§ MR. MAURICE HEALY (Cork)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether a pneumatic tube exists between the General Post Office and Euston Station which was formerly used for conveying the mails, and is it still capable of being used for this purpose, or for the purpose of an electric railway, to convey the mails between the points mentioned; what the time occupied in this method of conveyance would be, and what time is necessary by the existing means of conveyance, and would it be possible at small expense to connect the existing tube with the St. Pancras and King's Cross Stations; what is the last hour for posting at London post offices for the night mail from Euston, St. Pancras, and King's Cross, and whether dispatch of letters by the tube in question would enable an additional half-hour for posting letters to be given; and, whether, in view of the fact that in 746 the cities of Paris and Berlin letters are conveyed by pneumatic tube, and that that method is also extensively used for the dispatch of telegrams in London, the Postmaster General will institute a departmental Inquiry as to the desirability of either again using the existing pneumatic tube, or converting it for an electric railway and connecting it with St. Pancras and King's Cross?
§ MR. HANBURYA Question on this subject was answered on the 19th of March last. A pneumatic tube belonging to a private company was used more than 20 years ago for the conveyance of mail bags between the General Post Office and Euston Station. Its use was experimental only, and the experiment was not a success. The time of transmission by tube was 17 minutes; by mail van it is only 19 minutes. It is believed that portions of the tube have been removed, and the communication with the General Post Office has long been cut off.