PARNELL POST OFFICE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 86, 10 April 1906, Page 3

PARNELL POST OFFICE.

_B_s OP_2sl_sG CERE_IO-T_.

Colonel the Hon. Albert Pitt, as jjgjjir-Postmasier-General, yesterday afternoon formally opened the new post ofgce a t3fanakau-road,Parnell. The func- £ on was fixed for 3 p.m., at which hour 'there was a good gathering, including . -tf- F. Lawry (MS.E, for the district), 3fe=srs a H Poole, M.H.R.. E. E. Baunie, jrjLR, Alfred Eadd, M.HJJ., Hons. Harris, T. Thompson, and W. jeehan, M.L-C.'s, Mr. D. Gumming, chief postmaster, and Mr. H. C. Seagar, officer & charge of telegraphs. There were jl=o present Mr. John Fitt (Mayor and the members of the Parnell Borough Comicfl. The foundation-stone of this i ' post °& CB was *-"* on October 16 by Sir Joseph. Ward, assisted by Mr Lawry and jjr Pitt. The bmlding is a two-storey ■ ''brick structure of what may now; be termed the conventional Government de"gjffn, namely, buff brick with red oxide _i_ cement decorations in the usual : style. The roof is also of red tiles, and fie general effect is striking. Mr J. G. Jlattlieson, builder, has done his work ' j jn a creditable manner, and. the inside . decorations reflect credit on the painter, | j 3lr J. H. Johnstone, of Freeman's Bay. I "'lie building is most comfortably fitted •up inside. There is a public telephone in.*-the outer office fitted with green Jaize doors to deaden sound. Inside is another private telephone for the mailroom. Iv the porch fronting Manukau_oad- are a number of letter-boxes for I the use of residents. The wood fittings and drawers inside are all of polished .kauri, and the ceilings throughout of em- . bossed steel. Every room is also fitted up with handsome incandescent lights. The upper rooms are the living apartments, and include several bedrooms, a sitting-room, bath-room, etc. Inside 'maps are nicely done with plaster and distemper. Naturally, the building is fitted wi,th a good strong-room; and, generally considered, the new Parnell Post Office is a credit to the district, and should prove a great convenience to residents. Mr F. Lawry, M.H.R., said that it had feen remarked by the pessimists that • there was no need for a post office in i Parnell, but with that his hearers would _ot agree. The granting of faculties for increasing business caused an increase to take place. He had worked for the huuding for a number of years, and now rthey had a post office worthy of Par- _«_, He hoped, with the Mayor, that the Department would see its way to appoint the present postmistress to /new office. He had been agitating! for . the- establishment of a police station in "the borough, but the Minister for Jus\.t t_e had .asked him, "What do you want a police station in ParneU for; it's the 1 only place in New Zealand where there \ is no crime." The Minister stated that I -there were less summonses issued in 'Parnell than in any other borough in _ew Zealand in proportion to population. Still, a police station was urgently "wanted. Mr F. E. Baume remarked that in saying increased facilities meant increased Tra_nes3, Mr Lawry had not meant to 'Mer that a new police station would mean.an extension of crime. (Laugh--t_.) In erecting the post office the Government had but done bare justice I to the district. \\r AIL Eadd expressed his pleasure at jtiing present at. the function. He con-=----'gatnlated Mr Lawry on.Ms success in ' swsning the new building and remarked _t_at ii session and out of-session there . Tvas no. harder worker for his constitu- • • vj ency than Mr Lawry. (Hear, hear.) I Mr C. H. Poole, M.H.R., pointed out that in inviting the public to pick up stamps or loose change the Hon. Mr I Pitt had not stated thai the building I .lad. already _een inspecial by several laudators, to which Colonel Pitt connto- by remarking that Mr Poole was one of the said legislators. The ilinisier then declared the building open for the transaction of public h___ess, and the building was then inspected by those present. The.post office was opened for husiSes this morning under the charge of .Ifiss Hay, postmistress. 3h calling on the Minister to perform the opening ceremony, Mr John Eft, Mayor of Parnell, who presided, Kdcomed the Hon. Pitt, and expressed i'*he hope that Sir Joseph Ward, who had performed the ceremony of laying ! ■ths memorial' tablet,' would have an en- I i&efj successful (mission in Rome. This j *as the first occasion upon which a ' .pnHic building in Parnell had been , _' opened by a Minister of the Crown. | had been, waiting patiently for a : «-3<nng such as tie one then being frpsaed, and if there were different op- } mions as to the style of architecture J and the icolour of the paint, there was ,|| so doubt that it was a solid, substani tal b_lding, and a credit to the M'hoflder, Mr Matbeson, and all cong «nied. All the facilities and conveni; ■ aces of an up-to-date post and tele--8 office were there, and Sir Joseph I Ward had secured sufficient land for H ,"» extension of the building or the |J section of others when they became nearly* The increased business which I that office was largely a ™c to the introduction of penny posti Zealand at the instance of I Sir Joseph jjS.j!. 3 ™. Their member, Mr Lawry, had I ' I)een ' most consistent in attend--1 Wrf tMs and other wants of the dis ' S '„ c con S ra tulated him on |§ 2 -t the opening ceremony, J-wHe.he also congratulated t-be GoH -'HBment on erecting a building in I Jpvig with the importance of the IB' l ' Since the old post office m M heen opened in Russell-street, the B'&r "postmistress had been in I and she was most fitted to eon-HI-'.-fv Ue the position in the new-huilding. I W . USe - ) She had an the q-alifica--1 tern. or - tne offic e. and though he did I m the Mentions of the Depart--9 >f ioped ft wmild see its "roy to I flS_j as postmistress in the new I fe H ° n " Ktt said ifc as witla § reat: a that he stood there in his offi- __ <^V Pacity of •A-eting-Postmaster--B -*eat f + been the Covern- ■_'■ r post office ioT so,me CQII - -1 % hi.' 7 A . tme > bu t waa unable to set I iadin-ll- start ed, not from any 'disi aeat# * ° n the P art of the GovernI tte nn° « the funds > ' Dut 'oecause of 1 feHo n oi site> tfl at m L ,lVas e73 'dentlv satisf_ctorily ■"*kito!_\ ,ww - Wear, tear.) Upon ■ : S : __t ° f ihe V laeia S of the tab - ja^ r -gas interrupted by a

