The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-08-20 00:00:00

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS.

A Kinkinnati editor has just mitten a kolumn
about the pronunciation of Kicker°.

- -
At Wame,go, a place in the extreme West, is a
shanty which bears the sign—" Here's Where You Get a
Meal Like Your Mother Used to Give You."

A Chicago policeman dodged four bullets easy
enough, but then got tired and the fifth one fetched him.
Even a policeman can't stand everything.
A Connecticut man announces that he can play on
seventeen different musical instruments. Ile is compelled
to make the announcement himself because none of his
recent neighbours are now living.

There are five women to one man in Holyoke, Mass.,
and the poor men have to enter ice cream offices by way of
the back window, and they carry revolvers when they go to
pie-nics.

In Canada, when a man is seen staggering along the
street under the influence of liquor, he is described as
"doing the outer edge."

"A Buffalo paper has an article on Giants Thirty
Feet High.' Fhat last rain seems to have done a heap of
good."—Peck's Sun.

A woman is going to try to keep her mouth shut
three thousand quarter hours. If this new departure should
become epidemic, what a mighty peace would settle down
over this troubled land !
A travelling dentist invaded Burlington, U.S" last
week and hung out the startling sign--" 21h pullin."
A female lecturer in Boaton said : "Get married,
young men, and be quick about it. Don't wait for the girls
to become angels. You would look well beside angels,
wouldn't you, you brutes
After a Michigan farmer had committed suicide
because there 1Y,.5 to show for his corn a soaking
shower started every kernel into life and guaranteed a big
crop. Some folks are always a day too late.
A fisherman has found one place in Lake Erie
where he sounded with a line two miles lug and could Mid
no bottom. We trust that he will try again with a longer
line, uzing for sinkers those people who point unloaded
guns at friends and bring about a funeral.—Detroit Free

'Press.
A Norwegian woman living in Nebraska, washed,
baked, cut her wood, killed six rattlesnakes, run off two
tramps, and shot an eagle, all in 011 G day, and it wasn't the
longest day of the year, either.
A canary in New York imitates the most difficult
air performed on the piano. A smarter canary in Norio11.:
warbles the choicest selections from the old composers and
accompanies itself on the piano. It also plays very artisti-
cally on a Jewsharo and an accordion at the same time.
The owner says he w,aldn't take a shilling for it.
-

Tea parties are all the rage in New Mexico just
now. They always end up with a shooting match, with the
host for a target, and hosts are growing scarce at the rate of
a mile a minute.

The impecunious man who married an heiress always
spoke of her as a capital wife.—[Exchange. It was to his
interest to do so. If he had not done so she would have
daily reminded him of " my money."—[New York Comfier-
cid Advertiser.

THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
POSTMASTER- GENERAL.

A Bluebook was issued on Monday containing the annual
report of the Postmaster-General (Mr. Fawcett) to the Lords
Commissioners of the Treasury.—We make the following
extracts therefrom :

"My Lords,—l have the honour to present to your
Lordships the 27th report of the Post Office, being
the report for the f nancial year ended 31st March,
1881.

"The business of the departmant continues to in.
; various changes have been effected, new
systems introduced, and important results ob-
tained. . . .

"The number of letters delivered in the United
Kingdom during the twelve months was 1,176,423,600,
showing an increase of 43 per cent. ; the number of
postcards. 122,884,000 an increase of 74 per cent.; the
number of book packets and circulars, 248,881,600, an
increase of 163 per cent.; and the number of news-
papers, 133,706,100, an increase of 25 per cent.*
"There is again a marked increase in registered letters,
the number recorded being 10,034,546 against 8,639,191
of the previous year, or an increase of 148 per
cent

"It may be mentioned that in order to afford relief
to letter carriers and to expedite the delivery of letters,
tricycles have been introduced in many places.
"Eight hundred officers have been added to the
force, which on the 31st of December last had reached
a total, including all grades, of over 47,000 persons, of
whom over 2,000 are women.

