Directory_and_Chronicle_1917 — Page 567

HONGKONG POSTAL GUIDE

487

tween, reproducing a private mark, and affixed in sufficient number to hold down all the folds of the envelope. The employment of envelopes with coloured borders is forbidden.

(k) The condition of every letter must be such that its contents cannot be got

at without external and visible damage to the envelope or the seals. (7) Space must be left between the postage stamps used for the prepayment, so that they cannot serve to hide injuries to the envelope. They must. not be folded over the two sides of the envelope so as to cover the edge. (m) Letters containing insured articles addressed to initials or directed in

pencil are not accepted.

(n) The amount of the value insured must be expressed in francs and centimes,. and must be written by the sender on the cover of the packet in words and in figures, without erasure or correction, even if certified. (0) The sender's name and address must be endorsed on the left-hand lower

corner on the face of the cover.

(p) Except in cases beyond control (.e., fire, tempest, earthquake, war, shipwreck, etc.), when an insured letter has been lost or damaged or its contents abstracted, the sender, or at his request the addressee, is entitled to an indemnity corresponding with the actual amount of the loss, damage or abstraction unless the damage has been caused by the fault or negligence of the sender or arises from the nature of the article, and provided that this indemnity may not exceed in any case the sun for which the letter has been insured.

(q) In case of loss the sender is also entitled to return of the expenses of

transmission.

(s) All the seals on an insured letter must be of the same kind of wax (or lead in the case of parcels), and must bear distinct impressions of the same private device. Coins must not be used for sealing; and the device must not consist merely of straight, crossed, or curved lines which could readily be imitated.

PARCEL POST

General

145.-For rates of postage, maximum dimensions and weight, prohibited articles etc., see Appendix III.

146.-No packet can be accepted by an officer of the Department for transmission by Parcel Post unless the postage at the above rates is paid. The postage stamps should be affixed by the sender to the cover of the parcel at the right-hand upper corner on the face.

147. In order that a packet may be sent by Parcel Post it must be presented at the counter of a Post Office for transmission as a parcel and must bear the words "Parcel Post" written conspicuously on the upper left-hand corner. It must also bear the name and address of the sender on the bottom left-hand corner of the face of the The parcel should not be left until the weight, size and postage have been tested by the officer who accepts it, and a receipt of its being posting obtained. "tie on" label is used the address must nevertheless be written on the cover as well.

148.-A declaration of the contents must be made out on the form provided for that purpose, which should be affixed to the parcel.

cover.

If a

149.-If a packet, which either bears the words "Parcel Post," or from its appearance seems to be intended for transmission as a parcel, is not posted in accordance with these regulations it is treated as a letter if it is fully prepaid at the letter rates and if other- wise in accordance with the Letter Post regulations. If such parcel is not fully prepaid at the Letter rate it will be returned to the sender.

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

151.-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.

152.-Parcels containing coin, any articles 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 182) unless they are insured for at least part of their value.

153. For the despatching of parcels to Europe vid Siberia see Appendix IV.