MAIL-GUARDS 261 



guards wore, so that the time could instantly be 

 seen. 



To every guard the superintendent supplied a 

 list of instructions comprising tAventy-six items. 

 Prominent among these was the obligation to date 

 and sign the time-bill correctly at every place, 

 or to see it signed and dated by the postmasters on 

 the way. Hoay this was always accomplished in 

 snow and wind and rain, with numbed fingers, 

 is not easily understood. Often the time-bills 

 must have been reduced to something like pulp 

 by the time the trip was ended. 



It was also the guard's duty to report any 

 horses unfit for service, and any defective harness, 

 and to see that the coaches were in proper condition. 

 He was urged to look to the lamps, to behave with 

 civility to the i)assengers, and to sound his horn on 

 several occasions and in certain contingencies duly 

 specified. 



Besides these ordinary official duties there were 

 the extraordinary ones, in the case of a l)reakdown 

 or in the event of a snowstorm. The guard had 

 his tool-box and an assortment of spare parts at 

 hand, so that he could help the coachman in 

 effecting roadside repairs to harness or the coach 

 itself ; and when, li'om snowstorm or any other 

 cause, the coach could be driven no fartlier, it was 

 the guard's duty to impress one of the mail horses 

 and ride to the next stage, or to secure post-chaises 

 or saddle-horses, and personally convey the mail- 

 bags. No matter what became of the passengers, 

 his lirst Qare was for His Majesty's mails, 



