DEVELOPMENTS IN AIR-MAIL

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21404, 21 February 1935, Page 21

DEVELOPMENTS IN AIR-MAIL

«> SERVICE GROWING IN NEW ZEALAND MANY COl N'TKIES INCLUDED New Zealanders are rapidly getting I into the habit of using the overseas I air-mail services as a means of quicker | communication with many countries !in the world. The Imperial Airways I service via Singapore is already recogI nised as an important time-saver, and, ! although the United States is not inj eluded, correspondence is being sent Ito nearly every other country. Last ! week the air-mail dispatch from WelI lington numbered 2000 letters; most of I these were addressed to England, but j 18 other countries were included in i the manifest which accompanies the dispatch. The air mail is handled by a special branch of the overseas mail section of the Post Office, so that specialised knowledge can be applied i to the work. Importance of Weight J Seme users of air-mail have not yet adequately recognised how important a factor is weight in air transport. The Post Office itself has to pay for the special containers and their seals. These are coloured an attractive and appropriate sky blue, but they weigh about half a pound each, and the charge is calculated by the half-ounce. Letters have to be carefully checked and over-weight surcharged. Double the deficiency is the surcharge rate, and unless an air-mail letter has been paid for up to 25 per cent, of its total cost for transit, it cannot go forward. Where the sender is known, the Post Office endeavours to adjust deficiencies in New Zeaiand. As the transTasman steamer services are now I regularly connecting with the Imperial i air-mail weekly arrivals and depar- ! tures in Australia, the rate of growth j of this part of the department's im- ; mense business is expected to accelerate rapidly. A useful suggestion comes from the specialists of the air-mail branch in the Post Office. They find that eight quarto sheets of specially light paper weigh half an ounce. Value of Duke's Tour The possibilities for quick dispatch of letters within the Dominion when ! air services will be in general operaj tion were demonstrated in a practical j way by the Post and Telegraph Department when the New Zealand Air Force aeroplanes were placed at its disposal for delivery of overseas mails ; to his Royal Highness the Duke of j Gloucester during his New Zealand , tour. The Defence Department showed a high level of efficiency in its ori ganisation. postal officials were keen j to make the most effective use of these I resources, and the results were rej mrrkable. Twelve overseas mails I were handled by aeroplane during the tour, seven from Auckland and five ! from Wellington. . A mail arriving | from England at Auckland at 8.30 a.m. j on December 19 was delivered to the I Royal party at Napier at 5.26 p.m. +he ! seme day." It would normally have 1 reached them in Rotorua two days ; later. Another example of quick ser- : vice on a difficult route was the deI liverv of mails which arrived in Weli lington at 8 a.m. on January 7, and j reached their recipients at Greymouth ; bv aeroplane the same day. otherwise I thev could not have been delivered ' until two davs later, when the Royal ; partv was at Ross. One long journey i was"from Wellington to Russell. Bay i of Islands-Wellington, departing 8 a.m. ! January 28. Russell .arriving 4.40 p.m., ! an reroplane and a seanlane combm- | in;: to provide this service. A record j trip was made when a mail which ! arrived in Auckland at 7 a.m. on ! January 12 was delivered in Inver- | '■ cargill at 7.30 the same evening. Using . ; the normal means of transport. Ihe ] ! delivery would have been made at 5 p.in three davs after dispatch from Auckland. CYCLISTS IN PAPANUI DOMAIN i ——* | REFLY TO BOARD A reply to criticisms made by members of the Papanui Domain Board of cyclists' activities in the Papanui Domain was made at a meeting last evening of the Canterbury Amateur Cycling Centre. The board had at its last meeting complained that cyclists | had used the domain without first : obtaining a permit. Mr T. A. Grose, of the Papanui i Amateur Cycling Club, said that offi- ' cials of the club had met members of the board, who had decided to repair the track, and gave permission for the club to use it. Later the board put two unemployed men on the work of putting the track in order, and the chairman (Mr W. J. Walter) invited the club to go ahead with its racing. Before the men had finished their work the club had started racing. Mr W. G. Chapman, a member of the board, who had criticised the cyclists' activities, apparently had not known the full facts.

The Domain Beard had apparently not received correspondence which had passed between the Northcote Cricket Club and the Papanui Cycling Club, throwing light on the subject. This had probably been due to the unavoidable absence of its secretary. The cycling club had permission to use the track on Mondays and Thursdays, although this was not in writing. The president (Mr C. D. Doyle) said it seemed that the Papanui Club had received permission and was within its rights. Mr Grose added that his club's permit would not stop other sports clubs from using the ground also. The discussion then lapsed.