Complex Organisation Behind Mail Deliveries

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27375, 14 June 1954, Page 6

Complex Organisation Behind Mail Deliveries

Although to the domestic minister of finance the postman may seem to bring ill tidings more often than not —especially in the first few days of the month—he has won and held the regard of his vast clientele in a fashion and over a period which emphasise his capable handling of a far-from-easy task, as well as the importance of the service he gives the community. Christchurch is not a large city, but the distribution of maiL is a complex undertaking, and the 69 men- and women on the postal delivery rounds walk and cycle more than 6000 miles a week to deliver about 275,000 letters and packets to 45,000 households. There are remarkably few errors in deliveries.

Mail for the Christchurch rounds reaches a large room in the Chief Post Office in depressingly large quantities. Sorting goes on 16 hours a day, and it is obvious at a glance that some of the sorters have been engaged in that work fqr years. For second-class mail they have rows of canvas bags, each for a particular round, and they manage to find the narrow openings to the bags furthest away from them with practised. ease, using an overarm and wristy action rather suggestive of casting with a rod. The 56 postmen and 13 postwomen have the task, starting at 7 a.m., of sorting the hundreds of letters for delivery in their own areas ifito the order in which they are to be delivered. This is not as simple a job as one might think, with redirection orders to be heeded, and the delivery rounds changing as rapidjy as the city is growing. One delivery in the Emmett’s road area, for instance, began with 515 households in very recent years, but is already up to 840. There are many other instances of new streets and new settlements. Average Day’s Work Each postman! takes with him a bag of first-class mail, and the second-class mail in “overflow bags” is picked up at various points on the round. The average day means delivering about four bags in all. In the inner city area, the postman walks his round twice a day. The rounds extend up to 25 miles on the outskirts—“the boundary riders”—and there is one car delivery covering more than 50 miles a day.

Perhaps the chief attribute of the successful postman is a good memory. It is the policy of the department, when possible, to have every- postman know every round. The fact that an error could very well lead to the whole of the round being covered in reverse probably contributes towards the high standard of performance. Christchurch postmen appear to have very few complaints about their job, although at Christmas time it takes them out before 5 a.m. and gives them as much as seven hours’ work before they even begin their rounds. There are some minor complaints which could very well be described as pet aversioqs. Apparently there are few postmen who have not at one time or another had trouble with dogs, and ths official theory is that the animals resent the postman’s whistle. So, too, do some of those with- people sleeping in the house; but postmen, enforced students of human nature, find that if they respect the wishes of those who want silence, they are accused by the neighbours of dereliction of duty.

A few of the postmen Evidently have real problems with dogs, for one of them, making up his mail on Friday before setting out, had three very large stones for use at particular pqmts of his round. Postmen also find difficulty with postboxes which' are falling to pieces, arra with persons who insist on leaving the back of the box open, thus allowing mail to slide right through.

Women Employees The introduction of women to postal deliveries has been a pronounced success, in Christchurch at least. The ages of those employed on the rounds range from 19 to 35, and one at least of them has every reason to feel proud of the impression she made. She had been on the\round for only about a year when sne decided to go to England during 12 months’ leave of absence. When residents of the district she covered heard shejwas going, they showered her with presents, gave her dozens of addresses of friends in England, at least one woman told her not to hesitate to ask for help if she became short of money. Another of the postwomen has a university degree, and she was one of those who scorned assistance when sent out on the rouhd for the first time, although it was customary for new employees to be helped at the start. Her success was as complete as her confidence. . , . Although the Christmas period is a particularly busy one for postmen, they appreciate the spirit of goodwill shown by the public. One postman said that if all the offers of hospitality were accepted, the postman would never finish his round, or £ven want to. But the job has other compensations. One man in St. Albans recalls with delight delivering a registered parcel to a. young woman who was about to be married. She took from him the green receipt form, signed the parcel, and handed it back to him.

Many of the present postmen can still recall the days when the job was much less impersonal than it is today. Deliveries were made to the door, not to boxes, and a postman, starting on a new street, would usually give a display of virtuosity on his whistle. Then residents would often be at the gates waiting for the mail and a chat. Postmen in those days were said to know more about local occurrences than anyone else in the district, and then, as at present, they were the confidants of many—a trust they are proud to keep. Firm Friendships Sometimes a man was on the same round for several years, and he made firm friends down all his streets. In Bryndwr during the Second World War, there was a very good example of the fellowship that makes the postman’s life more pleasant. A young woman whose husband was overseas rarely received mail from him, but he wrote every day, and when the letters arrived they were done in huge bundles. On such auspicious occasions, the postman made it his business to blow a particular tune on his whistle, and to begin an unbroken performance a considerable distance before he reached the letter-box.

The postman is the seventh and last link in the chain of people,who handle a letter posted in Christchurch for a Christchurch address. He is there, wet or fine, providing one of the most essential public services—so familiar that he is almost part the scenery, nearly always as cheerful as he is busy.