4

4

on very slowly on account of the smallness of the staff. It is hoped that a short summary of these results may, however, be embodied in a small work on the climate of New Zealand, which is very much required. The weather forecast is carried on in conjunction with the Post and Telegraph Department. Every morning forty-five stations report the wind direction and forces, barometric pressure, temperature, weather, tide, &c. These reports, when edited, are transmitted and published in all the chief centres of the Dominion. On these reports are based the daily forecasts, which are telegraphed to over a hundred stations every morning. Occasional warnings are also sent of storms affecting different parts, especially of the Mackenzie Country. Special forecasts of storms, floods, &c, are also sometimes issued, and, by favour of the Secretary of the Post Office, are sent to every office in the parts affected. In the evening reports are received from twenty-three stations. These reports are supplied to the Press Association, and by it transmitted to the chief centres of the Dominion. Government Steamers. —The " Hinemoa " has performed the work of attending to the lighthouses, coastal buoys, and harbour buoys and beacons in harbours under the control of the Department. She has visited the Three Kings, Snares, Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes, and Bounty Islands to search for castaways and examine the provision depots. She also made a special trip to Campbell Island, to bring away some of the lessees of that island and their wool, they paying for this service. When in commission the " Tutanekai " has been employed on repairing Cook Strait telegraph cables, in conveying Volunteers from the West Coast and Nelson to Wellington and back during Lord Kitchener's visit, and on a few other services. When not required for cable or other work she has been laid up in Wellington Harbour. A sum of £2,000 a year is contributed towards her working-expenses by the Post and Telegraph Department. During last winter the training-ship " Amokura " was kept at her moorings in Wellington Harbour, and during that time the boys underwent courses of training, which must be carried out whilst the vessel is in port. Sea-going trips were made during the spring, summer, and autumn for sea-training and other purposes as follows : Two voyages in the neghbourhood of Cook Strait, to give new boys some sea-going experience, as well as to train the older boys; a voyage to the north-eastward of New Zealand, in search of the missing s.s. " Duco " ; a voyage in the neighbourhood of Cook Strait, for steering and lead practice, and to attend the Marlborough Jubilee celebrations ; a voyage to Auckland, and from there to the Kermadec to inspect the depots for castaways, and to build a new depot at Curtis Island; a voyage to the Southern Islands, to inspect the depots for castaways, calling at Timaru, Dunedin, and the Bluff on the way down. On the vessel's return from the Southern Islands she proceeded to Dusky Sound, where a search was made for the rock on which the s.s. " Waikare " struck. This rock was found and charted. The boys have done all the steering of the ship since she has been in commission. Their behaviour has been good, and their duties have been carried out with alacrity and cheerfulness. The smallness of the ship continues to be felt very much. A shore depot or a stationary vessel for winter quarters seems to be the only remedy for this. It is intended that the vessel shall continue to visit the outlying islands, so as to give the "Hinemoa" more time to do the increasing lighthouse and buoy and beacon work. Employment in other ships has been found for several of the boys as ordinary seamen and boys, and the masters of their vessels speak well of them. The ship is full, and there are several boys waiting for admission when vacancies arise. A regulation has been made providing that when the Department finds employment for boys when they have completed their training the amount standing to their credit on their discharge may be retained for six months. The regulations require that boys must pass the Fourth Standard of education before they are admitted to the ship. When the regulations were made it was intended to have a schoolmaster on board, so that they might continue their education, but owing to the want of room it has been found impossible to give effect to this intention. Unless arrangements can be made for the boys to attend school on shore whilst the vessel is in harbour during the winter, the standard of education required of applicants for admission might be raised, so as to give them a fair chance of advancing themselves after they leave the ship. Attached is a return showing the boys who have passed through the ship and those still on board. Lighthouses. —The new lighthouse at Cape Brett has been completed. The light was first exhibited on the 21st February last. It is a powerful incandescent group flashing white light of the first order, showing two flashes in quick succession every half minute. The machine revolves in a mercury float, being the first of the kind in the Dominion, and it is found that it runs very smoothly. A flagstaff has been erected, and the station has been connected with the telegraph system, to enable passing vessels to be reported. Incandescent lights have been installed in the lighthouses at Nugget Point, Centre Island, and Puysegur Point, and it is advisable that provision should be made in the estimates for more lights of this class, as they give a better light on a smaller consumption of oil than the ordinary oil lights. It is proposed to make provision in the estimates for another lighthouse in the North Island, and shipmasters have been asked for their opinions as to the place at which it should be erected. They have also been consulted as to the advisableness of moving Moko Hinou light to one of the Chickens Islands. The new lighthouse on Tuahine Point was completed and exhibited for the first time on the 16th August, 1909, when it was handed over to the Gisborne Harbour Board, which had undertaken to maintain it. Early in last month the heavy rain caused the ground near the lighthouse to crack and slip to such an extent as to endanger the structure, which in consequence has had to be taken down. Pending its erection on a safe site, the light is being shown from a temporary structure.