THE POST OFFICE OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.
As regards postal communications with places abroad, it may suffice to record the fact that the lowest postage on a single letter to Paris was 1s. 8d., to Gibraltar it was 2s. 10d., and to Egypt, 3s. 2d. Any letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight may now be sent to these places for 2½d.
A letter just weighing an ounce can now be sent to Canada or the United States for 5d., but in 1837 the postage on such a letter was 8s. 8d., with a further charge for delivery on arrival.
A packet of manuscript accounts, weighing, say, 2¾ lbs., can now be sent to Canada or the United States, by book post, for 11d., but in 1837 the "reduced postage" on such a packet was £5. Nothing heavier than 3 lbs. could be sent at this "reduced" rate. If the packet weighed, say, 3¼ lbs., it was charged full letter postage—viz., £22 10s. 8d., the present charge for such a packet being only thirteen pence.
The mails to North and South America, India, and other places beyond seas, were in 1837 conveyed by sailing vessels only, those to New York being conveyed by gun-brigs, starting from Falmouth, the voyage frequently occupying many weeks; and mails were made up in London for North and South America, the Cape of Good Hope, and India, only once a month.
The slow-sailing packets have long ago been superseded by swift steam vessels, and in place of the single monthly dispatch, the mails to India are now
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