"You are not to stop at any place to leave letters, etc., but to blow your horn to give the people notice that you have got letters for them; therefore, if they do not choose to come out to receive them, don't you get down from your dickey, but take them on, and bring them back with you on your next journey. You are ordered by your instructions to blow your horn when you pass through a town or village. Be careful to perform this duty, or I shall be obliged to punish you."

In the months of January and February, 1795, the whole country was visited by most serious storms and floods. It is described in the post-office minutes as "dreadful;" great holes were made in the roads, and many accidents happened through both coachman and guard being chucked from their boxes, and frequently coaches arrived having lost the guard from that cause. Many bridges were washed away all over the country, of which three alone were between Doncaster and Ferrybridge. The mail coach between Edinburgh and Newcastle took a day longer than usual to do the journey. Nearly all the coaches that attempted to perform their journeys had to take circuitous routes on account of floods. Bridges were washed away, roads rendered impassable by great holes in them, and, in Scotland and the north of England, blocked by snow. In the south, a fast thaw set in, which suddenly changed to intense cold, leaving roads simply sheets of ice. Through the combined exertions of the postmasters, a large number of whom were also mail contractors, many of the roads were cleared sufficiently to admit of the coaches running, but it was months before the mails began to arrive with punctuality, and many mail coach routes had to be altered on account of the roads and bridges not being repaired. This was owing, in most instances, to the road commissioners and local authorities failing to come to settlement in supplying the money for the work to be done, and in many instances the Postmaster-General was compelled to indict them for neglecting to put the road in good repair. The guards suffered very much from the intense cold and dampness, and many were allowed, in addition to the half-guinea per week wages, a further half-guinea, as, on account of their having no passengers to carry, they received no "vails." All their doctors' bills were paid, and the following are but a few of the many guards who received rewards for the manner in which they performed their duty.

John Rees, guard from Swansea to Bristol, who, in consequence of the waters being so rapid, was obliged to proceed by horse, when near Bridgend, was up to his shoulders, and in that condition, in the night, did not wait to change his clothes, but proceeded on his duty; was awarded one guinea.

Thomas Sweatman, guard to the Chester mail, was obliged to alight from his mail box at Hockliffe to fix the bars and put on some traces, up to his hips in water in the middle of the night, after which it froze severely, and he came in that condition to London; awarded half a guinea.

John Jelfs rode all the way from Cirencester to Oxford, and Oxford to Cirencester through snow and water, the coach not being able to proceed; awarded five shillings.

To our modern notions, the post-office authorities hardly erred on the side of liberality, but half a guinea was thought much more of in those days.

CHAPTER II.
THE ROYAL MAILS (continued).

By the beginning of the new century the mail coach system appears to have begun to settle into its place pretty well. Mr. Vidler had the contract for the coaches, which he continued to hold for at least a quarter of a century, and appears to have brought much spirit to bear upon the work.

In the year 1820 he was evidently engaged in making experiments with the view of making the coaches run lighter after the horses, and also to test their stability. He writes to Mr. Johnson, the Superintendent of mail coaches, May 15, saying, "As below, I send you the particulars of an experiment made this morning with a mail coach with the five hundredweight in the three different positions," and he accompanied this letter with cards, of which I give an exact copy.

Post Coach.Mail.
77 lbs. to remove with 5 cwt. on front wheels.70 lbs. to remove with 5 cwt. on front wheels.
74 lbs. to remove with 5 cwt. on hind wheels.65 lbs. to remove with 5 cwt. on hind wheels.
68 lbs. to remove with 5 cwt. in centre of the coach.61 lbs. to remove with 5 cwt. in centre of coach.
Mail.Balloon.
56 lbs. suspended over a pulley moved the mail on a horizontal plane.It required 60 lbs. to move the Balloon.
Weight 18 cwt. 20 lbs.Weight 18 cwt. 1 qr. 19 lbs.
Fore wheels 3 feet 8 inches.Fore wheels 3 feet 6 inches.
Hind wheels 4 feet 6 inches.Hind wheels 4 feet 10 inches.
The fore wheel raised on a block, stood at 26 inches without upsetting.The fore wheel of the Balloon would only stand at 17.
The hind at 16½.
Double-bodied Coach With Fore and Hind Boot.
Weight 14 cwt.The fore and hind wheels raised on blocks at 31 inches did not upset the coach.
Fore wheels 3 feet 8 inches.It required only 35 lbs. to move this coach with 5 cwt. in front boot.
Hind wheels 4 feet 6 inches.32 lbs. to move it with 5 cwt. in the hind boot.
28 lbs. suspended over a pulley moved this coach on a horizontal plane.33¼ lbs. to move it with 5 cwt. in the centre of the body.