MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Postmaster General whether he is aware of the great inconvenience the inhabitants of the town of Hacketstown and the populous districts surrounding suffer for want of a telegraph office; whether he is aware that Hacketstown has fourteen fairs in the year, and an important weekly market, and that a delivery fee of two shillings is charged for a telegram from the nearest office at Kiltegan, a distance of three miles; and whether, under these circumstances, and as Hacketstown has already good post office accommodation, and as the cost of laying a wire between Kiltegan and Hacketstown cannot be much, he will have telegraph communication established at Hacketstown?
§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSONThe question of an extension to Hacketstown was under consideration in 1883, and renewed inquiries on the subject have only recently been made. It does not appear, however, that there is any prospect of a telegraph office at that place being remunerative, and the Department is, therefore, not in a position to make the extension, except under guarantee. The amount of the guarantee required could be ascertained, and communicated to the hon. Member.