The post office and its story an interesting account of the activities of a great government department

At the present time telegrams are delivered free within three miles of the office nearest the address, which is called the Terminal Office, and when that office is a Head Post Office, no charge is made for delivery within the town postal area, even if that extends for more than three miles. No charge is therefore made for delivery within the whole of the London postal area, which extends as far as Southgate, Woodford, Lee, South Norwood, Wimbledon, Hanwell, and Wheatstone. Before the transfer, important towns such as Bournemouth, Dundee, Exeter, Inverness, Limerick, Scarborough, or Wolverhampton did not work directly to London, and as a consequence communication had to be gained by a number of re-transmissions and transferences over the various companies' lines. Serious delay often ensued. Now, however, the Central Telegraph Office in London, which is more particularly a transmitting centre, has direct communication with every town of importance in the United Kingdom, and with every telegraph office in the metropolis. The direct communication between provincial towns has also greatly increased. Even now, when there are breakdowns, the transmitting of messages sometimes exhibits curious results in re-transmission. Mr. Baines remembers messages being sent during a breakdown from London to Carlisle through Sligo thus: London to Dublin via Haverfordwest and Waterford, Dublin to Sligo, Sligo to Belfast, Belfast to Glasgow, and Glasgow to Carlisle. There is also a legend in the Central Telegraph Office that the wires to the North being stopped on one occasion, an urgent message from London to Newcastle was forwarded by way of Hamburg. Another story is of a special correspondent who, being unable to gain admittance into a newspaper office in Fleet Street, went to the Central Telegraph Office, and telegraphed to the Irish end of the special telegraph wire worked from the newspaper office to Ireland, requesting the Irish clerk to tell the Fleet Street clerk to come down and open the door.