The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and RomanceHyde, James Wilson
History
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
Hyde, James Wilson
Postal service -- Great Britain
It may be added that these little birds are very eccentric in the choice
of their nesting-places. In one case they selected the inside of a
weathercock on the top of a steeple for their breeding-place, and in
another the interior of a beehive in full work. Here they set up house
and reared their young, neither injuring the bees, nor being molested by
them in return.
"A gentleman at Archerstown, county Westmeath, complained of a letter,
containing half bank-notes and post-bills amounting to £400, addressed
to Dublin, not having come to hand; but when the matter came to be fully
examined, it was ascertained that the letter was in a drawer in the
house of the very person to whom it had been directed, but by whom it
had been entirely overlooked."
A banker residing in a country town in Scotland reported that a letter
containing two £20 notes and two £1 notes, addressed to him by another
banker, and posted at a town ten miles distant, had not come to hand. On
inquiry, the sender could not state either the numbers or the dates of
the notes. He had, moreover, allowed upwards of two months to elapse
before taking any steps to ascertain whether his letter had reached its
destination. "As this valuable letter had been posted without the
precaution of registration, and had the words 'county rates' on the
envelope, it was supposed to have excited the cupidity of some one
connected with one or other of the two post-offices concerned, and an
officer was immediately despatched to investigate the case. The
complainant reiterated the statement that the letter had not reached
him; but within half an hour of the officer's departure, an inmate of
the house having made a fresh search, found the letter among some papers
in a press, where it had apparently been placed unopened when received."
"A bank agent sent a letter containing valuable enclosures to another
bank agent. The letter was presumed to have been lost by the
Post-office; but no trace of it could be obtained there, and the
applicant was informed accordingly. It subsequently appeared that the
son of the person to whom the letter had been addressed had called at
the Post-office and received the letter, and that he had afterwards left
the town for the holidays, carrying the letter away with him in his
pocket, where it had remained."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account