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.