548
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 21

Definitions.

5. The pattern and sample post is restricted to bonâ fide trade patterns or samples of merchandise, and natural history specimens not forwarded for commercial purposes. Patterns or samples must possess no saleable value, or they will be detained and sent to the Dead Letter Office. Packets not bonâ fide samples or patterns containing articles of saleable value may, however, be sent at sample rates to any place within New Zealand and the Australian Colonies, excepting Queensland.

6. Samples of eider-down, raw or thread silk, woollen or goats’ hair thread, vanilla, or isinglass are deemed inadmissible if they weigh more than 3oz.

7. Wedding-cake may be forwarded by sample post to places within the colony, but should be indorsed “Sample Post.” For places beyond the colony wedding-cake must be paid for at letter rates of postage or sent by parcel post.

8. Packets not bonâ fide samples or patterns may be sent by parcel post to any of the countries with which parcel post exchanges exist.

How to Pack.

9. Patterns or samples, when practicable, must be sent in covers open at the end, and packed in such manner as to be easy of examination; but samples of seeds, drugs, and such-like articles, which cannot be sent in covers of this kind, may be posted enclosed in boxes or in bags of linen, or other material, fastened in such a manner that they may be readily opened.

No Writing allowed.

10. Patterns and samples must not bear any writing except the name and address of the sender, the address, a manufacturer’s trade-mark, numbers, prices, and indications relative to weight or size, or to the quantity to be disposed of.

11. Writing in characters such as Chinese, &c., will render the packet liable to letter rates of postage.

Dangerous Articles.

12. Such articles as scissors, knives, razors, forks, steel pens, nails, keys, watch-machinery, metal tubing, pieces of metal or ore, provided that they be packed and guarded in so secure a manner as to afford complete protection to the contents of the mail-bags and to the officers of the Post Office, while at the same time they may be easily examined, may be forwarded as samples.

13. Articles of glass must be securely packed in boxes of metal, wood, leather, or cardboard, so as to prevent all danger to correspondence or postal officers.

14. Liquids, oils, and fatty substances easily liquefied must be enclosed in glass bottles hermetically sealed. Each bottle must be placed in a wooden box furnished with sawdust, cotton-wool, or spongy material in sufficient quantity to absorb the liquid in case the bottle be broken. Finally the box itself must be enclosed either in a case of metal or of wood, with a screw top, or of strong and thick leather. When hollow wooden blocks, with minimum thickness of 2½ millimetres (about ⅛ in.), are used with sufficient quantity of absorbent material inside, and provided with a lid, the blocks need not be enclosed in a second case.

15. Fatty substances which are not easily liquefied, such as ointments, soft-soap, resin, &c., the transmission of which offers less inconvenience, must be enclosed in an inner cover (box, bag of linen, parchment, &c.), which must itself be placed in a second box of wood, metal, or strong and thick leather.

16. Dry powders, whether dyes or not, must be placed in card-board boxes which themselves are enclosed in a bag of linen or parchment.

Live Bees, Natural History Specimens, &c.

17. Live bees and harmless entomological specimens may be forwarded at sample-post rates to any place within the colony, the Australian Colonies, the United Kingdom, and to the United States, provided they are enclosed in covers so constructed as to avoid all danger and to allow the contents to be ascertained. Live bees similarly packed may also be sent to all other places. Natural history specimens, such as dried or preserved animals and plants, geological specimens, &c., when not sent for commercial purposes, are admitted to transmission as samples.

Limits of Size and Weight.

18. Packets addressed to places within New Zealand, the Australian Colonies, or the United Kingdom must not exceed 2ft. in length, or 1ft. in width and depth. The maximum weight admissible to places within the colony and the United Kingdom is 5lb., and the Australian Colonies 1lb.

19. Pattern- and sample-packets sent to any other place must not exceed 1ft. in length, 8in. in width, 4in. in depth, and 12oz. in weight, unless they be in the form of a roll, for which the maximum dimensions are limited to 1ft. in length and 6in. in diameter.

MAGAZINES.

For New Zealand, the Australian Colonies (except Queensland and Western Australia), and Tasmania—Each copy of a registered magazine, not exceeding 8oz., 1d.; each additional 4oz. or fraction, ½d.

For Queensland—Not exceeding 4oz., 1d.; each additional 4oz. or fraction, 1d.

For Western Australia and other places, as for printed papers. Magazines are registered on application to the Secretary, General Post Office. Unregistered magazines are charged for at printed-paper rates.

NEWSPAPERS.

Rates of Postage.

1. The postage for the transmission of newspapers is—
   (a.) For places within the colony—For each newspaper, ½d.
   (b.) For the Australian Colonies (except Queensland) and the South Sea Islands—For each newspaper, 1d.
   (c.) For other countries and Queensland—Each newspaper, 1d. for the first 4oz., and ½d. for each additional 2oz. or fraction thereof.

2. If more than one newspaper be enclosed in a packet, an additional rate must be affixed for each newspaper.

3. Newspapers, if addressed to places beyond the colony and posted unpaid, are detained and advertised as in the case of “printed papers.” Unpaid and insufficiently-prepaid newspapers intended for delivery within the colony, and insufficiently-prepaid newspapers for places beyond the colony, are forwarded to destination charged double the deficiency at the prepaid rate.