CHAPTER XIV.

TELEGRAPH MESSENGERS.

The telegraph messengers in uniform employed in the Bristol district number about 160. They have a literary institute, a drum and fife band, hold swimming classes, etc. That there is need of night classes may be inferred from the following specimens of telegraph messengers' orthography and syntax:--

(1) "Supt, Sir, I will try to be more careful in the pass. Yours obed, H. P----."

(2) "Supt, Sir, I having asked where the message was ment for and they told me to go up the road where I should see a chemist shop where I should find it about there and I having could not find it I asked, a gentleman which he said it was farther up the road and I left it with cotton the undertaker which he said it was quite right.--G. H----."

(3) "Supt, sir, I will try to be more extint in the future as this is the truth.--M. T----."

(4) "Supt, Sir, I much regret not returning my report But I left it home in my other Pocket in my overcoat which is home drying which was wet through on Saturday last. Yours obed H. E----."

The institute was inaugurated at a public meeting at the Colston Hall on the 1st December, 1892, which was attended by a large and influential gathering of citizens. Upon the platform were the Mayor of Bristol (Mr. W. R. Barker), who presided, the Very Rev. the Dean of Bristol (Dr. Pigou), Mr. Charles Townsend, M.P., Rev. R. Cornall, Mr. R. C. Tombs (the postmaster), Mrs. R. C. Tombs, Dr. Lansdown, jun., Miss Synge, Miss Pollock, Messrs. John Harvey, Arthur Baker, E. G. Clarke, H. Lewis, C. H. Tucker, R. L. Leighton, W. H. Lindrea, J. R. Bennett, E. Sampson; also Messrs. A. J. Flewell (superintendent of the telegraph department), W. H. Gange, J. Robertson, J. S. Gover, J. J. Mackay, H. T. Carter (superintendent of the postal department).

It was explained that the telegraph messengers were engaged at from thirteen to fourteen years of age, and the lessons they had learned at school had chiefly been supplemented by a knowledge acquired in the streets. The object was to counteract street influences by providing elementary instruction, recreation, and interesting literature. There was no desire to educate the boys to such a pitch that Jack would think himself better than his master, but to take care that they should not degenerate. It was announced that the hours of labour had just been reduced from sixty-two to fifty per week, which would be a great boon to the boys. It was further stated that a private appeal had been made, not in vain, to a few of Bristol's most generous citizens, and that through their kindly aid, with subscriptions from the members of the staff and the grant which it was hoped to earn from the Education Department, the institute would be carried on without pecuniary embarrassment. The description of the institute's work was as follows:--

1. The institute would be open to the telegraph messengers and to junior officers of the postal and telegraph service, the charge to each member to be one penny per week.

2. The institute would be carried on in a room at the General Post Office.

3. In connection with the institute an evening school would be held, the educational session to last from October to May. An annual examination of the members of the classes would be held.

4. In addition to the three elementary subjects,--reading, writing, and arithmetic,--classes would be arranged for the study of Scripture, geography, drawing, composition, and shorthand.

5. For the purpose of recreation certain games would be provided.

6. In connection with the institute there would be a library, which had been formed by means of books generously given by the citizens of Bristol.

7. The library would be open to any established or unestablished officer of the postal and telegraph service at a slight subscription per month.

8. A penny savings bank would also be started.

The Chairman said he gladly consented, to preside that evening, because the object of the meeting was one in which he took deep interest, and one which he felt sure would commend itself to a very large number of his fellow-citizens. He thought he might say that everything connected with the postal service was peculiarly interesting to them all, and anything they could do to ameliorate the lot of those who daily rendered them such important service they would be very glad to do. He thought it would not be well to make the movement too "goody" in its character, or too educational, so he was glad to see that there was a lighter side to the scheme.

Mr. Charles Townsend, M.P., Mr. Arthur Baker, Mr. Harold Lewis, Miss Synge, and members of the postal and telegraph, staff, also spoke.

Then, the Dean of Bristol addressed the telegraph messengers, and said he really should have been disappointed if he had not been invited to attend the meeting. It was a pleasant part of his privilege in ministering in Bristol to be asked to take a share in such an interesting gathering as they were holding that evening. One of the best features of this institute was that it would assist them to put their leisure to the most profitable use.

The educational work has been progressing steadily ever since its inauguration, and much good has resulted from it to the messengers.

Ever ready to give their countenance to entertainments for the benefit of the community, their Graces the late lamented Duke, and the Dowager Duchess, of Beaufort, as their first public act after coming to reside at Stoke Park, near our city, attended a concert at the Redland Park Hall, which was held for the purpose of benefiting the funds of the Telegraph Messengers' Institute. Later on, May 21st, 1898, they were kind enough to attend an annual meeting and a prize distribution at the Colston Hall. The late Duke, who presided on the occasion, said it was a great pleasure to him to be present. He had witnessed a good deal of the care and discipline with which the Post Office messengers were looked after. Like everybody who had a great deal of correspondence, he had the privilege of having the services of the best regulated Post Office in the world. They also had in this country the privilege of being able to use the best regulated telegraph service. They might be perfectly sure that if a man wanted to send a telegram, when once he put it into the hands of the postal officials, however ill-written or badly addressed it might be, it was very probable that the telegram would reach its destination. Those who had a good deal of correspondence were deeply indebted for the splendid organisation of the Bristol Department. They were also very much indebted to the telegraph clerks, who deciphered the scrawls handed them, and who transmitted the messages. They were deeply indebted also to the boys for the way in which they refrained from stopping to play marbles, and did their duties with great zeal, and delivered their messages at the proper places and to the proper persons. They would understand that they were Government officers, and that they had to discharge important duties. He could personally say that those duties were thoroughly well carried out in the city of Bristol and its neighbourhood.

