The Postal District of Invercargill comprises the old provincial district of Southland, and extends as far as Arrowtown. The Chief Post Office stands well back from Dee Street, and is a handsome two-storey brick building with a clock tower. It was opened for public business on the 4th of August, 1893, and its northern wing is occupied by the Post and Telegraph Department. Telephone Exchange, Money Order Office and Savings Bank. In 1903 there were 214 officers employed in all departments throughout the district, and sixty two stationed at the head office in Invercargill. The accommodation at head quarters consists of a large public office with a semicircular counter, an office of the Chief Postmaster, a room for the Chief Clerk, and a mail room on the ground floor; and the next floor contains the Telephone Exchange and Telegraph Operating Room, a large room occasionally occupied as a learning room, a despatch room, and a Telephone Bureau. There is a box lobby, with 229 private boxes. The Post Office clock is kept in order by the Borough Council; it is lighted with gas, and has the usual cathedral chimes. In front of the Post Office, there is a handsome band rotunda, which occupies the central position of the large asphalt square, facing Dee Street. The block of land occupied by the handsome Government building's, which include the Post Office, extends to Esk Street on the north, the Crescent on the south, and the railway on the west. Mr. C. A. Tipping is Chief Postmaster, Mr. W. H. Price, Chief Clerk; and Mr. J. L. Bush has charge, of the telegraphic branch. From 120 to 130 bags of mails are received and despatched daily As the Bluff is the first port of call for mail steamers arriving in the colony, all over sea mails are landed, and sent to Invercargill: and this involves the handling of 150 to 200 bags of mail matter each week.

Mr. Charles Augustus Tipping , Chief Postmaster at Invercargill, was born in 1846, in Ireland, he came to Lyttelton, in 1862, by the ship “Echunga.” joined the Telegraph Department in Christchurch in 1864 and had a large experience before his page 808 appointment to Invercargill, in November, 1902. Mr. Tipping was married, in 1868, to a daughter of the late Mr. W. T. Ward, of Victoria, and has two sons

Mr. John Logan Bush , Officer-in-Charge of Telegraphs, Invercargill, first entered on his duties in 1871, when the staff consisted of himself and one assistant, with only one wire erected from Dunedin to Bluff. Now the telegraph and telephone staff numbers thirty-four, and there are over 450 miles of telegraph lines in the Southland district, exclusive of those in use in connection with the Telephone Exchange. The Invercargill Exchange has 300 subscribers, and is also connected with branch exchanges and bureaux at neighbouring townships, to the number of sixty.

Customs House , Invercargill. There has been a Customs House at Invercargill for about fifty years. For a long time the department had its quarters in a building on the Bluff Road, but now (1904) its domicile is on the ground floor at the Government Buildings in Dec Street. There is the customary long room, and a room for the Collector, who is assisted by a landing waiter, locker, and clerk. There are three bonds in Invercargill; one in the premises of Messrs. W. B. Mitchell and Co., and another in those of Messrs. Nichol Brothers, and a third in those of Messrs Mackerras and Hazlett, Limited. The duties collected in Invercargill in 1903 amounted to £83,524, including £1,630 for beer duty.

The Southland District Of The Land And Survey Department embraces the counties of Wallace, Fiord, Southland, and Stewart Island, with part of the counties of Lake, Clutha, and Tuapeka. It also includes the Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes, Bounty, and adjacent islands. The offices of the department are on the first floor of the Post Office Building in Dee Street. Mr. John Hay is Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands; Mr. H. L. Welch, Receiver of Land Revenue; Mr. J. Robinson, Chief Draught man; Mr. G. Fannin. Chief Clerk; Mr. L. O. Mathias, District Surveyor; and Mr. O. Otway, Assistant Surveyor.

The Covernment Valuation Department And Advances To Settlers Office For Southland is in Dee Street, Invercargill. The district includes the counties of Southland. Lake, Wallace and Vincent, and the stall comprises the Supervising Valuer and six assistants. The Advances to Settlers Office was opened on the first of January, 1895, and the Valuation Department in 1897.

The Government Deeds, Land Transfer And Stamp Office for the Southland district is situated on the ground floor of the Post Office Buildings. Three rooms are occupied in addition to a large strong room, and the records of all deeds for the whole of Southland are kept at this office. The staff consists of the Registrar, Mr. R. W. Dyer, the Assistant Registrar, Mr. J. Bell, and four assistants.

