asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether he is aware that on numerous occasions telegrams addressed to Mr. D. G. Adams, Kharbin, Dun Laoghaire, have been returned to the senders as insufficiently addressed, and whether it is the case that letters similarly addressed to Mr. Adams are considered to be sufficiently addressed, and whether other residents of the same district have their telegrams delivered, although the address is no fuller, and whether he can state if any cost is entailed to the public in the returning of these telegrams, and, if so, the amount.
WRITTEN ANSWERS. - TELEGRAPHIC FACILITIES IN DUN LAOGHAIRE.
The matter referred to in the first portion of the question was dealt with at length in letters— copies attached—sent to the Deputy on the 5th and 18th March, 1926.
With regard to the latter part of the question, my Department is not at present aware of any recent instance in which a telegram for a resident at Dun Laoghaire, bearing the name of a house simply without the name of a road or street, has been delivered as a matter of course. When this matter came under notice in the early part of last year, instructions were issued to the effect that telegrams arriving at Dun Laoghaire, bearing only the addressee's name and the name of a house, should be treated as insufficiently addressed after due warning had been given to the addressee of the inadequacy of the address.
When a telegram is treated as undeliverable, the office which accepted the message notifies the sender accordingly in the event of his address appearing on the original form, or, failing that, if he is known at the accepting office. In such cases no cost is involved to the senders in connection with the advice of non-delivery.
[COPY.]
Aire Puist agus Telegrafa.
Sráid Muirbhthean,
Baile Atha Cliath.
5 Márta, 1926.
A Chara,
With reference to your letter of the 27th ultimo relative to telegrams for Mr. D. G. Adams, of Kharbin, 34a York Road, Dún Laoghaire, I find that it recently came under notice that telegrams intended for him were being addressed simply "Adams, Kharbin, Kingstown," or "Adams, Kharbin, Dún Laoghaire."
The regulations as indicated at page 205 (pages 197-198 in current issue) of "Eoluidhe an Phuist" ("Post Office Guide") require that the address of a telegram should be sufficiently full to enable it to be delivered without difficulty and without reference to directories or other sources of information or without depending on the personal knowledge of the officer who deals with it. (An address which might be sufficient for a letter is not necessarily sufficient for a telegram by reason of the fact that letters and telegrams are dealt with under different conditions.)
Mr. Adams was accordingly informed on the 29th December last that the addresses mentioned were insufficient and he was requested to advise his correspondents of his full address for telegrams. In a further letter of the 22nd January last he was notified that from the 1st February any telegrams received with the irregular abbreviated addresses referred to would be treated as insufficiently addressed. Mr. Adams was, therefore, afforded a reasonable time to communicate in the matter with his correspondents, but in the circumstances I have now given instructions that telegrams bearing the abbreviated addresses in question should be delivered up to the 31st instant.
If, as stated, other residents in York Road receive telegrams addressed only to the name of the house, the practice is irregular and steps will be taken to put an end to it.
Mr. Adams has been informed that if he wishes to use an abbreviated telegraphic address he can do so by paying the usual registration fee of £2 a year.
I may add that I have read the official file on the subject and I do not consider Mr. Adams' attack on the Service justifiable. To enable his own demand for prompt delivery of telegrams to be complied with, it is essential that the messages bear a full address, or an abbreviated address that has been registered. Mr. Adams, indeed, has had the benefit of using an abbreviated address for a long number of years without paying a fee. His own complaints to Headquarters brought the irregularity to light.
Mise le meas,
(Sd.) J. J. Walsh.
Aire Puist agus Telegrafa.
Major Bryan R. Cooper, T.D.
[COPY.]
Aire Puist agus Telegrafa,
Sráid Muirbhthean,
Baile Atha Cliath,
19 Márta, 1926.
A Chára,
With reference to your letter of the 12th instant, arising out of earlier correspondence respecting telegrams for Mr. D. G. Adams of Dun Laoghaire, I have to explain, by way of illustration of the fact that letters and telegrams are dealt with under different conditions, that postmen have a wider knowledge of local streets, roads and houses than either telegraph messengers or the indoor staff in the Telegraph Instrument Room. Moreover, postmen in sorting and preparing mails for local delivery are on duty simultaneously and work in the same room, so that if an address which is inadequate or which is unfamiliar comes under the notice of one postman he is in a position to call it out, and thus get assistance in the matter from the others.
Telegrams are prepared and enveloped in the Telegraph Instrument Room for delivery, and if the address of a telegram is inadequate it is not always practicable to seek assistance in that connection in the Letter Sorting Room. The postmen are frequently away from the Post Office for long periods during the day, being out either in the delivery or collection of letters or off duty, and it might therefore happen that a postman would not be available to give the necessary direction when required.
It will thus be understood that while letters and telegrams should as a matter of course bear a proper address, it is much more important that the regulations on the subject should be complied with in the case of telegrams.
I have to add that in treating telegrams with an unregistered abbreviated address as undeliverable, the Post Office does not act in an arbitrary manner, and that such a course is taken only after the addressee has had a due warning in advance of the insufficiency of the address and has failed to heed the warning.
Mise le meas,
(Sd.) J. J. WALSH,
Aire Puist agus Telegrafa.
Major Bryan Cooper, T.D.