Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1870-02-04

NuV AVIVW IuC tCAS Va SAC OAN 3AH0 " Ahs
%. B. Bartlett, in Springfield Republican.
HOW A PoSTOFFlCE CLERK BE.
CAME A QUEENS MESSENGER.
While living in London chanced to be
On terms Of intimacy with gentleman who
had once been Queens Messenger" an
office, the nature and duties of which are
not very generally known even in England
aud in America perhaps not at all. Before
commencing the story told me by this gen.
tleman, and which was simply an answer to
my inquiry of how he came by this appoint.
.nent, a word about the office in question
may not be uninteresting to the reader.
A Queens messenger is an individual
whose duty it is to report himself at the for
eign Office every morning by 10 o'clock, and
there to receive any orders the foreign sec,
rotary may have for him. These orders are
Of q peculiar nature, and may require the
messenger to start off at any moment-even
half an hour after receiving them-to the
most distant corner of the earth. They are
in fact dispatches, of which he ia to be the
bearer, and the individuals to whom they
are carried are the British ambassadors res
ident at foreign courts, or other of Eng.
lands representatives abroad. Usually the
trip does not extend beyond the limits o.
European countries but a Queens messen
ger may also have to make journey to In
dia, China, South America or the Uni ed
States.
The Queens messenger is Invariably q
gcntleman-according to the English nc,
ceptation of the word usually a captain il
the army, retired from military duty. His
pay is that of "a captain in the regular ser
vice-abous two hundred and fifty pounds
per annum; but there are profits, arising
from allowances for travelling and other eX
penses, that makes the affair worth nearly
double the amount. Bsing post Of emo
ument and honor, as also one whose duties
are of varied aud interesting kind, it i,
naturally much coveted and exceedingly
difficult TO obtain-all the more from the
limited number Of individuals employed in
this service. There are in al about a doz
Ell Queens Messengers attached to the for
eign Office. Some are, of course, always
absent upon their errands, while others, who
chance to be at home waiting orders, take
their regular turn according to "roster."
With this explanation | proceed to give
the tale told me by the exQueen's messen-
ger, and as near as | can remember it, in
his own words:
began life as clerk in the post-ofiice
department. After serving my novitiate in
the general post-Gtiice, London, and having
passed y very satisfactory examination
was appointed to the postotiice railway van,
on the line between Loidon and Dover
You are, of course, aware that there Is a
large van attached to each Of the principal
mail trains leaving London, fitted up with
compartments. tables and pigeon holes-ln
short, complete travelling posl-oiice Each
has its clerk and assistants, who assert the
letters as the train proceeds. They are then
put into mail bags each bearing the name
of a particular Office district through which
the railway passes. On approaching u town
or station where the train is not intended to
stop, the bag belonging to that place is hung
out by the side Of the van, and gets struck
by derrlck-set up by the side of the rail
road-wbich jerks II off and deposits it at
the station. In the same way the letter bag
to be carried on from the place is hung en-
the derrick and caught in a net placed along
the side Of the v;n-thus avoiding the ne
cessity Of a stoppage.
Ths superintendent of railway post
office van is considered an important post,
and a clerk appointed TO it is pretty sure of
farther promotion. My friends conGra,ula-
ted me on the appointment, and l consider.
ed my fortune rs coed as made.
Eel Al cbo,11 ha
employed only very short time in this ca
paci,y, and that my rise in life was to be
not only in different direction, but much
more rapid than 1t could have been had !
remained poor post.office clerk.
1t was in the early part of the year 1854,
just six months after had commenced my
duties on the railway, that the change in
my fortune came about. l was going down
from London to Dover with the French
night mail, and had just stepped into my
van, previous to the starting of the train
from the London terminus, when a stylish
young man, in the uniform of Queens
messenger, came up to the van door and
asked me if l would take care Of his des
patch-bag.
II ask you," said he, "because l fear that
am about to be unwell, and in case Of ac-
cident should like to leave these dispatches
in safe hands,"
"Such q course is most unusual," / re-
piled, land your request very extraordina'
rY."
Il know it," he answered "but this feel.
ment really feel well enough but can't
help presentment that something is about
to happen to me. My dispatches are for
our minister in Paris, and must have them
delivered indeed, should fail to do SO
would lose my appointment. 1t is not SO
easy to satisfy the powers that be- ,"
"You need not tell me that" answered /,
81 know it sufficiently myself. Well, there
may be no harm in it, and will do as you
wish"
"Thank you,' he replied, in the most
grateful manner, handing me u morocco
leather bag of considerable ponderosity.
"Should anything oc -ur to me, hope that
you will see that this is forwarded 10 Lord
Cowley, the English ambassador at Paris.
Certainly" promised, still regarding
him with astonishment, for he was a partic-
nlarly healthy looking fellow, as well as OF
prepossessing appearance. "No doubt You
will be ready to relieve me of any charge at
Dover, and can attend to the matter your
self Come, don't be down hearted there S
nothing the matter with YOU"
At this moment the last bell before start
ing warned him to hurry away to his seat in
a iirst-class carriage, and turned to my as
sistant, saying:
"Well, Ned, what do you think of it ~
"That chaps a cure" answered Ned.
81 don't know what to make of him. For
all that think he means mischief"
"Mischief! how p
"Suicide !" answered my assistant.
"Good God never thought of thar.
As | spoke the train started; and l sus-
pected that had put my foot in it. l now
turned to the bag, intending to deposit it
in place of safety.