The Bristol Royal Mail: Post, Telegraph, and TelephoneTombs, Robert Charles
History
The Bristol Royal Mail: Post, Telegraph, and Telephone
Tombs, Robert Charles
Postal service -- England -- Bristol
Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel, is connected with the mainland by
a submarine cable, which is considered to be one of the most perfect of
its kind. Letters for Lundy, from Bristol and elsewhere, are carried
across by boat from Instow once a week. The nearer small islands of
Flat Holm and Steep Holm have cable telephonic communication with
Weston-super-Mare. The telephone, which is carried into the Weston Post
Office, is rented by the War Office Authorities, who allow the islanders
the use of it. Letters from Bristol for the Flat Holm are conveyed by
way of Cardiff. The island is rented from the Cardiff Corporation by a
farmer who resides upon it. His son, who lives in Cardiff, daily visits
the island in a yacht, and conveys the letters for the Trinity House
officials and residents. For the Steep Holm, Bristol letters are sent
from Weston-super-Mare; the services to the island being
tri-weekly--Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,--and are performed by a
contractor, who goes across on behalf of the War Office. The Steep Holm
is inhabited by military men only. In a manuscript of 30th March, 1825,
it is described as "Stipe Holme." One of the first serious efforts in
connection with the plan of telegraphing through space without
connecting wires was conducted between the diminutive island of Flat
Holm and the shore, a distance of about five miles; and between Penarth
and Brean Down, a distance of nine miles. An interesting illustration
of the system of wireless telegraphy was given, under the direction of
Mr. W. H. Preece, C.B., F.R.S. (now Sir W. H. Preece, K.C.B., F.R.S.),
at the Clifton College conversazione, held in honour of the learned
British Associates during the meeting of the Association at Bristol in
1898.
The telegraph staff have seldom had their skill and smartness more
thoroughly tested than on the memorable Monday evening in February,
1893, when press messages of great length relating to the introduction
of the Home Rule Bill were sent over the wires. Twenty minutes after Mr.
Gladstone rose to speak in the House of Commons the first instalment of
the special summary of his speech reached this city. The conclusion of
the summary was received at two minutes to 7. The verbatim report
commenced to arrive at 4.49, and the last instalment reached the Bristol
Office at 8 o'clock. The total number of words in the messages sent to
Bristol was nearly 40,000.
During the early potato season telegraphing is very brisk with Jersey.
Bristol is the only large office besides London which has direct
communication with the island. Some idea may be gathered of the extra
labour entailed on the telegraph service from the fact that in the month
of June, 1899, no fewer than 20,904 telegrams passed between Bristol and
Jersey, the normal number being only 5,800 monthly. Five or six
telegraph operators are usually sent during the season to Jersey from
Bristol.
In Bristol about 700 firms use abbreviated telegraphic addresses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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