Free Collection of Parcels.

In Wellington the Department has introduced a system of free collection of parcels for rail transportation. This service embraces principally the industrial area, three motor lorries being engaged in the service. An average of 3,500 parcels a month is collected and railed to the respective destinations throughout New Zealand. One service makes a clearance about mid-day, while the other two effect a clearance during the late

“I rock the ground with my thunder tread, Mine is the path where steel has led.
(Photo. W. W. Stewart.)
An evening scene at Thorndon locomotive depot, Wellington, New Zealand.

afternoon. All parcels, whether for the North or South Island, are accepted on these lorries, and senders are assured of the same urgency and accuracy of despatch as in the case of parcels delivered personally at the railway station.

Another interesting phase of the parcels service may be mentioned. New Zealand and Cook Island fresh grown fruit and vegetables consigned for domestic use enjoy a special cheap rate in transit by rail. The charge of 8d. for each 56 lbs. covers any distance on the railway. Similarly, dead game and fresh fish are also charged for at a reduced rate, viz., 7 lbs. (8d.), 14 lbs. (¼), 28 lbs. (2/-).

The popularity of the Department's parcels service is indicated by the fact that at one station, Thorndon (Wellington), the traffic amounts to some 10,000 to 12,000 parcels of all descriptions received and forwarded each month. The organisation, in the charge of an efficient staff, works with clock-like regularity, and this, coupled with speed and cheapness is leading to an ever-increasing patronage.