"The success obtained in employing women as
clerks in the Savings bank and the Receiver and
Accountant-General's Office has led to their number
being considerably increased. Hitherto these clerks
have been appointed upon a plan of limited competi-
tion, three being nominated to compete for each
vacancy. In future, however, the appointments will
be made through open competition, subject to rules
issued by the Civil Service Commissioners. Another
important extension of the principle of open competi-
tion has been carried out, male and female telegra-
phists in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin being now
appointed in this way.
"The health of the 10,900 officers employed in London
has been generally good; the death-rate, uniformly
low, has fallen to a point below any previously
recorded, the actual number of deaths in London being
45, and the rate per 1,000 41.
"Notwithstanding the prevalence of smallpox, the
servants of the department in the metropolis have
enjoyed perfect immunity from any fatal attack of
that disease, and this result may be attributed to the
regulation which provides that every person employed
should be re-vaccinated; six cases alone occurred, and
those were of a mild and modified type.
"I am glad to be able to report that the work of the
department throughout its various branches continues
to be efficiently performed, and. although I greatly
regret that the attitude assumed and,
the telegraphists
is calculated seriously to subvert discipline, yet, with
this exception, the conduct of the staff has been almost
uniformly satisfactory.
"Among the incidents of the year may be mentioned
snow storms of extraordinary violence, which impeding
railway communication, and severely taxing the
energies of the department, occasioned large additional
expenditure. On the 18th of January no night mail
could he despatched from London, and on Friday, the
4th of March, five carriages were blocked in the snow
in Scotland, and were not extricated till the following
Monday, while the Sutherland and Caithness Railway
was completely closed for a fortnight. However,
during the whole period of the storm not a single mail
bag was lost, nor, throughout the year, did any acci-
dent occur involving the loss of a life engaged in the
postal service.t A letter containing a £l,OOO cheque
which should have been posted in Lombard-street on
the 18th of January was found on the 24th in the
Thames near Deptford among some snow drift which
had evidently been carted from the City and thrown
into the river. The letter, which had never passed
through the Post Office, was duly returned to the
sender

"During the Christmas week more than 11i millions
of letters and packets, over and above the ordinary
correspondence, and four tons of extra registered
letters, representing a total postage of nearly £58,000,
passed through the Central office. To meet such an
extraordinary pressure the services of volunteers from
other departments of State were obtaimed after office
hours, and the assistance thus procured was found
most valuable.

" Over 5,300,000 letters were dealt with in the
Returned Letter Office, 475,000 of which it was found
impossible to deliver or return. One contained a
bank-note for £lOO, still unclaimed; and attached to
the seal, of another was a sovereign, which was
returned to the owner, who had forgotten to remove
it.

"In addition to the letters, about half a million of
post-cards, four million of book packets, and 400,000
newspapers found their way to the same office. More
than 27,000 letters, an increase of 3,000 over last
year, were posted without any address whatever, 5,000
furnished no clue to the name of the sender, and 1,340
contained articles of value to the amount of nearly
£5,000.
"The use of too fragile covers occasioned the escape
of some 30,000 articles, and, no doubt, entailed much
disappointment.
"The habit of transmitting animal and perishable
matter, such as fish, sausages, birds to be stuffed,
clotted cream, fruit, yeat-t, salads, jellies, live kittens,
and dead rats still prevails ; and it is necessary to ap-
peal to the public to discontinue a practice so injulious
to the health of the officers in one branch cf the de-
partment, and to repeat the warning that such for-
bidden articles will be stopped. . . .
"At Hull an incident occurred proving the elasticity
of the postal organization under heavy pressure. The
distribution of nearly 300,000 circulars, weighing 20
tons, issued by a single company, and representing
£2 380 worth of postage, was effected without confu-
sion or delay in 48 hours. The despatch necessitated
the employment of seven extra railway vans, and it
is believed that all the documents duly reached their
destination.

"With respect to foreign and colonial posts, an im-
provement has been made in the despatch of the night
mail to Paris, the effect of which is to insure an earlier
and more regular delivery in that capital A weekly
service has been provided to Natal
"In October last a postal conference, attended by
the Secretary of the Department, and Mr. Benthall,
one of the Assistant Secretaries, was held in Paris to
consider the possibility of establishing an Inter-
national Parcel l'ost. After much discussion, an
agrPement was arrived at providing for the transmis-
sion throughout almost the whole of Europe of parcels
not exceeding 3 kilogrammes (about 611 b.) in weight
at very moderate charges. It was, however, obviously
impossible for Great Britain to sign the treaty which
embodied these conclusions without having previously
established for herself an inland parcel post, and,
although strenuous efforts have been made to effect
this object, I regret to say I am still unable to an-
nounce that the desired result has been achieved.

