MAIL SERVICES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1404, 26 January 1899, Page 6

MAIL SERVICES.

THE SAN FRANCISCO ROUTE. IMPORTANT ALTERATION. A day or two ago it was announced by cable from London that the period of the transit of letters on route to New Zealand had been reduced (between Liverpool and San Francisco) by one day. The explanation is as follows: —The ©ceretary of the General Post Office has received advices that the through time of mails between San Francisco and New York has, from the Ist January, been reduced by five hours, enabling the mails to arrive at 5.35 a.m. instead of 10.30 a.m. as hitherto. As the fast Atlantic boats usually leave New York about 10 o’clock, this will ensure a e’ese connection, and the Department is now considering whether it would be possible to dispatch tho mai’s from New Zealand

two days later than at present, viz., on Monday instead of Saturday from Auckland, and Saturday instead of Thursday from Wellington. Ordinarily mails should arrive here on Wednesday, which would give Wellington business people Thursday, Friday, and half of Saturday to write their replies. From New York to San Francisco the saving of time on the railway journey is about 13 hours, and the result will be that under ordinary circumstances the steamers will be able to leave San Francisco on the Wednesday, arriving in New Zealand on the Tuesday. The chief gain from these alterations will be that people in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington will be enabled to answer letters by tho return mail. Doubtless tho convenience thus afforded will be greatly appreciated by business people. A return has been compiled showing the average of times of mails between the New York and London post offices during a certain number of trips last year when carried by the various lines of steamers running across the Atlantic. From this it appears that the quickest average was gained by the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, of the North German Lloyd line, whose average delivery was 6 days 14 hours. The next in order was tho Lucania (Cunard), with an average of 6 days 17 hours. The St. Louis, of the American line, came next with 7 days 3 hours ; the Hamburg-American steamer Columbia made an average of 7 days 6 hours, tho White Star liner Teutonic coming next with 7 days 8 hours.