Directory_and_Chronicle_1912 — Page 581

HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE

551

226. The sum for which a parcel is to be insured must be entered on the cover thus :-"Insured for £ -8. -d.” It must also be inscribed in the place pro- vided on the despatch note if one is used. The umber of pounds should be entered in words. No alteration or erasure of the entry is permitted.

227. Every insured parcel must be packed carefully and substantially, with due regard to the nature of the contents and the length of the journey, and must be sealed with wax or lead in such a way that it cannot be opened without either breaking the seal or leaving obvious traces of violation. For instance, seals must be placed over each joint or loose flap of the covering of a parcel, and if string be used in packing a seal must be placed on the ends of the string where they are tied.

223.-All the seals on a parcel must be of the same kind of wax or lead and must bear distinct impressions of some device, and this device must be the sum› on each seal and must not consist merely of straight, curved, or crosse lines. Coins or buttons must not be used for sealing, and it is strongly recommended that, when possible, an impression of the seal used on the parcel should be made on the coutnerfoil of the despatch note.

229.-Parcels containing coin, any article of gold or silver, or any article of value, must be enclosed in strong boxes or cases, which must be sewn up, or otherwise fastened, in wrappers of linen, canvas, strong paper, or other substantial material. In such cases the seals must be placed along the edges of each joint or loose flap at distances not more than three inches apart. The address of such parcels must be written on their actual covering.

230.-If a parcel tendered for insurance does not, in the opinion of the officer to whom it is tendered, fulfil the foregoing conditions as to packing and sealing, it is his duty to refuse to insure it; but the onus of properly packing and fastening the parcel lies upon the sender, and the Post Office assumes no liability for loss or damage arising from defects of packing or fastening which may not be observed at the time of posting.

231.-Unless parcels containing coin, any article of gold or silver or any article of value, are insured for at least part of their value, they cannot be sent by Parcel Post to the places mentioned in Rule 222. Any such parcel posted uninsured will generally be returned to the sender. A compulsory registration fee of 20 cents will be collected in the delivery of every uninsured parcel received from the places above mentioned and found to contain coin, any article of gold or silver, or any article of value.

232.-When an insured parcel is re-directed from one country to another a fresh insurance fee becomes payable for each transmission. If this fee is not prepaid it is collected from the addressee on delivery. Insured parcels can only be re-directed to countries which have adopted the insurance system.

233.-Compensation for a parcel lost or damaged in the Post will not exceed the amount of the actual loss or damage, and no compensation at all will be paid for a parcel containing any prohibited article, or for a parcel which has been delivered with- out external trace of injury and has been accepted without remarks by the addressee; nor does it follow as a matter of course that compensation will be given when loss or damage arises from tempest, shipwreck, earthquake, war, or other causes beyond control. No claim for compensation will be admitted if made more than a year after the parcel was posted. The sender has the first claim to any compensation which may be payable, but he may waive his claim in favour of the addressee.

234.-No legal liability to give compensation in respect of any parcel for which an insurance fee has been paid attaches to the Postmaster-General, either personally or in his official capacity. The final decision upon all questions of compensation rests with the Postal Administration of the country in which the loss or damage has taken place.

235.-The insurance system also applies to parcels from the places mentioned in Rule 225, but parcels to or from other places abroad cannot be insured.

236.-Any insurance effected contrary to the foregoing Regulations is invalid.

GENERAL

237.-Where not repugnant to the foregoing Rules, the General Regulatious of the Local Parcel Post apply to Foreign Parcels.

238-Parcels must be posted before 5 p.m. on the working day next before the departure of the packet.

239.-Parcel Post.-Parcel Post.-Rates of Postage, Conditions,&c., see Annexed Tables.