We all recognise this as an ingenious beginning of a romance; in its earliest and most artful phase it is even comparatively indifferent to sex.
A good postmaster must of course be domesticated and know the comforts of home. A lady wrote to the postmaster of Goole in these terms: “Not knowing of a good Registry Office for maids in Goole, I am writing to ask you whether you happen to know of a good cook general who is wanting a situation. I am wanting a thoroughly respectable trustworthy girl, age about twenty-four years; must be able to do plain cooking well and be clean in work and person, good at getting up in the morning, and small amount of washing done at home, such as house cloths and servants' underlinen; other things go to a laundress, including caps and print dresses.”
A postmaster is allowed wide discretion in replying to such letters, and the answer to this correspondent was that the postmaster had been for years in search himself of a woman of the age of twenty-four who could do plain cooking, get up in the morning, and not object to “small amount of washing done at home,” and when he had found her he claimed the right to the first refusal.
The postmasters at seaside resorts are constantly appealed to by intending visitors, not on the postal facilities of the various places, but on other matters which are presumed to come under the observation of the Post Office. For instance: “Miss P. would feel much obliged if the postmaster would kindly inform her if dogs have still to be muzzled at Eastbourne, and whether the order is likely to be taken off soon. Also if the band plays regularly once or twice a day on the parade.”
A gentleman entered a seaside post office and demanded to see the postmaster. He then asked this unoffending individual if he could cash a cheque for £10, tell him the best hotel in the place, and direct him to the nearest hairdresser.
Another postmaster, who by the way was a church-warden and a reader of the Daily News, received this letter from a total stranger:—
“The Postmaster,—Sir, will you kindly send one of your selections for the Grand National as a trial, and if satisfactory I will pay you.”
It is difficult to understand what was in the writer's mind when he sought this information at the Post Office.
Other inquiries stick closely to Post Office business, but are perhaps even more unreasonable.
“To the Postmaster of Hertford