D.—]

XXIII

At Stoke a contract for erection of new closed villa was entered into, and the work is in hand. A survey has been made relative tofthe general water and drainage scheme proposed. At Sunnyside Mental Hospital a new building in brick for single male attendants was provided. At Seacliff the erection of a new bathroom and boiler-house was completed. The erection of single rooms and dining-rooms, with additional sanitary conveniences, is in hand. The erection of new fencing in the female park is in hand. A new workshop for upholsterer and bootmaker was provided. Buildings for Department of Agriculture. Offices were erected at Owaka and Otautau. Additional buildings were provided at the Ruakura Experimental Station, while necessary farm buildings were provided at Waimaunga Experimental Station. Farm buildings and necessary fencing were provided at the Galloway Experimental Station. Hospitals and other Institutions. At Auckland St. Helens Hospital the old isolation block was renovated, and at Motuihi Quarantine Station necessary maintenance works were carried out. At Hanmer a residence for the Medical Superintendent was provided, and commencement made with the erection of a Women's Hospital. At St. Helens Hospital, Christchurch, an isolation block was provided and new runways erected. Educational. Considerable progress both in the way of the erection of new primary schools and in additions to existing primary schools was made during the year in overcoming the shortage in accommodation caused by restricted operations before and during the war. A very substantial amount of remodelling has also been done in connection with existing schools where the class-room accommodation is unsuitable in character either from the educational or the hygienic point of view, and the alterations have met with the greatest satisfaction. This has been effected at a small percentage of the cost of entirely new buildings. The policy of rebuilding one per annum of the oldest and least satisfactory schools in the larger centres is being continued. Accordingly, new buildings are being erected at Napier Street, Auckland ; Mount Cook, Wellington ; Richmond Road and Christchurch West, in Christchurch ; Caversham, in Dunedin ; and Invercargill South, in Invercargill. In other centres also similar works of less magnitude are being undertaken. New training-colleges are in course of erection in Auckland and Christchurch. The Government has adopted a policy of erecting secondary-school buildings by the Public Works Department. Under this policy new secondary and technical high-school buildings are in hand in Whangarei, Hastings, and Lower Hutt, while that at Invercargill is nearing completion. Under the same system additions to high schools are in hand or have been completed during the year at Thames, Gisborne, Palmerston North, and Timaru; while in other centres substantial maintenance works have been carried out. Other secondary-school buildings in course of construction or being added to are the Napier Boys' High School, Feiiding Technical High School Hostel, Masterton High School Hostel, Wellington East Girls' College, Wellington Boys' College Hostel, Christchurch Boys' High School, Waitaki Boys' High School, and Waitaki Girls' High School. Extensive building operations in connection with Universities are being undertaken at Auckland (new Arts Building) and at Dunedin (new Medical and Dental Buildings). Lighthouses. The policy of converting a number of watched lights to automatic operation has been steadily pursued during the year, Tiritiri and Anglem Point having been completed, and the apparatus for the new automatic incandescent installation, which is to be erected at Cape Foulwind, having been received. The directionfinding experiments in connection with the proposed fog-signal at the Three Kings have been brought to finality, and have served to definitely establish the superiority