PARCELS FOR SOLDIERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17078, 29 January 1916, Page 14

PARCELS FOR SOLDIERS.

The following notice appears in the "Gazette-": Owing to the exceptional conditions of transit, involving several transhipments, and at times exposure to great lient, it is necessary that parrels addressed to members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force should be strongly and firmly packed: the contents should not, be movable by any ordinary handling. The following further conditions, and recommendations, which are based on the experience of the military post office, are furnished for the guidance of officers, and for tli'o information of the public:— Addresses should he clearly written on'at last two sides of the parcels. Persons sending parcels should enclose in thorn an additional lahel fully addressed, and bearing the name and address of'the sender. Parcels merely wrapped in paper or packed in thin cardboard boxes, such as shoe-boxes, cannot be accepted. i The outer covering should consist of strong linen, calico, or canvas, or other textile material, and should bo securely sewn up. As an alternative parcels may lie packed in boxes made of strong double corrugated cardboard or straw-board. It is undesirable to use wooden and metal boxes with square corners for the outer covering, since although such boxes usnallv form an adequate protection to the contents they are liable to damage other parcels in transit. All parcels should be as nearly round as'possible, and .should be well padded with shavings, crumpled paper or similar protective material. Small unreels are found to arrive in better condition than largo parcels. 11 a large consignment has to be sent it is better to send two or three small parcels than one large one. In fact, it is known that parcels exceeding 71b in weight are not accepted in the I jilted Kingdom for the-British Expeditionary Force.' " '- ■ , No perishable articles may be sent. Jam and preserves are not only likely to be useless on being opened, but to have destroyed other articles which could, have been used but for the presence of the former. Anything-likely to become soft or sticky, such s chocolates or sweets, should be packed in hermetically sealed tins or surrounded with a sufficiency of some absorbent material such as sawdust or cotton. Matches or any other dangerous articles must not be enclosed in parcels. Persons offending in this respect render themselves liable to imprisonment for two years with or -without hard labour. Officers can do much to prevent the commission of this act, which is often due to ignorance, by occasional reminders to the public of the seriousness of the act, This can be done without giving offence.