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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