POST OFFICE REPORT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1530, 10 July 1886, Page 3

POST OFFICE REPORT.

Xh» annual report of the Poital end Tele* Ephic Department bee been presented, e eeeh receipt* of the year amounted to £197,876, an increase of £IB,IBO, or 4J per eent. The revenue exceeded the expenditure ■' by £7603. It ie etated that the poital and telegraph expenditure hae been liti than the receipts for five jean past. On an average, ■ each period in the colony poited twenty eight Jitters during the year, and the expenditure, felthonigh less than the receipts, was abnormally largo, owing to the establishment of the direct iteem eetvioe and the South Sea ' lelande eervice. During the year 96,951 Undelivered letteri]were dealt with, of which 185 were re*ifiucd, 1872 destroyed, and the balance returned to the writer*. In the ‘ undelivered lettere were found gold, notes, eheqnee, Ac., to the amount of £6243, and in addition five gold rings, one gold ring set With precious itonee, two sets of gold ihirt finds and ileeva links, one sleeve link, one gold •earf pin set with amethysts, one gold pocket, one gilt watch guard, one packet gold dust, font silver hunting watches, one silver Geneva watch, one silver watch with silver chain, cme locket attached, one silver watch with silver chain, two silver brooches, one silver bracelet, one silver ririg, and one New Zeeland war medal There were 4204 unclaimed registered letters dealt with, and forty letters detained for postage were re* eeived, twenty of which were subsequently forwarded; 653 newspaper 293 books and other article* without addresses wore also received. Of these fifty were delivered, and sighty-three book-packets were forwarded to London and other countries for return to the senders; nintey-eight letters were poited without addresses, eleven letten with libellous addresses were intercepted, 164 letters were imperfectly and wrongly addressed, 2490 letters were refused by the addressees, four letters were pelted with previously used stamps. The total number of letters dealt with by the Department was 35,829,855; telegrams, 1,774,270. A curious result of moral reform is illus--1 (rated in the money order report for the year. ; A falling offi in the number of money orders issued for payment within tbs colony is not 1 attributed to the issue of postal notes, but rather to the Gaming and Lotteries Amendment Act, 1883, whioh has caused, it i» estimated, a loss of revenue, money order commission, postage, Ac., of about £3OOO a jew* L