POST & TELEGRAPH FIGURES

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1223, 4 September 1911, Page 6

POST & TELEGRAPH FIGURES

NEW INVENTIONS. On Saturday night at the Letter-car-' riers' social, Mr. 1). Kobertson (secretary to the Postal Department) had an interesting little story to tell. It was, in some senses, like relating a fairy tale, ho said, to speak of t'ho great progress of tho Department during past year. Probably Sir Joseph Ward himself scarcely realised that out of tho 401-3 officers who were now in tho Department nearly 4000 had been appointed since ho first assumed office as Postmaster-General. In 1891, the first year of Sir Joseph Ward's administration, tho total number of telegrams was 1,961,161, and the value ,£112,000; and last year the total was 7,816,000, and tho value i£2I9,7GG. In IS9I, 195,000 money orders wero issued of tho value of .EGSIiOOO, and in 1910 the figures wero 569,657 and .£2,457,000. The Savings Bank deposits for the year of 1891 numbered 176,000 and the valuo was .£1,812,000; and in 1910 the number was 7G8.824, and tho valuo £10,708,000. The General Post Ofiico staff in 1891 was 55 officers, and last year it was 185. Referring to the letter-carriers, Mr.' Robertson stated that during the past year .a number had been promoted to tho clerical division. Two wero Wellington letter-carriers who had passed the Civil Service junior examination, and were now elected to the Wellington office. It was pleasing, also, to find that many let-ter-carriers were talcing advantage of tlio correspondence classes, and endeavouring to improve their education with a view to advancement. The improvement in Hie position of letter-carriers was evident from tho fact that, ten years ago only 28 per cent of tho statf were married, wliereas at tlio present, 48! per cent had taken upon themselves tho carcs and pleasures of married life. To show what the Department was doing in the matter of lctter-carricrs' deliveries ho mentioned that in 1901 only 92 cities and towns had these deliveries. Now there wero 160. Ten years ago the number of letter-carriers was 121, and now it was 107. Tho use of tho stamp-vending machine invented by Mr. Dickie, of the local staff, was proving an immense public convenience as may be ascertained from tho fact that' tho arerago sales by this machine wcro about £0 a week, while in Dunedin it was quite a common thing for tho machine to sell, approximately, 1000 Id. stamps every 'Sunday. (Laughter.) Another simple invention recently developed by Mr. Palmer, Controller of Telegraph Factories, was a coin-in-the-s!ot telephone apparatus. As now constructed, the machine was practically infallible! It had called forth the highest encomiums from experts from all over the world, who had visited Mew Zealand. Tho officers (permanent and non-perma-nent) ill the Post and Telegraph Department in March. IS9I. numliered 2319, and in 1910, 6594. Tho latter figure included a number of temporary officers made permanent under the Public Service Classi-1 fication Act.