358 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



The movement of shipping was as follows (in tons) 



The commercial navy was as follows: 



The railroad statistics for 1876 were : 



The number of letters sent in 1876 was 

 1,019,000,000. Of these 856,000,000 were in 

 England and Wales, 91,000,000 were in Scot- 

 land, and 72,000,000 in Ireland. The number 

 of newspapers and printed matter was, in 1876, 

 299,000,000. The number of postal-cards in 

 1876 was 93,000,000. The number of money- 

 orders sent and received in 1876 was 18,100,000, 

 amounting to 28,661,000. The number of 

 post-offices in 1876 was 13,447. The number 

 of registered letters delivered in 1875 in the 

 United Kingdom was 4,300,000, and the num- 

 ber of returned letters 4,350,000. The number 

 of post-office savings-banks, on December 31, 

 1875, was 5,260 ; the number of deposits, 3,132,- 

 433 ; the amount of the deposits, 8,783,852 ; 

 the number of accounts open, 1,777,103. 



The length of the telegraph-wires, at the 

 close of 1876, was 176,353 kilometres (1 kilo- 

 metre = 0.62 English mile), and of the lines 

 38,858 kilometres. TlieHfittmber of stations 

 was 5,602. The number of dispatches, in 1873, 

 was 17,294,334; in 1874, 19,116,634; in 1875, 

 20,766,277, and in 1876, 21,575,207, exclusive 



of the press, the Government, and the "news" 

 messages. 



The British Army is filled up exclusively br 

 recruiting. The term of service is 12 years, 

 after which a soldier can serve for 9 years 

 more. At the end of 3 years he can also enter 

 the reserve, one year in the regular army be- 

 ing counted as three in the reserve. By the 

 reorganization of 1872, the United Kingdom is 

 divided into 68 military districts. In each dis- 

 trict there is one brigade depot of 182 men, 

 two battalions of the regular army, which alter- 

 nately serve abroad, two battalions of militia, 

 and the volunteers of the district. According 

 to the army estimates for the year 1877-'78, 

 the army was to be composed as follows : 