The Duchess of Beaufort then distributed the prizes, after which a telegraph messenger presented Her Grace with a basket of choice flowers.

The Bishop of Bristol addressed the lads, and urged them to do their duty thoroughly when on duty, and to enter heartily into healthy play when off duty. In doing their duty they should remember one or two things. They might be charged with the delivery of a message which was a matter of life or death; it might be one regarding which thousands of pounds depended; or it might be one of little importance. But, whatever it was, it was not for them to enquire, but to deliver the message with punctuality and promptness. Having spoken of the discipline and training telegraph boys received, he observed that of all telegraph boys, for punctuality, steadiness, courtesy, and politeness, the Bristol boys were about the best. He urged them also to live pure lives and observe complete honesty, that they might become worthy citizens of whom the country might be proud. He was glad to hear the name of the lady (Miss Pollock) who conducted the scriptural class so cordially received, which showed that the lady and her work had taken hold of the hearts of the boys. The excellence of their work as boys, and as men, and the enjoyment of their lives, in the best sense, depended upon their becoming God-fearing. He should be pleased to give a prize in connection with the Scripture class.

The letters of the Bishop, written with reference to the occasion, should not be left unchronicled. They ran as follows, viz.:--

"Church House, Dean's Yard, S.W., _May 10th, 1898_.

"MY DEAR POSTMASTER,--I am speaking at Bath on the afternoon of the 20th, and am engaged to stay the night. But I think your proposal so important that I am writing to my host, Mr. S., to ask if he has engaged friends to meet me. If he can excuse me, I will, if all be well, come to you and say something.

"Yours very truly, G. F. BRISTOL."

"The Athenaeum, _May 12th, 1898_.

"MY DEAR POSTMASTER,--I have arranged to return to Bristol on the evening of May 20, and if all be well can be with you. Send me a card of place and hour.

"Yours very truly, G. F. BRISTOL."

The following extract from a letter in which His Grace wrote concerning the meeting, is indicative of the interest which he took in matters affecting the postal and telegraph services of Bristol, viz.:--

"Stoke Park, Stapleton, near Bristol, _21st May, 1898_.

"DEAR MR. TOMBS,--I must write you a few lines of thanks for the very pleasant evening you gave us last night. Both the Duchess and I enjoyed it very much. I was remarkably struck with the appearance of your boys: such nice, clean, smart-looking youths. What a difference drill makes to lads! They have already a smart--soldierlike, I should call it--appearance, and I am sure it tends to sharpen their minds as well as to straighten their bodies.

"Believe me to remain, Yours truly, BEAUFORT."

The messengers little thought as they listened to the Duke's encouraging words, addressed to them on the occasion of the meeting, that they would before a year had passed away be sending a modest, humble, but loving tribute, in the form of a wreath, which was thought worthy to be suspended over the pulpit in Badminton Church at the Duke's obsequies, in juxtaposition with a wreath of mammoth proportions sent by the officers of the 7th Dragoons (the Duke's old Regiment).

The Bristol telegraph messengers have cause to remember that bright Saturday afternoon in 1895 when, preceded by their drum and fife band, they marched out to Burfield, Westbury-on-Trym, the country residence of Sir (then Mr.) R. H. Symes, the Mayor of Bristol. They were there enabled to have a few hours of recreation and pleasure, and to forget the busy hum of the city with its turmoil and heat. Following the excellent example, Mr. Arthur Baker, of Henbury, and other country gentlemen have invited the boys out on Saturday afternoons, to encourage them to keep banded together for good purposes, and to maintain that _esprit de corps_ which is so necessary in a body of youths drawn together after the manner of the Telegraph Messengers' Class.

A most memorable occasion was that in 1897, when the messengers were inspected by Lieutenant-Colonel MacGregor, of the 24th Middlesex R.V.C., London. They mustered at the Post Office, and, under the direction of Inspectors Mawditt, Appleby (late 29th Regiment and sergeant-major Scinde Volunteers), and Cook (late Royal Marines), and headed by their drum and fife band, marched to the Artillery Drill Ground in Whiteladies Road where, in presence of many visitors, military and civilian, they were put through manual exercises, physical drill to music, and then reviewed on the parade ground. In the speeches which followed the boys were complimented on their efficiency and smart appearance. It was on this occasion that it was announced the Postmaster-General had obtained the sanction of the Treasury for a grant of money in order to encourage telegraph messengers' institutes and drill in the large towns. Under this scheme, prizes for proficiency in drill and general good conduct are awarded--a system which has since been found to work admirably.