POST AND TELEGRAPH.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 21, 15 September 1911, Page 3

POST AND TELEGRAPH.

A RECORD OF PROGRESS.

SPEECH BY THE SECRETAItY,

An extremely interesting speech was given by Mr Donald Kobertsoh; Secret tary of the Post and Telegraph Department, at the Wellington Letter Carriers' "social."

"The officers (permanent and nonpermanent) in the Post and Telegraph Department 011 31st March, 1891, were 2349, and on 31st March, 1916, 6594. The latter figure includes a number of temporary officers made permaii. ent under Public Service Classification and Superannuation Acts. "Now a word about tlie letter-car-riers of the service. Although since the improvement in their position as a result of the amended classification of a few years ago, as a rule the carriers are mostly content to make lettercarrying their life work, it is interesting to note that during the past year a number have 'been promoted to the clerical division. It is pleasing to find that many carriers are taking advantage of the Departmental correspondence classes and endeavoring to improve their education with a view to advancement. The improvement in the position of carriers to which I referred is evident from the fact that ten years ago only 28 per cent, of the staff were married, whereas at the present time 48i per cent, have taken upon themselves the cares and pleasures of family lire,

"To show what the Department is doing in the matter of deliveries, it is only necessary to. say that in 1901 only 92 cities and towns' had letter-carriers' deliveries. Now there are 160. Ten years ago the number of carriers in the service was 124, now it is 497. An Inventive Staff.

"I would like to say a word about [ the inventive faculties of the staff. | Although it is quite true that purely post office work, that is, the handling of letters ami newspapers, is done in much the same manner as it was 50 years ago, we have managed to overcome a few difficulties hy the aid of machinery. When 1 joined the service no lad was supposed to be properly initiated in its business until he had taken a piece off his thumb with a horrible instrument known as the double date-stamp. With this datestamp we managed to stamp about 70 to 80 letters a minute. Now one man with the aid of a postmarking machine can stamp 1000 letters. in the same time. I am glad to say that there is a further development in this direction which it is hoped will be introduced into the new office, in the shape of a combined facing-up and stamping machine. With this machine ten or twelve men can stand alongside a table and drop letters with two hands on to a travelling band which carries them towards the stamping machine, where, by a simple assembling device, the letters are again taken care of and allowed to run through the postmarking machine at a rapid rate. This was being tried in America when I was there a couple of years ago, but, so far as I could see, without success. In New Zealand we have managed to overcome this difficulty.

"Another postal machine which, so far as my inquiries ind observations when abroad could determine, is the stamp-vending machine, invented by Mr Dickie, of the local staff. That the use of this machine is proving an immense public convenience may be ascertained from the fact that the average sales by this machine are about £'6 a week, while in Dunedin it is quite a common thing for the machine to sell approximately 1000 penny stamps every Sunday. Silent salesmen of this kind are much appreciated by the public and the department. Public Telephones.

"Another really simple invention which has just been developed by Mr Palmer, Controller of Telegraph Factories, is a eoin-in-bhe-slot telephone apparatus. As now constructed, the machine is practically infallible, and has called forth the highest encomiums from one of the most experienced telephone engineers in the world, who recently happened to visit New Zealand. AVc are constructing this machine as rapidly as possible. That they are a public convenience is shown-by the fact that at the principal railway stations and other places where the coin-in-the-slot telephones are installed a revenue of about £2O a year is collected by each machine.

Telegram Folder. "Another invention which is now being tested is not that of an officer of the department). I told an engineer some time ago that we required a machine to fold the new style of selfaddressed telegram form. He has produced a device which takes a telegram as it leaves the operator's hands and folds the message inside and the address outside and finally seals the form at the rate of 900 an hour, or as fast as about five boys could do the work. So rapidly is the machine being perfected that we have now got clown to about seven failures to fold exactly cut of 3000 messages, but as a department we are very hard-hearted and insist on an efficiency of 100 per cent. in all such contrivances, generally with the result that we get our own way. "In the telephone branch of the service we are anxiously awaiting the report of Mr T, Buckley on the automatic telephone exchanges, which, as pieces of machinery, are marvellous 1 indeed. Printing by Telegraph.

"On the purely telegraph side, our efforts must soon be directed to the in-; stallation of printing telegraph machines. Our first experience with an American machine has not been very satisfactory. ' There are, however,; really excellent machines which enable; a telegraph operator to work about 50 per cent; faster,than at present, besides delivering the message at the receiving end in clearly printed Roman letters. These letters appear oil a continuous tape, which is pasted on the telegraph form, and the latter sent out for delivery. For manual the introduction of typewTitihg .machines is b«M rapidly carted out, "Within, the.

last, year aho.nt lOO.oper"ators were provided, and are being issued as the tyjferators qualify in typewriting. It is c hoped that within the next two or three years" nearly every telegram issued from the larger offices will be legibly printed in type, either by the .automatic or manual machines."