The Public Trust Office has been represented in Invercargill for the last twenty-one years by Mr. B. F. Cuthbertson, under whose charge the local business of the branch increased from a sum of about £1500, put through the office in 1883, to close on £7000 in 1903. These sums do not represent the value of the estates administered by the Public Trustee through his Invercargill agent, but merely the actual cash that has passed through that particular agent's hands. No department of the public service requires to be conducted with more scrupulous accuracy and business tact, than that which deals with trust funds and estates, and the increase of business just mentioned, seems to show that confidence in the management of the Public Trust office, and appreciation of the benefits that it offers, are extending throughout the community.

The Department Of Agriculture in the old provincial district of Southland is divided into two districts; one with its office in the Government Buildings, Dee Street, Invercargill. and the other with its headquarters at Gore. The Invercargill district includes all the country near the seaboard, from Chasland's Mistake to the Princess Range beyond the Waiau river. The district staff consists of the Inspector of Stock in charge of the district, who is also Registrar of Brands, Inspector under the Noxious Weeds Act, the Rabbit Nuisance Act, the Dairy Industry Act, the Slaughtering and Inspection Act, and Enumerator under the Agricultural and Pastoral Statistics Act, two clerks; three rabbit agents; one dairy and noxious weeds inspector; and four permanent rabbiters. Extra men are employed every year for the collection and compilation of agricultural and pastoral statistics. The veterinary division of the department has one veterinarian and three assistant meat inspectors in the Invercargill district.

Mr. Robert Wright , Inspector in charge of the Invercargill district, is referred to on page 463 of this volume, under Maheno. Mr. Wright was in charge of the Milton district from 1900 to June, 1002, when he was promoted to Invercargill.

The Roads Department Of Public Works has had a separate office in Southland since 1901. Its quarters are on the first floor of the Post Office buildings, and all public roads in the Southland district on which Government money is spent, are under the direction of the engineer-in-charge. The most of the work is done by co-operative labour, and about one hundred men, more or less, are employed. Mr. J. H. Treseder is District Road Engineer in charge.

Mr. William Young Millar , Road Inspector under the Roads Department, Invercargill, was appointed to his present position on the 1st of December, 1902. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1834, and learned the trade of a blacksmith. In 1853 Mr. Millar came to Port Chalmers by the ship “Rajah,” and worked at his trade in Dunedin for six years, and in Invercargill for three years. He was attracted to the goldfields, visited Tuapeka, was two years at the Lake, and eighteen months on the West Coast. On returning to Southland Mr. Millar joined the railway service. He was the first guard on the line from Invercargill to Winton, and held that position for two years. Then he turned his attention to contracting, and had the first sub-contract under the Messrs Brogden for ballasting the line from Woodlands to Gore, and he also finished the Edendale cutting. Later on he supervised the construction of the line between Caroline and Lumsden. With two partners, Mr. Millar was subsequently engaged in Hawke's Bay on the construction of the line from Waipawa to Kopu. On returning to Southland he worked on the line between Makerewa page 811 Junction and Riverton. Mr. Millar was afterwards Inspector of Roads for two years for the. Southland County Council; and took contracts for bridge and road construction for twelve years before taking his present position under the Public Works Department. Mr. Millar was an early member of the Hand and Heart Lodge of Oddfellows, Dunedin, and one of the foundation members of Lodge Shamrock, Rose and Thistle, Invercargill. He was married on Christmas Eve, 1857, to a daughter of the late Mr. John Sinclair, Excise Officer, Kelso, Scotland, and has one surviving daughter and eight grandchildren.

The Southland Branch Of The Department Of Labour has its offices in Ward's Buildings, The Crescent, Invercargill. It has been a separate department in Invercargill since the 1st of June, 1897, and is under the control of an inspector and his assistant. The district extends from Clinton to the Bluff, and the local police assist the inspector in the performance of his duties.

Mr. Luke Dryden Browett , Inspector of Factories for the Southland District, was transferred to his present position in 1902, from Napier, where he had been inspector of factories since 1896. Mr. Browett was born in Northampton, England, in 1862, and arrived at Lyttelton, New Zealand, in 1885. For some time he worked at his trade as a bootmaker, and took a leading part as a negotiator in connection with strikes and other troubles. He first entered the public service as officer-in-charge of the Labour Bureau at Lyttelton, in 1895.

