Towns > Edinburgh > 1846-1975 - Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory > 1862-1863

POSTAGE DIRECTO RY DELIVERY. 457
5. The notices must be posted at the Post-Office window, accompanied with duplicate listB of
the addresses ; the letters being arranged, for the convenience of comparison, in the order
of the list. These lists are examined by the officer in attendance at the window; and if
each list correspond with the addi-ess, he will sign and stamp every sheet of each list.
One of the duplicate lists will then be returned to the person who brought the letters,
and the other forwardedUo the Secretary, General Post-Office, London.
The hours for receiving both Parliamentary Notices and the undermentioned Voting Xotices are
the same as those for the registry of ordinary letters, unless tlie Parliamentary Notices be presented
at such a time as to interfere with the ordinary duties of the office; in which case the Postmaster
may appoint any other time w-ithin the next twenty-four hours for receiving the same ; providing
that, when the notices are to be served on or before the 15th December, such arrangement do not
delay the posting beyond the 12th.
Whoever sends Parliamentary Notices should, if possible, arrange on the day before with the
Postmaster as to the most convenient time for posting them, and state the probable number.
Voting Notices.
On prepayment of the postage and of a registration fee of twopence, a notice belonging to any
one of the classes enumerated in the Act 6 Vict. c. 18 (relating to votes for members of Parliament)
can be sent through the post with the securities for their safe delivery enjoined by law, provided it
be brought duly directed, open and in duplicate, to a Postmaster of an office where ]\Ioney-Order.s
are issued or paid. On receiving the notice, the Postmaster has to compai-e it with the duplicate ;
and if the two agree, the latter will be stamped and returned to the bearer.
Poll-books.
When a poll-book is presented by any returning officer to be forwarded by post, the Postmaster is
required to give to such officer an acknowledgment tho^-eof in writing, stating therein the time when
he received it.
No registration fee is demanded for poll-books, and prepayment of the postage is optional, with-
out regard to weight.
Letter Carriers and Rural Messengei-s are prohibited, under pain of dismissal, from demanding
or receiving any payment beyond the postage on letters, newspapers, &c., which they are required
to collect or deliver ; or fi'om distributing any letters, newspai^ers, &c., whether before beginning
their rounds, whilst on their rounds, or after they maj' have completed them, except those which
have been regularly posted.
Delivery at Window.
Except where the number of dailj" deliveries is considerable, and where, therefore, the Surveyor
considers such a regulation unnecessary, letters ai'e delivered at the window after the arrival ofeveiy
mail (within office hours) as soon as they can be sorted. In all cases, however, when there is a cor-
responding delivery by Letter Carriers, the window deliveiy (whether to the holders of private boxes
or to the public generally) does not begin till the 'Letter Carriers have left the office, nor is it allowed
in any Avay to delay the departure of the Letter Caniers.
In order to prevent the additional trouble which is sometimes caused by letters being directed
to a Post-Office, although for persons residing within a free delivery from such office, but who have
no private box, a Postmaster is authorised, when such letters arrive by a mail for which there is a
delivery from house to house, to refuse to deliver them at the window, and to send them out by the
Letter Carriers, except letters addressed to the military in barracks.
Private Boxes and Bags.
Any person can have a private box who is willing to pay the appointed fee. Where this fee goes
to the Revenue, it is fixed at one guinea per annum, to be paid in advance, and for a period of not
less than a year ; and where it goes to the Postmaster, he may demand the same terms, though he
may, at his option, take less. The same also, in most cases, are the terms for a private bag, except
that in addition there is the cost of the bag itself, and a charge for conveyance, the maximum of
the latter being half-a-guinea per annum if by a foot-messenger, and two guineas if by a mounted
one. As the service of a private bag, however, may possibly delay the despatch of a general bag,
none must be allowed without the permission of the Surveyor.