POST OFFICE STAFF ENTERING VERY BUSY PERIOD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 35, 20 December 1948, Page 4

POST OFFICE STAFF ENTERING VERY BUSY PERIOD

The Christmas mail rush at the Post Office has started, and this week it is expected to reach a record at Whakatane. Officials describe it as being something like pre-war years. Up to the present time both inward and outward mails have been very heavy and have surpassed the amount handled in previous years. This, according to an official, is probably because many more people are beginning to realise the value of early postings. (f But, with this heavy influx, has come the inevitable number of bad-ly-addressed and poorly-packed parcels and letters. In some cases, letters have come in with no addresses at all. Recently, a letter card came in minus any address and no clue to who the sender was. A glance through a collection of the broken parcels reveals an amazing array of articles. Books, toys, clothing, fountain pens and propelling pencils to name a few. One propelling pencil came to Whakatane last week with an address that could not be found. There was no indication who it Was from, so this valuable present has gone to the dead letter office in Wellington. It may be claimed. All this has meant extra work for the post office staff, who are now working long hours to handle the large volume of mail. Besides the mail room other departments are being kept busy. Outward toll traffic from Whakatane* has beaten all previous records by a substantial margin, while the telegraph traffic is also far above normal.

It is expected to be even busier near the end of this week.