H.—2.

10

REPORT OF THE BALNEOLOGIST, ROTORUA. Rotorua, 13th April, 1915. I have the honour to present my annual, report for year ended 31st March, 1915. I have to report that our business at the baths for the year, while being below the average, has been by no means as bad as I anticipated would be the case; a decrease was.naturally expected after the outbreak of war. , As a set-off to diminished receipts, expenditure has been curtailed as far as possible, and a number of projected additions and improvements have been held over, the only structural additions being those to the women's wing of the sanatorium, which were already in hand, and which were greatly needed. The old ward has been divided into cubicles, a large veranda has been made into a semi-open-air ward, increasing the accommodation by four beds, so that the total accommodation at the sanatorium is now thirty-four beds. A modern lavatory has been added, and a sunny open-air sittingroom provided. The similar additions to the men's wing which had been approved have been held in abeyance. At the baths the only addition worthy of mention has been the installation of an apparatus, ordered before the war, for the impregnation of drinking-water with radium emanation. This has a capacity of about fifty doses of 1,000 Mache unit strength per diem, and, so far as I am aware, is the first of its kind in Australasia, though very widely used now in England- So far as my experience yet goes it has proved successful, and a number of patients, especially diabetics and gouty cases, have been sent to Rotorua for the express purpose of taking this water. Apart from the baths, the year has been one of exceptionally hard and trying work, chiefly on account of the epidemic of enteric fever amongst the Maoris, which started last winter, continued through the spring and early summer, and which happily now appears to have died out. The disease, unfortunately, attacked several of the nurses attending the sick, and we have to deplore the death of the Matron, Miss Pownall, from this cause. Energetic measures were taken to cope with the epidemic, and recently 356 Natives submitted to anti-typhoid inoculation and 269 to reinoculation, a total of 625 injections. The Cottage Hospital has been almost always busy, and has fulfilled its purpose of meeting the emergency needs of the district. Finally, I would wish to thank the staff of the baths, office, sanatorium, and hospitals for their ungrudging and loyal co-operation. Arthur S. Herbert, Government Balneologist. The General Manager, Wellington. Statistics. 1914-15. 1913-14. £ s. d. £ s. d. Sanatorium .. .. .. .. 1,763 12 3 2,019 14 9 Baths and mineral water .. .. .. 2,349 3 6 2,587-5 1 Massage and special treatments . . . . 594 10 6 632 3 0 Out-patients' fees .. .. .. .. 531 6 0 407 0 6 I'ump-room . . .. .. . . 27 7 9 32 0 0 Games, camera, &c, tennis-balls .. .. 414 19 0 439 14 9 Tea .. .. .. .. .. 6 3 6 8 II 3 Miscellaneous .. .. .. .. 55 7 3 10 19 10 Totals .. .. .. 5,742 9 9 6,137 9 2 Summary of miscellaneous— £ s. d. Board and lodging (Rennell and Findlay) .. .. .. 50 12 3 Rent .. .. .. .. .. .. ..450 Dr. Wohlmann's book .. , .. .. .. 010 0 £55 7 3 Arthur S. Herbert, Government Balneologist. -— 1 REPORT OF THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT AGENT, MELBOURNE. Mr. H. J. Manson reports as follows : — I have the honour to submit my annual report for the year ended 31st March, 1915. In reviewing the work carried on at these offices for the above-mentioned period it is distinctly gratifying, in face of the most adverse conditions experienced —at any rate, in the second half of the twelve months under review-—to be able to report steady progress and such satisfying results. The scope of our operations has expanded year by year, until we have become an indispensable link between the Commonwealth and the Dominion. In the early years following the establishment of this Agency it was looked upon as a tourist bureau pure and simple, but that impression has been lived down; and to-day, by Federal and State politicians, by the Press, and by the great mercantile community, we are consulted on every conceivable topic in any way relating to New Zealand's politics, commerce, public institutions, and matters of general interest.