The Paris postal authorities are ying out an interesting experiment in time.
slying. Fora considerable time there had been complaints of the early hour at which the last clearances for the night mails were made in the outlying quarters of the city. Residents in these parts of Paris had to either post their letters before 4.30 p.m. or send them to a central office. The early hour for closing the mails in the ea districts nearest the fortifications was due to the fact that the clearances were made by postmen who were unprovided with any kind of conveyance and had to carry their bags of letters and* papers a considerable distance from the sub-offices to the head office of the arrondissement, The present Under-Secretary for Posts and Telegraphs, M. Mougeot, recently decided to try not only bicycles but motorcycles, and the first trial was made this week. The 12th arrondissement, one of the largest in the city, extending as it does from the Bastille to the fortifications, and from the river to the Faubourg St. Antoine, was selected for the experiment. Four postmen, wearing their ordinary uniform and carrying the regulation wallet, were sent out on bicycles to clear all the boxes reserved for letters, it being of course impracticable for a bicyclist to carry sacks of newspapers, book-packets, and, other heavy matter. The first five clearances of the day were made in this way without the slightest hitch, and there was an average saving of 20 minutes on each clearance. On the following day four motor cycles, each driven by an expert and pro. vided with a front seat for the postnian, were sent out, the men being instructed to make the 3.30 clearance at 3.45 and return to the head office at 3.55, All four accomplished the work in the given time, thus showing that a saving of a quarter of an hour can be effected on the shortest journeys. M. Mougeot afterwards aecomplished a four-mile round in a larger motor car in 25 minutes. The same work done under existing conditions would have required at least an hour anda quarter. The experiments are to be repeated every day for a fortnight, and if the results confirm first impressions the Post Office authorities will begin to buy motorcycles and train tmen to use them. The gradual development of this system will give Paris a Detter collection of mail matter than any city in the world.
Gth October.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.