HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE.
411
of completing the registration at sea Still, the postman who delivers them has to wait at each house whilst a receipt is signed. Wha registered correspondence is required in great haste, the best way is to call for it.
162.-By the Post Office Ordinauce (No. 10 of 1876) all transmission of correspondence from or delivery of correspondence in Hongkong, except through the Post Office, is illegal and subject to heavy penalties. Loose correspondence duly stamped may, however, be put on board vessels after the mails are closed at the Post Office.* The Stamps should be cancelled by the sender. If the Port of destination be one where there is no Hongkong Agency, further Postage will, of course, be charged (see paragraph 64). The Stamps affixed here should nevertheless be cancelled, as, if left clean, they may endanger the safety of the letter. This does not apply to letters posted in recognised moveable boxes. Posting on board should never be resorted to where the route is long and complicated, e.g. to Chili, Peru, or a West Indian Colony. Correspondence for such places should always be sent to the Post Office. A supplementary mail may be closed on board at the discretion of the Postmaster General. The penalty for not giving proper facilities to make it up and to quit the vessel is $500.
163.-Shipmasters must deliver any mails or correspondence which may be on board to the Post Office without delay, and make a declaration that they have done so, under penalty of $500. There is always some person at the Post Office to receive mails, which need not, however, be landed later than 9 P.M., or earlier than 5.30 a.m., excepting, of course, the Contract Mails.
164.-Shipmasters are entitled to certain gratuities (see paragraph 138) on correspondence brought, and the same may be paid on correspondence taken.
165.-Any person or firm about to despatch a vessel to any place out of the Colony must send the first notice to the Post Office. It is illegal to advertise, Despatches will close at- A.M., or the like. In regard to sailing ships, the rule practically is that, if notice be not specially asked for, it is not required.
166.-A shipmaster is bound to take mails and sign a receipt for them, under a penalty of $500, which sum may also be recovered for their non-delivery at destination.
167.-The master of a ship is beyond doubt the person responsible for the due delivery of mails. Every ship should be fitted with a locker or chest for mails, and nothing else should be put in it.
As soon as a mail comes on board, whoever receives it should place it in the mail
locker, and before arrival at any port this locker should be examined.
* Correspondence brought to Post Office just too late for any mail is returned that this may be done. The
sender is of course at liberty to post it again should he wish to do so.
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