"THE LATMr mails 2) 



111 1836 the fastest mail ran on a j)rovincial 

 route. This was the short 28-niiles service 

 hetween Liverpool and Preston, maintained at 

 10 miles 5 furlongs an hour. The slowest was 

 the 19-miles Canterhury and Deal, at 6 miles 

 an hour, including stops for changing. The 

 average speed of all the mails was as low as 

 8 miles 7 furlongs an hour. 



In 1838 there were 59 four-horse mails in 

 England and Wales, 16 in Scotland, and 29 in 

 Ireland, in addition to a total numher of 70 

 pair-horse : some 180 mails in all. It was in 

 this year that — the novelty of raihvays creating 

 a desire for fast travelling — the Post Office 

 yielded to the cry for speed, and, abandoning 

 the usual conservative attitude, Avent too far 

 in the other direction, overstepping the hounds 

 of common safety. Por some time the mails 

 between Glasgow and Carlisle, and Carlisle 

 and Edinburgh were run to clear 11 miles an 

 hour, which meant an average pace of 13 

 miles an hour. These were popularly called 

 the " calico mails," because of their lightness, 

 The time allowed between Carlisle and Glasgow, 

 96 miles, Avas 8 hours 32 minutes, and it Avas 

 a sight to see it come doAvn StaiiAvix EroAV 

 on a summer evening. It met, hoAvcAcr, Avitli 

 so many accidents that cautious folk ahvays 

 avoided it, j)refeiTing the orthodox 10 miles an 

 hour — esjiecially by lamplight in the rugged 

 Cheviots. Ea^cii at that pace there had been 

 more than enough risk, as these incidents from 



