BADLY PACKED PARCELS FOUND IN POST OFFICE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 59, 21 June 1950, Page 5

BADLY PACKED PARCELS FOUND IN POST OFFICE

Ever smelt the stench of rotting mushrooms, decomposing crayfish, oroken eggs or seen the mess that carelessly parcelled honey, ink, or fruit can make in a mailbag? Bay of Plenty Post Office employees often do because of a heedless consignor.

More often than not, the same consigner who sent a poorly-wrap-ped parcel through the mail has to pay the most in compensation to those whose parcels were stained with fruit or impregnated with the smell of dead fish and rotten mushrooms. At the same time, neither does the person who receives the parcel, the person whose parcel was ruined, or the person in the post office who had to handle the parcel receive adequate satisfaction.

Strong Publicity In spite of a strong publicity campaign for senders of all parcels to ensure that they are properly packed, wrapped, labelled and addressed, some people still insist on sending poorly-packed perishable goods by post. Employees working in the sorting room of the Whakatane Post Office are thankful this year that the mushroom season has been poor. 'Mushrooms are a menace,” said a postal officer. When decayed, they spread a stench that impregnates eVerything within range. Poorly packed, their juice seeps through thin cardboard and paper on to the contents of nearby parcels. Such occurrences are not extraordinary at the post office. At one office, the stench of fish aroused the suspicion of the staff. They found a parcel of oily fish and contaminated a mailbag and utterly ruined seme dress lengths with oil seeping through. The fish was a speciallyprepared delicacy consigned to a Chinese. Compensation in this case has yet to be settled. How does the post office suggest you pack your perishable goods? Peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries and mushrooms are best packed in a tin or secure wooden boxes with sawdust or some soft absorbent to take any juice. Wired boxes are preferred with labels saying fruit on the outside and marked “express transit.” Cake boxes tied with string do not suffice. Posting Eggs If you want to post eggs, the post office suggest a similar method of packing. Casual consignors of eggs Who pack them carelessly are constantly providing trouble. Commercial poultrymen who often send big consignments of settings through the post, usually take great care and few breakages result. Crayfish, that are delayed in transit, speak for themselves. A less bothersome habit but one that sometimes results in injury to a postal sorter is that of posting badly packed sharp instruments—scissors, knives, razors and forks. Injuries caused by such instruments occur rarely but the possibilities are there.