EMPIRE AIR MAIL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1938, Page 2

EMPIRE AIR MAIL

THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND LETTERS IN' 16 DAYS. PRIVATE LETTER PROBLEM. In eight overseas mail despatches under the ljd “all-up” Empire air mail service, New Zealanders sent nearly 300,000 letters. The period covered was from August 4 to August 20, and the actual weight carried by air from Australia was over three tons. Experience of the mail-room staffs during these early stages of a revolution in our overseas mail transit prompt a testimonial to the office staffs responsible for stamping business letters. At first they appeared to be carrying on the old system of Id postage, but they quickly became alert to the lid per half ounce, and a check of some hundreds of letters at intervals showed also.that the heavier letters posted by business firms were in practically all instances correctly prepaid. The Post Office is now anxious to rdach the domestic sphere with the news of the change, because it is».from this source that the problem of shortpaid letters now presents itself in greatest volume. Private letters rarely show any indication on the envelope of the sender’s name, therefore the Post Office staffs are unable to advise senders of the shortage and thus avoid an irritating penalty when the letter is delivered. A fairly large number of letters addressed to the United States of America will, it can be confidently predicted, be returned to the senders as they bear a penny stamp instead of 21d. Italy and the Argentine are other important countries from the mail point of view, and the number of short-paid letters to these points prompts another official reminder that the minimum postage is now 2Jd. Falkland Islands at the extreme end of South America are British possessions, but quite a number of New Zealanders have been prepaying 2Jd instead of the “all-up” Empire rate of I'.d.