NEW CHIEF POST OFFICE

Southland Times, Issue 24499, 29 July 1941, Page 7

NEW CHIEF POST OFFICE

I OPENING CEREMONY I PERFORMED I CITY’S IMPORTANT I ACQUISITION 1 Invercargill’s new post office was officially opened yesterday afternoon by the Postmaster-General (the Hon. P. C'. Webb). The weather was beautifully fine and a large crowd assembled in Dee street in front of the new building. The speeches were delivered from a dais erected on the footpath near the main entrance to the building, and invited guests were accommodated on the I dais and in an area that had been I roped off for the purpose. The I building was decorated with flags j and greenery, wtih a large V for I Victory in greenery occupying the | central position. || After the speeches had been delivered I Mr Webb opened the central door leadi ing into the main public office with a B golden key which had been presented ■ to him by W. McLellan Ltd., Dunedin; II the builders of the post office. Mr Webb I was the first to enter the office. 0 The Mayor of Invercargill (Mr J. R. 0 Martin) presided at the. ceremony and 9 among those on the dais were Mrs J. I Hargest, wife of Brigadier Hargest, M.P,. a for Awarua, Mr W. M. C. Denham, | M.P., the Hon. T. F. Doyle, M.L.C., the g Hon. T. F. O’Byrne, M.L.C., Mr G. A. l| Wraytt, chairman of the Southland I County Council, Mr A. le H Hoyles, B president of the Invercargill Chamber J of Commerce and Mr J. G. Young, Director-General of the Post and Tele- „ graph Department. Apologies for absence were received from Mrs T. L. Macdonald, wife of Lieutenant Macdonald, M.P. for Mataura, from the Hon. Adam Hamilton, M.P., and from Mr Justice Kennedy. Mr Martin extended a welcome to Mr Webb on behalf of the citizens of Invercargill. He said that when it was decided to build a new post office in Invercargill the time was ripe for such a venture, though at first some had thought that it was not right that Post Office Square should be taken from the city. However, now this beautiful and commodious office had been erected he thought the authorities had done the correct thing. They had expected the building to be a handsome one because the architect (Mr J. Mair) was an Invercargill boy. He congratulated Mr Mair on his success. They had, however, thought that a tower would have been put on the building for the city s clock, but this was not to be. Still there was a plan to have the city well pro- „ vided with public clocks in due time. CONGRATULATIONS OF COUNTY a Congratulations to the citizens of Inr i vercargill on such a splendid addition to H j the new and uptodate buildings of the A I city were extended by Mr Wraytt on ? I behalf of the ratepayers of the South--3 j land County. He said that the new post A I office had claims to architectural C i beauty, and it had been so designed and j § i laid out that the staff could work with fl ; a maximum of efficiency and those ? I people doing business with the post P i office could do their business easily, fl ; Even a casual glance through the \ i building showed that ample space had P : been provided for future growth. of S ’ business, and the most modern equipa i ment had been installed for utility and < I efficiency. The new post office was not g) I only an acquisition io the city, but was ® also a sure indication of the developx j ment and progress of the province as P ; a whole. Where a few years ago the S ! average country dweller received his X ! mail, say, two days a week, he now enf | joyed the advantage—thanks to the 0 i Post and Telegraph Department— A I through the rural mail delivery of havx I ing his mail delivered daily, and in S ■ addition to the mail he receives his fl daily papers. This service through the J post office kept the farming community closely in touch with world affairs, with 5. the business of the country, and with the prices ruling for farm produce and — stock. The farming community owed a "• I debt of gratitude to the Post and TeleI graph Department. Telephone lines : branched out in all directions over the l province, and there were very few disi tricts that were not served by telephones. INVERCARGILL WELL SERVED Mr Hoyles said that the people of Invercargill were generally patient and long suffering and in this case their patience had been rewarded with a magnificent building. The people of New Zealand enjoyed an excellent and reliable post office system which pro- , | vided them with many facilities. How- • • ever, he thought the post office would I add to its popularity if it cut out the : collection of taxes. (Laughter.) Ini vercargill was well served by its postal ig officials from the youngest messenger > z boy to the chief postmaster, and he was jr sure that in the new building they s. would give even better service. All n that was wanted in Invercargill now was an automatic telephone exchange. “I wish to thank Mr Webb on behalf of the citizens of Invercargill for pron| viding the city with such a magnificent 3 building,” said Mr Denham. “This cereJH mony is of historic importance and H marks a new era in the postal history H of Southland.” Mr Denham added that || he wished to thank everyone who had