Government Department Of Public Health . The head office for Southland is located on the first floor of Briscoe's Buildings, Dee Street, Invercargill. The office dates from January, 1901, and was opened soon after the Government formed the general Public Health Department for the colony. The Southland Health district consists of the counties of Southland, Wallace, Stewart Island, Fiord, and Lake, including of course all towns and other places within these boundaries. It has a total area of 10,907 square miles, a population of 61,000, and nineteen city, borough and county councils. The officer-in-charge of the Southland district acts in all public health matters as supervisor and adviser to the councils throughout the province, and each council is the Board of Health for its own locality. It is the duty of the Government Health Officer to see that these Boards enforce all measures needful to safeguard the health of the people. The councils have inspectors for this work, and they carry out their duties under the general direction of the Government officer. If any council neglects to comply with his instructions, it can be prosecuted at law. All medical practitioners have also immediately to notify him of any cases of infectious disease under their charge, in order that means may be taken to prevent the spread of contagion. Though the Department has not been long in existence, many valuable public health reforms have already been instituted under its jurisdiction. The Southland office is exceedingly well equipped for the work. The valuable reference library and comprehensive drawings, etc., of the latest developments in general sanitary science, belonging to the officer-in-charge, will well repay inspection by any one interested in public health.

The Southland Railways include a portion of the main trunk line between Dunedin and Invercargill, and there are lines from Invercargill to Bluff, from Edendale to Glenham, from Gore to Waimea Plains, Invercargill to Waimahaka, Invercargill to Kingston, Invercargill to Riverton and Orepuki, Riverton to Nightcaps, Lumsden to Mossburn, and Winton to Hedgehope. The distance from Dunedin to Invercargill is 130 miles, from Gore to Lumsden 37 miles, Invercargill to Bluff 17 miles, Invercargill to Kingston 87 miles, and Invercargill to Orepuki 43 miles. The Southland railways have now a total mileage of 338 miles, and the lines do an extensive trade. Tn ten years the quantity of grain carried has increased from 1,500,000 bushels to over 3,000,000 bushels. The total number of passengers carried in the year 1892 was under 300,000, while in 1903 it was nearly 650,000. Within the same period the tonnage of goods increased from 214,000 tons to 304,000 tons; and the comparison includes 14,000 tons of coal in 1802 against 40,000 in 1003. In the same years the number of sheep carried increased from 85,000 to 220,000. All these figures refer strictly to the Southland section of the New Zealand railways.

Mr. Charles Albert Piper , District Traffic Manager of the Southland section of New Zealand Railways, was born in London, England. He came to New Zealand in 1859, and was the first cadet to join the railway department in Canterbury in 1872. After six years' service at Christchurch he was removed to Oamaru, where he remained as relieving-officer for two years. In 1881 he was transferred to Dunedin, and was stationed in that city for fifteen years as chief traffic clerk. Mr. Piper was appointed Traffic Manager at Greymouth in 1897, and three years later he was transferred to Wanganui, where he remained for a year before being appointed to Southland in 1902.

Mr. David Munro , Railway Audit Inspector for the Otago, Southland, and South Canterbury Sections of New Zealand Railways, was born in Otago in 1861, and was educated principally in Dunedin. In 1877 he joined the Railway Department, as a cadet at Moeraki—prior to the opening of the extension to Oamaru—and was afterwards transferred to that town as clerk, and three years later was appointed clerk in the goods department at Dunedin. In 1886, he joined the railway accountant's staff at the head office, Wellington, and three years subsequently was appointed to his present position. Mr. Munro joined the Caversham Rifles in 1885 as a private, and rose to be lieutenant and held that rank until he was transferred to Wellington.

Mr. John Greenwood , who has been Clerk in the Locomotive Department at the Invercargill Railway Station since 1895, was born in Lancashire, England, in 1851, and educated partly in his native county and partly in Victoria, where he arrived with his parents in 1862. In 1876 he came to New Zealand and settled in Christchurch, and soon afterwards joined the railway service. Mr. Greenwood was employed in the Addington Workshops for seven years, and was then transferred to the locomotive branch in Dunedin, where he served for about eight years before being appointed to his present position at Invercargill. He joined the Enterprise Lodge of Druids in Christchurch, and passed all the chairs; and as a Freemason, he is a life member and also a Past Secretary of Lodge Celtic, Dunedin. Mr. Greenwood was married, in Victoria, in 1877, to a daughter of Mr. Robert Baxter, of Maryborough, and has three sons and two daughters.

