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

A General Election, as may be imagined, throws an enormous quantity of work upon the postal telegraphs and the Central Telegraph Office, the chief transmitting and delivering office in particular. At the beginning of the election campaign the leaders of each party address meetings in various parts of the country, and as each speech for reporting purposes varies from a half to several columns of a newspaper, the reception and distribution to the London and provincial newspapers requires very careful and extensive arrangements. A special staff, fast-speed apparatus, and extra wires have very frequently to be provided for the particular town in which each speech is delivered. It sometimes happens that more than twenty speeches are delivered throughout the country on the same night. On their receipt at the Central Office they have to be transcribed for delivery to the various London subscribers, and for transmission to the principal towns in the United Kingdom for the newspapers. Sometimes it is found possible to relieve the Central Office of some portion of the re-transmitted work by utilising the YQ system, and distributing the traffic to the principal centres in the Kingdom. During the first two weeks of the General Election of December 1910, 15,210,600 words were dealt with at the Central Office. The reception and transmission of polling results require careful treatment. The results are received by carefully skilled operators, and immediately taken in hand for distribution to a large number of towns for delivery to press agencies, subscribers, newspapers, clubs, &c. The making up of direct wires to the polling towns when required, in order that the result may be received in London in the shortest possible time, involves care and forethought. As an example of the celerity with which such messages are dealt with, the telegram conveying a result was handed in at Listowel, in the West of Ireland, at 9.15 P.M., and delivered to the press agents in London at 9.20 P.M.