Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-07-05
No. i5o

force of compstitiod being EusscIe.. q, .--
sure reasonable settlement
There are said 10 be nearly two hundred
letter shops In Shanghai, though In many
remote villages there are none. The en-
plcyes Of the several shops are ekrnesi In
working up patronage, and 60 from house
TO house seeking customers. In the north
ern provinces, where horses are plentiful
and roAds more suitable for such travel,
the letter carriers commonly use horses or
donkeys, which are supplied al stations
about ten miles apart. Each messenger
carries from seventy 10 eighty pounds Of
mall matter and travels About ave miles
per 1oEr-muoh more slowly than the Of
nciAl coar.er- When tie messenger AZ
Tiyes az q station few minutes only are
allowed to change horses, and be is of
again I'LL the end Of his route is reached,
when the bag Is given TO 6 fresh man, who
starts al once, no matter what may be the
hour OF the day or night, snd regardless
OF winds, rains, heat or cold, until he, too,
hAr completed hls service and handed The
parcel over 20 q third messenger and thus
II reaches Its destination. For short dis
tsrces and In all the central and southern
part OF China the messenger travels On
foot ST rapid gait.
This service would be liable to highway
robbery but that In this country they have
robber bands Of each district collect black
mail, and for the sums paid them regular
ly they not only do not modest the rnsssen-
gers themselves, but even agree to keep
others from doing 90. Thus the evil Of
mail or express robbery. common enough
In more oiTilizsd countries, Is recognized
as probable and duly provided for Al
though, Of course, no; legal, this practice
is quite common and is not far removed
from the custom Of some other nations IN
licensing social evils that cannot be entire
ly suppressed Large firms engaged In the
carrying business and In transporting trsv-
elers by carts, etc between given points
are in the hAoit Of contracting with the
brigAnds for the safe passage OF their
goods and customers.
There are two kinds Of stamps known
among dealers Sc Chinese stamps. The
frst of these wa. introdocsd by Sir Robert
Hart and is need only IN the customs ser
vice. The other IL a local Shanghai stamp
used by q company carrying letters about
the city of Shanghai and TO outposts where
there are foreign ounsuls, chiefly on the
Yangtrs river, and to the porte Of Nlngpo
and FuchRu in the south. and Chsfoo
Tien-Tsin and Prking in the north. These
two syEtsns are entirely In the hands Of
foreigners.
Letters, etc, of Foreigners are conveyed
from china TO other nations by the postal
system of the several countries, all oonEuls
being regarded posimAsters for their
| own countries. Letters may be sent 10
and from China by the use Of the stamps
of any country through their respective
consuls, but are only available at treaty
ports Foreigners living In the interior or
away from treaty ports must make private
arrangements for getting their mEil matter
fsom their nearest consul or EuiboriEe
some Chinese LETTER shop 10 transmit INST
ter for them Letters far American resi-
dents In Chins shUnld never be addressed
TO other than treaty ports