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

The Department takes great pains to repair damaged parcels where repair is at all practicable, and every Parcel Sorting Office has a hospital for dealing with parcels in all stages of dilapidation. Frequently the only damage consists in a torn paper cover or a box with a broken lid, or a cracked bottle, the contents of which are beginning to leak out. In such cases repair is easy, but when the damage consists in a broken violin bow, smashed lantern slides, a piece of carving with some of the figures knocked off, or a dress with grease stains, the matter has to be referred to the sender or addressee, and negotiations follow. All the railway companies convey parcels over their lines, and they receive a percentage on every parcel carried. The Parcel Mail Coaches I am dealing with in a subsequent chapter. The disposal of parcels is not always a simple matter. Many towns and villages are far removed from the main lines of railway, and a parcel has sometimes to be sent to two or three intermediate towns before it can reach its destination. The journey, in fact, has to be done in stages. Owing to most of the main lines converging on London, that city has better facilities than any other for disposing of parcels. It is often quicker to send through London a parcel from a town in the Midlands or in the West addressed to a town in the Eastern counties. An important development in connection with the Parcel Post has been the Express Delivery Service. On payment of a special fee a parcel can either be sent out in advance of the ordinary delivery after travelling by the ordinary mail, or it can be sent by express messenger all the way from the place of posting to the addressee.