The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

With some men it is impossible for them ever to become good sorters, even with the most earnest desire on their part to do so. There are certain qualities necessary for the purpose, and if they are not united in the person, he will never come to the front as a good sorter. These are: self-command--necessary when working against time; activity in his person so as to meet any sudden strain of work; a methodical habit; and, the sine qua non of a sorter, a quick, prehensile, and retentive memory. So much has a sorter to learn, that a man without a head can never distinguish himself; and an educational test, except as a measure of acquirements in a collateral way, is of very little use. A sorter's success rests chiefly upon natural aptitude. In the circulation of letters, we may discover the paradox that "the longest road is often the shortest"; the explanation of which is, that by a round-about way letters may sometimes arrive sooner than by waiting the next chance by a more direct route. Post-office circulation is not tied down by any strait-laced lines of geographical science, nor by any consideration but that of the economy of time.