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

If you lose your train at a big railway station the company will readily provide you with “a special” at a cost prohibitive to most men's purses. If, on the other hand, you lose the post, the Postmaster-General can at once provide you with “a special” also, but it will only be at a cost slightly in excess of the ordinary charge, and, unlike the case of the railway train, your post “special” will probably arrive before the ordinary mail. There is one soul-stirring regulation for the Express Delivery services: it is hidden away in small print at the bottom of a page. What would not Selfridge's or Whiteley's make of such an announcement! “Postmasters may arrange for the conduct of a person to an address by an express messenger.” “To see a man home” is a duty which can now be vicariously put on the Post Office. But it is not my purpose to republish the provisions of the Guide in these pages: I want only to suggest to my readers that they may lose many opportunities to avail themselves of the various services through ignorance. For, as I have already hinted, the Postmaster-General is like “Bobs” in Rudyard Kipling's verses, “'E does not advertise,” and many of the admirable things which he is prepared to do for the public remain practically undeveloped because of his modesty. How powerful would be the appeal to the public if he could follow the example of the Bedminster Down Penny Bank and advertise the Post Office Savings Bank with an effective poster such as the one on the opposite page.