Millions a Year.

These tickets are manufactured by the million in Wellington—at the rate of almost ten million per annum. Each year's output weighs ten tons, and would make a pile just on five miles high. If placed lengthwise, end on end, they would extend to a distance of over 350 miles!

I visited the Government Printing Office in Wellington where the tickets are printed. The coloured cards, cut to size, are obtained through the High Commissioner in London, under contract. The Railway Ticket Printer has a staff of seven, all of whom are solely occupied in the printing and despatch of railway tickets. The names of all stations and the matter on standard tickets are electro-typed, so that the setting up of the bulk of the tickets is a very simple operation. The type is contained in large open racks, and gleam like dull gold in a Monte Cristo treasure cave. The necessary lines are picked out from the racks, placed in a small frame, screwed up, and placed in position in the printing machine.

There are four printing machines, all electrically driven. In addition, they automatically number and perforate the tickets if such is required, performing this in one operation. The machines are 100 per cent. accurate. They spit out the tickets like a maxim gun at the rate of 10,000 an hour. The separate punching machines are even faster, having an output of approximately 15,000 an hour. They perforate two clean holes for binding the tickets with copper wire. Then there is the automatic counting machine, which registers the number of the tickets with equal rapidity and exclusive of error.

Stations keep six months’ stock of tickets, and obtain further batches from supplies on hand, or new ones are printed. Out of date tickets, after being checked, are burnt in the city destructor.

As one example of the efficiency of the Department, on an occasion when Dick Arnst was world's champion oarsman, an urgent order was received in Wellington for five hundred tickets for use at Blenheim the following morning. The telegram was received at the office of the Chief Accountant at 10.30 a.m., and the tickets were printed and registered at the G.P.O. at 11 a.m.

Trifling—that little ticket you hold—but tremendous!