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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
104
Some
ten
years
earlier--that
is,
in
1789--the
indoor
staff
consisted
of
the
postmaster
and
one
clerk,
the
former
receiving
L140
a-year,
and
the
latter
L30.
A
penny
post,
for
local
letters
in
Glasgow,
was
started
in
the
year
1800,
when,
as
part
and
parcel
of
the
scheme,
three
receiving-offices
were
opened
in
the
city.
The
revenue
derived
from
the
letters
so
carried
for
the
first
year
was
under
L100,
showing
that
there
cannot
have
been
so
many
as
eighty
letters
posted
per
day
for
local
delivery.
After
a
time
the
experiment
was
considered
not
to
have
been
quite
a
success,
for
one
of
the
receiving-offices
was
closed,
and
a
clerk's
pay
reduced
L10
a-year,
in
order
to
bring
the
expense
down
to
the
level
of
the
revenue
earned.
In
1803
matters
improved,
however,
as
in
the
first
quarter
of
that
year
the
revenue
from
penny
letters
was
greater
than
the
expense
incurred.
At
the
present
time,
the
staff
of
the
Glasgow
Post-office
numbers
1267
persons,
and
the
postmaster's
salary
is
over
a
thousand
pounds
a-year.
To
those
who
know
Liverpool,
with
its
expansive
area,
its
vast
shipping,
its
stir
of
commerce,
and,
in
the
present
relation,
its
army
of
postmen,
the
following
facts
will
exhibit
a
striking
contrast
between
the
past
and
the
present.
In
1792,
when
the
population
of
that
town
stood
at
something
like
60,000,
the
number
of
postmen
employed
was
but
three,
whose
wages
were
7s.
a-week
each;
but,
to
be
quite
correct,
it
should
be
added
that
one
of
the
postmen,
having
heavier
work
than
the
others,
was
aided
by
his
wife,
and
for
this
assistance
the
office
allowed
from
L10
to
L12
a-year.
One
of
the
postmen
delivered
the
letters
for
the
southern
district,
including
Everton,
St
Ann's,
Richmond,
&c.;
another
served
the
northern
portion,
taking
in
part
of
the
old
dock,
the
dry
dock,
George's
Dock,
&c.;
while
the
third
disposed
of
the
letters
for
the
remaining
portions
of
the
town.
The
duties
of
these
men
seem
to
have
been
carried
out
with
a
good
deal
of
deliberation.
The
postmen
arranged
the
correspondence
for
distribution
in
the
early
morning,
then
they
partook
of
breakfast,
and
set
out
upon
their
rounds
about
9
A.M.,
completing
their
work
of
delivery
about
the
middle
of
the
afternoon.
And
thus
it
would
appear
that
Liverpool
at
that
time
had
only
one
delivery
per
day.
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