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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
88
If
we
were
asked
to
point
out
a
mail-packet
of
the
present
day
as
fulfilling
all
modern
requirements
in
regard
to
the
packet
service,
and
showing
a
model
of
equipment
in
the
vessels
as
well
as
order
in
their
management,
we
would
not
hesitate
to
name
the
mail-steamers
plying
between
Holyhead
and
Kingstown.
It
may
not
be
generally
known,
but
it
is
the
case,
that
these
vessels
carry
a
post-office
on
board,
wherein
sorters
perform
their
ordinary
duties,
by
which
means
much
economy
of
time
is
effected
in
the
arrangement
of
the
correspondence.
In
stormy
weather,
when
the
packets
are
tumbling
about
amid
the
billows
of
the
Channel,
the
process
of
sorting
cannot
be
comfortably
carried
on,
and
the
men
have
to
make
free
use
of
their
sea
legs
in
steadying
themselves,
so
as
to
secure
fair
aim
at
the
pigeon-holes
into
which
they
sort
the
letters.
But
the
departure
of
one
of
these
ships
from
Kingstown
is
a
sight
to
behold.
Up
to
a
short
time
before
the
hour
of
departure
friends
may
be
seen
on
the
hurricane-deck
chatting
with
the
passengers;
but
no
sooner
is
the
whistle
of
the
mail-train
from
Dublin
heard
than
all
strangers
are
warned
off;
in
a
few
minutes
the
train
comes
down
the
jetty;
the
sailors
in
waiting
seize
the
mail-bags
and
carry
them
on
board;
and
the
moment
the
last
of
the
bags
is
thus
disposed
of,
the
moorings
are
all
promptly
cast
off,
and
the
signal
given
to
go
ahead:
and
with
such
an
absence
of
bustle
or
excitement
is
all
this
done,
that
before
the
spectator
can
realise
what
has
passed
before
his
eyes,
the
ship
is
majestically
sailing
past
the
end
of
the
pier,
and
is
already
on
her
way
to
England.
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