 miles. Proprietors. Driver, M'Luan and Co. Christchurch to Lyttelton. 10 miles. General Government, Proprietors. Tho lino between Hokitika and Groy mouth, 25 miles, is now m course of erection, and is expected to bo open to llio public by tho Ist of Juno. Tho telegraph cablo to connect tho Middle and Worth islands is expected to bo laid and communication established about tho beginning of 1867. In dio Noith Island the only telegraph in oxißtenpo is tho Military Electric Telegraph connecting Auckland and Onehunga with To Awamutu, one of tho military depots on the Waiknto, about 120 miles irom Auckland, and is under tho management of tho Koyal Engineers.