POST AND TELEGRAPH FIGURES

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 18, 6 September 1911, Page 8

POST AND TELEGRAPH FIGURES

NEW INVENTIONS. On Sat’.irday night at the lettercarriers’ social, Mr i). Robertson (secretary to the Postal Department) had an interesting little story to tell. It was, in sonic senses, like relating a fairy tile, he said, to .speak of the groat progress of the Department during the past year (says the “Dominion.”) Probably Sir Joseph Ward himself scarcely realised that oat of the 4618 officers who were now in the Department nearly -1000 had been appointed since he first .assumed office as Post-master-General. In 1891, the first year of Sir Joseph Ward’s administration, the total number of telegrams was 1,961,181, and the value £112,000; and last year the total was 7,810,000, and the value £249,766. In 1391, 195,000 money orders were issued of the value of £651,000, and in 1910 the figures were 569,657 and £2,457,000. The Savings Bank deposits for the year of 1891 numbered 176,000 and the value was £1,842,000; and in 1910 the number was 768,821, and the value £10,708,000. The Gcneral .Post Office 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 the clerical division. Two were 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 letter-carriers were taking advantage of the correspondence classes, and endeavouring to improve their education with a view to advancement. The improvement in the position of letter-carriers was evident from the fact that ten years ago only 28 per cent of the staff were married, whereas at the present, 48ip:,r cent had taken upon themselves the cares and pleasures of married life. To show what the Department was doing in the matter of letter-carriers’ deliveries he mentioned that in 1901 only 92 cities and towns had these deliveries. Now there were 160. Ten years ago the number of letter-carriers was 124, and now it was 497. The use of the stamp-vending machine invented by Mr Dickie, of the local staff, was proving an immense public convenience as may be ascertained from the fact tiiat the average sales by this machine were about £6 a week. In Dunedin it was quite a common thing for the machine to sell, apprpximately, 1000 Id stamps every Sunday. (Laughter.) Another simple invention recently developed by Mr Palmer, Controller of Telegraph Factories, was a coin-in-the-slot 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 Now Zealand. The officers (permanent and nonpermanent) in the Post and Telegraph Department in March, 1891, numbered 2319, and in 1910, 6594. The latter figure included a number of temporary officers made permanent under the Public Service Classification Act.