Mr. A. Mackenzie , formerly Locomotive Foreman of the Invercargill Section of New Zealand Government Railways, was born at Dundee, Scotland, on the 3rd of November, 1848. He was educated at the Normal School, Alyth, and arrived with his parents at Lyttelton in the shin “Ganundqui,” from London, In 1861. Mr. MacKenzie joined the railway service in 1876, was promoted to the position of driver in charge at Timaru in October, 1880, and became in December of the same year locomotive foreman in charge of the locomotive depôt of the Southland section. He became a Freemason at Ashburton in 1878, when he was initiated in Lodge Somerset, 1811, E.C., and affiliated with Lodge St. John, No. 610, S.C., Invercargill, in 1883, passing through all the chairs from Junior Deacon upwards, and was installed Worshipful Master in 1890. In the following year he was elected treasurer of St. John, No. 94, under the New Zealand Grand Lodge. Mr. MacKenzie was elected a Grand Steward of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand in 1895.

Mr. And Mrs A. Mackenzie.

The Invercargill Railway Station , which stands in Leven Street, at the bottom of Esk Street, is a substantial and well appointed building. It is erected in wood and iron, and contains first and second class waiting rooms, and all the accommodation required for the working stall, and for the public. There is a long asphalt platform, a considerable portion of which is covered over by the building. At each end of the platform, there are docks, for the north and south trains. A large goods shed on the other side of the line is connected with the station by a footbridge. There are also engine sheds, and extensive new workshops stand on a block of land facing Liddell and Tweed Streets. A complete and extensive yard is fitted with the latest system of interlocking machinery, and at each end of the yard there is a signal box. The one at the south end is said to be the largest in New Zealand, and is fitted with sixty-live levers. The tablet system is in force on the Invercargill railway section, as far as Riverton and Winton. The district officers have compact offices adjoining the railway station. Eighty men, including clerks, porters and guards are under the immediate control of the station-master.

Mr. Thomas Walter Brebner , Stationmaster at Invercargill, joined the railway service in 1873 at Port Chalmers. He was successively appointed stationmaster at Clinton, Napier, and Gore, and was transferred in 1894 to Invercargill. In 1897 he was chosen as the Southland delegate to the council of the Railway Officers' Institute, and has been twice elected representative of the first division on the Railway Appeal Board for the Middle Island.

Mr. Howard Turton , Delivery Clerk in the Goods Department at the Invercargill Railway Station, was born in 1875, at Christchurch, where he was educated and served for three years in the grocery business. He then joined the railway department as a cadet, and eighteen months later was transferred to Dunsandel. After three years and a half there, he was transferred to Christchurch, and served in that place for four years. In 1901 Mr. Turton was transferred, at his own request, to Invercargill. He was married, in 1901, to a daughter of the late Mr. P. Clohery, of Queenstown.

Mr. James Lawrence Sullivan , Second Clerk in the Goods Department at the Invercargill Railway Station, was born in 1872, in Lyttelton, where he was educated, and joined the railway service as a cadet in 1885. Alter serving for about six years he was transferred to Addington, and two years later became second clerk at the Bluff, where he remained for eleven years before being transferred to the Invercargill office. Mr. Sullivan was married, in 1890, to a daughter of Sergeant-Major Blackmore, now of Wellington, and for years Instructor of Southland Volunteers. There is a family of three sons.

Mr. Nicholas Maloney , Coaching Foreman at the Invercargill Railway Station, was born in 1868 in Tasmania, and attended school there and at Queenstown. New Zealand, where he arrived in 1879. He joined the railway service at Dunedin, as a porter, and during the first ten years, rose to the position of guard. Mr. Maloney was coaching foreman at Oamaru for two years, was for a like period at New Flymouth, and then held office as goods-foreman at Christ-church for a year, before being promoted to his present position at Invercargill in 1903. Mr. Maloney was married, in May, 1898, to a daughter of Mr. John Dunne, proprietor of the Crown Hotel, Balchuha, and has three sons.

