Evening journal., 1897-08-24
OLD POSTAL usAoEs.
CurIous Phases of the Early EngIisl
Mall Service.


Mail Service.
When Queen Victoria ascended the |
throne there were no telcgraphs in this |
country and few railways. The mails /
were forwarded by coach, and the post
age rates were to all but the well-to-do |
prohibitive. 1t cost 4d TO Is Sd to send |
a single" letter under an ounce in
weight from one part of the kingdom
TO another. There were some 40
charges, varying according TO distance,
the average rate being Cd, or half the
days wage of laborer. A Single"
letter meant single piece of paper
(adhesive envelopes had not been in
vented). and the addition Of q second
scrap of paper made the letter "dou-
ble" one. The postage was paid on
delivery by the recipient; and as no
credit was given the incursion of a
postman into poor neighborhood was
watched on all sides with fear rather
than hope.
Coleridge, the poet, saw poor wom-
an declining to accept letter on the
score of inability to pay. The good
patured bard doubtless with some diff
ficulty) found the required ninepence,
despite the woman's remonstrances.
When the postman had gone away she
showed Coleridge that the letter was
but blank sheet of paper. Her broth
er had arranged to send her at inter
walls such sheet, addressed in a GER
tain fashion, as evidence that all was
well with him, and she as regularly,
after inspecting the address, refused
to accept it. Some humorist on one oc-
casion sent out large numbers of let
ters, each on sheet as large as a tn
blecloth, all of which had TO he deliv-
cred as ''single" missives.
This system practically stihed writ.
ten intercourse among the working
class, and pressed with severity upon
the middle class, but the rich and high
ly placed entirely escaped postal tax
alton. The privilege of franking COW
cred the correspondence not only Of
ministers, peers and members OF par
lament, but of their relatives, friends
and acquaintances. While in one year
early in the queens reign no less than
100000 letters were franked, n single
London firm paid annually c1i,OOO for
postage, and a writer in the Quarter
ly referred fippantly TO $50 slight and
rare an incident in laborer's life as
the receipt of letter" Among the
packets" franked was a grand piano.
An army OF clerks was employed TO fix
; the charges to be collected, and the
p postal revenue remained stationary be
tween 1915 and 1888, although in the
same period the population increased
from 1o,50o,OO0 to 25.GOO,OOo.
Moved by this state of things, parlia
e ment in 1899 adopted Rowland HHli
proposal of uniform inland penny
s postage, which came into operation OF
! January 10, 1s40 The writer possesse
copy of the Quarterly Review o
1899, in which a contributor (believed 4
be Croker) fiercely denounces th
u scheme "Will clerks" he says, writ
t only to their fathers and girls TO thei
u mothers? VIII not letters OF romano
o or love, intrigue or mischief, increas
in at least equal proportions2 w
doubt whether social and domestic COZ
rcspoudence will be more than doubled.
y A gigantic complication OF tho oil
: proverb: Pennywise and pound fool
# ish, etc.
10 Macaulny says that the penny post
]. when first established, was the dbiec
d of violent invective, az a manifest con
D, trivance of the pope TO enslave the soul
+ of Englishmen. IL was described a
a "sedition made easy" The postal au
thorlties, who in 1854 had opposed th
! institution OF mail coaches, were in
1t placable enemies of penny postage
The postmaster-general of 1889 (Lor
Lichfeld) based his objections on tn
J. curious ground that the building at 81
N Northumberland would not be larg
ie enough The secretary, Col. Maberly
W constantly repeated: This plan W
y know will fail"
"a AS we know, it succeeded, and IN
penny rate has been generally adopte
n in Europe, as well as in the Unite
to States The number of letters ros
h. from $4,000, 900 in 1897 TO 100000, 900
ne 1s47; and for the year ending on Marc
&c 81, 1897, they must be about 100000
n' 600. The postal surplus was in 49,
el,659,51O, and in 1s06'97 e3,G32,l3
The number of letters, which was
a 1887 about three per head and in 49,
ed Is per head, is now II per head.-Lol
w don Fortnightly Review.
ed Laughter and wrinkles.
ed Nine PERSONS out of ten, If asked
en- give what they consider the cause
70 70 wrinkles. would probably reply that