EARLY P. & T. HISTORY.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 October 1921, Page 4

EARLY P. & T. HISTORY.

CHANGES IN 37 YEARS. MARKED GROWTH OF BUSINESS. EXPERIENCES OF MR. H. E. FOOKES. A period of thirty-seven years in the Post and Telegraph Department sees many changes, and some interesting particulars of past experiences in this work were related by Mr. H. E. Fookes, telegraph superintendent at New Plymouth, in the course of an interview with a Daily News reporter yesterday. Mr. Fookes retires voluntarily at the end oft December after 37 years’ service, of which 28 have been spent in New Plymouth and nine in Wellington.

The New Plymouth Post Office was a small building in Silver Street (recently occupied by the Customs Department') 1 when Mr. Fookes began his term as a cadet in 1885, and the staff totalled 13. To-day the employees at the chief post office number 97 and Mr. Fookes has 62 telegraph and telephone officers under his personal control. Tn those days two letter carriers sufficed, one for each end of the borough, and three telegraph messengers were employed. No telephone exchange existed in the early stages of this officer’s career, and it was probably about 1895 when the system was inaugurated. Mr. Fookts has watched this branch grow from a small beginning till it has now nearly 1000 subscribers.

Inland postage was (id in the earlier days of the service and registration fee. was 6d. Peculiarly enough the charge for ordinary telegrams was the same as it is to-day, namely 1/-. La-ter the charge came down to fid, but extra taxation during the war sent the price up to 8d and later the necessity for an increase in revenue resulted in the. reversion to the old charge. , The big event of the month in Mr. Fookes’ experience of early days in the office was the arrival of the ’Frisco mail about once a month, via Auckland, by steamer All the correspondence as far south as Woodville (with the exception of Wanganui) was forwarded to New Plymouth for sorting. It was always an job to get this ready and it was a general rule that the three or four sorters engaged worked through without going to bed till the following night. English mails also .came here by boat from Auckland, because these were the days before the Main Trunk railway. The district under the control of the. chief post office has been enlarged till it now extends to Mokoia in the south and as far east as Awakino and Tahora. The administration of such a district often has it® worries, but the present superintendent believes that the most trying experience he has ever had was during the epidemic period in ’9lB, as far aa the telegraph department was concerned. On that occasion the telephone staff was reduced almost to nil and tha officials had to scour the town for any suitable casual assistance. Howevar s they had had the satisfaction of being able to keep up the continuous attendance. An incident of earlier days recalled by Mr. Fookes was the running of relief trains from New Plymouth o»i the occasion of severe bush fires in the Midhirst district, when many home-'' st ends were threatened, and the aid of volunteers from New Plymouth was secured to render assistance.

Four different officers have filled the position of secretary to the department during Mr. Fookes’ term, and fiva changes in the position of chief postmaster at New Plymouth, have occurred in this period.