Mr. John W. Newton has been a railway servant since 1877, and is well known as a guard on the Bluff section. He was born in Manchester, England, in January, 1859, and, as a lad of five years, accompanied his parents to Lyttelton, by the ship “Greyhound.” He attended school at Duvauchelle's Bay. Banks Peninsula, and also at Prebbleton for a short period. In 1877 he joined the railway as a shunter, and after three years of service, spent seven months in Sydney, and then returned to New Zealand and rejoined the railway department in Christchurch, where he became a guard. After ten years in Canterbury, he was transferred to Invercargill, in 1891. He afterwards ran as a guard in Auckland and Canterbury, and returned to Invercargill in 1900. Mr. Newton was married, in 1882, to a daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Burrows, of Christchurch, and has three daughters and three sons.

Mr. And Mrs J. W. Newton And Family.

Mr. James Findlay , Engine Driver on the Invercargill section of the New Zealand Railways, was born at Tayport, Scotland, in 1851, educated there, and brought up on a farm. When about sixteen years of age he entered the service of the North British Railway Company, with which he remained six years, and sailed in 1874, for Lyttelton, New Zealand. In 1875 he joined the New Zealand railway service, as cleaner, but was, in the same year, removed to Timaru as fireman, and back again to Christchurch in 1877, as a driver. Since that time he has been successively at Port Lyttelton, Christchurch, Oamaru, Invercargill, Mauriceville, Eketahuna and Invercargill again; though the greater part of his time since 1881 hag been spent in Invercargill. He is a member of the Pioneer Lodge, No. 27, Independent Order of Oddfellows. Mr. Findlay was married, in 1881, to a daughter of Mr. James Rennie, of Glasgow, and has five sons and four daughters.

Mr. David Tull , Ganger on Section 71 of the Invercargill-Bluff railway, was born at Hayes, Middlesex, England, in 1869. In 1871 he left, with his parents, for New Zealand, and the family settled in Invercargill, where he was educated, and began to work on the railways when he was eighteen years of ago. Since then he has worked on all the Southland lines. He began to work on his present section in 1898, and in 1899 was promoted to be ganger. Mr. Tull—whose page 816 private address is Grace Street, South Invercargill—was married, in 1896, to a daughter of Mr. James Phillipson, of Clifton, and has two daughters.

The Invercargill And Southland Police District commences midway between Gore and Clinton, and includes the counties of Southland, Wallace, Lake and Stewart Island; also the adjacent islands. There are eighteen police stations under the control of the officer in charge. The staff consists of an inspector, three sergeants, a detective, and twenty-eight constables. The station in Esk Street is a three storey brick building. It was erected in 1901, and contains offices and barracks, with cells at the back.

Mr. Alfred Jakes Mitchell , Inspector in charge of the Police District of Invercargill, was born in Devonshire. England, in 1854. He joined the police force in Otago in 1877, and after serving in various positions was promoted to the rank of inspector, and was stationed at Invercargill in October, 1902.

The Goal at Invercargill occupies a site of over an acre at the corner of Spey and Leven Streets. The main building, which is built of brick, is surrounded by a high wall, contains fifteen cells, and has accommodation for thirty male prisoners. A female prison adjoins, and has accommodation for seven inmates. The residence of the goaler is outside the wall, and is a wood and iron building. The staff consists of the goaler, principal warder, two assistants, and a matron for the female prisoners.

Mr. Alexander Armstrong , Goaler in charge of the Invercargill Goal, was born at sea in 1813/ He was an officer of the East India Company's service for twenty-one years, and has been in charge at Invercargill since April, 1903.

The Southland Hospital And Charitable Aid Board was constituted in 1885, under “The Hospital and Charitable institutions Act, 1885,” and took over the administration of the affairs of the Benevolent Institution. Afterwards the Bowmont Street Home was built, and more recently the Lome Farm was purchased, and has been very successful. The Board controls a large district, including the counties of Southland, Wallace, Lake and Stewart Island, and has to provide the funds for the Queenstown and Arrowtown hospitals. Requisitions are made each year in April, on four counties, and thirteen borough councils, to provide the necessary funds for hospitals and page 817 charitable aid. In addition to maintaining its various institutions, the Board extends benevolent and outdoor relief to deserving cases throughout the entire district. There are from sixty to seventy families in receipt of assistance in this way, at a total cost of about £25 per week. The Board has offices in Tay Street, in a handsome new brick building, of two stories, which was completed in April, 1904. The ground floor is let, and the first floor is used for the offices and Board room. The total income of the Board for the year ending March, 1903, was £14,719, and the expenditure was £15,138. Out of this expenditure, £6,145 was spent on hospitals, £1,632 for relief, rent, and food, and the expenses of administration. Seven per cent of the Board's income was required for administration, and the sum of £2,590 was spent on improvements to Lome Farm, which cost altogether £10,000. The Bowmont Street Home cost the Board £6,000. Of the income for the year named, £6,370 was contributed by local bodies, and the subsidy by the Government amounted to £6,463. Members for the year 1904: Messrs A. Bain (chairman), Thomas Green, James Fleming, Colin Robertson, John Hamilton, John Fraser, John D. McGruer, John MacGibbon, and Phillip de La Perrelle. Mr. R. Day is secretary and treasurer. The inspector visits all parts of the district, and is personally in touch with every case in connection with which the Board spends money.

