The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-15 00:00:00

i ACCELERATION OF THE IRISH MAILS
Marquis
half-pastah
ta
d4o to w
1 TO EA GLAND.
1 On Monday afternoon a deputation of Irish noblemen
1 and Members of Parliament waited upon the
of Cliiiireii:de,lier Majesty's Postmaster-General, at
'1 --li Ir.
St. Martin's-le-Grand;-with a view of effecting a mate-
rial alteration of the evening mail from Dublin to Lon-
don, which at present is subject to considerable delay in
its transit to the metropolis.
The deputation comprised the Earl of G enga , is-
count Bernard, M.P., Sir Lucius O'Brien Bart., m.p.,
Sir Timothy O'Brien, Bart., M.P., Colonel Dunne,
M.P., Viscount Naas, 1r1.P., Colonel Rawdon, M.P.,
1 Mr. Reynolds, M.P., Mr. G. A. Hamilton, M.P., Mr.
E. Grogan, M.P., Mr. F. French, M.P., Mr. W. Kettle,
M.P., Mr. Blake, M.P., Mr. J. Sadleir, M.P., Mr. E. K.
Tenison, M.P., Mr. E. O'Flaherty, M.P., and Mr. C. P.
Roney.
Being introduced to the Noble Me,rquis,
I Viscount BICRNARD briefly opened the proceedings by
I pointing out to his Lordship the great importance of ac-
Icelerating the evening mail from Dublin, and noticing
the objectionable arrangements of the present system,
especially with reference to the south of Ireland. The
Noble Viscount then introduced Mr. Roney, who would
enter into a more lengthened exposition of the inconve-
niences attending the present mode of forwarding the
mail, and in what way the difficulty might be avoided.
HONEYeatuato addressipjp,rrhoeecsaeedendtemtdhaeitlo-tbroaaint -
G theeMn fear
or. cart l .tt
the
He would draw his Lordship's attention to
minutes
a t
270 o'clock
lc
opl
coa
kcs o'clock i
4ni n.wlehaivcilingawiaiiitnedzstthoen ar-
rivalat
theT theh morning,
r There
t h emails evening,
and started
reached
an d f rpoama
Cs
aChester
gs Holy-
headet ersrait until half-past 6, when they were taken on
by a flew train, which called at sixteen stations, and did
not reach London until ono o'clock in the day. Thus
his Lordship would see that two hours were spent at an
inconvenient and cheerless time at
oChhoeustrearl,aatnerd
tfhoarnaaltl;
perhaps as well start:,
to the consideration
however, he (Mr.;
eairynt:gs a I o f a time
ap
tu purposes sr els
atshtenHi
noel yrrhoema dii. bi
nogastt
onani,g
th 4
table of
;of
tlpthreentshLee Yneot)ndwoooTbnuloelacinMrsdueallabrCinlotiviites.thtehßiysfoladl North-Westernoepwl Railway, his Lordship
would perceive that there was a train started every
morning from Stafford at 6 o'clock, and arrived at Bir-
mingham at twenty-
five minutes past 7, in time for the
halt-past 7 express train to London, which reached
there at half-past 10, consequently, all that was required
;he would suggest to his Lordship was, the starting of a
train from Chester at a quarter to 5 in the morning,
!five minutes after the the train arrived from Holyhead.
;That train, so dispatched, would reach Stafford at ten
sminutes past six, and by expediting its running to Bir-
mingham, so that the distance of twenty-nine miles
!might be done, as it could be, very easily in an hour and
five minutes, it would arrive at Birmingham at a quer-
iter past 7. That would give a quarter of an hour for
PoSt-office business and for passengers to refresh them-
selves. The only cost that would be incurred to the
Poseoffice would be fur running a new train between
Chester and Stafford, a distance of 46 miles; and some
slight charge for conveying from Stafford onwards. But
even if it were heavy, his Lordship might be reminded
that it would save three hours as between Dublin and
London, and cause letters to be delivered at 12'30 mid-
day, instead of at 4 rex., as at present, The London
district post-offices being open until 2 P,M., and the
general Post-uffice until 3.30 P.m. for the reception of
letters for the 5 P.M. express mail to Ireland, the pro-
posed arrangement would practically save a day's post
in all communications between Ireland and Leaden.
Mr. Roney then dwelt upon the boon which the pro=
posed expediting of the train would confer on the pas .
sengers, both to London and the western districts of
!England, and, in alluding to the feeling of the London
'and North-Western Railway upon the subject, expressed
'his belief they were al xious to meet the views of her
Majesty's Postmaster-General on equitable terms.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE inquired what were the
equitable terms? It was a question of cost.
Mr. RONEY replied that he was not prepared to state
them, but he had no doubt in informing his Lordship
that the great advantage he had mentioned (achievable
by the forwarding of the train) could be obtained at a
sum not exceeding 1,2001.; comparatively the cost would
be trifling, as it was not like putting a new through
train, but merely continuing one between two existing
trains.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, who had paid much
attention to the reasons urged for the acceleration of the
mail, thanked the deputation for the manner they had
brought the subject before him. Ho assured them that
it would have the fullest consideration at his hands. Ile
felt the importance of the appeal that had been made to
him; but he need scarcely inform the deputation that
he was not then prepared to name any definite arrange-
ment. Ile would, however, state that negotiations were
pending, which, he was in hope, would result in the ac-
celeration of both the Irish and Scotch mails to the me-
tropolis, and secure the more early delivery of letters.
Mr. REYNOLDS, M.P., stated that the present plan
differed from that of last year in the important element
of cost, inasmuch as that would have cost 12,0001. to
carry out, while in this instance, if Mr. Roney's views
were correct, it would incur only as many hundreds.
Sir L. O'BRIEN. M.P., having called the attention of
the Marquis of Clanricarde to the present conveyance of
the inland mail, the deputation, after some few further
remarks, withdrew, having been received in the most
courteous terms by the Noble Marquis.