-
"The telegraph business of the United Kingdom
continues to increase; the messages sent were more
numerous by 3,419,828 than in the previous year, and
the aggregate reached 29,966,965. . . . The snow-storms
in January occasioned many breakages and much
labour. Messages sent by persons unable to reach
their homes added to the pressure on the department,
and on the 19th of January the Central office alone
dealt with some 6,800 messages above the average
number. . . .
"Much has been done during the year to encourage
thrift. On the 22nd of November, 1880, an Act came
into operation by which any person desiring to invest
any sum between £lO and £lOO in Government Stock
can do so through the agency of a savings bank at a
trifling expense, varying from 9d. to 2s. 3d., and have
the dividends collected free of further charge. The
purchase can be effected either by transferring money
from the depositor's account, or by means of a sum
specially deposited for immediate investment. Be-
tween the 22nd of November and the 31st of larch
the amount thus transferred through the Post.
office Savings Banks was £151,465, and the
amount specially deposited £230,674, making an
aggregate of £382,139 invested by about 6,300
persons, and it is satisfactory to notice that
the sales did not exceed £7,500. The stock
certificates, with coupons payable to bearer, ob-
tained under Section 3 of the Act, were, in the period
stated, 63 in number and £4,950 in amount. The
machinery required to set this Act in motion through-
out the kiiigdom was of a somewhat complex
character, and the fact that the measure has been
carried out without any failure reflects the highest
credit on the officers of the Department on whom this
duty devolved. Notwithstanding the channel thus
opened, the total amount of deposits, with the
interest due, had on the 31st of December reached
£33,744,637, showing an increase of £1,732,503
over the amount recorded on the corresponding clay
of 1879. The Post-office Savings Bank year pre-
scribed by Statute terminates on the 31st of Decem-
ber, but comparinz the financial years ended the 31st
of March, the result obtained is :—The total amount
of deposits on the 31st of March, 1880, including in-
terest to previous 31st of December, £32,578,405; the
total amount of deposits on the 31st of March, 1881,
including interest to previous 31st of December,
, £34,782,329 ; estimated increase in the financial year
ended the 31st of March, 1881, £2,203,924.
"Out of a total number of about 2,185,000 de-
positors it appears that— Averege
Proportion to balance due to
Number. Population. each depositor.
England and Wales £ E. d.
contributed .. 2 034 3SI .. Or Ito 13 .. 15 10 4
Scotland contributed 68,400 .. Or Ito 52 .. 9 1 1
Ireland contributed 52,131 , . Or Ito 65 .. 18 18 11
" The attention of the Department had for some
time been drawn to the demand for a minimum -limit
of deposit lower than the shilling prescribed by
Parliament. With a view to meet this demand,
and to encourage the saving of very small sums, I
adopted a plan which was submitted to me by Mr.
Chetwynd, the Receiver and. Accountant-General.
Small slips of paper, specially prepared, were provided
by the Department, and distributed gratis, with an in-
timation that, if 12 penny postage stamps were affixed
to them, they would be accepted as a deposit of one
shilling. The plan was in the first instance tried as
an experiment in certain ominties in September last.
Before it had been in operation for more than a few
weeks its success became so marked that I decided
that on the 15th of November it should be extended
to the whole country. The cleanly condition in which
the slips arrive is gratifying. The number received
to the close of March was 576,560, and it is estimated
that 223,000 new accounts originated in this manner.
".As regards small deposits generally, an idea as to
their number may be derived from an analysis taken
on two days in Mar,h, when it appeared that 59 per
cent, in Scotland of the total number of new accounts
opened were epumeneed with deposits of one shilling;
40 per cent. in England and Wales; 22 per cent. in
Ireland; and that a considerable proportion of these
beginners are to be found in schools.
"The number of Post-office Savings Banks now

" * These numbers are estimated, the estimate being
based upon periodical countings at every post-office.
"t One man in the employment of the contractor under
the Office of Works unfortunately lost his life in the General
Post Office when attending to a lift."