Gerstenkorn, photo.Mr. E. Day.

Mr. Andrew Bain has been Chairman of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board since 1897.

Mr. Reginald Day , Secretary, Treasurer and Inspector to the Southland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, was born in Dorsetshire, England, in 1873. When very young he came to New Zealand with his parents, and was educated in Invercargill and at Gore. After leaving school he gained experience in mercantile life, and was appointed to his present position in April, 1901. Mr. Day is an active member of the Anglican church, and an honorary lay reader. He was for three years a member of the Gore Rifles. Mr. Day was married, in December, 1889, to a daughter of Mr. J. Barton, of Dunedin, and has one son and one daughter.

The Invercargill Hospital is picturesquely situated at the north end of Dee Street, and forms a landmark for the visitor as he strolls through the municipal area of the well-laid out town of Invercargill. The buildings are divided into three main blocks, built on the pavilion plan, the northern block, which includes the hospital proper, being subdivided into male and female wards. The central block is set apart for relieving outdoor patients, and contains a well-appointed dispensary under the charge of a competent dispenser. Adjoining the dispensary is the operating-room fitted up with the latest surgical appliances. The southern block forms the residence of the medical superintendent. Situated at the rear and detached from the main buildings, are the laundry and other domestic offices, all of which are suitably provided. The buildings are connected by corridors, the wards running east and west, with double-storied verandahs carried to their full length and finished throughout in Keen's cement. The floors of the wards are wax polished and scrupulously clean, disinfected, and well-ventilated. This latter feature is characteristic of the whole establishment. The upper wards are connected by means of iron staircases, built In with concrete, of which the floors of the verandahs, offices, and kitchen are also constructed. The latrines and bathrooms are situated in the angle towers, which are detached from the main building. The first portion of the hospital was erected in 1802, and three female wards were added in 1896. Owing to the exertions of the late chairman, Mr. J. E. Watson, assisted by the liberal contributions of the citizens of Invercargill, a new wing, called the “Victoria,” has been erected at a cost of £4000, of which £2000 was raised by public subscriptions and the remainder contributed by the General Government. This new wing comprises two male wards and will accommodate thirty-two patients. There is a special fever ward at the back of the main building with accommodation for eight patients. In 1902 an outpatients' room, a consulting room, and extra bedroom accommodation were provided: and the average number of patients is forty-two. In 1903, 473 patients passed through the hospital. The present Hospital Trustees secured an area of ground from the trustees of the late Mr. J. T. Thomson, of “Lennel,” which they afterwards exchanged with the Borough Council for the Victoria Avenue. The hospital grounds are tastefully laid out, and cover nearly an acre in extent, ample scope being thus afforded for the recreation of the convalescent patients. The present staff consists of: Dr. A. Hendry (medical superintendent), Miss J. Ewart (matron), five nurses, and Mr. H. D. Smith (secretary, treasurer and dispenser). There are eleven nurses, two laundresses, a cook, kitchen and housemaid, a porter and a gardener. The work is done on the eight hours' system.

The Victoria Memorial Home was erected in memory of the late Queen Victoria. It formally originated in a meeting held on the 17th of April, 1900, and was opened on the 12th of August in the same year. The Home is situated in Tweed Street, and was designed by Mr. C. H. Roberts, architect. It contains rooms for the matron, combined sitting rooms and bedrooms for the girls, a kitchen and laundry, a sickroom, a dormitory with six beds, a bathroom and other accommodation. The institution is supported by voluntary contributions, which are paid by inmates who are able to do so, and by the laundry. Preventive and rescue work is engaged in, and comfortable accommodation is provided for girls in need of such temporary assistance. Miss Jean MeKenzie, the matron, had three years of experience in Salvation Army rescue work, and was appointed in September, 1903. A committee of ladies has the oversight of the Home.