A YEAR OF PROGRESS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1926, 8 December 1913, Page 5

A YEAR OF PROGRESS.

—_ WORK OF THE POST OFFICE. AN INTERESTING RESUME. Speaking at> tho annual dinner o[ tlio Wellington letter-carriers on Saturday evening, tlio Postmaster-General (Hon. R. H. Ehodes) ga\ •o an interesting resume of tlio progress mado by tlio Department during tlio past year. After thanking the gathering for drinking his toast, Mr. Rhodes went on to say: "It will 110 doubt bo opportuno to givo a brief resume of the concessions which liavo been granted by the present Government in regard to Departmental matters, particularly in view of the fact that this 13 a Departmental function. Amongst other tilings, mention may bo made of the fact that, with the object of bringing about a more speedy delivery of correspondenca by lctter-carrior6, tlio Department is arranging for a further supply of letter boxes for affixing to the gates and doors of residences in Wellington. Those boxes will be provided at a minimum cost.) Although at first sight it may appear'to any 0110 not acquainted with the circumstances that this is mere in the interests of the Department than in thoso of tlio householders, the fact should not be lost sight of that anything which saves the tirno cf tho letter-carrier must necessarily speed vp tho delivery of correspondence as ho proceeds 011 his rounds. "With tho growth of business, the duties of lettercarriers hecymio increasingly arduous, and it is found that tho journey to and from tho residences, which aro situated some distance from tho road, ami tho period of time which often elapses before the householder answers tho ring or lmock of the carrier would be saved were letter-boxes provided.

Rural Deliveries and Motor Vehloles. "Special attention has for some timo past been given to tho extension of rural doliverios; and a number of ordinary mail services havo this year been converted into such deliveries. Sinco April 1 last about 25 rural mail deliveries have been established. In tho moro settled country districts rural deliveries are being performed by Departmental officers mounted cn motorcycles. Motor-cycles are now in use in Wellington and Christchurch in tho transmission of telegrams between tho chief office and sub-offices. This change has resulted in a greatly expedited delivery of telegrams. Letters From a Flag Station. "l J rior to July 1 last, on letters posted at flag stations and railway sidings at places whero there was a post office, a late feo was charged even on days when no mail was dispatched. From July 1 tho conccssion of posting without lato fee was extended to non-mail days at those places. Parcel-post. "The increaso in tho volume of parcelpost business continues. Following on of tho reduction by 25 per cent, of tho rates on January 1 last, there has bee!, an expansion of business which lias fully justified tho action of the Department. Ail additional facility in tho parcel-post system has during the last few weeks been provided which will, no doubt, be appreciated by anglers. Formerly, trout weighing over 111b. could not be sent by parcel-post. It has now been arranged that during the present season single trout weighing up to 201b. will be conveyed by post; tho rato abovo 111b. being only Id. per lb.

"As a temporary measure during tho present unusual condition of trade, an extension has been mado of tho maximum weight of inland parcels from 111b. to 211b. between post offices served by rail or steamer. Tho inland pared receipt system, inaugurated on January 1 last, has been well supported, tho fee for a Departmental receipt from tho addressee being paid for in tho case of quite one-half of tho parcels posted. • In the event of loss whilo in tho post of a parcel for which a receipt has been paid, the Deartnient * admits liability to pay compensation to the sender. Fruit Order Scheme. "From January 1 last, a system was introduced whereby the public at places which can be reached by railway or steamer aro enabled to order supplies of fruit through tho medium of the Post Offico by means of an order coupon; tho chargo for tho coupon being 2(1., including postage to destination. At certain placos whero the railway has a cartage contract, house-to-house delivery of the fruit is made. To further assist tho general public, the Tost Offico has also made arrangements for the exhibition of frrfit-growers' prico lists at post offices. This innovation should prove an important factor in bringing the country producer into touch with tho consumer residing in our cities. That tho servico has not been more generally used so far may bo due to tho fact that tho public do not know of it, or that the various fruit-growers' associations havo not pushed it enough.

