282 OX THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



account by the Post-Office in inducing local authori- 

 ties, who demanded that the wires should be laid 

 underground, to grant a wayleave for overhead wires. 

 One local board in Cheshire was obdurate. Mr. Yates 

 went down and addressed them in a convincing 

 speech, marked by an array of unassailable facts and 

 the use of faultless argument. ' Thank you very 

 much for your interesting speech, Mr. Yates,' said 

 the chairman. ' But the fact is, we have just received 

 a letter from the Post- Office, agreeing to put the wires 

 underground, so we need not detain you. Good-day !' 

 By some regrettable oversight, due to severe pressure 

 of business, we had, while agreeing to give way to the 

 local board, neglected to advise our envoy of the 

 change of front. 



In the long-run, the good sense of the country at 

 large came to the aid of the Post-Office. Telegraphs, 

 especially light lines of two or three wires, were not 

 found to be so unsightly as was feared, or else the eye 

 became accustomed to them, and opposition disap- 

 pearing, all went merrily as a marriage-bell. 



In looking back to the far-away past, I think that, 

 next to my adventure with the ghost at Ipswich, the 

 most curious experience I have ever had was a night 

 spent soon afterwards, in 1848, in the Primrose Hill 

 tunnel, on the London and Birmingham railway, for 

 the purpose of mending the telegraph. 



The Euston and Wolverton single-needle wire had 

 failed, and the fault was thought to be in a cable of 

 several wires, suspended in the tunnel. 



