346 MAIL SERVICE 



than anything else, they having been left over 

 night in too exposed a situation and been carried 

 off by the sea and ice. 



Forty years ago the whole winter mail weighed 

 about one hundred pounds. To-day (1909) six 

 thousand pounds are carried and nearly as much 

 remains over winter in the Quebec Post Office, 

 this last being mostly parcels, books, calendars, 

 etc. In 1877 our first post office was opened 

 here, and since then we have had a regular ser- 

 vice, both winter and summer. From four win- 

 ter mails we have reached ten now, and from a 

 monthly summer service have grown to a ten-day 

 one. The little yawl, double-ender, or fishing 

 boat, which ran between Kimouski and the North 

 Shore in the old days, has given place to two mod- 

 ern steamers. All of this we are glad to note as 

 signs of increasing prosperity in this long neg- 

 lected portion of the Province. 



