THE PORT OF LIVERPOOL 183 



after a two hours' run, one, if not all four of them, 

 came in at the death. Then they were led back to the 

 changing-place, and in due course took the down mail 

 into Congleton the same day. 



William IV. 's reign had not ended before the high- 

 ways had been levelled and straightened, their surfaces 

 made hard and smooth, and stoppages cut down to a 

 minimum. The letters arrived in Newcastle-under- 

 Lyme at half -past eleven in the forenoon ; they were 

 due in Liverpool before five in the evening. 



When the post-office was in Post-Office Place, the 

 letters of the merchants were largely distributed by 

 means of the Alphabet, an arrangement equivalent to 

 the private boxes of the present day. A gentleman of 

 my acquaintance who, in the early thirties, was in the 

 habit of accompanying his father, a merchant of 

 Liverpool, to obtain letters, thus describes the arrange- 

 ment. At a given time after the arrival of the mail- 

 coaches, and when the assortment of the inward mail 

 was completed, a curtain drew up, disclosing pigeon- 

 holes arranged in alphabetical order, glazed, and 

 secured by lock and key. The renter of a box saw at 

 a glance whether there were letters for him or not. 

 The fees for the use of the Alphabet were then the 

 perquisite of the postmaster, and brought him a good 

 two thousand a year. There were comfortable pick- 

 ings in what the modestly-paid civil servant of the 

 present day must reasonably regard as the good old 

 times. 



The fastest mail-coach working out of Liverpool 



