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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
52
On
the
9th
January
1837,
an
official
report
set
forth
that
"the
mail-coach
road
between
Louth
and
Sheffield
had
on
the
6th
inst.
been
closed
twelve
days
in
consequence
of
the
snow,
and
it
is
stated
that
it
will
be
a
week
before
the
mail
can
run."
An
attempt
was
made
to
get
the
mail
forward
from
Lewes
to
London
by
post-chaise
and
four
horses;
but
after
proceeding
about
a
mile
from
the
town,
the
chaise
returned,
the
driver
reporting
that
it
was
impossible
to
proceed,
as
the
main
road
was
quite
blocked
up
with
snow
to
a
depth
of
10
or
12
feet.
These
were
the
good
old
times;
and
no
doubt
to
us
they
have
a
romance,
though
to
the
people
who
lived
in
them
they
had
a
very
practical
aspect.
The
general
instructions
to
mail-guards
in
cases
of
breakdown
were
as
follows:--
"When
the
coach
is
so
broke
down
that
it
cannot
proceed
as
it
is
on
its
way
to
London,
if
you
have
not
above
two
passengers,
and
you
can
procure
a
post-chaise
without
loss
of
time,
get
them
and
the
mail
forward
in
that
way,
with
the
horses
that
used
to
draw
the
mail-coach,
that
they
may
be
in
their
places
(till
you
come
to
where
a
coach
is
stationed);
and
if
you
have
lost
any
time,
you
must
endeavour
to
fetch
it
up,
which
may
be
easily
done,
as
the
chaise
is
lighter
than
the
coach.
"If
you
cannot
get
a
post-chaise,
take
off
one
of
the
coach-horses,
and
ride
with
your
bags
to
the
next
stage;
there
take
another
horse,--and
so
on
till
you
come
to
the
end
of
your
ground,
when
you
must
deliver
the
bags
to
the
next
guard,
who
must
proceed
in
the
same
manner.
If
your
mail
is
so
large
(as
the
York,
Manchester,
and
two
or
three
others
are
at
some
part
of
the
road)
that
one
horse
cannot
carry
it,
you
may
take
two;
tie
the
mail
on
one
horse
and
ride
the
other.
The
person
who
horses
the
mail
must
order
his
horsekeeper
at
every
stage
to
furnish
you
with
horses
in
case
of
accidents.
Change
your
horses
at
every
post-town,
and
do
all
your
office-duty
the
same
as
if
the
coach
travelled.
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