The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-30
THE ENGLISH PARCEL POST.
The System Has Been Successful in
 Every Respect.


 postal arrangements are receiving spe- cial attention, it is interesting to turn to the system in force in Great Britain for the conveyance of packages as mail matter a business that in this country is entirely in the hands of the express companies. The English inland parcel post has now been established about fifteen years, and is consequently no experiment.. Like all undertakings of an immensity such as Is involved in it's operations, there were many defects and shortcomings to be contended with in It's inception. These have long since been overcome, and now it has become so much of a necessity In the daily life of the community that people who use it wonder how they could have got along without it before it existed. Sta- tistics for the last few years show that at a minimum of cost to the public the postotfice is carrying over sixty million packages annually with regularity and dispatch, as well as at a substantial profit to the department
 The regulations of the English parcel post are simple. The parcel to be sent must be handed in at the counter of q postoffice and not mailed in the usual way although in country districts rural postmen on their rounds are authorized to receive packages for transmission. Parcels must be packed in a reasonably strong and secure way to prevent in- jury to themselves and also to protect their contents from damaging other parcels in transit. They must be con spicuously marked Parcel Post' and be plainly and fully addressed, and they should also bear the name and ad- dress of the sender. They must not ex- ceed 3 feet inches in length, and must be prepaid in postage stamps, the rate being up to 1 pound in weight, six cents; pounds, eight cents; pounds, 10 cents; four pounds, F cents, and so on up to Il pounds, "A cents, which is the maximum weight allowed to be car ried. To this, however, an exception may be made for bundles of newspapers when sent immediately on publication direct from the publishing house to newsdealers The above rates, which include free delivery, will take parcels to any point in the United Kingdom at which there is a postofiice. A receipt can be obtained, if desired, for each parcel, which can also be registered if the sender wishes and the postoffice will pay moderate and reasonable com pensation in case of loss or damage caused by the fault of it's employees. Liquids, glass, china, crockery, eggs, fruit, fish meat, butter, vegetables and all sorts of similar articles which may nt No Lr-I IAtt 1xA F1y warded by the parcel post, if properly packed and marked conspicuously with some such warning for the carrier as: "Fragile-with care" Eggs" or Per ishable." The average time taken in the transmission and delivery of par cells is only a little longer than that of the ordinary letter mail service.
 The operations of the inland parcel post proved so successful that two years after it's inception the English authorities in 1885 inaugurated the 1 foreign and colonial parcel post, which now carries small packages at cheap rates to nearly all parts of the world except this country, with which it has no reciprocal relation. In the Postal Guide, published by the British | and places to which parcels may be 1 sent there is this brief line after the | heading United States: Parcel post not i in operation" The foreign and colonial 1 parcel post has proved eminently sue 1 eessful and it's operations show large | increase annually. It now carries over l two million packages year, and its i'm l portance to the British trader is shown | by the fact that the outward parcels as compared with those inward are in the ratio of two to one, showing balance | of trade in favor of Great Britain tC i that extent.
 | The development of the parcel post i has brought about some remarkable social changes. It has shown that fol i the conveyance of small packages fol 1 moderate distances railway transport is | not the cheapest or most convenient 1 method. It also involves too muct handling. In many instances the post. 1 office has reverted to the old coach ser l vices, and quiet country roads that l have been almost deserted for years arc | again wakened to life by the merry rattle of hoofs and the horn of the red i coated guard, as spanking four-in-hanc | teams carry her majesty's parcel mails to and fro between suburban and coun. I try places and the great cities. Large 1 well-equipped coaches and vans TUT nightly between London and Brighton
 (sixty miles), Oxford, Chatham, Tun
 bridge Wells, Ipswich, Watford ant | Hertford; also between Liverpool ant | Manchester and other places The 1 coaching service is on the increase, as the postoffice effects considerable saving in several ways. It is a less ex
 pensive mode of conveyance for shor
 distances than by railway, because tht railway companies claim 53 per cent ] of all postage collected on parcels con. veyed during any portion of their jour, ney by rail.
 People living in the country find tht parcel post particularly useful. It i! found that baskets are the lightest ant most convenient means for carrying small parcels, and at country houses il many cases supplies of these baskets are kept, having metal plates, with tho name and address of the owner engrav
 well, duplicate keys being kept at eith 1 CT end of the journey. In this way books are obtained from the libraries all sorts of household requirement! from the stores, and, in fact, almos
 any of the thousand and one thing. l that can be acquired in shopping, that mysterious word that, like charity