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P.—B

No. 133. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Secretary, Union Steam Ship Company, Dunedin. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 6th May, 1913. In reference to your letter of the 28th ultimo, forwarding copy of a circular (No. 229) from the Marconi International Marine Communication Company (Limited), notifying the introduction of "' ocean letters," I bog to inform you that this Department has no objection to radio-stations on your vessels licensed by this Dominion receivingjand sending "ocean letters" in accordance with the arrangement made by the Marconi Company. I have, &c, W. R. Morris, Secretary. The Secretary, Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand (Limited), Dunedin. [Acknowledged,|lothjMay,|l9l3.]

No. 134. The Hon. the Prime Minister to the High Commissioner. Sir,— Prime Minister's Office, Wellington, 17th May, 1.913. I have the honour to advert to the system of ocean letters introduced by the Marconi International Marine Communication Company (Limited), of which no doubt you are already informed. The ocean letter is a radio-telegram which may be sent from a ship to another ship going in the opposite direction, for delivery by registered post from the first port of call. The tariff for the first thirty words is ss. 6d., including postage and registration fee, and for each word thereafter up to a maximum of 100 words, Id. At present the messages are exchanged only between ship stations controlled by the Marconi Company. I shall be glad if you will inquire whether this system of ocean letters has been reported to the International Office and to the General Post Office, London ; and, if so, what action (if any) is proposed to be taken to extend the benefits of the system beyond the present restricted area over which they can be enjoyed. I have, &c, • |H""|lL Heaton Rhodes, '■' Forjthe Prime Minister. The Hon. T. Mackenzie, Commissioner for NewjZealand, London.

No. 135. The Master, S.s. " Niwaru," Lyttelton, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. Sir,— - S.s. " Niwaru," Lyttelton, 15th June, 1.9.1,3. Enclosed please find a letter from my Marconi operator, also a copy of a radio-telegram [not printed] I handed in at 3.15 a.m. yesterday. I feel sure it is unnecessary to point out the possibilities had this been a distress call, as you can easily imagine them; and I would thank you to make inquiries as to the time the operator on duty in r*- the Wellington Station received this message, and why, if, as he says, he received it earlier, he did not then inform us that the land line was closed until 8 a.m. I have, &c, The Hon. the Postmaster-General, Wellington. S. W. Hayter, Master. [P. & T. 71/37.] '

No. 136. The Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, to the Master, S.s. " Niwaru," Wellington. Sir,— General Post Office, Wellington, 27th June, 1913. With reference to your letter of the 15th instant regarding a wireless " call " from your steamer on the morning of the 14th instant, I beg to inform you that the operator on watch at the Radio-Wellington Station on the morning in question heard a call about 3.35 a.m., but owing to electrical disturbances could not distinguish the call of the boat signalling, and called the " Pyramus " and the " Paparoa " to ascertain whether it was either of those steamers that had called. This is probably when your operator heard the Wellington Station working to the boats named. At 4.10 a.m. Radio-Wellington received a call from the " Niwaru " (the signals being much stronger than formerly), and immediately responded, but received no reply. At 4.13 Radio-Wellington called the " Niwaru," but met with no response. At about 4.16 a.m. H.M.S. " New Zealand," who heard RadioWellington respond to the call from the " Niwaru " and also heard the call to the " Niwaru," advised that he would keep a lookout for any further call from the " Niwaru." At 5.54 a.m. Radio-Wellington again heard the " Niwaru " calling, and immediately responded, but unfortunately at this time Radio-Auckland jammed the signals, and effective speech with the " Niwaru " could not be obtained, until 6.16 a.m., when the message was received. You are in error in supposing that the message had been previously received. It is regretted that the Radio-Wellington operator was not aware that telephone communication could have been obtained with either Christchurch or Lyttelton as desired, a circuit being joined up after the close of telegraph business. I have, &c, W. R. Morris. Captain S. W. Hayter, s.s. " Niwaru," care of W. M. Bannatyne and Co., Wellington.