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               THE ROYAL MAIL




[Illustration: MAIL-COACH ACCIDENT NEAR ELVANFOOT, LANARKSHIRE.]




               THE ROYAL MAIL

        ITS CURIOSITIES AND ROMANCE

                     BY

             JAMES WILSON HYDE

 SUPERINTENDENT IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE,
                 EDINBURGH

               THIRD EDITION

                   LONDON
          SIMPKIN, MARSHALL AND CO.
                MDCCCLXXXIX.

           _All Rights reserved._


NOTE.--It is of melancholy interest that Mr Fawcett's death occurred
within a month from the date on which he accepted the following
Dedication, and before the issue of the Work.


                     TO

            THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

            HENRY FAWCETT, M. P.

      HER MAJESTY'S POSTMASTER-GENERAL,

   THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE, BY PERMISSION,

           RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.




PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.


The second edition of 'The Royal Mail' having been sold out some
eighteen months ago, and being still in demand, the Author has arranged
for the publication of a further edition. Some additional particulars of
an interesting kind have been incorporated in the work; and these,
together with a number of fresh illustrations, should render 'The Royal
Mail' still more attractive than hitherto.

The modern statistics have not been brought down to date; and it will be
understood that these, and other matters (such as the circulation of
letters), which are subject to change, remain in the work as set forth
in the first edition.

    EDINBURGH, _February 1889_.




PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.


The favour with which 'The Royal Mail' has been received by the public,
as evinced by the rapid sale of the first issue, has induced the Author
to arrange for the publication of a second edition. This edition has
been revised and slightly enlarged; the new matter consisting of two
additional illustrations, contributions to the chapters on "Mail
Packets," "How Letters are Lost," and "Singular Coincidences," and a
fresh chapter on the subject of Postmasters.

The Author ventures to hope that the generous appreciation which has
been accorded to the first edition may be extended to the work in its
revised form.

     EDINBURGH, _June 1885_.




INTRODUCTION.


Of all institutions of modern times, there is, perhaps, none so
pre-eminently a people's institution as is the Post-office. Not only
does it carry letters and newspapers everywhere, both within and without
the kingdom, but it is the transmitter of messages by telegraph, a vast
banker for the savings of the working classes, an insurer of lives, a
carrier of parcels, and a distributor of various kinds of Government
licences. Its services are claimed exclusively or mainly by no one
class; the rich, the poor, the educated, and the illiterate, and indeed,
the young as well as the old,--all have dealings with the Post-office.
Yet it may seem strange that an institution which is familiar by its
operations to all classes alike, should be so little known by its
internal management and organisation. A few persons, no doubt, have been
privileged to see the interior working of some important Post-office,
but it is the bare truth to say that _the people_ know nothing of what
goes on within the doors of that ubiquitous establishment. When it is
remembered that the metropolitan offices of London, Edinburgh, and
Dublin have to maintain touch with every petty office and every one of
their servants scattered throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland; that
discipline has to be exercised everywhere; that a system of accounting
must necessarily be maintained, reaching to the remotest corners; and
that the whole threads have to be gathered up and made answerable to the
great head, which is London,--some vague idea may be formed of what must
come within the view of whoever pretends to a knowledge of Post-office
work. But intimately connected with that which was the original work of
the Post-office, and is still the main work--the conveyance of
letters--there is the subject of circulation, the simple yet complex
scheme under which letters flow from each individual centre to every
other part of the country. Circulation as a system is the outcome of
planning, devising, and scheming by many heads during a long series of
years--its object, of course, being to bring letters to their
destinations in the shortest possible time. So intricate and delicate is
the fabric, that by interference an unskilled hand could not fail to
produce an effect upon the structure analogous to that which would
certainly follow any rude treatment applied to a house built of cards.

These various subjects, especially when they have become settled into
the routine state, might be considered as affording a poor soil for the
growth of anything of interest--that is, of curious interest--apart from
that which duty calls upon a man to find in his proper work. Yet the
Post-office is not without its veins of humour, though the metal to be
extracted may perhaps be scanty as compared with the vast extent of the
mine from which it has to be taken.

The compiler of the following pages has held an appointment in the
Post-office for a period of twenty-five years--the best, perhaps, of his
life; and during that term it has been his practice to note and collect
facts connected with the Department whenever they appeared of a curious,
interesting, or amusing character. While making use of such notes in
connection with this work, he has had recourse to the Post-office
Annual Reports, to old official documents, to books on various subjects,
and to newspapers, all of which have been laid under contribution