The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-10-15
THE CHINESE POST OFFICE.
Curious Usages of Its Seryice-The Let
ter Shop"
(From the St. James Gazette. }

(From the ST. James Gazette
The Chinese government-so a reoenb
telegraphic message from Pekin informs
us-has requested Sir Robert art of the
imperial maritime customs to reorganiz Q
the postal system of the empire. This
decision affords another proof that China
is awakening at last to proper con-
seriousness of its backward state, and
allows one to indulge tina hope that
efforts will soon be made in other direc-
lions to bring the country more into
line with modern progress. The Chinese
post, as 1t stands, is altogether different
from anything to be found In any Other
country which pretends to civilization.
1t Ia in the hand of private individ uals.
There Is special courier service for the
conveyance of imperial ediots and other
official dispatches; but this corresponds
to the corps of queens messengers which
we have in Great Britain, and Is alto
gether distinct from the postal system.
An exception must be made also in the
case OF treaty ports, where the different
various consuls being regarded as the
postmasters for their several countries
They take charge Of and transmit CON-
munications intended for foreign ooun-
tries and they are responsible with
limited responsibility for oommunioa-
tions addressed to jewellers in the district
over which their jurisdiction extends
Foreigners living In the interior or away
from the treaty ports must make their
own arrangements for transmitting their
letters and packages to the nearest con-
sui, who will see shat they are forwarded
Save when friend or neighbor is max
ing journey to that particular place.
the only course at their disposal-assum-
ing that they do not care to employ a
special messenger-is to intrust the mat.
ter to native "letter shop.''
These letter shops are found in great
numbers in every town of the empire.
and not even the most insignificant will
aga Is without one or more. In Shanghai
alone there are something like 200, and
the rates of transmission are kept low by
reason of the competition. For this
same reason the shopkeepers are very
obliging, and the service they afford is,
under the difficult nature of the cIrcum-
stances, singularly satisfactory. They
cannot afford to risk their reputation by
bad work, and it says much for the sys-
tenn, as 1t is carried out, that those for
eigners who are under the necessity of
availing themselves of 1t speak we'll of 1t
in regard to security, though naturally
they do not say much for it in the mat
ter Of rapid delivery. The letter-shop
men do not use stamps, but their par.
tioular "ohop'' or seal is always affixed
TO the envelope or paokage-for packages
of moderate size and weight are carried,
and they will insure the sender against
loss. When given in at letter shop.
the contents OF AN envelope are displayed
before 1t is sealed and stamped with the
"ohop" OF the shop. Charges for trans
mission of yaluables are made ON a per-
centage of declared value, and, as with
letters, these differ according to the dis :
tance to be carried. A receipt is given,
and the shopkeeper then becomes respon-
sible either for it's safe delivery with
unbroken seal or for Its return to the
sender.
Owing. as we have limited, to the COM
petition that exists In large cities and
thiokly populated distrioGs, this Is neoes
sary If the shopkeeper hopes to retain his
customers In some parts of the empire
about two-thirds Of the expense of trans
mission Ia paid by the sender, the re-
mainder being oollscted from the reoeiv
or, thus the shop is secured against entire
loss from transient customers. Another
f1Qtnra much annrapiatQd hU uo
mer chants is that Of keeping an open
account with the shop. Charges are en-
tered against regular customers and set
item ents are made monthly. In case of
loss it Is seldom necessary to call in the
aid of courts, the foroe of competition
being sufficient to insure reasonable SET
clement. The employees .of the several
customers. In the northern provinces,
where horses are plentiful and roads
relatively good, the letter carriers oom-
monty use horses or donkeys, which are
supplied at stations about ten miles
apart. Each messenger carries from
seventy to eighty pounds of postal mat
ter, and travels about five miles an
hour. When he arrives at station q
few minutes only are allowed to change
horses. and he is off again till the end Of
his route is reached, when the bag IL
given to fresh man, who starts at once,
10 matter what may be the hour of the
day or night. and regardless of wind.
rain, heat or cold, until he, too. has
completed his service and handed the
parcel to a third messenger, and thus it
reaches the destination. For short dis
tances, and In all the central and south
ern parts of China. the messenger travels
on foot at rapid pace. This service
would be liable to highway robbery, but
the robber bands of each district COLLECT
blaokmail. and for the sums paid them
regularly they not only do not molest
the messengers themselves, but agree to
keep Others from doing so.
There are two kinds OF stamps known
among dealers as Chinese stamps. The
first was introduced by Sir Robert Hart
(who Is to reorgauize the whole system),
and is used only in the customs servics.
The other Is local Shanghai stamp used
by company carrying letters about the
city of Shanghai and to outposts where
there are foreign oonsuls, chiefly on the
Yantze river and to tho ports Of NinQpo
and Fooohow in the south; Chefoo, Tiep-
Tsin and Peking in the north. These
two ss stems are entirely In the hands of
foreigners.
The Chinese government and the
Chinese people have for some years been
toying with this q uestion of postal re-