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Nelson office: Mr. P. R. Wilkinson, temporary surveyor, was transferred to Auckland, Mr. S. Parkinson, surveyor and draughtsman in the office, taking his place in the field. Mr. E. A. Ingram, draughtsman, was transferred to Hokitika. Blenheim office : Messrs. A. Hodgkinson, District Surveyor, and L. Hunt, temporary surveyor, were transferred temporarily for urgent work to the Auckland and Canterbury districts respectively. Hokitika office : Mr. H. G. Bateman, temporary draughtsman and computer, resigned. Mr. J. R. Clements, draughtsman, was transferred to the Wellington District office. Mr. J. Fitzsimmons was appointed draughting cadet. Christchurch office: Mr. A. G. Allom, District Surveyor, resigned in October. Mr. W. E. Taylor, temporary draughtsman, was transferred to the Napier office. Mr. R. T. Burgess, cadet, was transferred to the field staff of the Wellington District. Mr. H. W. Harris, draughting cadet, resigned. Dunedin office : Mr. C. E. Pfeifer, draughtsman, was transferred to the Napier office. Invercargill office: Mr. S. Robinson, Chief Draughtsman, was transferred to the Christchurch office. Mr. S. T. Seddon, survey cadet, was transferred to the Wellington District office. • Obituary. During the year death has removed another small band of surveyors from among us, viz.,— Francis Simpson, late Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands at New Plymouth. He was born at Lancaster, England, in the year 1846. At the age of seven he arrived with his parents at Auckland, where he was educated at the Wesley College and at the Church of England Grammar School. As a young man he served in the Maori war, and held a commission in the 2nd Waikato Regiment. In the year 1875 he joined the Survey Department at Gisborne as a District Surveyor, which appointment he held till 1892, at which time he was promoted to be Chief Draughtsman at the Napier office. In the year 1904 he was promoted to be Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands at New Plymouth, and filled this position with credit until his retirement on superannuation in 1911, after thirty-six years of faithful work in the service of the Department. Amongst other positions held by him in Taranaki were those of Chairman of the Mount Egrnont Domain Board, member of the Board of School Commissioners, whilst he also was a member of the North Island Representation Commission for the adjustment of the electoral districts. Throughout Taranaki and other parts of the Dominion he was well known and held in high esteem. Owing to continued illness, his death, which took place on the 23rd April, 1912, at New Plymouth, was not unexpected. Edward James Campion : This surveyor —a type of the older class —was one of the landmarks amongst the New Zealand profession. He entered the service of the Provincial Government of Wellington during the fifties, and executed a large number of surveys of all kinds. Subsequently he went into private practice as a licensed surveyor, and in later years was from time to time employed by the General Government as surveyor and draughtsman. Mr. Campion was well known, particularly in the Wellington District, and his happy and cheerful disposition gained for him a large circle of friends, especially amongst the earlier settlers in the country districts. His death was reported from Gisborne. John Reay Mackay : This well-known Taranaki surveyor died at New Plymouth after being in failing health for a considerable time. He was a son of Mr. Joseph Mackay, formerly principal of the Wellington Boys' Qollege. His sphere of work lay chiefly in the country districts between Hawera and New Plymouth, and was generally confined to private practice. In all his work he was recognized as a conscientious and painstaking surveyor. Throughout the Taranaki District, where his sterling qualities were so well known, his death will be felt by a large circle of friends both in the profession and out. John Tiffin Stewart, M. Inst. C.E.: Since the end of our survey year this well-known and experienced engineer and surveyor passed away on the 19th of April, 1913, at the ripe age of eighty-five years. He was a native of Scotland, where he obtained his credentials as a civil engineer. During the fifties he joined the survey staff of the Wellington Provincial Government, and in the early sixties was a leading District Surveyor, conducting many important surveys particularly on the west coast of the province. Later on he became Provincial Engineer, and after the inception of the late Sir Julius Vogel's public-works policy in 1870 by the General Government Mr. Stewart was appointed District Engineer for the West Coast District of Wellington with his headquarters at Foxton. In his new capacity the construction of the present railway-line from Foxton to Palmerston North (then only a tramway-line) was one of the first important works which came under his supervision. This and other works carried out by him at this period have