Transcribed by Emily Smith. Geo. The Northern News With Which Are Amalgamated The HALTWHISTLE and ALSTON NEWS and NORTH CUMBERLAND REFORMER No. 514 —Vol. XI. Saturday, January 6, 1900 ----- POPULARITY OF THE POSTAL ORDER. SOME ASTOUNDING FIGURES. Since the establishment of the postal order system in 1881 the sum of £298,529,000 has been remitted through the post by means of it, the number of orders issued being 778,389,000. At the present time the annual rate of issue is 80,000,000 orders, representing £28,000,000. The most popular of all the denominations was, as might be supposed, the 20s order, of which the issue is now at the rate of 11,000,000 in the year; but the 5s order, which was always run it very close, has now almost crept up to the same rate of issue. The 10s order is not far behind, having an issue at the rate of 10,000,000 a year, while the next denomination in point of popularity is the 1s order, which has an annual sale of 8,000,000. It is a noteworthy fact that the two lowest denominations are very largely used, the issue of the 1s order having indeed increased of late years by leaps and bounds. This is, of course, due in a great measure to the numberless competitions that have become a prominent feature in our midst, and for which an entrance fee of 1s is charged; while the shilling subscription lists, now so popular, have also no doubt contributed largely to the same result. The plan of using postage stamps to make up broken amounts has also done much to increase their popularity. In 1884, the first year of its adoption, £11,000 worth of postage were used in this manner, while at the present time the amount has risen to considerably over £1,000,000. -- Emily Smith