THE CHRISTMAS RUSH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 302, 22 December 1933, Page 8

THE CHRISTMAS RUSH

BUSY WANGANUI BETTER AND BRIGHTER OPTIMISM RUNNING ABROAD Aii air of a business boom has pervaded Wanganui throughout this week. Everywhere in. the shopping area there has been a bustle and a hustle, and people have been going their way with a definiteness of purpose. All the business people have bceu really busy, and, what is more, really chcerijil. Not that anybody is anything else at Christmas time, but this season there is a feeling of lightness and gladheartedness abroad that has not been evident for these past three Christniastidcs. It started, nobody knows quite how, during the latter weeks of die winter. Everyone suddenly became more optimistic. Then cam© the wool sales, and a definite impetus was given to that optimism. To-day the tide of hopefulness has rolled lurther upon Wanganui and New Zealand, and it is most apparent at the present season of good cheer. The “Christmas rush” started slowly but surely some weeks ago, increasing in long, raking strides until, during the present week, it has been going at full pressure. Throughout the day orders have been taken, executed immediately or placed on one side for attention at Lhc first opportunity. In many places overtime has been worked to cope with the rush that has been heavier than expected. Retailers have been kept steadily busy, wholesalers have been visited not once or twice for fresh supplies, but many times. Not only nave the shops been busy, but also awe-inspiring people such as dentists, have been kept busy exchanging old teeth for new their owners evidently having doubts as to whether they could withstand the approaching festivities. Tailors, too, have been malting new clothes to replace old, and in on© establishment at least there has been an air of tension in case the next order should be required before Christmas. English Mail Arrives Farmers welcomed the fresh downpour ol rain yesterday, but there was more than one postman who looked at the leadened skies and muttered. To them the Christmas rush means doubled loads and the rain yesterday morning meant a delay of two hours. Yesterday, in addition to the New Zealand mail, 18 bags of letters arrived from the Rangitata for sorting and delivery. To-day there are some 5(1 bags ol newspapers due, while an exceptionally heavy mail from the South iskmd is expected. it is impossible for the postman to carry all his delivery at once and the practice of distributing “overflow” bags has bo be resorted to. These arc conveyed to convenient stores, where they are collected by the postmen and his assistant. On Monday 33 of these bags were distributed in Wanganui, and on Tuesday there were 54 used. Wednesday saw 75 employed, while yesterday the number climbed to 90, and it is anticipated that there will be more to-day and to-morrow. Enquiries at the post office yesterday revealed that, as far as can be ascertained, the mail is normal for the period. Everything has gone without a hitch, and members of the staff have been drafted from the various branches to assist with the sorting and delivering. The success of supervising a Christmas mail rush lies in seeing that there is no accumulation of inward or outward mail. This has been done at Wanganui, and the work is proceeding I smoothly, although the majority of the staff is required to work some three hours’ overtime. They are specialists at their work for trained men are required. to handle th© rush. In the customs branch there is not the same buslie as is to b© seen, and felt, in the mail department, for here the progress must necessarily be slower, as notification has to be sent out to each addressee so that the parcels may be opened iu the presence of a customs officer. Here, and here only, is an accumulation of mail. Upstairs there is further bustle. The telegraph staff is clicking and clacking out messages of goodwill to ail parts of the Dominion, and receiving them, too. It is stated that more telegrams are being handled this year on account of the special form introduced by the department. An especially busy time is expected in this branch to-day and to-morrow, when hundreds of telegrams will b© sent and received, and the telegraph boys will be kept busily peddling to all parts of the city. 4000 r Tons More Traffic Down at the railway the same Christmas rush is apparent, and every carriage available at Wanganui will be utilised during the holidays. More people are travelling boih from and tu Wanganui this year than last. Goods service has also increased, and figures show that over 4000 tons more goods traffic, comprised mostly of wool, have been sent to Wanganui during the present month as compared with the same period last year. Opposite the station, across the rails, ships were busy unloading general cargo at the wharves yesterday. Out in the roadstead the Northumberland was receiving a load of produce which it will carry 12,000 miles. Loading in the roadstead, and unloading at the wharf was delayed also by the rain yesterday, and although the Kapiti and the Rata unshipped their cargo during the day, work was not started on the Calm until 6 o’clock. The lighters were also prevented from working, and, as a result, the Northumberland was not expected to sail for New Plymouth until to-day. There is ‘something fascinating about this hustle and bustle, something that attracts and holds the attention. One of the chief things that appeals to the onlooker is the efficiency with which the demands of the public are met. From the man at th© winch on the coastal vessel, to the girl in the shop there is evidence of a definite system and training. The winch-worker knows exactly when to stop his engine so that a fresh load may be fastened to the end of the chain by labourers who have learnt exactly how a load should be bundled. The lorry drivers have their own systems for labour saving, and everyone who handles the goods knows exactly what should be done. The mail sorters know their baskets and boxes as familiarly as a fypiste knows the keys of her machine, ami tin' telegraphists can send and receive their splattering messages unperturbed by a babel of pound.