ft—No. 5.

in was such that they lost considerably by it. The contractors for No. 2 section had to pay for a large proportion of the clearing £38 to £44 per mile, for which they only received £30 per mile. " The large price of the work in connection with wiring the line is attributable to the roughness of the country, the bad weather, and the great price of packing and other work having to be done by horses ; but the work is well and faithfully done, and will compare favourably with any other work of the kind. " The length of time occupied in constructing the line was owing partly to the rough nature of the country through which large portions of the line passed, but principally to the fearfully bad weather experienced while the work was going on. The men were kept at work during a great portion of the time —wet from morning till night —and several times I thought I would be under the necessity of stopping the work altogether, and waiting for a change in the weather, the men were suffering so much, and so very little work was being done. During the intervals of good weather, the bush was still wet and the ground so thoroughly saturated, and in many places covered with water, that even then the work was carried on under considerable difficulties. Under those circumstances, less work was done in the time than otherwise would have been, and the cost of the whole work was considerably increased, especially in the items of erection and wiring. " While I have endeavoured to keep the expenditure as low as possible, I have not left anything undone (within reasonable limits) that would tend to secure and increase the stability and permanence of the line, and I feel satisfied that the experience of the future will show that any extra expenditure made by me for that purpose has not been incurred uselessly." Blenheim and Woodend. In my last report I mentioned that this important line was then in course of reconstruction, owing to the poles originally placed on the line being of so inferior a description of timber as to require their renewal throughout its entire length. The work has been carried out by Mr. Walter Blake, and was completed in December last. It has been well performed, and the interruptions to the working of the telegraph, caused by removing the wires from the old to the new poles, have been as few as could reasonably have been expected, when the rotten state of the whole line is borne in mind. The length of the reconstructed line is 194 miles, and it has been completed (including the shifting of the two original wires from the old to the new poles, and the addition of a third wire) at an aggregate cost, including all material and labour (see Appendix P.), of £10,743 19s. 9d., being at the rate of £55 7s. 7d. per mile. The portion of the old line south of the Hurunui cost originally £63 Os. 7d. per mile, and that to the north of the Hurunui, £56 6s. per mile ; the new line has cost, therefore, less than these two portions by £8 and £3 per mile respectively. Nothing but heart of totara has been used for poles, and from the care that has been taken in selecting the timber, I do not anticipate any trouble from its decay for at least ten or fifteen years, if not longer. The wire shifted from the old poles may in a few years require renewing in some places where it runs along the sea-beach, but this can be done, when required, at a small expense, and without interruption to the working of the line. This large expenditure (£10,743 19s. 9d.) might, to a certain extent, have been avoided had totara poles been used when the line was first constructed. Where timber has to be supplied from a distance, in my opinion nothing should be used for telegraph poles but totara, which, according to my own experience and that of old settlers, is better adapted for this purpose than any other New Zealand timber. There are, I believe, one or two kinds of wood of quite as lasting a nature as totara, but from their stunted growth or great weight they are practically not available. In Appendix P. the cost of the reconstructed line is given in detail, and Appendix G-. shows, including this outlay and that made on the Westport line, that the total permanent cost of the lines of electric telegraph throughout the Middle Island amounts, up to the present time, to £65,288 3s. lOd. Lines in coitese op Construction. Wellington to Wanganui. The estimated length of this line is 120 miles, and it will consist of a single wire throughout. The general route chosen for its construction after leaving the Hutt line, with the exception of such diversions as the permanent safety of the line may require, is from Kaivvarra-warra to Johnsonville, and from thence alongside the coach road to Wanganui, via Tutaenui and Turakina. The progress of this line has been retarded,to some extent by the unwillingness of certain Natives to allow it to pass over their land. This obstruction will, I hope, be shortly removed, and I expect within three months afterwards to have telegraphic communication established with Wanganui. Contracts have been let for the supply and delivery of poles for over eighty miles (more than half the whole distance), and tenders are about to be received for that portion of the line lying between Waikanae and the Pangilikei liiver. Taupo Line. The progress of this line has been delayed by the Native troubles of the past twelve months ; it has, however, been carried nearly forty miles to the north of Napier, and an office has already been opened at Titiokura, about thirty miles from Napier. The general route followed by the line after leaving the Western Spit, Napier, is up the Petone Valley to Mohaka Church, and from thence to Titiokura. Prom Titiokura it is intended to carry the line to Tauranga, via Turanga—Kumu, Eunanga, Opepe, Tapuaeharura, Oruanui, Orakekorako, llotoiti, and Maketu. As the line in some places will pass through patches of bush, it is intended, where practicable, to fix the insulators to the standing timber, and to clear the undergrowth from its immediate vicinity. Totara, for poles, is pretty plentiful in places on the line above described, with the exception of that portion near Tauranga, for which either totara poles will have to be brought by sea, or puriri will have to be used. The route for the line beyond Tauranga has not yet been explored, but I am given to understand that no serious physical obstacles exist in the way of the further extension

IV

REPOET ON THE WORKING OE