NORTH OTAGO NEWS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22597, 30 December 1938, Page 3

NORTH OTAGO NEWS

RECORD WEEK

MAIL AND PARCELS HANDLED

O AMARU POST OFFICE

Figures

A record number of bags of mail was handled by the postal branch of the Oamaru Post Office during Christmas week, which was the busiest yet experienced. More bags and parcel receptacles were both dispatched and received than in any previous year. To ensure prompt delivery, officers were engaged continuously throughout the nights of the week in sorting mail, and extra staff was employed. All correspondence on hand for delivery was disposed of on Christmas Eve. Extra facilities were available Ibis year for the quick transit of mails through the use of special night express trains. Officials state that more persons this year posted their Christmas mail early, and this enabled sorting to be spread more evenly over the week.

During the period December 20-24 the postal branch received 749 bags of mail (last year 720) and 207 parcel receptacles, compared with 173 for the same days last year. The bags of mail and the parcel receptacles dispatched both showed an increase of seven over last year, the figures being mail 657 (650) and parcels 157 (150).

PERSONAL NOTES

OAMARU

Mr and Mrs S. Giddens and family, and Mrs Wilson, of Kaikoura, are on a holiday visit to relatives in Oamaru.

SHIPPING

PORT OF OAMARU OAMARU, December 29. The New Zealand Shipping Company announces that s.s. Tongariro has been allotted to load at Oamaru about January 19 refrigerated and general cargo for London. The Kaimal is expected to load here about Wednesday, January 11, for Wellington, Gisborne, and Napier. The Union Company’s intercolonial freighter Waikouaiti, from Newcastle for Port Stephen and Sydney, leaves the latter port about December 31, proceeding to Dunedin direct, thence to Timaru Lyttelton, Oamaru, and Bluff

The Waipahi will load at Oamaru about January 13 for Wellington. Nelson, and New Plymouth.

The Waipiata Is due to load at Oamaru on January 21 for Wellington and Auckland. via porta.

LAWN TENNIS

O AMARU LEADING IN COMPETITION

MATCHES WILL RESUME ON JANUARY 21

The North Otago Lawn Tennis Association’s competitions will continue after the holidays on January 21, a week earlier than was first announced. Oamaru. with three wins, is in the first position in the senior competition, with Waimate A, two .wins, second, and Columba, Meadowbank, and Waimate B, third equal, with one win each. Neither the Awamoa A or B team has yet won a match.

TOURNAMENT PLAYED AT FRIENDLY BAY

A handicap doubles tennis tournament held at the Friendly Bay courts on Tuesday was won by R. Brown and Nelson (owe 15). who beat J. Turvey and Miss Brooker (scr) 6-5 in the final.

TELEGRAPH TRAFFIC

TEN EXTRA MESSAGE BOYS EMPLOYED

Ten extra message boys were engaged in the delivery of telegrams in the telegraph % branch of the Oamaru Post Office during Christmas week. The work handled for the four days before Christmas Day showed a decrease of slightly more than 300 compared with last year, A large propertion of the messages consisted of Christmas greeting telegrams. The number of telegrams handled during the four days from December 21-23 inclusive was as follows, the figures for 1937 being shown in parenthesis:—; Forwarded .. 3038 (3525) Received .. 3164 (2660) Transmit telegrams 1699 (2020) Totals .. 7901 (8205)

MORE PASSENGERS BY RAIL

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY FIGURES

INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR

Many more persons travelled by train over the Christmas holidays this year than during the same period in 1937. A comparison of railway passenger traffic figures for both this Christmas and last shows a considerable increase in the number of persons travelling through Oamaru during the four days December 23-26. On three of these days— except Christmas Day—

six expresses passed through Oamaru, all of them well patronised. Christmas Day, which fell this year on a Sunday, saw the only decline when compared with the figures for the same day last year. . The 10 per cent, increase in railway fares did not apparently have much effect on the number of bookings, although many of them were made before December 11, the date from which

the increase started. A feature of the holiday traffic this year was the increased number of passengers who travelled by the relief trains. The figures given below for this year are supplied from tallies made by the guards of each train and are only approximate:— 1938. 1937. December 23 .. 2050 1301 December 24 .. 2550 2475 December 25 .630 1488 December 26 .. 1680 442* Totals .. 6910 5706 ‘Sunday. About 1800 persons travelled this year on December 27. The local bookings from December 23-26 were 525.

The increased number of passengers was also reflected in the work of the refreshment branch, which experienced a very busy period. Xo details are available, however, of the revenue collected during the Christmas holiday.