TABLE H
RELATIVE RATES OF SORTING AND STAMPING.
| Relative Rate of Stamping. | Relative Rate of Sorting. | |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary Letter Packets— | ||
| (a) not exceeding 1 oz. | 1,000 | 100 |
| (b) over 1 oz., not exceeding 4 oz. | 75 | 75 |
| (c) over 4 oz. | 75 | 60 |
| Postcards | 1,000 | 100 |
| Halfpenny Packets | 750 | 90 |
| Newspaper Packets | 80 | 70 |
Note I. The rates both as regards stamping and as regards sorting are not actual but relative rates. In both cases the handling of an ordinary light letter is taken as the standard with which the rate of handling other articles is compared. The table is intended to indicate, e.g., that if in a given period of time 100 ordinary light letters would be sorted, only 75 letters weighing between 1 ounce and 4 ounces, or only 90 halfpenny packets, would be sorted in the same period; or if in a given period of time 1,000 ordinary light letters would be stamped, only 75 letters over 1 ounce in weight, or only 80 newspapers, would be stamped in the same period. All that is aimed at is the normal relative rate of sorting for each class of packet. It is not necessary to ascertain the normal absolute rate.
Note II. Rates of Stamping.—In determining rates of stamping, a serious complication is introduced by the use of machines (both hand and power) at many offices for stamping certain classes of packets. In London, where approximately one-third of the total number of postal packets is posted, power machine-stamps are employed, except at a few of the sub-district sorting offices, at which hand machine-stamps are still employed. There are a few of the smaller offices at which all the stamping is done by hand, but the number of such offices and the number of packets so stamped is negligible. The power machine stamps at rates varying from 12 to 16 times as great as that of an officer stamping by hand; the hand machine stamps at a rate about ten times as great.
Power machine-stamps are in use in the provinces in towns in which approximately a quarter of the total number of postal packets is posted.
Hand machine-stamps are in use in other towns in the provinces where approximately one-twelfth of the total number of postal packets is posted.
In the remaining towns there is hand stamping only.
The foregoing estimates give an average rate of stamping throughout the kingdom for those classes of packets which are of a size and shape to pass through the machine-stamp, where available, of about ten times as great as that of an officer stamping by hand.