HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE,
387
30. It is strongly recommended that chit books used for sending to the Post Office should be set apart for that special duty, and kept distinct from others used for general interchange of notes, &c.
31.-The Post Office will not give a receipt for the amount of Stamps put on any correspond- ence (except for purposes of account), nor undertake to see that servants affix the correct amount, nor receive unstainped correspondence in covers with the money_enclosed, nor charge outward postage to any person's account, except as provided by the Local Postal Regulations, paragraph
124c.
32.—It is particularly requested that circulars, prices current, or newspapers be not mixed up with letters. They should be sent to the Post in bundles, the addresses all one way.
33. Any article of correspondence once posted becomes the property of the addressee, and cannot be returned to the sender, nor can it be detained, without the written authority of the Governor of Hongkong or of Her Majesty's Consul at the Port, on an application stating fully the reasons for the request.
Registration.
34.—Every description of paid correspondence may be registered, except such as is addressed in pencil, or is addressed to initials or fictitious names, or is not properly fastened and secured. The fee is 10 cents, Local 5 cents. No unpaid or short-paid correspondence can be registered except official letters. The sender of any Registered article may have a receipt sent with it for signature by the addressee and return, on paying an extra fee of 5 cents.
35.-Letters to be registered should not be dropped into the box, but should be handed to the receiving officer at the proper window, and a receipt obtained. The hour of registry will be marked on the receipt if specially requested. Whoever presents an article for Registry MUST ASK (verbally) FOR A RECEIPT. Nothing written on the letter or elsewhere can replace this indispensable precaution.
36.—The Post Office is not legally responsible for the safe delivery of Registered Correspond- ence, but will be prepared to make good the value of such correspondence if lost while passing through the Post, to the extent of $10, in certain cases, provided :-
(a) That the sender duly observed all the conditions of Registration.
(b) That the correspondence was securely enclosed in a reasonably strong envelope. (c) That application was made to the Postmaster General of Hongkong immediately the loss was discovered, and within a year at the most from the date of posting such correspondence.
(d) That the Postmaster General is satisfied the loss occurred whilst the correspondence was in the custody of the British Postal administration in China; that it was not caused by any fault on the part of the sender; by destruction by fire, or shipwreck; nor by the dishonesty or negligence of any person not in the employment of the Hongkong Post Office.
37.-No compensation can be paid for mere damage to fragile articles such as portraits, watches, handsomely bound books, &c., which reach their destination, although in a broken or deteriorated condition, nor on account of alleged losses of the contents of Registered covers which safely reached their destinations, nor on account of any article for which the addressee has signed a receipt.
38.-The Post Office declines all responsibility for unregistered Letters containing bank notes, coin, or jewellery, and, where Registration has been neglected, will make no enquiries into alleged losses of such letters.
Letters. Unpaid and Loose.
39. As a general rule, unpaid correspondence bears the mark T. Nothing can be sent wholly unpaid except letters. The addressee is charged double the deficient postage, unless the despatching office have omitted to indicate it, when he is charged 20 cents per oz. Per- sons receiving unpaid letters which they suppose to be wrongly charged, should pay the postage, and keep the cover for the purpose of obtaining a refund (see paragraph 2). No letter can be treated as Refused if it has been opened.
40.-Letters arriving loose on board ship (i.e. not in the Mails) are treated as unpaid, no credit being given for any foreign Postage Stamps they may bear. As a general rule, a loose letter may be distinguished by its bearing only one Postmark, viz., that of the office of delivery, and this on the address side, not on the seal side.
41.--Consignees' letters, being privileged by law, need not be sent to the Post Office at all, but if they are sent they are liable to ordinary rates of postage.
Soldiers' and Sailors' Letters.
42.-Privates in H. M. Army or Navy, Non-commissioned Officers,* Bandmasters, School- masters (not Superintending or First Class) Writers, or School-mistresses may send HALF-OUNCE letters to the United Kingdom by the English Mail at the rate of two cents (one penny) each, or by the French Mail at the rate of four cents (two pence) each. The postage may be prepaid either in Imperial or in Hongkong Stamps, but not by both kinds on the same letter.
43.-To other places not beyond Great Britain, such as India, Malta, &c., the postage is 2 cents (one penny).
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But not warrant officers, viz., conductor, gunner, boatswain, or carpenter.