The romance of the British Post Office : its inception and wondrous development . lilluul iijmi iH THE NEW POST OFFICE—1S29.(Frofn a Photograph by A. L. Tyler.) SO as to admit of the wholesale posting of letters, andinto the yawning receptacle missives of all kinds arethrown pell mell. Stories are told of baskets and sacksand all being thrown in, in the excitement of themoment. As the minute hand of the great clock inthe portico gradually approaches the hour, the rushbecomes more and more intense, until, at the laststroke of the hour, the flap is let down with a sharp,sudden snap, and the tard
The romance of the British Post Office : its inception and wondrous development . lilluul iijmi iH THE NEW POST OFFICE—1S29.(Frofn a Photograph by A. L. Tyler.) SO as to admit of the wholesale posting of letters, andinto the yawning receptacle missives of all kinds arethrown pell mell. Stories are told of baskets and sacksand all being thrown in, in the excitement of themoment. As the minute hand of the great clock inthe portico gradually approaches the hour, the rushbecomes more and more intense, until, at the laststroke of the hour, the flap is let down with a sharp,sudden snap, and the tardy stragglers who have comeup just one moment too late, find themselves face to 70 THE BRITISH POST OFFICE. face with the big notices just put up by the placid-looking policemen standing hard by, and which indi-cate the extent of the extra fee required for lateletters. It is amusing, sometimes, to watch the effortsof some of the belated letter-posters, who endeavourwith well-directed aim to project, with Bellerophon-like swiftness, their letters through the letter-slit so as. OUTSIDE THE GENERAL POST OFFICE AT SIX OCLOCK. to over-reach the receiving basket on the other side inthe vain hope of thereby evading the extra postage. With the restoration of normal tranquility outside,commences the real rush of business inside. Throughsorts of funnels the letters, etc., come tumbling intothe baskets provided for their reception on the innerside of the letter-flaps, and as soon as they are filled, AT SAINT martins LE GRAND. 71 which is in almost less than no time, they are removedand replaced by others, when the missives and packetscome once more leaping and dancing in. As may beimagined, the boys who have to attend to the clearingof the baskets are well employed until the posting-hour is past. Taking a birds-eye view from one ofthe galleries of the great sorting hall at St. Martins
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1897
