EARLY POSTAL DAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19040, 10 June 1925, Page 10

EARLY POSTAL DAYS.

CONDITIONS IN SERVICE. MR. BROADFOOT'S « RETIREMENT. - " ■ ' i ' [by telegraph.—-own correspondent.] CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday. " When I was a boy in the telephorto exchange at Auckland on duty all night and the only living person in the building—except the rats—l scared out of my life. That was in 1898. I wonder what the men would say to that nowadays?" said Mr. J. E. Broadfoot, Chief Postmaster at Christchurch, who retired on superannuation yesterday after 37 years' service. Mr, Broadfoot gave a short resume of his activities from the time he joined the service up to the present day. -He started in 1888 at Auckland as message boy. There were twelve of them altogether and all the message work was done on foot, tho boys having to cover from 25 to 30 miles a day. In 1898 he went on to the postal side and through the various branches until 1907, when lie went into the mail room.

"On my first day there,'' said Mr. Broadfoot, "the San . Francisco mail was an exceedingly big one; Ordinarily,! was on duty at 1 p.m., but on that day; I had to* go on at 5 a.m., and I finished at 9.30 that night. The place was an absolute bedlam, and wo had to carry huge baskets of letters from one end of the room to the other. I will never forget my initiation into (he post office." After that ho went twice to San Francisco as mail agent in 1906 and 1907. " I just missed the big earthquake," he said, "by a couple of .weeks. Curiously enough a doctor with whom I used to sit at meals in the hotel was killed in ths catastrophe." In 1907 Mr. Broadfoot went to the head office and was there from 1907 until 1918. During that period he spent three years. with the Defence Department, to which he. was "loaned" and started tho general records system. As many as 2000 men had to bo dealt with in a week and the work entailed a good deal of travelling from camp to camp. ■" He then took the postraastership at Elthant. In 1918 he went to Feilding and was there until 1920. Subsequently he became relieving chief postmaster, and was at various times stationed in Napier, Hastings, Invercargill, Timaru, Nelson Masterton, Thames, New Plymouth, Wanganui and Dunedin, He was then appointed Chief Postmaster at Christchurch, and has been here for three and a half years. Mr. Broadfoot' wilLmake his home in Auckland, where he has accepted a business position. He is only 49 years of age. ' ' . •