Savings Bank. "Innovations of soino importance liavo boon introduced during tho .year. It will be remembered that the rato of interest allowed on deposits not exceeding £300 was raised from 3i to 3J per cont. as from May 1 last. "The facilities for wage-earners to deposit a portion of tlieir wages on Saturday evenings liavo been further increased by tho opening of a largo number of the smaller savings banks for an hour on Saturday evenings. This will, no donbt, be much appreciated by thoso unable to attend a post offico during tho ordinary hours of business. "A reciprocal arrangement has been recently'entered into with the Government Savings Banks in the various States of the Australian Commonwealth, and with tho Savings Bank branch of tho Commonwealth Bank, with , its agencies throughout tho various States and in Papua, for tho transfer of Savings Bank accounts from ouo bank to another. This should provo of groat convenience to travelling depositors. V/cek-Entl Cable Messages. "There has been a largo increaso in this class of message. During January last (tho month in which tho system was introduced) 110 messages, of tho value of £137, wero dispatched, and 87 messages received. In October following tho number of messages dispatched had increased to 37G, of tho valuo of £4G3, whilo tho number of messages received rose to 174. Wireless Telegraphy. "It was with much pleasure that I was able to publicly announce a little timo ago a reduction of oO per cent, in tho chargc for wireless telegrams exchanged with ships trading exclusively between Australia and New Zealand or New Zealand ports only.

"The Dominion is now well equipped witli wireless stations. Those at Wellington and Auckland liavo done good work since their establishment last year. The station recently opened at Chatham Islands is also rendering good service. The high-power stations at Awaimi a.ud Awarua, which wero taken over by tlio Department 011 November 7 last, arc reported to be working satisfactorily. The trial of these stations was of an exhaustive character. They capablo of communicating at any time with tho radio station near Sydney; and at night ships botwoen 4000 and SOOO miles distant have read the signals of the Awa-

nui station. It is expected that those two stations, which at present have a listening service, irjil shortly be in regular operation, Telephone Exchanges. "There arc now 213 exchanges in Hie Dominion, and tlio connections therewith ure being made at the rate of nearly 7200 a year. The work of laying lines underground at Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch is being vigorously prosecuted; and its completion will result in increasing the eilieiency of tho telephone service. Similar work is also in progress at several of tho smaller centres.

Automatic Telephone Exchanges. "Tho engineering staff is busily engaged in tlio work preliminary to the iustalation of automatic equipment at tho six places for which a contract has been let —namely, Auckland, Blenheim, Hamilton, Masterton, Oamarn, and Wellington. At the four principal cities, tho old multiple switchboard system has reached its full limit. Extensions at Auckland and Wellington are being made by means of automatic telephone connections, and it will shortly be neoessary for attention being given to tho exchanges at Christchurch and Duncdin. Slot Telephones.

"Considerable public attention has been given of late to the slot telephone system, and the Department is very carefully considering tho question of providing this convenience wherever it can bo done. There hns up to tho present been a difficulty 111 meetiug demands owing to tho scarcity of slot telephones. There has, however, now arrived a considerable nuniber of these instruments, which will enablo the Department to make all tho installations which have up to the present been authorised. I am sorry that my immediate predecessor (Mr. Ell) is not here this evening, as he was the founder of the slot telephone system, and has always readily given me assistanco in establishing them.

Telephone Bureau Communications. "Au active demand for bureau or toll facilities continues. During tho last financial year bureau mc-ssages numbered nearly three millions, giving a revonuo of over £78,000. This was an increase of 575,000 111 the number for tho previous year, , and in value a rise of ovor £13,000. Bureau work in value amounted to 110 Icsb than 40 per cent, of tho incomo from ordinary telegrams. Tlio Department is doing everything possible to provide the wire accommodation necessary to adequately meet public demands in tho matter of bureau communications.