F.—l.

Parcel-post. The following table shows the number and weight of parcels exchanged with the United Kingdom and the undermentioned places during the years 1901 and 1902 :—

The declared value of parcels received from places outside the colony in 1902 was £123,912. The Customs duty collected amounted to £22,737. The declared value of parcels despatched to places beyond the colony was £16.313, as against £16,154 in 1901. Official Coeebspondence. The estimated volume and value of official and other free correspondence posted during 1902 is given in the statement below : —

The estimated value of official correspondence was £71,946. Dead Letters. The following comparative table shows the number of unclaimed letters, letter-cards, and post-cards dealt with during the undermentioned years : —

XVI

Recei Lved. Despatched. Country. 1901. Number. Weight. 1902. Number. Weight. 1901. Number, j Weight. 1902. Number. Weight. lb. oz. 24,011 ! 93,411 0 lb. oz. 119,612 0 lb. oz. 15,308 0 i 6,225 lb. oz. 15,411 0 United Kingdom and foreign countries (via London) United States Canada Victoria New South Wales South Australia Queensland Tasmania.. Western Australia Samoa Cook Islands Fiji Ceylon Uruguay Cape Colony Transvaal Natal Malta India 3,019 8,784 15 221 299 8 2,853 13,235 0 7,260 21,233 0 284 857 6 408 807 14 217 567 18 211 : 517 6 32 109 12 60 137 2 487 : 1,196 3J 28,881 4,123 303 4,071 7,705 380 507 237 235 112 +21 48 209 11,725 5 512 8 13,393 0 21,461 0 1,147 9 1,102 12 753 14 645 8 53 0 74 8 121 9 646 6 5,787 833 131 1,456 2,386 245 342 377 264 155 86 168 101 17 537 378 *26 2,380 1 1,085 285 10 168 a, 045 0 1,961 5,849 11 2,704 707 1 ' 246 990 6 359 914 8 464 692 12 310 394 4 143 378 15 J27 532 8 251 239 15 54 36 1 24 1,342 6 407 779 10 §151 56 2 64 2,963 6 501 12 4,509 4 5,948 10 622 0 742 15 1,039 7 778 4 508 10 119 2 781 9 114 11 85 9 975 12 261 10 149 4 814 I 860 0 396 740 8 •72 ! 103 0 2 ! 21 0 174 300 13 352 939 9 ■J47 78 11 136 339 13 Totals 34,010 15J 14,779 39,951 142,140 15 J 47,654 173,229 13 13,336 35,852 10 * Six months only. + Four months only. t Five months only. § Seven months only.

District. Letters. Packets. Registered Articles. Newspapers. Auckland Thames New Plymouth .. Gisborne Napier Wanganui Wellington Nelson Westport Greymouth Hokitika Blenheim Christchurch Timaru Oamaru Dunedin Invercargill 870,441 74,776 158,873 38,649 189,306 249,119 1,500,187 123,279 44,850 62,920 39,455 56,368 572,169 84,760 57,083 641,576 275,821 6,604 2,946 15,100 3,484 9,731 3,997 275,270 7,406 617 3,799 3,624 2,748 24,352 3,500 1,612 55,452 19,117 11,867 2,004 1,900 1,012 2,367 7,668 29,840 6,028 ■ 2,337 1,866 2,251 850 13,794 3,650 1,049 13,472 7,972 53,162 33,178 33,670 18,343 56,749 90,406 368,003 43,362 32,064 48,354 32,082 24,910 137,414 32,000 33,696 206,088 80,220 Totals 5,039,632 439,359 109,927 1,323,701

Manner of Disposal. ; 1884. 1885. 1880. 1887. 1889. I 1890. I 1894. 1896. . 1898. 1899. 1900. ,' 1901. 1902. I Opened and returned J68,942166,592 to the writers Returned unopened to, 9,134 8,115 other countries Reissued .. .. 107 185 Destroyed .. .. 3,986: 2,872 Returned unopened by 17,59819,187 Chief Postmasters Totals .. 199,762,96,951 66,729 62,847 62,654 60,540 61,745 63,1121 68,872 7,779 8,94ll 7,546j 8,899 141 130' 148! 219 2,660 4,725 4,069' 3,368 21,93122,042 26,414 33,273 1 i I 93,05197,583J101,289J114, 631 74,132! 76,692 100,036 9,706 9,707 12,251 178 265 *5,112 4,536 4,900: 5,705 22,915; 40,282; 44,523' I j 111,467131,846167,627! 107,476 8,359 7,287 6,220 96 92 5,974 4,340 20,185 21,164 : 14,401 251 6,600 21,144 113,373 6,249 54,285 103,083 96,38994,470 i195,784 * Includini ,911 troo; srs' letters. f Including 13,180 troo; iers' letters.