F.—l.

Following the acquisition of additional land adjoining the site of the new chief post-office building for Thames, the plans of the building are being redrawn to provide for a larger and more commodious structure than that originally proposed. The construction of an additional story on the newer portion of the General Post Office building, Wellington, has been authorized. This additional accommodation will relieve the existing congestion in the building. Additions to the Wellington radio-station buildings to accommodate additional radio equipment were commenced during the year and have since been completed. Extensive alterations to the public counters in the General Post Office building at Wellington have been carried out, and the accommodation both for the stafl and for the public has been considerably improved. The accommodation in a number of other departmental buildings also has been improved. The reconstruction of the upper stories of the post-office buildings at Eketahuna and Woodville, which were damaged by earthquake in March, 1934, was put in hand. Work on both buildings has now been completed. A number of post-office buildings were decorated and illuminated on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty the King. It is the intention of Government to erect two blocks of Government buildings at Auckland and Wellington respectively. The building at Auckland will occupy the site of the present Auckland East post-office building and that at Wellington will be erected on the site of the Department's line depot in Stout Street. POSTAGE-STAMPS. Postage-stamps of the new pictorial series were placed on sale throughout the Dominion on the Ist May last. The appearance of the stamps was awaited with keen interest not only by philatelists, but also by members of the public generally; and I am pleased to say that the stamps, from the point of view both of design and of reproduction, have been the subject of much appreciative comment. A new series of air-mail stamps of the denominations Id., 3d., and 6d. was placed on sale on the 4th May. The original air-mail stamps will be withdrawn from sale at the end of October. To commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the Accession to the Throne of His Majesty the King, arrangements were made for the issue of a special series of postage-stamps of the denominations Jd., Id., and 6d., which was placed on sale from the 7th May to the 22nd June, replacing during that period the corresponding values of the new pictorial series. The children's health-camp fund, administered by the Minister of Health, benefited to the extent of £989 7s. lid. as a result of the sale during the summer months of another 2d. " health " stamp. Arrangements are in train for intensifying the health stamp campaign, and it is hoped to increase greatly the amount that will be available in future for the very worthy object for which these stamps are issued. Stamps op Cook Islands, Niue, and Western Samoa. In the postage-stamps of Cook Islands, Niue, and Western Samoa the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty the King was recorded by the appropriate overprinting of stamps of the current series in the denominations Id., 2|d| and 6d., and, except in the case of those of Samoa, by printing the centres in new colours. The new series of postage-stamps for the Mandated Territory of Western Samoa was placed on sale on the 7th August of this year. The stamps are in nine denominations ranging in value from Jd. to 3s. NEW PACKET SERVICE. The " small packets " service introduced by the Department in July of last year meets a definite need. As small articles liable to Customs duty are not permitted entry into many countries by letter or sample - post, it was necessary, until the inauguration of the new service, for such articles, even though they weighed only a few ounces, to be sent as parcels on which

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