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The table hereunder shows the telephone development of large and small communities in important countries. In this connection it will be observed that in communities of 100,000 population and over, few countries are more highly developed than New Zealand, and that in communities of less than 100,000 population New Zealand takes second place only to the United States of America.

New Zealand also occupies a prominent position in respect of the miles of telephone and telegraph wire per 100 population. Particulars of the first twelve leading countries in the world in this connection are as follows :—

Altogether, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's booklet, from which the foregoing information has been extracted, contains much valuable information concerning telephone development in the various countries, and the information herein will, no doubt, be read with a great deal of interest by the telephone community in New Zealand. With the substantial development that has taken place in this country since the Ist January, 1921 —the date the above tables were compiled —it is expected that the next publication will show New Zealand in an even more favourable position. The number of telephone-stations at the ten principal exchanges in New Zealand on the 31st March, 1923, was as follows: Auckland, 11,449; Christchurch, 8,838; Dunedin, 6,4.08; Gisborne, 2,398; Hamilton, 2,254; Hastings, 2,126; Invercargill, 2,253; Napier, 2,274; Wanganui, 2,663; Wellington, 12,106.

Number of Telephones. Telephones per 1' 10 of Population. Country. In Communities of In Communities 100,009 Population of less than and over. 100,000 Population. In Communities of 100,000 Population and over. In Communities of less than 100,000 Population. United States Denmark No i way* New Zealand Switzerland Australia Germany Netherlands Austria Great Britain France Hungary 5,393,683 96,008 29,802 28,046 55,372 144,776 922,191 83,554 102,500 729,677 229,873 26,662 7,935,696 152,992 105,570 60,393 96,964 94,224 887,383 78,379 30,980 260,323 243,339 30,347 15-9 14-4 11-6 7-6 9-3 6-3 6-5 5-1 5-1 3-1 3-8 2-3 10-80 5-88 4-33 6-68 2-87 2-93 1-90 1-51 0-75 1-09 0-75 045 * Parti estimated.

Miles of Telephone Wire. Miles of Telegraph 'ire. Country. Number of Miles. Per Cent, of Total World. Per 100 Population. Number of Miles. Per Cent, of Total World. Per 100 Population. United States .. Canada New Zealand Hawaii Denmark Australia Sweden ».. 32,000,000 2,105,101 203,093 47,010 521,818 823,576 816,505 282,376 349,534 5,325,686 3,493,783 295,037 6,398,653 60-77 4-00 0-39 0-09 0-99 1-56 1-55-0-54 0-66 10-12 6-63 0-56 12-14 29-8 24-0 16-0 18-4 16-0 15-9 13-8 10-5 8-8 8-7 74 4-8 1,725,000 238,866 51,228 0 8,756 94,476 51,150 16,453 20,844 492,745 284,223 50,400 3,017,336 28-51 3-95 0-85 0-00 0-14 1-56 0-85 0-27 0-34 8-14 4-70 0-83 49-86 1-6 2-7 4-0 0-0 0-3 1-8 0-9 0-6 0-5 0-8 0-6 0-8 Norway* Switzerland Germany Great Britain .. Austria „ . . Other countries Total, world 52,662,172 100-00 3-1 6,051,477 100-00 0-4 Average Average. * Partly esti: iated.