listener. Ja thos» interruptions .the -good-faith of the Government w__ qnes-' tioned as to the intention to duplicate the Penrose line, and as to the more vigorous prosecution of the Main Trunk line works. Time had answered those questions, and the duplication of the Penrose line was in course of construction, -and'the Government was putting all the hands it. could on the- construction of the Main Trunk line. (Apjslause.) The value of business done through the various post offices of the colony gave a very reliable index, of the growth of prosperity. (Applause.) The Auckland district, having regard to the number of post offices within its boundaries, was the largest in the colony. It was satisfactory to note that the progress of the postal and telegraph business at Parnell, and in the Auckland district, was being fully maintained. (Applause.) There was, however, so little conception of the enormous expansion of the business of the Department throughout the colony during the last few years that some statistics, showing, the increase of business from 1900 to 1905, would -be of interest. Speaking in round numbers, the revenue of the Post and Telegraph Department had increased. from £500,000 to £672,000, an increase of over 34 per cent. In the same time letters had increased, from 40,000,000 to 70,000,000, an increase of 76 per cent. As 1900 was the year preceding the introduction of the penny post in New Zealand, these figures indicated in a striking way the extent to which this reform had been appreciated. Books and parcels had increased in the same period from 16,000,000 to 22,000,000, and newspapers from 12,000,000 to 17,000,000, showing an' increase respectively of 33 per cent and 40 per cent. The money order 'business had increased by 25 per cent, from £ 1,214,852 to £1,541,711, and the postal note business by 78 per cent. ?aid telegrams had increased by nearly 52 per cent, from 3§ millions to 5J millions, and. the value of paid messages had increased by 45 per cent, from £122,423 to. £ 177",498. While it was easy to speak of millions of letters handled, it was difficult to realise that the total number of telegraph trasactions, including telegrams of all codes, and those handled at transmitting stations, reached all but 20,000. This enormous number was an increase of about 5$ mauions over that oi 1900. Of all branches of the service the telephone exchanges, however, showed the greatest increase. 'The number of connections in 1900 was 7920, while last year it had risen to. 14i721, an incerase of nearly 86 per cent. Those figures would assist to show the-prosperity of the colony. During the past 10 years 44 post and telegraph offices had been, or were being, built or enlarged in brick, at a total cost of about £ 120,000. Of these 26 were erected in the North Island, at a cost of £70,000, and 18 in the South Island, at a cost of £50,000. In addition to these brick buildings, a large number of small offices bad been erected in wood in both islands. (Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward had gone to the Postal Conference fired with the hope of being able to persuade many of the countries represented at the Conference whose people had not yet adopted penny postage to do so. (Applause.) It was unfortunate that the postal authorities of Australia, where there were over six million people, could not see their way to adopt the penny postage, -while New .'Zealand, with 800,000 of a population, had done so. (Applause.) In conclusion,. he (the speaker) wished continued prosperity to the people of Parnell. (Applause.) He trusted the post office might serve the best" interests of the people, and that it would be always re? membered as one of the good things Mr Lawry had secured for the district. (Applause.) The Minister concluded by humorously remarking that those who spected the building were at liberty to take any loose change or stamps which they found lying about.