C—3.

Table of Attendances for the Year ending 31st March, 1900.

Thanks are due to the following gentlemen for donations of rock-samples, fossils, and minerals : Mr. W. A. MacLeod, B.Sc, for Tasmanian ores and fossils ; Mr. Trelease, general collection ; Mr. N. D. Cochrane, miscellaneous rock-samples; Mr. K. M. Barrance and Mr. K. M. Graham, fossils from the Auckland District; and Mr. J. Park, F.G.S., for a large and valuable collection of fossils and minerals from various parts of New Zealand. Mr. Grayden, Mr. Martin, and others have also assisted me with the collection of specimens for the museum. A very interesting donation was made by Mr. T. A. Dunlop, manager of the Thames-Hauraki, and consisted of a pick, which has lain under water at a depth of 650 ft. in the Queen of Beauty shaft from 1885 to 1899. The wooden handle is well preserved, while the steel has been eaten into ridges and furrows by the acid waters. A section of the old pump columns which have been under water for fifteen years was also obtained. The iron is thoroughly perished, and the inside of the pipe has a coating of dark-coloured carbonate of iron nearly 1 in. thick. I have to gratefully acknowledge the willing and valuable assistance rendered by Messrs. Banks, Graham, McLean, Eosewarne, and Brown in connection with the battery-work. During 1899 the following Government certificates were granted to the Thames School of Mines students after examination, and on proof of the necessary practical experience : Seven first-class mine-managers' certificates and five battery-superintendents' certificates. In January, 1900, I supervised the annual Government examination, for which twenty candidates presented themselves. Sixteen of these were Thames School of Mines students, three sitting for first-class mine-managers' certificates, two for first-class coal-mine managers' certificates, and eleven for battery-superintendents' certificates ; but the results ha?e not yet been declared. The annual examinations were held during the second and third weeks of December, 1899. The papers, having been prepared and printed in Wellington, were forwarded in separate sealed packets to Mr. Coutts, Inspector of Mines, Thames, who brought them to the school each day at the specified hour of examination. The examinations were supervised by myself and Mr. W. H. Baker, B.Sc, my assistant. The answers were sealed at the end of each examination, and then sent to Wellington for correction. The examiners were Mr. Hayes, Inspecting Engineer; Mr. W. Skey, Government Analyst; Mr. A. McKay, F.G.S,, Government Geologist; Mr. C. H. Pierard; and the Surveyor-General. The results were satisfactory, and are given in a tabulated statement below. One very encouraging feature was a large number of Saturday science pupils who presented themselves for examination, and most of whom obtained good marks. It is from pupils of this class that in a few years the regular students of the school will be drawn, and the training they now receive will be of great value to them in their future studies. The following table shows the results of the late examinations:—

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1899. 1900. Name of Subject. First Term. Second Term. Third Term. First Term. Registered students — General and mining geology Mineralogy and blowpipe Land- and mine-surveying ... Mathematics Mining and applied mechanics Metallurgy of gold and silver Practical chemistry Theoretical chemistry Practical assaying ... Mechanical drawing 8 8 14 11 14 8 8 21 10 21 22 23 20 24 18 5 5 15 10 15 24 20 17 28 14 6 6 17 17 17 24 22 28 20 21 20 26 19 Total ... Saturday science class 149 76 175 55 153 35 149 45 Total attendance at classes 225 230 188 194 Individual registered students 54 81 73 50 Total individual students ... 130 136 108 95