Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-06-07
OCEAN MAILS.

Efforts to Secure More Rapid Transmission.
New York Post.
The recent display of enterprise by the
post Office in dispatching mails from New
South Wales to England in the steamship
Arizona, in advance of the regular mail
steamer, is in marked contrast to the course
of the New Zealand postal authorities. It
appears that in last September Postmaster
James telegraphed to the postofice depart
ment at Washington for permission to dis
patch the Australian mails by the steamer
Montana instead of by the steamer Algeria,
the schedule mail steamer, which was to call
the day afterward. Superintendent Black
fau replied that the instructions of the British
postoffice would require the retention of the
mails until the departure of the
ton led to a recent communication
from Washington to the British postoffice,
asking whether the instructions to forward
closed mails from Australia for England ex-
clusively by steamers of the Cunard, Inman,
and White Star lines, should be strictly ad-
hered to in cases where their transmission
would be expedited by sending them in other
steamers. This question was then referred
to the postoffices of New South Wales and
New Zealand, and the former expressed a
wish that Postmaster James should be al
lowed to use his discretion in the selection of
vessels. The New Zealand authorities, how
ever, preferred to retain the system by which
the New Zealand mails are forwarded to
England, only by the Wednesday and Satur-
day packets of the lines already named. In
struotions were given from Washington to
consult the preference of each colony.
The first opportunity of making this dis
tinction occurred on Tuesday morning last,
when 1877 sacks of mail matter from New
South Wales, and 1877 sacks from New Zea-
land, all destined for England, arrived at
Jersey City on the same train over the Penn
sylvania railroad. This was at o'clock AM,
and the Williams & Guion steamer Arizona
had just sailed. The New South Wales
mails were placed on q tugboat, which fol-
lowed the Arizona to quarantine and trans
ferred them. The New Zealand mail was
then taken to the postofice to await the sail
ing of the Cunard steamer Gallia the next
day. It is said at the postoffics that the
mails by the Arizona will undoubtedly arrive
in London forty eight hours ahead of those
sent in the other vessel.
Australian mails for Great Britain sent
by way of San Francisco and New York
have repeatedly outstripped those sent over
the Red sea route by from one to three days.
The system of the United States postoffice
department is to avoid any desingatien of
special sea mail lines in all cases where there
is competition, and to send the mails by the
fastest vessel when more than one steamer
leaves port on the same day. The only ex-
eeptions to this rule are cases where foreign
governments have requested that mails for
their dominions shall be forwarded by parti-
cular lines, and in these cases the general
rule is maintained in regard to letters which
may be specially directed for the fastest
steamer.
The mails for Sweden and Norway might
be sent quicker by way of England than by
way of Germany, as at present, but they
would then be subjected to additional
charges by the British and Belgian services,
and they are therefore sent by way of Brem-
en- or Hamburg,at the request of the Swedish
government.