Sir,
V.0.
31452
136
A
NOV 13
General Post Office
Hongkong, June 7th, 1899.
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt
of your letter dated the 23rd May in which you state that
before coming to any decision on the subject of my letter
of the 19th instant you wish me to inform you approximately what amount would be due to your company under the
proposal made in my letter.
From the information in my possession it
appears that in the years 1895 and 1896 fifteen mails
from Hongkong were conveyed by direct non-contract steamer
belonging to your Company to Bombay. No statistics as to
the weights of these mails are available but upon the
gratuity scale referred to in the Postmaster General's
letter of the 2nd June 1888 this office paid 2 cents for
each letter and 1 cent on each newspaper that it despatched
and as there were in the years 1895 and 1896 410 letters
H.A.Ritchie Esq.
and
Superintendent of the P. & 0. Co.
KONGKONG