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RETURNS SUBMITTED BY DR. LEMON. Eetuen A. The present cost of lighting the Parliament Buildings by gas, taking the mean of two years' sessions, is £165 per month. 293_gas-burners ... ... ... ... ... £165 0 0 11s. per gas-lamp per month.

Eetuen B. The present cost of lighting the Parliament Buildings by electricity is 4s. per hour for coal, wages, and lamp-renewals, and with interest on capital (£2,050) £130 per annum—which has all to be borne in the session—about 3s. per hour, making in all 7s. per hour; this, for an average of 48 hours per week, is £75 12s. per month. £ s. d. 222 lamps ... ... ... ... ... ... 75 12 0 Dynamo-tenderer ... ... ... ... ... 20 0 0 Bs. 7-^d. per month per lamp. £95 12 0

Eetuen Cl. £ s. d. Cost of 600-light installation, Parliament Buildings ... .3 745 1 0 Building, 40' x 20' x 10' ... ... ... ... - ... 207 0 0 Concrete, 100 square yards ... ... ... ... ... 50 0 0 Freight, contingencies, say 20 per cent. ... ... 800 0 0 £4,802 1 0

Ebtuen C 2. £ s. d. Interest on capital, £4,802, at 5 per cent. ... ... ... 240 0 0 Depreciation, £4,800, at 2f per cent. ... ... ... ... 120 0 0 £360 0 0

Eetuen C 3. Wages, 2s. per hour ; coal, 2s. 6d. per hour: total, 4s. 6d. per hour—3oo £ s. d. hours per month ... ... ... ... ... 67 10 0 Oil, say 3d. per hour ... ... ... ... ... 3 15 0 Dynamo-tenderer .. ... ... ... .., 20 0 0 Proportion of interest and depreciation for 3 months ... 120 0 0 600 lamps, 7s. o|d. per lamp per month. £211 5 0 I have an offer from the Electric Light Company here to supply the energy for 600 lamps (we putting up our own installation, which would cost, exclusive of machinery and dynamo, £1,200), for a session of 395,000 lamp-hours, at lOd. per unit, for £1,100 16s. Bd., which is equal to £360 per month for 600 lamps = 12s. 2d. per lamp per month; at 9d. per unit, £330 for 600 lamps = lls. per lamp per month ; at 6d. per unit, £220 for 600 lamps = 7s. 4d. per lamp per month. All these offers of course will depend, the company say, upon the total consumption in the town as to what they will charge per unit. I have given their maximum and minimum charge under any circumstance. Of course the offer is only a tentative one. It will be seen from this that, by the Government doing the installation, even at their (the Electric Light Company's) lowest price, we shall be 3J?d. per lamp per month cheaper, whilst our engine- and boiler-power would have sufficient capacity for 200 lamps more.

Beturn D. The site I would recommend would be the piece of ground opposite the Hon. Mr. Mantell's, just below the tennis court, as being the most suitable and best adapted for the purpose. C. Lemon, Wellington, 21st July, 1891. Superintendent. Approximate Cost of Paper,— Preparation, nil; printing (1,200 copies), £1 5s. % . ■

_ . By Authority: Geosge Didsbuey, Government Printer, Wellington.—lS9l. Price, 3d.] . .

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