11

F.—l

The value of each Press telegram averaged Is. 0-06 d., as against Is. 0-08 d. in 1910-11. The bureau messages numbered 2,360.914, of the value of £64,811 19s. 9d., as compared with 2,031,376, of the value of £54,337 18s. 9d, in 1910-11—an increase of 329,538 in number and £10,474 Is. in amount. The average value of each bureau message was 6-59 d., as against 6-41 d. in 1910-11. The number of Government telegrams forwarded was 91,408, valued at £4,831 10s. 6d., as compared with 92,307, valued at £4,874 os. lfd. —a decrease of 899 in number, and £42 9s. 7|d. in amount. The number of paid forwarded telegrams to every hundred letters posted in New Zealand was 8-57. A telegram-accounting machine on the principle of the cash-register was installed at the Telegraph Office, Wellington, on the 26th July, 1911, and a second machine on the 12th August, 1911. New Zealand Cable Service. There were 372 knots of submarine cable on the 31st March, 1912. The cables across Cook Strait are in good electrical condition, except No. 3, which has shown low insulation for some time. This cable parted late in November, and, owing to unsuitable weather, was not finally repaired until the 15th December. Portions of the three cables landing at Oterangi Bay are in a poor condition mechanically. Repairs were made to the Stephen Island cable, and the shore end at the island moved to a pointless exposed to the wash of the sea. The D'Urville end was found exposed ; a new trench was made, and the cable buried. The Nelson Lighthouse cable parted : a new length was spliced in. 2 miles 7 chains of cable was laid across Pelorus Sound to connect Homewood with Te Rawa. Ocean Cable Services. . The ordinary international telegrams for the year increased by 8-6 per cent., and the intercolonial by 5-8 per cent. New Zealand's proportion of the deficit of £48,210 lis. 9d. on the ninth year's working of the Pacific cable, 1910-11, amounted to £5,356 14s. Bd. The receipts and working-expenses of the Pacific cable for the year ended 31st March, 1912, are estimated as follows :— £ £ Traffic revenue .. .. 153,000 Annuity and renewals .. 107,545 Estimated deficit .. .. 39,526 Working-expenses .. .. 84,981 £192,526 ..' :".; £192,526 . New Zealand's proportion of the loss is stated at £4,392. The share of ordinary paid business obtained by the Pacific cable still shows a decrease. In 1907 the Pacific proportion was 88 per cent., the Eastern 12 per cent. The 1911-12 figures are : Pacific, 69 per cent. ; Eastern 31 per cent. The following figures show the total number of ordinary telegrams forwarded for each of the past five years, and the percentages of such business falling to each route : — Pacific. E.E.A. & C. Year. Messages, j Year - Messages. 1907 .. .. 102,490 88 1907 .. .. 13,610 12 1908 .. .. 101,724 85 1908 .. .. 18,873 15 1909 .. .. 96,648 83 1909 .... 19,812 17 1910 .. .. 87,326 72 1910 .. .. 33,273 28 / 1911-12 .. .. 89,276 69 1911-12. .. 39,374 31 The average best times in which messages are handled on the Pacific route are : — H. m. From London .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 17 From America .. .. .. .. ■ • .. .. 0 23 From Sydney .. .. .. .. .... ..04 From Melbourne .. ..' .. .. .. - '.. .. 0 17 During the year New Zealand has only given the Pacific route 69-48 per cent, of the ordinary business to Australia, as against 72-68 per cent, last year. 912 Press telegrams were sent via Pacific and 1,250 via Eastern, compared with 925 and 1,336 respectively last year. A new deep-sea cable, continued by subterannean cables between Auckland and Muriwai Creek, and between. Sydney and Bondi, is about to be laid by the Pacific Cable Board. The advantage of terminating the cables in large centres of population is expected to be considerable, as several transmissions will be saved and the time reduced between Auckland and Sydney. Wireless Telegraphy. The Wellington Radio-station, situated in the tower of the General Post Office, was opened on the 26th July, 1911, and has successfully carried on radio-telegraphic communication over a normal range at night of 600 miles during the past year. It has demonstrated the great value of such a service to the Dominion and to the ships trading in its waters. The work done by the station has steadily increased, and it is anticipated that as the advantages of radio-telegraphy become more generally recognized the demand for wireless facilities will materially increase. The greatest work done in one day of sixteen hours so far has been 7 messages sent and 32 received. This branch of the service bids fair to become an indispensable adjunct to the Department's telegraph system. It carries on its operations where wire telegraphy is impracticable, minimizes