THE ALASKA’S MAILS.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2693, 24 November 1882, Page 3

THE ALASKA’S MAILS.

[press association telegbam.l WELLINGTON, Novcmhel- 23.

The secretary of the Post Office furnishes the following news regarding the burned mails for the United Kingdom, which left here via San Francisco in August last: — " Mails; wore put on board the steamer Alaska at New York on the 11th September, and found to be on fire next morning at 9.30. Three officials from the New York office v investigated, and came to the conclusion that the fire originated in a bag from Sydney, and they kept a small tin box found in the ashes, in which had apparently been something combustible. The result of the clearing up on the voyage, the steamer being on the point of departure when the fire was discovered, shows that thirteen bags of the mails from Now Zealand, Fiji, Tasmania, and New South Wales were either wholly or partially burnt. Two of these were from Fiji, and two from Tasmania, one from Sydney, and two from H.M. ships. There were collected out of the remains, six bags of newspapers in good order, and one damaged to such an extent as not to be able to be dealt with, one of letters ih good order and one of damaged, and two containing worthless fragments and ashes of valuable articles. There were found a gold and silver watch, a chain and locket in a box, one ring in a box, two rings loose, a brooch and other ornaments not specified, £lO and sixpence in money, and two knitted scarves, and some other trifles of like worth. The mail from Now Zealand to London and its suburbs was uninjured. The registered letters from London forward, that is for all other places in England and Wales except Liverpool and 168 offices served through Liverpool, were almost all burned. As the letter bill of this mail was also burned, it cannot bo said how much ordinary correspondence suffered. However, an average weight of letters arrived safely. This mail originally contained 10,654 letters, inclusive of 237 registered. The bags of letters, made up of the remains, consists of a lot of six bundles. New South Wales’ letters were very little damaged, and about 1300 letters were damaged from New Zealand and New South Wales. These were all whole enough to be enclosed in official envelopes at the Foreign Department of the General Post Office, and sent out for delivery. The Returned Letter Department subsequently found 130 more to be able to be delivered. Five registered letters from New Zealand were very much burned, but it is not said whether so much so as to prevent their delivery. It is supposed that one bag and its contents, letters from New Zealand, were altogether destroyed, and it appears that one bag ofbooks and three of newspapers were so much burned that only parts of the bags were left. Of the letters partly destroyed but sent out for delivery from the Returned Letter Office, three were registered and contained bills of exchange, money orders, &c. One of the registered letters was from New Zealand, from ‘’Minnie,” of Pokeno .Valley, and it contained money. The origin of those with valuable property is not knpwn. There remains in the returned letter office, not able to be disposed of, sixty-seven letters and some photos, books, &c. There was found a money order. No. 8264, Auckland, on Peterborough, for £l. All the valuable property, remains, &c., will be disposed of by delivery to addresses and otherwise as quickly as possible. All correspondence going to England for transmission abroad is enclosed in the mail for London itself. On this occasion, therefore, it did not suffer injury.” It is not stated in what proportion the mails for London (forward), Glasgow, and Dublin suffered, or whether those for the two latter places suffered at all. It seems most likely they did not.