7

C.—l

Technical descriptions of all kinds are also prepared and checked, both for other Departments l and local bodies' purposes, and for all sorts of administrative and other districts, the whole forming a volume of ancillary work of very respectable proportions. For the Native Land Purchase Board careful, and detailed reports and recommendations are made regarding the value and suitability of Native lands for acquisition by the Crown for settlement purposes. Reports are also supplied to the Education Department as to the condition of settlement and population of the locality when fresh schools arc applied for. For the Housing Branch of the Labour Department reports are submitted on lands deemed suitable for workers' dwellings, and, where necessary, Crown lands are set apart therefor. Departmental officers act as Commissioners at the request of the Department of Internal Affairs when the alteration of boundaries of boroughs and local districts require reporting on. In many other instances, also, the officers of the Lands and Survey Department co-operate with those of other Departments to their mutual advantage. Honours awarded to the Department. Since the publication of the last annual report His Majesty has been graciously pleased to bestow upon the Under-Secretary of the Department the Order of the British Empire (0.8. E.) and the Companionship of the Imperial Service Order (1.5.0.). Previous recipients of similar honours have been —William C. Kensington (Under-Secretarv, 1902-12), 1.5.0. ; John Strauchon (Under-Secretarv, 1912-14), 1.5.0.; James Mackenzie (Under-Secretary, 1914-16), 1.5.0. Departmental Changes. For the first time for a number of years no deaths have occurred amongst the staff. There have, however, been a certain number of retirements. Retirements. Mr. John Roddick joined the Department as an assistant surveyor in January, 1893, and was employed on survey operations in the Canterbury and Hawke's Bay Districts, being promoted to District Surveyor on the 2nd July, 1908. He was transferred to the Gisborne office staff as draughtsman in 1914, and finally retired from the Public Service in March last owing to ill health. Through his official career he proved himself an industrious and conscientious officer, and did much survey work in very rough country. His surveys were always honestly executed, and to the best of his ability both in the field and in the office he performed the duties allocated to him. Mr. Peter Albert Dalziel was appointed as Survey cadet on the Ist January, 1883, and carried out settlement and other surveys in the Nelson, Hawke's Bay, and Taranaki Districts. He was appointed District Surveyor from, the Ist April, 1901, but was transferred to the Nelson office staff as a draughtsman and computer in March, 1906, being subsequently retired on superannuation on the 30th November last. Mr. Arthur Lagdon Haylock was appointed a cadet in the Timaru office of the Department on the Ist May, 1887, being subsequently a draughtsman in the Christchurch office, from which he was transferred to the Head Office in 1891. He retired on superannuation after the completion of forty years' service on the 30th September last. During his long and meritorious career Mr. Haylock performed excellent work for the Department, and endeared himself to all those with whom he came in contact. The latest issued map of the City of Wellington and environs will always stand as a record of the excellence of his work. It may be added that although he was eligible to retire from the Service soon after the outbreak of war he was specially retained on account of the good work he was doing. He set an example of steady, systematic, and conscientious application that would serve as a model to all junior officers who worked with him. Mr. Henry Easton Taylor joined the Service on the I.9th September, 1881, and did good work as a draughtsman both in the lithographic branch and in the preparation of maps, in which he displayed fine qualities of draughtsmanship. For many years he was associated with the Head Office of the Department, and his retirement through having reached the ago of sixty-five years closed an official career of much, merit. Mr. Taylor's work in his best days reached the high-water mark of technical excellence and showed remarkably little falling off to the end. Mr. Nathaniel Litton Falkiner first joined the Department on the Ist September, 1890, and was employed as a surveyor in the Southland District. He was transferred to the Roads Department in April, 1900, and retransferred to this Department in November, 1908, retiring from the Service on the 31st March, 1904. He rejoined the Department in March, 1907, as a surveyor in the Southland District, and finally left the Department and the Service on the 30th June, 1919, through having reached the, age-limit. During his service he performed his work well and carried out his duties in a satisfactory manner. Mr. George Ferrars Townshend first joined the Department as a temporary officer on the Ist January, 1878, but on the Ist January, 1882, was appointed a draughtsman on the permanent staff. From that date until his retirement on the 30th June, 1919, he was employed in the Auckland office, in which he did good conscientious work as a Crown grants draughtsman and such other duties as were entrusted to him from time to time. Mr. James Brown Greig was appointed an assistant draughtsman in the Department on the Ist April, 1883, and acted in this capacity, and during his long career in the Southland office, attended to various phases of draughting-work, showing himself a capable and deserving officer. Having reached the age-limit he was retired on the 30th November last. Mr. William Blyth Buckhurst joined the Department on the 25th April, 1899, as a Crown, lands ranger, in which capacity he acted in the Wellington, Marlborough, and Canterbury Districts, showing himself very capable, intelligent, and attentive to his duties. Having reached the age-limit he was retired on the 30th June, 1913, leaving behind him a fine record of careful and efficient work. Mr. John Mackenzie Urquhart joined the Department as a clerk on the 21st August, 1893, and acted in this capacity in the Wellington and Head offices of the Department, retiring therefrom