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Ocean Cable Services. The following table shows the total number of ordinary telegrams forwarded by each route during the past five years, and the percentages of the total of such business falling to each : — Pacific Kasteen. Messages. *—f Yea, Messages. »«■*•£• 1910 .. .. 87,326 72 1910 .. .. 33,273 28 1911-12 .. .. 89,276 69 1911-12 .. .. 39,374 31 1912-13 .. .. 99,617 71 1912-13 .. .. 40,680 29 1913-14 .. .. 104,638 73 1913-14 .. .. 38,023 27 1914-15 .. .. 106,018 74 1914-15 .. .. 37,446 26 The number of international cable messages forwarded during the year shows an increase of 125 per cent, on the number sent during 1913-14, whilst the number forwarded to Australian stations decreased by 645 per cent. Messages received from international stations increased by 75 per cent., but there was a decrease of 3 per cent, in the Australian received traffic. New Zealand's proportion of the deficit of £19,950 Bs. lid. on the twelfth year's working of the Pacific cable (1913-14) amounted to £2,216 14s. 4d. The share of ordinary outward business handled by the Pacific cable again shows a slight increase on that obtained during the previous year. In 1913-14 the Pacific proportion was 73 per cent., and the Eastern 27 per cent. The 1914-15 figures are: Pacific, 74 per cent.; Eastern, 26 per cent. During the year New Zealand has given the Pacific route 7566 per cent, of the ordinary business to Australia, as against 7438 per cent, last year. 1,124 Press telegrams were sent via Pacific and 1,608 via Eastern, compared with 1,811 and 2,035 respectively last year. The number of cables sent as " deferred " during the year shows an increase of approximately 90 per cent, over the previous year's figures. From the Ist April, 1915, mainly owing to the firm attitude taken up by New Zealand as a. result of the dissatisfaction with the high terminal rates charged by Australia, the rate on cable messages via Pacific from New Zealand to the United Kingdom was reduced from 3s. to 2s. Bd. per word. The reduced rate also applies via Eastern. At the same time the rate on week-end messages was reduced from 9d. a word, with a minimum of 15s. per message, to Bd. a word, with a minimum of 13s. 4d., and on deferred messages from Is. 6d. a. word to Is. -Id. a word. Corresponding reductions in the ordinary rate were made via Pacific to places in America served by the Pacific cable, and via Eastern to certain places in South America. Cable communication with Fanning Island was interrupted on the Bth September, 1914, the cable having been cut by a lauding party from the German warship " Nurnberg." Communication between Fanning Island and Suva was restored on the 23rd idem, and between Fanning Island and Bamfield on the 6th November, 1914. The Norfolk Island cable was interrupted in September, 1914. Communication was restored on the 17th idem. To meet the difficulty caused by the interruption, arrangements were made to send Government messages for Suva by wireless telegraph from Awanui. The offices of the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company (Limited), v-at Wakapuaka, were destroyed by fire on the morning of the Ist June, 1914. Practically all the instruments were destroyed. The use of the departmental buildiugs was granted to the company, and assistance given by the Department's engineering staff. Communication was restored within a few hours. Week-end Cable Messages. The system of week-end messages is still being freely availed of by the public. During the year 1914-15, 9,083 week-end messages, at a total value of £10,404, were forwarded from New Zealand, an increase of 122 per cent, over the previous year. Since the 20th July, 1914, week-end messages have been posted at the office of destination on Sunday night for delivery by the first mail on Monday morning. Previously they had been posted on Monday night for delivery on Tuesday. From the Ist August, 1914, arrangements were made for the acceptance of week-end messages for the Continent of Europe for posting from London, such messages to bear a full mailing address and a fee of sd. to be paid. This system was extended on the Ist December, 1914, to week-end messages to be posted forward from Canada. From the Ist April, 1915, the rate for week-end messages to the United Kingdom was reduced from 9d. a word, with a, minimum charge of 155., to Bd. a word, with a minimum charge of 13s. _d. Wireless Telegeapht. The two high-power and the three low-power wireless stations of the Dominion have continued to work satisfactorily. Since the outbreak of w r ar, ships have been exercising care not to disclose their whereabouts. That action has resulted in a reduction of the volume of wireless business. On the outbreak of war a military guard was placed at each of the wireless stations. Immediately on the declaration of war, when the first Expeditionary Force was being organized and its destination was unknown, wireless operators and engineers were required for foreign service. It had been intimated to the Department that a wireless equipment would be