CHRISTMAS MAILS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21356, 26 December 1934, Page 11

CHRISTMAS MAILS

INCREASED VOLUME HANDLED POST OFFICE ORGANISATION Christmas time at the Christchurch Post Office is always marked by an increased volume of mails; but this year the task confronting the staff has proved even more arduous, aijd all the usual officials, together with a large number of extra helpers, have been working at the highest pressure. At the telegraph branch the immense number of special Christmas greeting messages to be handled necessitated the enlistment from other departments of every man who had had some experience as a Morse operator. The inward and outward traffic was greater than it was last year, and, in addition to the regular instruments, the less used multiplex or machine printing apparatus between the North and South Islands, and auxiliary Morse sets connecting Christchurch with other South Island towns were in constant use.

On Monday it was impossible to obtain enough operators, and while some men had before them the prospect of 24 hours of work all were at their desks for at least 14 hours. In the delivery department the regular messengers were assisted by 20 extra boys, and telegrams were handed out in bundles for delivery. The parcels branch was extremely busy. This department had taken over a large proportion of the parcels post traffic which the postmen's branch had previously handled.

Heavy Postal Deliveries The postmen, however, have had the most exhausting task, and on Monday they dealt with 461 extra, or overflow, bags of mail. Work was begun in this branch at 6 a.m., and deliveries were still being made at 9 o'clock in the evening. The preliminary sorting was done as far as was possible on Sunday, and the postmen found their racks of pigeon-holes full to overflowing on Monday morning. In Christchurch there are 64 postal delivery rounds to which are assigned 66 postmen. However, on Monday, 57 assistants were necessary to carry the overflow from the regular postmen's satchels. The 461 extra bags were then conveyed by motor-van to stations on the rounds where they could be easily picked up. The loads carried by the postmen when they set out from the post office weighed on the average 301b, and the overflow bags hold perhaps 201b more, so that each letter carrier and his assistant must have handled nearly 4001b of Christmas mail.