F.—l

Wellington. Construction. In connection with the opening of new offices and new exchanges, also providing further outlets for the traffic at existing offices, the following new lines have been erected: — Miles of Poles. Miles of Wire. Wellington to Dannevirke ... ... ... ... 124 Palmerston North to Woodville and Pahiatua (trunk wire ... 28£ connecting exchanges) Wanganui to Inglewood ... ... ... ... 91 Aro Street, Wellington, to Mitchelltown ... ... Of Of Main line to Petone new office (loop) ... ... ... l^ Wellington South (bureau-wire extension) ... ... ... Of Wellington South (telegraph-wire) ... ... ... ... 2$Wellington to Paikakariki (deviation at Pahautanui) ... 2 10 Inglewood to New Plymouth ... ... ... 12£ 37^ Marton to Wanganui (trunk exchange-wire) ... ... ... 24 Wellington to Hutt ... ... ... 7| Stratford line to Douglas Boadj Inglewood line to Kaimata I ... ... ... 0J Otaki line to Te Horo J Taradale to Meanee ... ... ... ... 2f 2£ Koputarua (extension from Otaki line) ... ... 0-J- O^ Eketahuna (loop to new office) ... • ... ... 0£ 6 Eongotea to Glen Oroua ... ... ... 3 3 Eata to Silverhope ... ... ... ... 0J 2f New Plymouth to Pungarehu ... ... ... ... 28 Alfredton to Pongaroa ... ... ... ... 27 27 Sentry Hill to Mahoenui ... ... ... ... 70 Napier to Pakipaki and Napier-Hastings ... ... 12-J 68 Transferred from Exchange (Hutt) ... ... ... 1£ Poles. Wire. For the Eailway Department — M. oh. M.eh. New Plymouth Bail way to Breakwater ... 1 70 1 70" New Plymouth Eailway to quarry 0 25 Hastings Eailway to Hastings Eacecourse ... 010 Aramaho to Turakina (blocks) ... 11 0 30 67 -.„- oas. Upper Hutt to Gross Creek (repeaters) 1 40 * For Public Works Department— Makohine Viaduct ... j 08 Workshops extension ... J Total ... ... ... 74f 572f Dismantled. Napier to Pakipaki and Napier-Hastings ... ... 8 72 Wellington-Paikakariki ... ... ... 1£ 7f Bull's-Bongotea ... ... ... ... ... 8 Total ... ... . ... 9£ 87i The total additions for the year were therefore 64-| miles of poles and 484|- miles of wire, making a grand total of 1,911-f miles of poles, carrying 6,437f miles of wire in this district. Maintenance. Six miles and a quarter of corroded No. 8 iron wire were replaced with copper wire between Opunake and Pihama. The sections Longburn to Foxton, Palmerston North to Bunnythorpe, and New Plymouth to Pungarehu have been completely overhauled and considerably strengthened by inserting new and larger poles in place of those showing signs of decay. At Featherston the loop-line of half a mile has been reconstructed with heavier poles and copper wire. Between Featherston and Greytown the line has been considerably strengthened by making every second pole a double one. In other parts of the district necessary repairs have been effected, advantage being taken to do this whenever new lines were being run. Improvements have been made in several offices by fitting new test-boards—viz., at Wanganui, Woodville, Midhirst, Opoutama, Uruti Eoad, Tongaporutu, Mokau, and Awakino. Midhirst, Petone, Wellington South, and Martinborough have been converted from telephone to Morse stations. Masterton, Eketahuna, Petone, and Wellington South have been transferred to the new offices erected at these places. The Featherston office has been refitted with new instrument tables. Bridging bell telephones have been placed in circuit at Cross Creek, Summit, Kaitoke, and Upper Hutt for the Eailway Department, in place of Edison-Bell telephones. Pending the erection of new offices, the Wanganui Office and Exchange have been removed to temporary premises. Offices. There are 272 offices in the district, an increase of 22 during the year. Of this number, 56 are telegraph and 216 telephone.

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