MR. TANKERVILLE CHAMBER-LAYNEI beg to ask the Postmaster General which is the most expeditious route for the delivery of mails between London and New York, viâ Queenstown or viâ Southampton, if the steamers are of equal speed?
§ CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.)Is it not a fact that letters dispatched viâ Queenstown are often delivered at their destinations in the United Kingdom 24 and even 48 hours earlier than those sent viâ Southampton; and is not the recent change causing general dissatisfaction among business men in the United Kingdom?
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. A. MORLEY, Nottingham, E.)I am afraid I cannot answer the supplementary question in detail. With steamers of the same speed there would be a slight advantage in favour of the Queenstown route; but the advantage diminishes as the speed of the steamer increases. Allowing 17 hours for the conveyance of the mails from the General Post Office, London, to the Packet at Queenstown, and four hours from the General Post Office, London, to the Packet at Southampton, the advantage would be as follows:—Steaming 16 knots, 5 hours 41 minutes; 18 knots, 3 hours 50 minutes; 20 knots, 2 hours 21 minutes; 22 knots, 1 hour 9 minutes; 23 knots, 36 minutes.
§ MR. MACARTNEYHow many hours are allowed for steaming between Queenstown and Southampton?
§ MR. A. MORLEYThe rates I have given represent the speed from port of starting to the destination of the vessel.