THE  POST  OFFICE  385
addition,  in  certain  cities  are  to  be  found  street
pillar-boxes,  which  are  cleared  at  regular  intervals.
All  Branch  Offices  established  at  important  places
undertake  the  transmission  of  small  sums  of  money  by
means  of  a  Money  Order  system,  with  a  limit  of  $50  for
places  served  by  steam,  and  $10  for  other  places.
The  size  of  each  postal  district  was  originally  determined
by  consideration  of  the  distance,  the  density  of  population,
and  the  means  of  communication  available  in  the  district  ;
but,  the  limits  once  defined,  it  has  been  left  to  Postmasters
to  extend  to  inland  places  within  their  districts  on  certain
broad  lines  fixed  by  headquarters,  and  this  extension,  begun
in  1901,  is  continued;  and  it  is  intended  to  open  and  establish
direct  postal  routes  to  as  many  as  possible  of  the  prefectural
and  district  cities,  and  to  bring  every  open  place  into
postal  communication,  via  the  Treaty  ports  or  Peking,  with
the  foreign  mail  termini  at  Shanghai,  Tientsin,  Canton,
thence  with  Union  countries  and  the  outside  world.
The  result  of  this  first  period  of  extension  has  been
that  at  this  date  the  Imperial  Post  Office  is  to  be  found  and
all  postal  business  can  be  transacted  in  every  provincial
capital  of  the  Empire,  in  most  prefectural  and  district
cities,  and  in  the  more  important  smaller  centres  and
towns  throughout  China.  The  total  number  of  establishments ­
  on  December  31,  1906,  was  2,096.
Communication  between  Imperial  establishments  is
kept  up  by  means  of  contract  steamers  on  the  coast  and
large  rivers  ;  by  railways  where  they  exist  ;  by  steamlaunches,
  junks,  or  hong-boats  on  the  inland  waterways  ;
and  on  the  numerous  overland  routes,  which  now  measure
over  110,000  li  (35,000  miles)  in  length,  by  mounted  or  foot
couriers.
The  coast  and  river  steamers  and  launches  run  on
certain  lines  and  between  fixed  points,  and  are  availed  of
wherever  possible.  Railways  are  still  in  their  infancy  in
China,  but  lines  already  open  are  used  to  their  full  extent.
Hong-boats  are  chiefly  used  in  the  southern  part  of  Kiangsu
a nd  northern  Chekiang—a  district  with  a  large  network
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