Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
102
CHAPTER
VIII.
GROWTH
OF
CERTAIN
POST-OFFICES.
When
the
past
history
of
the
Post-office
is
looked
into,
at
a
period
which
cannot
yet
be
said
to
be
very
remote,
it
is
both
curious
and
instructive
to
observe
the
contrast
which
presents
itself,
as
between
the
unpretending
institution
of
those
other
days,
and
the
great
and
ubiquitous
machine
which
is
now
the
indispensable
medium
for
the
conveyance
of
news
to
every
corner
of
the
empire.
To
imagine
what
our
country
would
be
without
the
Post-office
as
it
now
is,
would
be
attempting
something
quite
beyond
our
powers;
and
if
such
an
institution
did
not
exist,
and
an
endeavour
were
made
to
construct
one
at
once
by
the
conceits
and
imaginings
of
men's
minds,
failure
would
be
the
inevitable
result,
for
the
British
Post-office
is
the
child
of
long
experience
and
never-ending
improvement,
having
a
complexity
and
yet
simplicity
in
its
fabric,
which
nothing
but
many
years
of
growth
and
studied
application
to
its
aims
could
have
produced.
But
it
is
not
the
purpose
here
to
go
into
the
history
of
its
improvements,
or
of
its
changes.
It
is
merely
proposed
to
show
how
rapidly
it
has
grown,
and
from
what
small
beginnings.
The
staff
of
the
Edinburgh
Post-office
in
1708
was
composed
of
no
more
than
seven
persons,
described
as
follows:--
Salary.
Manager
for
Scotland,
L200
0
0
Accountant,
50
0
0
Clerk,
50
0
0
Clerk's
Assistant,
25
0
0
Three
Letter-carriers,
at
5s.
a-week
each.
In
1736
the
number
of
persons
employed
had
increased
to
eleven,
whose
several
official
positions
were
as
follows:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
