§ MR. FRASER-MACKINTOSH (Invernessshire)I beg to ask the Postmaster General if he will explain why and at whose instance the former convenient arrangement of having a post and telegraph office in the populous district of Howmore, in South Uist, has been altered, and a change made to Grogarry, which, though the occasional residence of the proprietrix, has no surrounding population; whether it is the fact that the telegraph office is part of Grogarry House; and by whom is it at present kept?
§ A LORD OF THE TREASURY (Sir H. MAXWELL,) Wigton.In the absence of the Postmaster General I wish to say that in the year 1880 the telegraph was extended to Howmore and two other places in the Hebrides on an agreement for seven years being entered into by Lady Gordon Cathcart to contribute a substantial sum to the expenses. When this agreement expired the line was still not self-supporting, and the question of closing the offices presented itself. Lady Gordon Cathcart was, therefore, invited to continue to contribute to the expenses, and she consented on the condition that the telegraph should be removed from Howmore to Grogarry. An office for postal business has, however, been retained at Howmore, and if the persons resident at that place are prepared to enter into the necessary guarantee, the Postmaster General will be glad to consider the question of re-establishing telegraph business there. The telegraph office at Grogarry is half a mile distant from Grogarry House, and is at present kept kept by Mr. Ewan C. Macrory.