POST OFFICE HAS IMMENSE TASK OF' DELIVERING MAIL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 26, 29 November 1948, Page 5

POST OFFICE HAS IMMENSE TASK OF' DELIVERING MAIL

Busy Period To Xmas Is Expected

With the approach of Christmas, the post offices throughout New Zealand are again being geared to cope with the inevitable influx of mail. Postal officials declare that at this time evei’y year, • everybody seems to remember long lost friends, relations and others. So,- whether their addresses are known or not, they are posted something, a card or gift, depending on their importance. From then on it is the worry of the Post Office to find these people. Combine all the badly addressed mail and one gets a vague idea of the immense task that confronts the Post Office every year. Besides this, through the post, come badly tied and packed parcels, with nothing inside to indicate who they are from or to whom they are going. At the Whakatane post office in the last week sorters of the mail had to handle a large number of burst parcels. These have to be repacked and re-addressed. Badly addressed letters have to be traced to their supposed destinations, if possible, and if those cannot be found are returned to the sender—if his address is on the letter. Throughout the country the Post Office is faced with a serious shortage of staff, and poorly addresed or badly packed mail not only delays the work of sorters but also negatives considerably, its chances of being delivered. This morning an appeal was made by the postmaster at Whakatane, Mr S. W. Hills, for the public to post their mail early if they want it delivered by Christmas. Other-’ wise it may not be received until the New Year. He also asked that care be taken to address letters ai'id parcels clearly dnd that parcels be packed with the utmost care. “It has happened,” he remarked, “that some parcels of cosmetics have come in very flimsy wrappers. When they are thrown in the delivery bag they burst open, often spraying powder everywhere.- The post office then gets the blame for careless handling.” Mr Hills added that postal authorities made every effort to deliver all mail by Christmas. Their work would be made so much easier if the public exercised a bit more care when despatching.