LETTER-SORTING IN TIMARU.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12912, 1 March 1906, Page 6

LETTER-SORTING IN TIMARU.

THE COMPLAINTS OF DELAY.

CHIEF POSTMASTERS REPLY.

A membav of the "Herald" staff saw the Chief Postmaster, Mr McHutehcson, in reference to the paragraph published iu this paper on Tuesday to the effect that there was unnecessary delay in sorting the mails into the letter boxes ( in Tiruaru. The paragraph alleged that " it is nearly always* an hour bofore the sorting is finished," and that "* offices receiving urgent letters from the north by the first train and desiring to reply by the next mail, must find it rather awkward to -do so."

Mr MsHutcheson said that the officer* of the postal department" did not profess to be infallible,- but when they did make mistakes they would be glad if aggrieved parties would furish them with the specific cause of complaint, so that it could be enquired into and guarded against for the future. That would be more satisfactory both to the public and to the postal officials than general charges which could not be investigated to the bottom . In regard to the sorting of the mails. Mi- McHutcheson said that if there had been such dissatisfactian as the paragraph alleged, he would probably have received some complaint* at least from business houses or other people on the subject, but during the time he- had been in Timaru he had hot received a single complaint. As a- matter of fact ne did not think there was ground for such * complaint. He- was positiv*-.that letters arriving by ordinary j mails raver exceede4 half an hour in s<*rting, while even a Sait Francisco mail which involved at least fourfold the ordrinaxy work on the staff was in the boxes within an hour of its arrival at the post office. /JThese tiroes referred to letters which were alwaysi dealt with-, ficst, being more iiuv pcitunt than papers rvnd circulars, which \ieie left till the letters had been scrtecL ,1a order to obviate-anj unnecessary hanj» r iiag about on -the part, of the public, tha porters, when they had finished.the-letters* called out " Letters sorted,'-' so that peopla Hiraiting knew there were no more letters to coxae. The Chief Postmaster added that ccmruaints about tarcy sorting; .might be madeby people waiting for mails if they did nobknew all the cii cum; lances. For* instance. tnr.o days befoie tu* paragraph appeared, a mail timed to arm ■ oy a, slow train from Dunedin at eleven i= >.ck in the morning. cTil not arrive until a quieter past twelve, the train being that much late. That nwil wj©. iu the boxes at half-past, twelve. <;r 15 minutes after its receipt at the pest Yet people expecting-it at eleven o'clbefc might blame the post office for the * delay.-

la: regard to the fo'.erOTl. between the mail from the north by the-first express and the mail for the north by the iisst it liad to be remem&ejsd" that even the express did not always run to schedule time Even when it did, tije mails reached the station at 11.30 a.m., .aid by the time they - aarived at tha?post office;- it would be about a.quarter to twelve. Tse. mails werer always in the.- boxes- within half mi hour of the latter time. As ;>. matter-of fact r oa" tba day. before the. paragraph appeared, thi. mail fro«n. thenorth reached the ;pbsfc office -at a to- twelvje' and' w»s;ai>fted by ten minutes past.' . It htuf also; fe" be remembersd tSat while tins-' inwaad'mail was heing sortad, preparations liad also to be made for cßspatcbibig the* outward mail by the north express, and that while all this was being done "the stream* of postinig by the public was going on uninterruptedly. Some remark was made in the paragraph- about youths loitering about the boxes waiting for their mails. Mr McHurchesonisaid he had frequently noticed knota of boys—perhaps office boys sent for the mails-loitering and talking around the post office. It was not impossible that after they had wasted time in this amusement, they would excrse themselves to their* employers fly asserting that they had to wail until the mails were sorted! If employers had any. trouble of that sort and communicated tritli him they would be able to ascertain whether the excuse was valid or not.