open in the United Kingdom is 6,302, as against
6,016 mentioned in my last report. Under a system
of guarantee a money-order office and savings bank
can be opened in any village. The amount of the
guarantee for a period of five years never exceeds £l6,
payable in advance, and may, should business accrue,
be much less. The personal attendance of children
and others at a distant savings bank to open an ac-
count may easily be avoided, and people desirous of
promoting thrift are invited to apply to the Con-
troller of Savings Bank, who will make arrange-
ments by which such inconvenience may be obviated.
" Under the provisions of the Postal Orders Act,
1880, a new system was introduced on the let
of January providing an inexpensive and easy
way of sending small sums cf money to different
parts of the United Kingdom. This Act was founded
on a Bill introduced in the previous Session by my pre-
decessor, Lord John Manners. Drafts, entitled postal
orders, can now be bought, at any money-order office for
different amounts, varying from is. to 205., subject to
a commission ranging from one-halfpenny to two-
pence. In three months 646,939 of such orders were
sold of the value of £292,150, producing commission
to the amount of £3,750 ; and it is evident, from the
increasing demand, that the public appreciate the con-
venience thus provided. It may be interesting to men-
tion that the whole of the clerical work connected
with the new postal orders is performed by a staff of
female clerks. . . .

"Post Office aNnuities and life insurance business
expands but slowly, as will be seen by a reference to
the table of contracts in the appendix.

"The gross revenue collected within the year was a
little over n millions, arrived at thus :
Postage on letters, postcards, newspapers, (to. .. £6,478,696
Commission on money orders .- £246,033
Commission on postal orders .. 3,760
Value of unclaimed money orders 4,948

254,731
Revenue from telegraphs .. 1,633,884

£8,367,311

"The expenditure was
For Postal service, including money-order and
postal order business .. Z 3,470,213
Packet service .. .. 665,446
Telegraph service, including expenditure by
other Departments .. ......1,305,006
—£5,440,665

The net revenue was, therefore ..

.. £2,926,646

being an increase of £88,017 on the previous year.
"The total expenditure,- shows an increase of
268,360, almost wholly due to the additional outlay
necessarily involved in carrying on a business which
is rapidly growing in nearly every branch. Many of
the items which constitute the increase would in ordi-
nary business be charged to capital account. Thus,
in the sum of £268,360, to which reference has just
been made, £75,000 is included which was spent in
constructing a new telegraph line to the North to meet
the growing business, and nearly £40,000 in providing
telegraph offices. . . .
"The capital sum raised for the purchase of the tele-
graphs since 1869 exceeded 10 millions sterling, and
hitherto the results of the undertaking have exhibited
an annual deficiency of interest amounting in the
aggregate to not less than £1,216,000. For the first
time, however, the net telegraph revenue for the year
—viz., £328,878, has been sufficient to pay the full
interest, 3 per cent., on the capital, and leave a real
surplus of £2,462 towards the cancelling of debt. .
" HENRY FAWCETT.
"General Post Office, Aug. 5, 1881.

In a leader noticing the Post Master General's Re-
port, The Times remarks :
People are getting used to the telegraph. The brown
envelope is ceasing to cause the thrill of excitement, the
sudden anticipation of evil, which it used to cans()
in the days when no private person sent a telegram
except to announce an illness or a death. Now-a-days, not
only do the merchant and the stockbroker carry on nearly
all their business by telegraph, but their example has in-
fected private life. We telegraph if we miss a train, or if
we are bringing a friend home to dinner, or if we are too
lazy to write a letter. When the sixpenny rate, so often
promised, is really established, the number of telegrams
will be multiplied indefinitely, and letter-writing, which is
even now lamented as a lost art, will become but a memory
of the past. . . .

The richer classes hardly appreciate the enormous and
growing work that is being done by the third department of
the Post-office—the Savings Bank Department. The figures
by which Mr. Fawcett exhibits this ought to be care-
fully studied, for they are the record of an extremely
important step in social economy. Twenty years
ago for a servant, or a child, or a shopkeeper's
assistant to have a sum in the Savings Bank was
the exception, now it is almost the rule. The idea of using
for this seemingly alien purpose the Post-office organisation,
with its branches in every neighbourhood and within the
reach ot all, was a stroke of genius, and its effect can hardly
be overrated. For the present it is enough to say that
the usefulness of this department goes on rapidly extend-
ing. . . .