Directory_and_Chronicle_1903 — Page 439

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HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE

211. Further, no parcel is admissible which contains base or counterfeit coin, articles infringing trademark or copyright laws, any article or substance liable to become offensive or injurious through natural decay during the time ordinarily occupied in transmission (for example, butter, &e, addressed to a tropical or subtropical country, or having to pass through the tropics in course of transmission, unless enclosed in a hermetically sealed tin), or any article or substance specially prohibited from im- portation into the country or colony to which the parcel is addressed. For a list of such special prohibitions, see Table of Postage, &c. (Rule 245). The Post Office can accept no responsibility for the correctness and completeness of this list, although efforts are made to secure accuracy.

212.-It is pointed out that many perishable articles, even though in good condition at the time of posting, may become offensive and worthless owing to the length of the journey, although delivered in proper course of post.

213.— Parcels for Ascension, St. Helena, South and Central Africa, and uninsured parcels for Egypt and Zanzibar, may not exceed £50 in value, and parcels for Straits Settlements exceeding the value of $50 must be insured.

214.—Parcels containing coin, any article of gold or silver, or any article of value, cannot be sent by Parcel Post to the United Kingdom, any Foreign country or British possession included in the insurance system (for list of such places see Rule 226), unless they are insured for at least part of their value, and are packed and sealed in accordance with the special regulations given in Rutes 234-235,

PACKING AND SEALING.

215.-The rules as regards articles which require to be packed with special care (see Rules 87 and 88) must be observed in the case of Foreign and Colonial parcels. More careful and substantial packing is necessary for such parcelsthan for local parcels, owing to the much greater distance over which, as a rule, the former have to be conveyed, the very different conditions of transit, and the influences of climate. This is a consideration which must necessarily be taken into account in dealing with claims for compensation. Parcels for Greece, Persia, Roumania and Russia must be packed in some material stronger than paper or cardboard.

216. For parcels containing liquids and substances which easily liquefy the following method should be adopted:- Two receptacles should be used, and between the inner one, which contains the liquid, and the outer one, which should be of wood or metal, space should be left all round, and this space should be filled with bran, sawdust, or other absorbent material.

217. Further, a parcel for a Foreign Country must be so sealed by the sender that it cannot be opened without breaking the seals or leaving an obvious trace of violation, The seals must bear the impression of a private mark of the sender.

218.--As to the packing and sealing of insured parcels, see Rule 233.

DELIVERY OF PARCELS.

219.— In Hongkong parcels are not, like letters, delivered at the residences of the addressees. Notice of the arrival of a parcel is sent to the addressee, who must then claim the parcel at the Post Office where it is lying.

220.—În Belgium, France and Spain parcels are delivered by the Railway Com- panies and not by the Post Office, and parcels intended to be called for should be addressed, not to a Poste Restante in those countries, but to a Railway Station (en gare). 221.—In the United States parcels are not in all cases delivered at the houses of the recipients. They will, however, be delivered at all places within the delivery of any Express Company of the United States, and when they are not delivered, a notice of their arrival will be sent to the addressees, who must then arrange to obtain them at the point where they are lying.

RE-DIRECTION AND RETURN OF PARCELS,

222.--Parcels arriving in this Colony and re-directed from one address to another in the Colony are treated and charged under the regulations which govern the treatment and charge of re-directed parcels by the Local Parcel Post. (See Rule 107.)

223-A parcel which is returned or re-directed from one country to another is charged the full postage.

COMPENSATION FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE.

221.-The Postmaster-General will (not in consequence of any legal liability, but voluntarily, as an act of grace) give compensation for the loss or damage of uninsured parcels sent by Parcels Post between Hongkong and the United Kingdom and the undermentioned British Possessions and Foreign Countries, when such loss or damage

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