§ Mr. FORRESTasked the Postmaster General whether the system of closing sub-post offices from 12.30 to 1.30 in the dinner hour in many industrial districts, in addition to the weekly half-holiday, causes a great deal of inconvenience to working people who wish to transact post office business in this period; whether such offices have, as a rule, two assistants; and why it is not possible for one girl to be absent between 12 o'clock and 1 o'clock and the other between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHThe closing of sub-offices during the dinner hour is limited to localities where the mid-day closing of shops is general. I should be averse to altering the rule irrespective of local requirements as regards those sub-offices only where more than one assistant is employed, but I shall be glad to consider any specific case in which the midday closing is found to be inconvenient to the locality.