The official Report of the Post Office for the past
year, issued on Tuesday, gives a curious instance of feminine economy. A lady residing in Siam forwarded to London several parcels declared to contain walking-sticks and sta- tionery of the value of £7 104. The Custom-House officials however, discovered that the packets contained a collection of diamonds and jewellery worth upwards of £25,000. The postage at the registered-letter rate would have amounted to about £30, and the " walking-stick " device was no doubt prompted by the desire to save the difference between the ordinary parcel rate and this amount. The lady residing in Siam was no doubt an excellent household economist, but could not understand that there are some risks which it is not worth running, even to save £30. Another story of a lady to be found in the Report is worth quoting :—" A lady advertised in a newspaper asking persons to send 3d. each in aid of the Bishop of Bedford's Whitechapel Refuge Fund, and to in- duce two friends to do the same. She subsequently removed from the address without giving notice of the change, and the replies accumulated at the Returned Letter Office to such an extent, that when her new residence was discovered, no fewer than 16,268 letters, containing £191, were awaiting delivery." We wonder how long it took her to open her sixteen thousand letters. That experience must have been worse than that of an editor when the public develops a craze for writing letters to the newspapers.
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