F.—l

XII

£ 8. d. 230 Post Office orders ... ... .... ... ... 604 12 6 39 bank drafts ... ... ... ..-. ... ... 2,837 4 1 149 cheques ... ... ... ... ... ... 942 8 5 15 dividend warrants ... ... ... ... ... 15 5 0 5 promissory notes ... ... ... ... ... 151 5 9 Postal notes ... ... ... ... ... ... 61 10 8 Stamps ... ... ... ... ... ... 26 12 10 Bank-notes ... ... ... ... ... ... 158 0 0 Gold ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 15 0 0 Silver and copper ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 17 0 Representing a total of ... ... ... £4,813 16 3 In addition, 1 lady's gold watch, 1 lady's silver watch, 2 gentlemen's silver watches, 3 nickelplated watches, 1 lady's gold chain, 1 gold-mounted petrified-wood brooch, 3 gold brooches, 5 silver brooches, 4 mother-of-pearl brooches, 6 gold rings, 1 silver ring, 2 gold scarf-pins, 1 pair silver sleeve-links, 2 greenstone pendants, 1 silver-mounted Queensland-nut matchbox, 1 silver matchbox, 1 silver thimble, 1 gold-mounted greenstone paper-knife, 1 butter-knife, 2 gold springs, 1 bunch of keys, 1 set of artificial teeth, 1 Union Bank cheque-book, 1 tobacco-pouch, 1 carved pipe and greenstone ornament, 1 stereo, block, 7 sticks tobacco, 1 water-colour painting, 2 hand-painted shells, 1 purse containing 2s. 6d., 1 pocketbook containing four one-penny stamps, 5 tracing-wheels, 6 flax bags, 1 woollen tea-cosy, 3 sheets of postage-stamps, 2 pawn-tickets, 46 Tattersall tickets, 8 sharecertificates, 1 transfer-certificate, 1 certificate of title, 1 deposit receipt, 2 umbrellas, 3 parasols, 13 silk handkerchiefs, 2 pairs slippers, 2 savings-bank books, 1 pair of gloves, 6 aprons, 1 pair spectacles, 1 lady's belt, 2 pillow-slips, 1 afternoon-tea cloth, 1 black-felt hat, 8 neckties, 3 shirts, 13 collars, 12 pairs socks, 1 pair gaiters, 2 pairs slippers, 1 pair lady's shoes, 3 pairs ladies' knickers, 1 pair corsets, 1 child's bonnet. 1,514 unclaimed registered letters were dealt with. 2,113 newspapers and 1,084 books and other articles without addresses were received, many of which were subsequently applied for and delivered. 727 unclaimed newspapers were returned to the publishers. 374 letters and 107 letter-cards were posted without addresses. 36 letters and 4 books with libellous addresses were intercepted. The number of inland, intercolonial, and international unclaimed articles received and disposed of during the years 1896 and 1897 was as under: —

746 inquiries for letters and 640 for other articles, alleged to have been posted and not delivered, were made during 1897. In 393 of the inquiries for letters and 326 for other articles—over onehalf the total number—the investigations by the department resulted in the missing articles being traced. These may be summarised as follows : — Number of " Traced " Cases. Letters. Other Articles. Found to have been 53 44 ... Missent, misdelivered, or otherwise delayed in delivery through fault of Post Office. 46 37 ... Delayed in delivery through fault of addressees. 45 38 ... Posted later than advised, or unavoidably delayed in transit. 75 62 ... Defectively or wrongly addressed. 58 48 ... Mislaid or lost after delivery. 26 ... Returned through Dead-letter Office as unclaimed, &c. 90 75 ... Delivered. Reason for inquiry not given, but probably in most cases omission by addressees to acknowledge receipt. 393 326

1896. 1897. I I i j tte Letter-] Post- Pap i. pt - News- T pttpl . Letter- Post- p n »i,p t , NewsLetters. oards ] cardSi Packets. papers Letters. eards eards rackets. papers I \ Inland. Returned, delivered, &e., through Deadletter Office Returned by Chief Postmasters direct .. Destroyed in accordance with law 51,117 22,724 3,265 1,086 "81 2,118 3,690j 148, 47,478 26,986 978 770: 42^264 54,306i 30,577 2,629 1,155 56 2,311 3,683 112 50,958 43,032 688 727 33|616 Intercolonial. Originally addressed to other colonies :— ■ Returned to writers Destroyed in accordance with law Returned to other colonies as unclaimed 4,509 290 3,335 12 1 9 461 9 18,848 4,719 228 3,180 26 2 32 656 48 15,794 International. Originally addressed to other countries :— Returned to writers.. Destroyed in accordance with law Returned to other countries as unclaimed 4,406 283 4,190 1 121 516 11 24,814 4,475 217 4,392 26] 1 44 564 42 15,531 Totals 94,119 1,167 6,003 120,101 43,034 104,723 1,211 6,237 127,313 34,343