D.—2

XII

Gisbome Section. Revenue, £28,778; increase, £5,921. The working of the Matawai extension for the whole year as against five months of last year, and the establishment of freezing-works at Waipaoa, have added considerably to the traffic, the principal items of increase being 6,800 passengers, 2,300 parcels, 25,300 head of live-stock, 4,900 tons of timber, 1,850 tons of grain and merchandise, and 10,300 tons of minerals. Nortli Island, Main Line and, Branches. Revenue, £2,503,217; increase, £336,548. The principal items of traffic were,- Number. Number. Passengers ... ... ... 8,320,440; increase, 782,507 Season tickets ... ... ... 204,305; ~ 11,828 Parcels, &c. ... ... ... 749,606; ~ 45,911 Live-stock ... ... ... ... 3,801,894; decrease, 124,951 Tons. Tons. Goods ... ... ... ... 1,925,469; increase, 68,791 The revenue per mile of railway increased from £1,972 9s, 2d. to £2,269 #s. 5d., and per (rain-mile from Bs. Ofd. to 9s. 4J. The variations of traffic in the individual districts were approximately as under: — Auckland. —Revenue £866,517; increase, £104,463. Passengers increased 7,914. The small general increase in numbers is accounted for by the competition of the tramway extension to Mount Albert district, in which the railway passengers decreased by 58,000. Season tickets increased 4,554, parcels 37,655, due chiefly to the increase of cream traffic and its division into a larger number of consignments, owing to the use of home separators. Cattle and calves increased 7,429, sheep 2,334, and pigs 11,830. Wool increased 307 tons, merchandise 4,459 tons, and minerals 44,850 tons. Chaff, &c, decreased 2,964 tons, firewood 450 tons, timber 5,685 tons, and grain 2,269 tons. A new line of 7-J- miles from Huntly to Pukemiro Colliery was opened in December last. Ohakune. —Revenue, £322,332; increase, £42,329. Passengers increased 24,754 and season tickets 339, parcels 4,574. Cattle increased 8,153 and pigs 2,257, but calves decreased 1,012 and sheep 25,904. The sheep traffic is affected by the opening of freezing-works in the vicinity of Taihape early in January. Chaff, &c, increased 1.032 tons, wool 600 tons, timber 22,886 tons, grain 1,660 tons, and merchandise 1,601 tons. Firewood decreased 2,616 tons, and minerals (road-metal) 13,900 tons. Wanganui. —Revenue, £477,806; increase, £67,209. Passengers increased 132,870, and season tickets 222. The increase of passengers was chiefly due to the establishment of a military camp at Rangiotu. Parcels decreased 3,541. Cattle increased 8,765, but calves decreased 3,874. Sheep increased 59,098, and pigs 3,558. Wool increased 114 tons, grain 3,012 tons, and merchandise 15,029 tons. Firewood decreased 270 tons, timber 1,407, and minerals 3,244 tons. Wellington. —Revenue. £836,561; increase, £122,546. Passengers increased 616,969, season tickets 6,100, and parcels 7,223. The traffic from and to the military camps has swelled the number of passengers. Cattle increased 12,029, calves 441, and pigs 4,722, but sheep decreased 216,000. Last year considerable numbers of sheep were moved for pasturage in the East Coast districts, but there is also a shortage for export. Chaff increased 696 tons, grain 8,530 tons, and merchandise 4,798 tons. Wool decreased 1,569 tons, firewood 5,310 tons, timber 5,119 tons. Picton Section. Revenue, £28,224; decrease, £3,184. Passenger and parcels revenue was about the same as for the previous year, but goods and miscellaneous revenue decreased £3,211. There were decreases of 11,000 tons of chaff and 6,700 tons of grain, due to the very dry weather of the previous season. There were also decreases of 1,549 tons of merchandise and 1,757 tons of minerals, owing to shipping arrangements. Nelson Section. Revenue, £33,933; increase, £2,455. Passenger revenue increased £720, parcels £39, and goods and miscellaneous receipts £1,696. There were increases of 5,000 sheep, 1,000 tons of chaff, and 1,300 tons of timber; but firewood, grain, merchandise, and minerals decreased to some extent. Westport Section. _ Revenue, £108,452; decrease, £8,666. Passenger and parcels revenue increased £142. Coal decreased 107,000 tons, and pit-props 1,130 tons. The other variations were small.