Let me take as another illustration the city of Bristol. Here we have a city which in the race for priority of position has been “passed over” by younger and more pushful rivals like Liverpool and Hull. Yet the growth of the Post Office business here has been extraordinary. There is an old official record which consists of an application by a postmaster of Bristol for an increase in his salary. The request was granted by the Postmaster-General in the following minute, which is dated 13th December 1686: it is addressed to the Governor of Bristol. “You are therefore of opinion that the said salary (£50) is very small considering the expense the petitioner is att and his extraordinary trouble, Bristoll being a greate Citty, but you say that you doe not think all the things he setts down in the aforesaid accompt ought to be allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for (as you informe me) you doe not allow either candles, pack-thread, wax, ink, penns or paper to any of the postmasters, nor office rent, nor returns of money; you are therefore of opinion that tenn pounds per annum to his former salary of £50 will be a reasonable allowance, and the petitioner will be therefore well satisfied: these are therefore to pray and require you to raise his salary from £50 to £60 accordingly.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration] _Photo_ _Clarke & Hyde._ THE SORTING SCHOOL. This pupil is busy learning general sorting—that is, dividing the mail into districts. Notice the map of England and the names of the London railway termini in front of him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The General Post Office has altered very much in its methods since those days, but the care with which it evidently sifted a claim for increase of pay two hundred years ago is equally marked to-day if we are to believe the almost unanimous verdict of Post Office servants. Certainly this particular concession does not appear to have been extravagant. We are reminded indeed of the waiter's remark to David Copperfield, “Never mind the ink; I lose by that.” The Bristol Post Office has advanced since those days. Even so late as 1855, the staff numbered only 80; at the present time it is considerably over 1500.