Towns > Edinburgh > 1846-1975 - Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory > 1880-1881

POSTAL DIRECTORY— RATES.
613
by the persons to whom the letters are addressed; I
printed forms of notice can be obtained at the I
General Post Office. Persons who are about toj
change their residence should inform their corre-
spondents beforehand of their intention.
No person living within the town free delivery,
unless he rent a private box, can obtain his letters
at the General Post Office.
Private Boxes and Bags. — The fee for a private
box is £3 per annum, and if for a private bag, £1
additional, payable in advance.
POSTAGE, TELEGRAPH, AND RECEIPT
STAMPS.
Postage labels are of the respective values of id., 1 d. ,
lid., 2d., 2$d., 3d., 4d., 6d., 8d., Is., 2s., and 5s.
Telegraph labels are of id., Id., 3d., 4d., Gd., Is., 3s.,
5s., 10s., £1, and £5 ; stamped book 20s., and inter-
leaved 2d. extra. The embossed envelopes are of
four sizes, viz. 4-| X 3-H, °j X 3^, 5J X 3, 4f X 2f.
and are sold thus: the largest size at 2s. -Id., other
sizes at 2s. 2d., per packet of 24. Registered Letter
envelopes are of five sizes, viz. : 5 J X 3 J, and 6 X
3f, sold at 2^d. each, or 2s. 2id. per doz. ; 8X5,
at 2Jd. each, or 2s. 7d. per doz. ; 10 X ~h and lli
X 6, at 3d. each, or 2s. lOd. per doz. Halfpenny
stamped wrappers are sold at 8 for 4Jd., and penny
stamped wrappers at 8 for 8id. ; inland post cards
at 7d. and 8d. per doz., or 3£d. and 4d. per half
doz. Foreign post cards at Id. and lid. each.
Payment of postage cannot be made by means
of postage stamps which have been cut, torn, or
otherwise rendered imperfect ; or of embossed or
impressed stamps, cut out from the envelopes,
cards, or wrappers on which such were embossed
or impressed.
Applications for allowance on spoiled stamps
which have not been used, should be made to the
office of Inland Revenue, London.
Every rural messenger is authorized to sell penny
postage stamps , and when any person applies to him
for postage labels, the messenger must either supply |
them, or (if he have none in his possession) must,
without extra charge, receive the postage in money,
and on his arrival at the post office obtain labels for
the amount, and affix them carefully to the letters.
All postmasters in the United Kingdom at whose
offices money order business is transacted, are
permitted, though not compelled, to pui-chase '
postage stamps from the public (provided the
stamps be not soiled or otherwise damaged), at a
charge of 2i per cent. ; the charge, however, never
being less than one halfpenny. Under this arrange-
ment the charges are as follows : For stamps not
exceeding Is. 8d. in value, -Jd. ; 3s. 4d., Id. ; 5s., lid. ;
6s. 8d., 2d. ; 8s. 4d., 2|d., and so on. No separate
stamps can be purchased, or less than two adher-
ing to each other.
In consequence of representations made to the
Post Office by various firms, that there is reason to
believe that their postage stamps were purloined
by persons in their employ, the department has
recommended that the name or initials of firms,
etc., be either printed on the back of the stamps (by
arrangement with the Inland Eevenue Office,
Somerset House), or perforated through the stamps
by means of a machine devised for the purpose,
so that, the sale of such stamps being thereby
rendered difficult (postmasters having been in-
structed not to purchase any of them), there may
be little or no temptation to steal them.
ARTICLES NOT ALLOWED TO BE
SENT BY POST.
It is forbidden to forward by post any indecent
or obscene print, painting, photograph, lithograph,
engraving, book, or card, or any other indecent or
obscene article, or any letter, newspaper, publica-
tion, packet, or card having thereon any words,
marks, or designs of an indecent, obscene, libellous,
or grossly offensive character. Anything posted
contrary to this prohibition will not be forwarded.
Postmasters are instructed not to receive any
letter which there is good reason to believe con-
tains anything likely to injure the contents of the
mail bag or the person of any officer of the Post
Office. If such a packet be posted without the
postmaster's knowledge, or if at any time before
its despatch he should discover any such packet,
he is directed not to forward it, but to report the
case, with the address of the packet, to the Sur-
veyor-General. The following are examples of
the articles referred to : —
A glass bottle, or glass in any form ; leeches,
game, fish, meat, fruit, or vegetables ; bladders
or other vessels containing liquids ; gunpowder,
lucifer matches, or anything which is explosive
or liable to sudden combustion. Razors,
scissors, needles, forks, or other sharp instru-
ments are also forbidden, except when sent
in packets of samples to the foreign countries
mentioned in the section of Colonial and
Foreign Pattern Post.
The transmission of letters or other packets con-
taining gold or silver money, jewels or precious
articles, or anything liable to Customs duties,
through the post to any country of the General
Postal Union is prohibited.
The laws of Costa Rica and Peru also forbid the
transmission by the post within these countries of
letters or other packets containing coins, watches,
jewellery, or other articles of value which are liable
to customs duties ; and any such packets, if for-
warded, are liable to confiscation. Packets con-
taining jeweller}' or other articles of value for
the Cape of Good Hope or Queensland, are
liable to be detained, and not delivered to the
addressees until the Customs duties have been paid ;
and letters or packets containing jewellery (which
is liable to Customs duties) sent to Victoria, are
liable, with their contents, to be forfeited.
MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS AND
SUGGESTIONS.
No information can be given respecting letters
which pass through a post office except to the
persons to whom they are addressed ; and in no
other way is official information of a private cha-
racter allowed to be made public.
Provision having been made, by means of the
British Postal Guide (with local Postal Guides in
large towns) and the Postal Official Circular, to
supply full and authentic information on all postal
matters, the public should abstain, as much as
possible, from applying for such information to
postmasters and other officers of the department.
Postmasters are not allowed to return any letter
or other packet to the writer or sender, or to any
one else, or to delay forwarding it to its destination
according to the address, even though a request to
such effect be written thereon.
Postmasters are not bound to give change, nor
are they authorized to demand change ; and when
money is paid at a post office, whether as change
or otherwise, no question as to its right amount,
goodness, or weight can be entertained after it has
been removed from the counter.
Postmasters are not bound to weigh any letters
or other packets for the public, but they may do so
if their duty be not thereby impeded.
If a letter be forwarded under cover to any post-