Towns > Edinburgh > 1846-1975 - Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory > 1893-1894

798
POSTAL DIRECTORY— RATES.
RATES OF POSTAGE, AND CONDITIONS OF TRANSMISSION.
INLAND LETTERS.
The prepaid rates of postage are as follows,
viz.: —
Fur a letter not exceeding 1 oz., . . Id.
, above 1 oz. but not exceeding 2 oz., IJd.
,', „ 2 oz. „ „ 4 oz., 2d.
]] „ 4 oz. „ „ 6 oz., 2id.
„ 6 oz. „ ,, 8 oz., 3d.
And so on, at the rate of Jd. for every 2 oz.
A letter posted unpaid is chargeable on delivery
with double postage ; and if insufficiently prepaid,
with double the deficiency.
No letter may exceed in dimensions 18 x
9x6 inches, unless to or from a Government
office.
COLONIAL AND FOREIGN LETTERS.
The rates of postage on letters to the colonies and
foreign countries are entered in the Table of Colonial
and Foreign Postage.
A letter posted unpaid, or paid only in part,
to any country where prepayment is compulsory,
is returned to the writer.
Unpaid letters to or from places abroad _ are
charged double the prepaid rate, and those partially
prepaid with double the deficiency.
Letters not specially directed by a particular
route are, as a rule, forwarded by the first mail
despatched.
Letters for Eussia should have the name of the
town and province added in English, French, or
German.
No letter may exceed 2 feet in length by 1 foot
in breadth or depth.
POST CARDS.
Official post cards impressed with a halfpenny
stamp, or reply cards impressed with a halfpenny
stamp on each portion, or private post cards
impressed at the office of Inland Eevenue with
halfpenny stamps, are available for transmission
between places in the United Kingdom.
The conditions under which private cards are
impressed with a halfpenny stamp, can be ascer-
tained at the Inland Revenue Office.
The address, and the sender's name and
address, but nothing else, may be wa-itten, printed,
or otherwise impressed on the front. On the
reverse side, any communication, whether of the
nature of a letter or otherwise, may be written
or printed. Nothing whatever may be attached
except adhesive stamps in payment of additional
pfstage or stamp duty, and a gummed label not
exceeding 2 inches long and | inch broad, bearing
the address at which the card is to be delivered ;
nor may the card be folded, cut, or otherwise
altered. If any of these rules be infringed, the
card will be charged Id. on delivery. An inland
post card is transmissible for abi'oad if the ad-
ditional postage is made by postage stamps. Such
post cards, if not posted in accordance with tlie
above regulations, are treated as insufficiently
paid letters.
When, owing to a great and unusual influx of
letters, books, etc., the transmission or delivery of
the letters would be delayed if the whole mail were
dealt with indiscriminately, post cards may be
kept back until the next despatch or delivery
(unless paid for and posted as late letters).
Inland. — Post cards are sold at the rate of 5jd.
(thin) and 6d. (thick) for every 10 ; reply cards, at
double rates.
Foreign. — Post cards, Id. each (or inland post
cards paid the foreign rate), and reply post
cards, 2d. each, may be sent to any of the
countries in the Postal Union.
INLAND NEWSPAPERS.
For each inland newspaper, whether posted singly
or in a packet, the postage, when prepaid, is one half-
penny ; but a packet containing two or more regis-
tered newspapers is not chargeable with a higher
rate of postage than would be chargeable on a book
packet of the same weight — viz. one halfpenny for
every 2 oz. or part of 2 oz.
A newspaper or a packet of newspapers posted
unpaid is charged double postage, and if posted
insufficiently paid with double the deficiency.
Any publication fulfilling the following conditions
can, upon payment of an annual fee of 5s., be re-
gistered at the General Post Office for circulation
within the United Kingdom as a newspaper.
The conditions are as follows : —
The publication must consist wholly or in great
part of political or other news, or of articles relat-
ing thereto, or to other current topics, with or
without advertisements.
It must be printed and published in the United
Kingdom, and must be published in numbers at
intervals of not more than seven days.
The full title and date of publication must be
printed at the top of the first page, and the whole or
part of the title and the date of publication at the
top of every subsequent page ; and this regulation
applies to ' Tables of Contents ' and ' Indexes.'
A supplement must consist wholly or in great
part of matter like that of a newspaper, or of adver-
tisements, printed on a sheet or sheets, or a piece
or pieces of paper put together at some one part
of the newspapers, whether gummed or stitched up
with the newspapers or not; or it must wholly
or in part consist of engravings, prints, or litho-
graphs illustrative of articles in the paper. It
must in every case be published with the news-
paper, and have the title and date printed at the
top of every page ; except that any page, sheet, or
side on which engravings, prints, or lithographs
illustrative of articles in the papers appear, need
not be dated.
Every newspaper or packet of newspapers mny be
posted either with or without a cover, but entirely
open at both ends, and folded so as to admit of
easy examination.
A registered newspaper, or a packet of registered
newspapers, must not contain any enclosure except
the supplement or supplements belonging to it,
otherwise such will be charged as a letter, if
under 8 oz.; and if over that weight is sent by
Parcol Post and charged Id. of a fine, and any
deficiency in the Parcel Post rate.
All publications not so registered are subject
to the rates and regulations of the Book Post.
A packet must not exceed 14 lbs. in weight, or
exceed 2 feet in length or 1 foot in width or depth.