Her Majesty's Mails

APPENDIX (C). INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENTS IN THE POST-OFFICE SERVICE. All candidates for appointment in the Post-Office, whether to places in the gift of the Postmaster-General, or to those in provincial towns in the gift of the respective postmasters, must pass the stipulated examination prescribed by Government, and which is conducted under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners in London. I. Candidates for clerkships in the Secretary's Office, London, must pass an examination on the following subjects, viz.[210]:-- 1. Exercise designed to test handwriting and composition. 2. Arithmetic (higher branches, including vulgar and decimal fractions). 3. Precis. 4. A Continental language, French or German, &c.[211] II. Candidates for general clerkships in the Metropolitan Offices are examined in[210]-- 1. Writing from dictation. 2. Exercise to test orthography and composition. 3. Arithmetic (higher rules). III. Candidates for the place of letter-carrier, &c. 1. Writing from dictation. 2. Reading manuscript. 3. Arithmetic (elementary). All officers nominated to places in provincial offices must be examined by the postmaster, under the auspices of the Civil Service Commissioners, the examination-papers to be in all cases submitted to the Commissioners for inspection and judgment. IV. For clerks, the examination consists in 1. Exercises designed to test handwriting and orthography. 2. Arithmetic. V. For sorters, letter-carriers, and stampers:-- 1. Writing from dictation. 2. Reading manuscript. 3. Arithmetic (of an easy kind). VI. For messengers:-- 1. Writing their names and addresses. 2. Reading the addresses of letters. 3. Adding a few figures together. No person under sixteen years of age is eligible for any situation in the Post-Office.