has made it possible to have picture screenings each Saturday night in the fine Memorial Hall. The family is strictly self-contained. There are no butcher shops, dairies or bakeries. The people live, literally, off the land, killing their own meat, baking their own bread and making their own butter. Stores are ordered from Lyttelton, and, with high shipping charges, the cost of living is high. The staple diet once was mutton and potatoes, but improved conditions have altered all that. New additions to the family's diet are fruit, sweets, saveloys and bacon. With the improved conditions came big advances in housing. New homes are being built, and existing ones are being brought up-to-date. Diesel lighting plants have been installed in a number of houses, and in others, battery sets are in use, assisted by wind-chargers. The dilapidated shack, so typical a few years ago, has now almost disappeared, giving way to modern homes of standard design. The Maori Affairs Department is assisting the islanders with loans and designs. The chief occupation of the residents is, of course, sheep-farming, with fishing a good second. Who has not heard of the famous Chatham Island blue cod? Mainland interests have two modern freezers in operation, and the industry is growing. Shipping is always a worry, both of fish and sheep. Normally the island ships about 2200 sheep, 2000 bales of wool, and about 500 tons of fish. No rates are paid by the islanders, but a levy is imposed on all tonnage imported or exported, and produces about £5000 a year, which is largely used on the roads. The islanders have been fortunate in the officials who have been appointed to the island's services. These people have almost without exception done much to improve the conditions. There is one constable, but offences are largely against by-laws, and a new lock-up has not yet been occupied, except by occasional stores. Medical attention is provided by a resident doctor appointed by the Canterbury Hospital Board, while the Sisters of Mary (a Catholic Order) staff a seven-bed hospital. Shipping services have not improved much in recent years, mostly because of the unreliable conditions on the coast necessitating long delays, and long delays can become costly, but a flying-boat service, operating once a month during the summer months, has brought a luxury means of transport to the island. Children of Te One School.