THE GENERAL POST OFFICE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 14399, 6 January 1911, Page 5

THE GENERAL POST OFFICE.

SOME STRIKING FIGURES. Tho old General Rost Office at St. Martin's-le-Grand has ollioially ceased to exist, and on Novemlier. 1011). tho public entered into ]>u.sm s; ion 01 the modern business palace which takes its place. It ia called King Edward’s liinMuig. and stands on part of the site cl tho old Itluecoat School. Although only ono of the seven great buildings which together form thq headquarters ol the British postal service, it comprises the chief postal counter in the country, 152 feel long. Magnificent is the only word to apply to tho hall whore stamps are purchased, telegrams sent, and letters called for. It is a great hall of marble, pillared in marble, lined in marble. Oak touched with bronze gives to all the fittings a sober richness, and the telephone cabinets with their windows crisscrossed into dainty panes remind one of Chippendalerpatlem bookcases. On Monday, November 7. a dash of colour was given to the hall by the new crimson coats of the attendants in waiting during an informal reception held by the Postmaster-General. Various departments were already in the full swing of work, the removal from the old building having taken place on the previous night. There tiro ten acres of floor space, a large proportion of which is taken up by the sorting offices. The extent ami the complexify ot the work carried on is best illustrated by one of -Mr. Samuel's statements to the effect: that the new office will deal with 800 millions of postal packets yearly. Ever-moving endless hands of webbing run the lengths of the rooms, carrying forward noiselessly to unseen destinations hags of mails, a throbbing electric machine was stamping letters at the rate oi 700 a minute, and, a human touch in the midst of perfected machinery, clerks with wrinkled brows sat studying London directories to elucidate the addresses of badly-directed letters. Extent, orderliness, silence were characteristics of work on every floor. High up are rooms one aero and a half in extent ..et apart for the refreshment and rest ot the stall. On the roof of the new building are two miniature rifle ranges. King Edward’s building is in many ways a town in itself. Its population will he -1300. An official booklet issued to every guest gives some astonishing figures illustrating the growth of Post Office work in London in the last eighty-one years. From this booklet tho following figures are taken : 1829. 1910. Number of staff 800 20,000 Number of postmen 561 11,000 Number of post offices and posting receptacles 425 ■ 4,650 Letters delivered per week within 12-milo area of G.P.O 400,000 22,000,000 The average postage paid on a letter to or from the provinces in 1829 was 9d, and the postage in London was 2d for a letter posted and delivered within throe n;iles of tho General Post Office, and 3d for a letter posted and delivered within an area of twelve miles from the General I’nsl Office. There was one .general collection of letters for the country throughout London, hut between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. tho postmen collected letters by perambulating tho streets with a hell, and charging ono penny for each letter received.