Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 4 September 1925, Page 2

()> entering the Dead Letter Offi c :e the General Post Office. Wellington, and seeing the undelivered letter! neatly arranged in the letter case, one is amazed that so ninny letters should, for some reason- other than fault on the part of the post office, fail to n -h ib e addreses. The reasons for failure in delivery are manv. Some letters are not delivered 1 ee.au=e the addressee has 1-ft the address given, without lodging with the post office an order for the redirection of corros-

pamlence. In some cases the sender Inis {riven n wrong or insufficient address; and in others, i.e. in the case of letters addressed to the care of a post office or to a small country place, tin addressee lias failed to call at the post offhe. Strange as i( may seem, the reason for non-delivery of a good many letter- is that the letters have hcen posted entirely iinndilreused. Sometimes a letter intended for Queen St.. Auckland, i- addressed to Queen Si. Wellington, the post office very wisely returns it to the sender in order that he may correctly address and repost it. This course i- hotter than endeavouring to effect delivery in any of the numerous Queen Streets in the Dominions It saves delay and preclude- the possibility of a letter reaching the hand- of a person for whom i> is not intended. An exception is made however in the case of a letter I rtin- overseas which is addressed to thr wrong town, fn such a ease the post office makes every endeavour to the sunders mi-take he loro treating the letter as undeliverahle. Tin atmosphere of the Dead Letter Ofliee i- very different from that of a busy mail room where all is noise and hustle. In the Dead Letter Office, with the exception of the scratching of pens, silence reigns supreme. The letter returners work with nimble lingers and facile pens. Smartly they -lit open each letter. One glance at the signature, another at the heading. and the returned letter envelope is addressed. The letter is then placed rei one side to lie pas-ed through the envelope sealing machine prior to eontinning its journey Lack to the sender. Co a trace to the general belief, lei tors ari not held in the Dead Letter Office I'm any staled period. They are returned in tlie senders in the order of their arrival in the Dead Letter Office, and sneli return is* cfloeieil as speedily as possible. It tan safely l>e said that under ordinary iin umstnnees no letter remains in the Dead Letter Ofliee for more -than one week.