THE ROTORUA MAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 31, 6 February 1925, Page 7

THE ROTORUA MAIL.

COULD BE SPEEDED UP. IMPROVING THE SERVICE. A SPLENDID OPPORTUNITY LOST. ißy A FREQUENT VISITOR.) The bad mail arrangements at Rotorua can conveniently be dismissed during this xveek-end, owing to the presence uf the secretary lo the Post Office, who left, fur the thermal regions this morning, and xvill therefore be abb: to observe the present facilities a I (irsj hand. What, xvill naturally attract his at tent inn is the splendid opportunity for instituting an almost perfect time-table, and the misfortune by xvhich that opportunity is lost, all thrnugh a little neglect to coordinate the services. During next week there will probably be a record number of Auckland visitors in Roiorua, xvith the exception nf the Christmas xveek, so that the facilities for these xisitors lv communicate xvith the city xvill then be mnsl clearly thrown into the limelight. The usual 'idea that xvill be accepted by a majority nf tin' relatives nl those who xvill spend next at Rntorua will be that if (lu'V post their letters any day in a pillar box in the city nr suburbs, ihose letters xvill reach Kotortia the folloxving evening. They will be answered the same evening, tin- let-

tors coming back to Aucklkanri the folloxving evening, ton late to be delivered j until next ninrning. Thus a letter I posted in Auckland on a Monday xvill [ receive a reply by Thursday ninrning, I nd exactly the slime time is taken if be letter to liotorua is from Wellington, ! \cepl that there il ha- to be posted - arlv enough in the afternoon to catch he Northern mail by the Limited K\- j tress.

A Registered Mail Service. j. But all the time there is .mother h service xvhich xvould cut doxvn the time from either centre by twenty-four hours., and vet, fnr all practical purposes it is lost." That opportunity is lo utilise the, train which arrive* at Rotorua at one] o'clock, enabling correspondence to be j ansxvered by the train leaving there at j five minute's to four. For all practical! mail purposes, so far as the thousands nf visitors during the summer arc concerned, that train might just as xvell not exist, fnr it dually misses by only a fexv minutes what xvould otherwise be almost a perfect connection fnr answering correspondence. The out-' xvard mail from Rotorua is unite satisfactory: each afternoon the mail closes | at 2..'11 l for the train leaving al 15....", j so that visitnrs can quite conveniently xvrile anything at all urgent during the luncheon adjournment tn the house where lliev are staying. It is I be inward mail that" is at fault, the result being j that very rarely is any correspondence ansxvered' the same. day. What happens is this: The inward" (rain nominally; arrives at one o'clock, but is frequently] bite, the result being that mnst of the | houses, in their natural desire not to xvaste time by sending to their private | letter-box more than once during tbej busiest part of the day, very rarely j trouble to send until they knoxv that I the mail xvill be sorted. In actual practice this is any time between two and; half past, and the letters are then taken to the various houses, and stuck in tbei letter-rack, just a few minutes after all the guests have gone nut fur the after-1 noon! Of course if any guest is expect- I ing a particular letter, be can stay iii till the mail arrives, and be still has] over an hour in xvhich m write an I answer, and post it nn the train before 3..V). But this, of course, is the exception and not the rule The usual i experience is that the mail just arrives, after all the guests haxe gone out. and | even if they have stayed in the bouse mi] tlie chance nf correspondence arrix/n_j xvhich requires early attention, it would needlessly break into the afternoon's I programme in the greatest pleasure re-1 sort ii* 1 New Zealand to nnsxver it at ; once. Tlie remedy is oliximi-. Kvory lumse in Rotorua bus lunch at one j o'clock, and those letters should be in , every letter-rack by half past ..ne. ready j for the guests xvhen they have finished their lunch. Anything particularly, urgent can then be ansxvered ai once.' hctoTc poing out, and therefore without ' interfering xvith the afternoon's engagements, and the „. , result xvould be that correspondence posted in Auckland or, Wellington any Monday afternnoii before five o'clock xvould elicit a reply by the Wednesday morning, instead of the! Thursday morning a.s at present. For' the sake of a feu- minutes a whole day! is Inst, and Mr. A. T. Markman. secre-1 tary to the Pnst. Office, cntild nut very xvell signalise his visit to'Rotorua better than by initiating this desirable improvement.

Bringing in an Improvement. How it can be done if for him in find out. The most natural way xvould be to get the one o'clock train to arrive in Rotorua at half past txvelve, a boon j xvhich xvould be greatly appreciated by I tourists arriving from Wellington,! especially invalids, as they xvould then have time for a wash and a change before rushing in to a late lunch. As the Postmaster-General is also Minister of Railxvays. this ought not In be a difficult matter tn arrange, and it has frequently been suggested us a desirable change, purely from the point nf viexv nf the passengers travelling by this train, xvhich most conveniently provides the connection xvith Wellington. In any case it should arrive on time, and not, a quarter or half an hour late, just spoiling everything. Arriving at half past txvelve, or punctually at one o'clock at the latest, the mails should be sorted at half past one, and put into the letterrack at the various houses a fexv minutes afterwards, making it. possible to answer all urgent correspondence ouickly and without any inconvenience. With a department that, has given so many evidences of a keen desire tn grasp every opportunity to provide a quick service, Mr. Markman should have no difficulty in cutting out altogether the extra day xvhich it now takes Wellington and Auckland In communicate xvith Rotorua. all through a feuprecious minutes being lost in the middle of the day.