The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-10-16
THE PARCELS POST.
Tho Growth Of This Important En-.
glish Government Department.

glish Government Department.
The parcels post has lately entered
on its fourth year of existence, having
been inaugurated on the lst OF August,
1883. During the past three years this
branch Of the public service has seen
several important changes and gone
through some yicis>itudcs. but it has
ended by becoming 4 very useful insti-
tuition. and is ut length entering upon
a career of absolute popularity. E.-
tablished somewhat late in the day, for
Germany has had a parcels post for
the past ten years or more, and still
handicapped both in the facilities it af-
fords and the tariff charged by compe-
tition, the parcels post has nevcrthe-
less steadily worked its way to the
front, and now presents the appear
nee of an exceedingly well-manased,
if not rs yet, Il w~ell-to-do concern. The
history OF the undertaking is Il record
of Jumps and bounds. each caused by
some wcll-adyised concession to the
public needs, and it is as in
teresting as it is instructive to
note how the various extensions which
have been made have each been re-
spondcd to By a proportionate increase
=, st.. ~, e ,., lnrn IIn
number OF parcels carried during the
first year Of its existence was l5,o0o,-
600. Last year no fewer than 30.000,-
600 were safely delivered, being an in
crease of 100 per cent. IN three years,
and this enormou number has been
considerably extended since March
last. owing to the addition of so many
countries to those served by this branch
of the postal service. AT the present
moment parcels may be sen to Ger
many, Austria, Belgium. India, British
Rnrmah, Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Malta,
Cyprus. Egypt, Cape Colony, Jamaica,
Australia and Canada. the most re-
markahlc exception being France-a
land invariahle notable for its dilatori-
ness in aiding postal Improvements.
Additions are being constantly made
to this lit. Newfoundland will soon
be added, and there is little doubt that
ere long the entire civilized world will
be open to the parcels post.
Fully rs noticeable as the develop
ment Of the parcels post itself is the
spirit in which it has come to be re-
garded by the public. The confidence
in this system of carriage has been of
exceedingly rapid growth. At first
the new department was looked upon
with suspicion. Its patrons were COM
paratiycly few, and frequent COM
plants were made of the absence OF
ANY form OF receipt, and the impossi-
bIlity of thruSting the mus of any loss
on the post-otfice. The complaints
made Gu this score have been met by
the department. and not only has Il
registration scheme been established,
but printed receipts have been brought
into use. which can be obtained against
the posting Of y parcel at any p%ost-of.
flee. No greater mark of confidence
in tie safety of the parcels post could
be givcn than the fact that these
receipts are practically a dead let
ter, inasmuch as they are rarely
if eyer demanded. Another fac
tor in the popularity Of this
post is the care shown, and conse-
qucns safety of the parcels trans-
mitted. The pains taken to
prevent damage to goods in transit is
remarkable. All parcels arriving with
injured covcrs-and their number,
owing to the carelcssness of the public.
is by no means small-ars repaired by.
and at the expense of the department.
From q return with which we have
been favored, we find that no fewer
than 1856 parcels were observed to be
damaged at the London Office alone
during the tn months from August,
1851, to June, 1885. These were in
every case noted, and as far as possible
r.ade good, the damage being myari-