F.—l

despatched several times daily by tram-car and by departmental vehicle ; and correspondence for the various courts and stallholders was delivered daily — within the buildings at 11 a.m. and in the Amusement Park at 3 p.m. A regular delivery of telegrams also was carried out. From places within the grounds temporary telephone connections with the Dunedin Exchange were provided at reduced rates. As stated elsewhere in the report, a special series of postage-stamps (denominations |d., Id., and 4d.) commemorative of the Exhibition was issued for sale at the Exhibition post-office. The post and telegraph office was fitted with standard articles of departmental furniture, with an electrically-driven postmarking-machine, with stamp-vending machines, and with other machines and appliances showing up-to-date methods of working. The accommodation was so arranged that visitors, without entering, could view the entire office under actual working-conditions. Thus, in addition to its practical functions, the post-office served as the chief postal " exhibit." A feature of postal work at the Exhibition was the use made by visitors of the letter-telegram service. Approximately 10,000 letter-telegrams were lodged at the Exhibition office. The following indicates the volume of business transacted at the Exhibition post-office : — £ s. d. Telegrams forwarded (all codes) .. .. .. 30,167 1,802 10 10 Telegrams received (all codes) .. .. .. 5,138 Stamps sold (Exhibition commemorative issue) .. .. 4,536 5 6| Money-orders issued .. .. .. .. 517 3,200 14 11 Money-orders paid .. .. .. .. 221 782 0 6 Postal notes issued .. .. . . . . .. 363 15 4 British postal orders issued.. .. .. .. .. 34 17 9 Parcels posted .. .. .. .. .. 2,983 Registered articles posted .. .. .. .. 2,147 The Departmental Court, as distinct from the post and telegraph office, displayed telegraph and telephone apparatus past and present, items of postal interest, and charts and models indicating the growth in the Department's business. The more important items were a model automatic telephone exchange ; an automatic telephone intercommunication installation of twenty numbers, worked on automatic interphone principles, together with an interphone key-box installation for communication between different sections of an office ; old and new manual telephone-exchange switchboards ; old and new telephones and apparatus ; a machine-printing telegraph system, also obsolete telegraph instruments ; samples of submarine and other cables ; a ship's low-power transmitting and receiving station by which wireless reception and broadcasting of time-signals from the Wellington Observatory were carried out daily ; a set of clocks (working) showing at a glance at any hour the times at different places throughout the world ; photographs of old and present-day post-office buildings, mail-conveyances, &c. ; and sets of current and obsolete postage-stamps. Demonstrations of the working of the model automatic exchange, the machine-printing telegraph system, and other apparatus were given throughout the course of the Exhibition by a technical officer. In addition to providing post and telegraph facilities, and setting up a Court of Exhibits, the Post Office undertook at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin the work of transporting Government exhibits, both before and at the close of the Exhibition. The Department's efforts earned the appreciation of the Exhibition Directors. WORK FOR ELECTORAL DEPARTMENT. In assistance of giving effect to the Legislature Amendment Act, 1924, which requires an elector to notify the Registrar of Electors of any change, either temporary or permanent, in the address of the elector, arrangements were made to print at the bottom of the Post Office redirection order form a form of notice to the Registrar giving the elector's new address. After completion by the elector the form of notice is detached by the Postal officer to whom the redirection order is handed and is by him posted to the Registrar concerned. It is estimated that 70,0C0 such notifications are dealt with annually. POST OFFICE. ARTICLES DELIVERED. The number of articles delivered in the Dominion, including those received from places beyond New Zealand, during the year 1925, compared with the number in 1924, was as under : — 1Q25 1924 Increase UZB " ~ - Per Cent. Letters .. .. .. .. 148,160,011 135,795,141 9-11 Post-cards .. .. .. 4,677,034 3,909,557 19-63 Parcels .. .. .. .. 3,645,057 3,644,506 0-015 All other articles .. .. .. 80,134,655 71,362,283 12-29 236,616,757 214,711,487 AVERAGE NUMBER OF LETTERS POSTED PER UNIT OF POPULATION. 1925, 110-14. 1924, 103-7. NUMBER OF POST-OFFICES IN DOMINION. Offices opened during year, 27 ; offices closed during year, 78 ; offices remaining open on 31st December, 1925, 2,020.

3—F. 1.

17