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12

The telephone-exchange receipts on the 30th April last were at the rate of £12,588 15s. a year. Under the reduced rates of subscription, which came into operation on the Ist July ultimo, the receipts are now £9,548 10s. per annum. The capital expended up to the 31st December last in connection with establishing the several exchanges was £26,178 2s. lid., and the annual cost for maintenance, repairs, and working expenses is estimated at £5,590 17s. The reductions made in the subscription to the telephone exchanges since they were established have been as follow: On the Ist January, 1884, the annual subscription for the first year was reduced to £12 from £17 10s., which dated back from the establishing of the exchanges ; and for subsequent years from £12 to £10. On the Ist July last a further reduction, as under, was made : — Per Annum. To each of the first one hundred subscribers to any new exchange— For a single wire to the end of the first year ... ... £9 0 0 For every year following ... ... ... ... 800 To every subscriber after the first hundred to any new exchange, and to every subscriber to the exchanges already established... ... 10 0 0 For every year following ... ... ... ... ... 800 For every additional wire required ... ... ... ... 700 The above rates are for connections with a telephone exchange of werehouses, stores, shops, and business-places not more than half a mile from the exchange, and of private residences not more than one mile from the exchange. For every additional quarter of a mile or fraction thereof— To the end of the first year ... ... ... ... 100 For every year following ... ... ... ... ... 015 0 The extent to which the advantages of the telephone exchanges are availed of in New Zealand, compared with what has followed the introduction of the system in London and in four of the principal cities in the United States, will be gathered from the following statement: — Statement showing, according to latest Returns, the Number of Subscribers to the several Telephone Exchanges in New Zealand, and also in several of the Principal Cities of the United States and in London, together with the Population, Annual Subscription to the Exchanges, &c. Average rp -, , Number Number of Population leiepnone o f Sub- Calls daily Population. to each Annual Subscription. Exchanges at soribers . by each Subscriber. Subscriber. ( For each of the first one hundred connections to any new exchange: For hire of each set of instruments , ~ -, „„„ t. „ „. „„„ IAO _ and wire to the end of the first year, £9. Auckland .. 320 5-6 34,088 106-5 Fo r every year after the first, £8. „. „. . „„. „ ~„ „„ noc -ihc-i For every connection after the first hundred to any Wellington .. 204 9-25 22,885 112-1 new exchange, and for every connection with the „ , on A-n i 957 ißfi-s exchanges already established, £10. ISelson •• dJ 40 7' 287 1868 For every year after the first, £8. „, ~ , , ~„. ,„ , or, r,ir irro no For every additional set of instruments and wire reChnstchureh.. 184 10-2 32,915 178-88^ quire d by one person or firm, £7. Oamaru .. 33 2-5 6,587 199-6 The above rates are for connections with a tele- ' •'■''*'" phone exchange of warehouses, stores, shops, and „ ~ „,„ o-, An mo 11-woo business-places not more than half a mile from the Dunedm .. 343 8-1 43,846 127-83 exchange, and of private residences not more than Tnvprr-nvcril] 41 i-A qqW 998-0 Olle mOe fl' Om tlie exonan§einvercargiU .. 41 4 4 y,dso 0 ¥qt every additional quarte r of a mile or fraction thereof: For the first year, £1. t For every year after the first, 15s. London .. 12,000 10-9 4,000,000 334-0 £20. New York .. 4,808 5-4 1,206,299 250-9 $150 (£3l 55.). Chicago .. 3,246 8-4 503,185 155-0 $125 (£26 os. 10d.). Philadelphia.. 2,199 8-0 847,170 385-2 $120 (£25). Brooklyn .. 1,846 3-0 566,663 307-0 $90 (£lB 155.). The number of subscribers to the New Zealand exchanges is exclusive of the free connections, of which there are 8 in Auckland, 30 in Wellington, 5 in Nelson, 11 in Christchurch, 6 in Oamaru, 15 in Dunedin, and 1 in Invercargill. The following examples of the extraordinary differences which exist in the subscriptions charged for telephonic service (telephone exchanges) in various parts of the United Kingdom will not be uninteresting : Dundee (controlled by a co-operative company, every subscriber a shareholder) £5 a year; Carlisle, £10; Belfast, £15; Leeds, £14; Dublin, £12; Aberdeen,£lo; Leicester, £14; Bradford, £15—second year, £10; Halifax, £10; Sheffield, £10; Wolverhampton, £12 ; Wolverhampton and Birmingham, £18; Wolverhampton and Walsall, £17; Newcastle-on-Tyne, £12; Newcastle-on-Tyne and Gateshead, £14; Nottingham, £10 10s.; Birmingham, £12; Hull, £14; Edinburgh, £15 155.; Glasgow, £20; Liverpool, £20 ; Manchester, £20. Bureau offices have been established at Upper Symonds Street (Auckland), Caversham Town Hall, Eavensbourne, North-East Valley (Dunedin). There are 22 bureau offices.