Sent to-
HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE.
585
142.-Any complaint as to overcharge, delay, missending, &c., must be accompanied by the cover of the correspondence.+ When correspondence has been missent or delayed, (both of which are liable to happen occasionally) all that the complainant need do is to write on the cover, or Delivered at- -, or Not received till the ~th instant, or as the case may be, and forward it, without any note or letter whatever, to the Postmaster General. Attention to this would save much writing and needless trouble. The public would do well to bear in mind that Overland Envelopes become quite rotten after about two years in this climate, and not infre- quently fall to pieces in transit, thus leading to complaints that the letters have been opened.
Private Boxes.
143.-Private Boxes may be rented in the offices at Hongkong and Shanghai. The fee is $10 a year payable in advance. This is a Government fee, and does not, as commonly supposed, go to the Postmasters.
144.-Each boxholder is supplied with an account book free, but must himself provide at least two stout bags (Shanghai firms require four) marked with his name in English and Chinese on both sides. Chinese Nankin makes the best bags for this purpose. They should be without strings, but have a couple of iron rings at the mouth for suspending. Boxholders should insist on their coolies returning these bags to the Post Office as soon as emptied, or at any rate not later than next morning. The only safe way to empty a bag is to turn it inside out.
145.-Each boxholder's coolie must be provided with a stout ticket or badge of wood, metal, or pasteboard, bearing his employer's name in English and Chinese. This will enable him to obtain letters whenever a mail arrives.
146. The advantages of renting a box are many. It secures a quicker and more accurate delivery of correspondence. Unpaid letters are delivered to boxholders without the ċ of demanding payment, change, &c., as they are charged to his account. The boxholders of kong and Shanghai send bags down in the mail steamer to be filled by the marine officer. holders are allowed to post their letters in sealed covers or boxes, and to mark their Pos. ge Stamps (see paragraph 116). They receive free copies of all notices issued by the Post Oice, tables of rates, &c. Many inconveniences are saved to them by the facility for charging their accounts with small deficiencies of postage, when there is no time to return a short-paid letter. This, however, is only done as an exception, when the letter cannot go on unpaid, no boxholder being allowed to make a practice of sending short-paid correspondence, or letters to be stamped (see paragraph 117). Boxholders are also allowed certain privileges as to posting local corres- pondence unstamped (see paragraph 159c).
147. As a general rule, requests to keep the letters of one individual out of the box of the firm to which he belongs or belonged cannot be complied with so long as his lette: are directed to that firm. Otherwise the whole correspondence of that firm would be subject to delay. The same rule applies to complimentary boxes, which are set apart to facilitate the delivery of letters to a whole set of addressees, whose correspondence should not be delayed for the convenience of one person.
148.-Boxholders' books are sent out for settlement on the first day of each month, and should be returned promptly. In case of any book not being returned within seven days, the boxholder is liable to be supplied and charged with a new oue, the old one being destroyed on its return. As a general rule no information can be given as to the correspondence charged in these accounts, where it came from, &c. There is only one way to obtain such information, and that is to file the covers of all unpaid correspondence received.
149.—A box cannot be jointly rented by two or more persons or firms.
Hongkong Office.
150.-The Hongkong Office is open from 7 A.M. till 5 P.M. on week days. Mails arriving are distributed up to 9 P.M. (Sundays, 6 P.M.), or in the case of the Contract Mails outwards, gene- rally at any hour of the day or night, but if there be no steamers leaving early, the delivery of a Contract Mail may be postponed till daylight. The hour at which delivery of a Contract Mail was begun is notified in the public papers as a check upon servants. Those who are at the windows when they are opened are always served within ten minutes at most. The Money Order Office is open from 10 to 4, or 10 to 5 on French mail days. It closes at 1 on Saturdays unless the Mail Europe be leaving on Monday.
151.-The Office is closed on Sun and Public Holidays, unless there are steamers leaving, when mails are made up from 8 t-
Should any one of the outward Contract Mails arrive on Sunday, or in the night, the is kept open oni long enough to get the necessary work done from one to two hours)d is then closed, all the correspondence being sent out either at
r the first thing next morning as the case may be.
-The following are the hours for closing the Contract Mails to Europe, &c.:-
Day of Departure-
ENGLISH MAIL.
NOON.-Money Order Office closes.
2 P.M.-Registry of Letters ceases. Posting of all printed matter and patterns ceases. 3 P.M.-Mails closed, except for Late Letters.
† Open the cover by cutting alon, the top, not by tearing it at random,
*