"Stoke Park,
Stapleton, near Bristol,
21st May, 1898.
"Dear Mr. Tombs,—I must write you a few lines of thanks for the very pleasant evening you gave us last night. Both the Duchess and I enjoyed it very much. I was remarkably struck with the appearance of your boys: such nice, clean, smart-looking youths. What a difference drill makes to lads! They have already a smart—soldierlike, I should call it—appearance, and I am sure it tends to sharpen their minds as well as to straighten their bodies.
"Believe me to remain,
Yours truly,
Beaufort."
The messengers little thought as they listened to the Duke's encouraging words, addressed to them on the occasion of the meeting, that they would
before a year had passed away be sending a modest, humble, but loving tribute, in the form of a wreath, which was thought worthy to be suspended over the pulpit in Badminton Church at the Duke's obsequies, in juxtaposition with a wreath of mammoth proportions sent by the officers of the 7th Dragoons (the Duke's old Regiment).
The Bristol telegraph messengers have cause to remember that bright Saturday afternoon in 1895 when, preceded by their drum and fife band, they marched out to Burfield, Westbury-on-Trym, the country residence of Sir (then Mr.) R. H. Symes, the Mayor of Bristol. They were there enabled to have a few hours of recreation and pleasure, and to forget the busy hum of the city with its turmoil and heat. Following the excellent example, Mr. Arthur Baker, of Henbury, and other country gentlemen have invited the boys out on Saturday afternoons, to encourage them to keep banded together for good purposes, and to maintain that esprit de corps which is so necessary in a body of youths drawn together after the manner of the Telegraph Messengers' Class.
A most memorable occasion was that in 1897,
when the messengers were inspected by Lieutenant-Colonel MacGregor, of the 24th Middlesex R.V.C., London. They mustered at the Post Office, and, under the direction of Inspectors Mawditt, Appleby (late 29th Regiment and sergeant-major Scinde Volunteers), and Cook (late Royal Marines), and headed by their drum and fife band, marched to the Artillery Drill Ground in Whiteladies Road where, in presence of many visitors, military and civilian, they were put through manual exercises, physical drill to music, and then reviewed on the parade ground. In the speeches which followed the boys were complimented on their efficiency and smart appearance. It was on this occasion that it was announced the Postmaster-General had obtained the sanction of the Treasury for a grant of money in order to encourage telegraph messengers' institutes and drill in the large towns. Under this scheme, prizes for proficiency in drill and general good conduct are awarded—a system which has since been found to work admirably.