Directory_and_Chronicle_1909 — Page 565

HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE

465

(1.) The certificate of posting written in ink must be presented to an office

on duty at the Post Office along with the article to be posted during the hours which the Post Office is open to the public.

(2.) The certificate must contain an exact copy of the address on the article to which it relates and must have a postage stamp value one cent affixed thereto.

(3.) The officer to whom the article and certificate are presented will compare the address on the article with the certificate, and if it be correct will obliterate the postage stamp and impress the date stamp on the certificate and return the certificate to the person posting the article.

(4.) The granting of such certificate affords the public an assurance that letters and other articles entrusted to servants and messengers for posting have actually been posted, but implies no responsibility on the part of the Post Office if such articles be lost or damaged in transit.

MISCELLANEOUS

123. It is no part of the duties of the Post Office to affix stamps to correspondence, or to see that servants purchase or affix the proper amounts, nor can the officers of the Department, under any circumstances, undertake to do this.

124. Any article of correspondence duly prepaid and 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 His Majesty's Consul at the Port, on an application stating fully the reasons for the request.

125.-Postal officials are not bound to give change, nor are they authorized to demand it; and when money is paid at a Post Office, whether as change or otherwise, no question as to its right amount, goodness, or weight can be entertained after it has been removed from the counter.

126.-Postal officials are not bound to weigh for the public, letters, books, packets or newspapers brought for the post, but they may do so if their duty be not thereby impeded. This rule does not apply to parcels, which are tested both as to weight and size before being accepted.

127.-No information can be given respecting letters or any other postal packets except to the persons to whom they are addressed, and in no other way is official information of a private character allowed to be made public.

128.-Circulars should be tied in bundles, with all the addresses in one direction and should be posted as early as possible before the hour fixed for closing, so as to secure due despatch.

129.-The Post Office is not legally liable for any loss or inconvenience which may arise from the damage, delay, non-delivery, mis-sending, or mis-delivery of any letter or other postal packet, but liability for actual loss or damage is accepted on certain condi- tions in the case of parcels and registered packets.

130.-All complaints in Hongkong and those which cannot be adjusted locally at Postal Agencies should be addressed to the Postmaster General, Hongkong, and if Marked "On Postal Business," will be forwarded free by any Postmaster or agent. The cover of any correspondence about which complaint is made should if possible be for- warded with such complaint. When correspondence has been mis-sent or delayed (both of which are liable to happen occasionally), all that the complainant need do is to write on the cover, Sent to or Delivered at ...... or Not received till the ...... instant, or as the case may be, and forward it, without any note or letter whatever, to the Post- master General. Attention to this would save much writing and endless trouble

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