Scotland > 1862, 1868, 1872, 1882-1885, 1893-1896, 1901-1904 - County directory of Scotland > 1893-1896

THE CHROMATIC SOKTATION CODE.
Correction of Dockets.
The entries being thus postally edited as far as circumstances enabled them to
be at the particular stage, the transference of corrections to the dockets was
accomplished in two processes : By the first cognizance was taken of cancels,
changes of the names of Residences and the "names of Occupants, and in the case
of Section III. (Towns and Villages), of all changes made in small type entries
relating to professional and official names. By the second process every change
relating to Post Town, Telegraph Office, distance, Telegraph Hours, and Railway
Stations had to be transferred to the dockets ; and, to guard against error, every
sheet was examined for one class of changes at a time, sub-divisions being some-
times necessary when sheets were complicated by Postal and Telegraphic changes,
aftecting in varied Avays many entries, sometimes in regard to Post Towns and
sometimes in respect of Telegraph Offices or distances. Most Telegraphic changes
necessitated directions to alter the character of type in an entry, by their Post
Towns becoming Telegraph Offices, or vice versa ; and every change of a Telegraph
Office involved varied changes of distances, according to the position of a jilace
relative to a different offilce. When a Postal Address included a Post-Town and
Sub-Office, the extension of the Telegraphic system sometimes aifected one and
sometimes the other, and occasionally both, or transposed their relation to
a Residence, the change of a Telegraph Office invariably shortening distances.
AVhen the Telegraph Address formed no part of the Postal Address, it had to
be placed at the end after the letters T.O.
Re-Sortation of Dockets into Directory Order.
So long as there was a possibility of referring the general contents of a sheet to
the Postmasters, or any necessity to give further effect to Postal or Telegraph
changes affecting a Avhole district, the dockets could not be disturbed ; but when
nominally correct, they were all freed from the order of the Postmasters' lists, for
re-sortation into their original or Directory order as syllable code-marked. This
was accomplished by a series of sortations by paper colours, pips, edgings, bars,
capital letters, and lowercase letters, until every docket had returned to its original
place, and all found to be complete.
Adjustments and Interpolations.
It was necessary to make allowances for and to adjust dockets affected by the
information collected in respect of names of places changed, postal changes affect-
ing the alphabetical arrangement of places having the same name, deletions, and
new entries. Before, therefore, passing the dockets for making up into packets, all
that had been thus affected Avere extracted for duplication after it Avas ascertained
by reference to their order in the former issue that such required to be done. If
the change necessitated a transference to another part, a substitute Avas Avritten to
take the docket's normal place, and upon the substitute Avas indicated the ncAV
position of the docket in the re-issue, Avhile the docket itself became a transfer
for re-insertion along Avith the ucav entries Avhen stapling for the printer.
Sulistitute dockets received the code-markings of the principals, and Avhen originals
became transfers, they retained their counterfoil markuigs, besides receiving those
of the docket they had to foUoAV in their final position u'ith asterisk added.
Deleted dockets Avere alloAved to remain rmtil it was ascertained that every one
Avas in position. When that stage Avas reached, the substitutes and deletes Avere
remoA'ed and the ncAv entries and transfers set in, the copy being then complete
for the compositor, Avho set up his type from the dockets. A large number of the
Primrose Adv. 20.