had a part in the building of the new post office. If it was not the best post office in New Zealand there was certainly none better, and from .an at chi-, tecturdl point of view the building was a decided acquisition to the city. It was badly needed as the last important addition to the Invercargill post officehad been made 50 years ago. The comfort of the post office employees had not been forgotten in the new building, and he was sure that, because of the amenities provided, the employees would give even better service than they had done in the past. MESSAGE FROM MR HAMILTON The chief postmaster (Mr J. Lindsay) read a message from Mr Hamilton. In this Mr Hamilton said: “For the older people, particularly, this opening will be tinged with memories of the city s early history, because the new post office is built on a site—Post Office Square—which for generations was the principal gathering place, even for public outdoor functions, in the heart oi Invercargill, and therefore is linked with the highlights of its earliest history.” , After stating that he greatly regretted, because of War Cabinet business, that he was unable to be present at the official opening, Mr Hamilton added: I think all Invercargill people can be justifiably proud, as I am, of this addition to the up-to-date amenities of their city. The occasion is opportune to pay a tribute to the important part in the life of a city and its surrounding country districts that the post office plays. No other Government department makes such a wide and diverse contact with the public, and in carrying out its multiplicity of work its efficiency and its service are outstanding. The message concluded: “-Recognition of the spirit of progressiveness of Southland by the Government in the erection of this new building is very fitting and very gratifying.” “I believe that in this post office you have one of the most modern not only in New Zealand, but in any part of the world, and I wish to congratulate the architect on his fine conception that has been so well expressed in this new building,” said Mr Webb. “The contractors have also done a very fine job, but without the foremen, the carpenters and the labourers there wohld have been no post office. All have played their parts and their combined efforts are expressed in this new , building which we are opening today.” POST OFFICE STATISTICS Mr Webb then went on to give some statistics about the business of the post office in New Zealand. He said that the gross post office turnover amounted, to £362,000,000 annually, or more than £1,000,000 for each working day. A total of 315,000 motor-vehicles and 360,000 radios were licensed each year. Radios were in 91 per cent, of the households of New Zealand. Social Security registration fees were collected from more than 1,000,000 people, and the post office disbursed about twothirds of the benefits paid under the Social Security Act. The aim of the post office was to deliver correspondence to the maximum number of householders. At present 82 per cent, of the householders in New Zealand had correspondence delivered either by postman or by rural carrier. The number of articles posted and delivered in New Zealand each year reached the huge total of nearly 600,000,000. The number of telephone subscribers in the j Dominion was approximately 170,000 and toll calls numbered 16,000,000. A total of 4,600,000 telegrams were handled annually. New Zealand was the third country in the world in the density of telephones a head of population. The latest figures showed the United States as having 15.85 telephones a 100 households, Sweden 13.64 and New Zealand 13.28. _ After formally declaring the post office open Mr Webb went to the central door in the main entrance and opened it with the golden key with which he had been presented. He was then the first to enter the office. The crowd streamed in after the PostmasterGeneral and many took the opportunity to send telegrams or letters to friends as mementoes of the occasion. The first telegrams were despatched by Mr Webb to the acting Prime Minister (the Hon. W. Nash), to the Hon. F. Jones, who as Postmaster-General laid the foundation stone on August 2, 1938, and to the Hon. Adam Hamilton. After the official opening of the ; building the representatives of local ■ bodies and leading citizens were entertained to afternoon tea at the Brown • Owl. MODERN HEATING ■ A. &T. Burt Ltd., were responsible 1 for the whole of the Plumbing, Drainage, Fire Services, Heating and Hot ‘ Water Installations. i The method adopted for “Heating” is technically known as “The Dunham . Differential System.” I This method of heating a building is : by low-pressure steam generated by a ■ boiler which works at a pressure be--1 tween lOlbs. per square inch and ' “Atmospheric.” 5 The steam is taken from the crown i of the boiler and passed through a Thermostatic Motorised Valve and ' thence to Radiators and heaters situr ated at various points throughout the building. t The Boiler is installed in the base- . ment and the whole of the equipment I is automatic in operation, and conr trolled by a “Panel” situated at the side t of the boiler. The duty of this panel is to auto- . matically control the temperature in each room. When the temperature drops 2 degrees a Thermostat in the building makes contact and closes its ‘ respective circuit to the “Panel,” which I upon being energised opens the main Steam Valve to a sufficient area to deliver the required amount of steam to increase the temperature to its predetermined position and inversely, if a room becomes too warm, the Valve, “Panel,” and Thermostat do exactly the opposite to lower the temperature. The steam, on imparting its heat to the radiators, condenses, and is then taken back to the boiler by means of a Vacuum Pump, which can be set to work at any suction from atmospheric down to 23 inches of mercury on a vacuum. This allows the boiler to generate subatmospheric steam, which means, instead of having the steam at a minimum of 212 degrees Fahrenheit it can be lowered to 153 degrees Fahrenheit. These varying steam pressures go to make better indoor comfort. , The boiler is coal fired by an automatic stoker manufactured in Dunedin. All basins and sinks are serviced with hot water taken from an independent boiler and storage calorifier in basement. A. & T. BURT, LTD., General and Electrical Engineers, HEAD OFFICE, DUNEDIN. Branches — Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru and Invercargill.