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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
269
And
now,
unless
we
at
once
return
from
our
digression,
we
shall
not
be
in
time
to
see
the
great
night-mail
despatched
from
St.
Martin's-le-Grand.
Whilst
we
have
been
occupied
with
a
contemplation
of
the
few
waifs
and
strays
of
our
national
correspondence,
the
great
bulk
of
that
correspondence
has
been
well
and
carefully
disposed
of:
the
letters
and
newspapers
which
we
saw
two
hours
ago
as
a
mass
of
inextricable
confusion,
are
now
carefully
stowed
away
in
their
respective
bags,
and
not
a
letter
or
newspaper
can
be
found.
The
hall
clock
is
silently
approaching
the
hour
of
eight,
when
the
bags
must
all
be
sealed
and
ready
to
leave
the
place.
At
five
minutes
before
that
time,
all
is
still
bustle
and
activity;
five
minutes
perhaps
after
that
hour
the
establishment
is
nearly
deserted.
"Everything
is
done
on
military
principles
to
minute
time."
"The
drill
and
subdivisions
of
duties
are
so
perfect,"
adds
a
close
observer,
"that
the
alternations
are
high
pressure
and
sudden
collapse."
This
is
the
more
remarkable,
inasmuch
as
the
Post-Office,
is
subject
to
great
variations
in
the
amount
of
work
to
be
done.
Particular
nights
in
the
week,
Mondays
and
Tuesdays
for
example,
are
known
as
the
"heaviest,"
and
even
such
events
as
elections,
influence
the
labour
to
be
performed
within
the
same
given
time.
During
the
last
election
for
Lambeth,
40,000
circulars
were
posted
in
London
in
one
day,
and
properly
disposed
of.
On
the
14th
of
February
last,
957,000
extra
letters,
or
valentines,
passed
through
the
Circulation
Office
in
London.
Compared
with
Valentine's
Day
1863,
there
was
an
increase
of
a
quarter
of
a
million
letters!
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