A.D. 1900.]
POST OFFICE,
[No. 6.
vessels
619
26. The Postmaster General shall pay to every master of a vessel, not being a contract packet, a gratuity of two cents for every letter and one cent for every other article of correspondence delivered by him to the Post Office: Provided that no gratuity shall be payable-
(1.) for a second transmission of any correspondence; or
(2.) on correspondence delivered to any Post Office to be thence transmitted by contract packet; or
(3.) on correspondence the gratuity on which is certified by the despatching office to have been paid; or
(4.) unless application is made for payment within six months after the delivery of such correspondence to the Post Office; or
(5.) if there has been unreasonable delay on the part of the master in delivering the mail to the Post Office:
Provided, also, that the gratuity payable on letters transmitted between Hongkong, Canton, and Macao, in either direction, shall be one cent only.
Repeated souls titided
022.32/1155
masters of
Amended by Mr.37/12
27. The Postmaster General may pay like gratuities to any master of a vessel leaving the Colony on every article of correspondence delivered to such master from the Post Office or certified by the Post Office of destination to have been duly received from him.
28.-(1.) The powers of the Governor-in-Council, as defined and regulated by sections 9 and 10, shall equally apply to the rates of gratuity to be paid to masters of vessels for the delivery of mails, either generally or in particular cases.
(2.) The gratuities fixed by any Order-in-Council under this section shall not be less on the average than the sums otherwise required by this Ordinance to be paid.
of mail.
29. Every master of a vessel who receives such gratuities or to whom such gratuities have been credited in the accounts of the Postmaster General shall be held to have made a contract with the Postmaster General that, in consideration of the gratuities so paid, he will duly deliver all letter bags and correspondence received from the Post Office to the persons to whom the same are addressed immediately on his arrival in port, without wilful or avoidable delay, and that, if he fails in any respect to perform his said contract, he will pay to the Postmaster General the sum of five hundred dollars as liquidated damages for the breach of his said contract.
30.—(1.) Every person or firm proposing to despatch a vessel to any port or place out of this Colony, excepting vessels plying daily or on fixed days to Macao or to places on the Canton River, shall, so soon as he or it has arranged the time for the departure of such vessel, give the first intimation of such proposed departure to the Postmaster General, and
Obligation
on person proposing to despatch vessel to give notice to Postmaster General.