§ MR. ABEL THOMAS (Carmarthen, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he is aware that two populous districts called Tycroes and Capel Hendre, in the county of Carmarthen, have as their postal address Pontardulais, which is nearly six miles distant from both of these districts, whilst the sub-post office of Pantyfynnon is about one mile only from Tycroes and Capel Hendria; whether, inasmuch as Pantyfynnon is the present telegraphic address and the railway parcel office for these districts, he will mate that place the post office for letters also, there being a direct railway service from Pontardulais to Pantyfynnon by which the mail to the latter place is carried; whether he is aware that the letters for Tycroes and Capel Hendre are carried by a rural postman on foot from Pontardulais past Pantyfynnon, which causes these two places to lose the North Mail, so that letters from the North take three instead of two days in transit, and makes the delivery of all letters two hours later in the morning and their dispatch two hours earlier in the afternoon than would otherwise be necessary; whether he is aware that this has caused great inconvenience in the districts referred to, both by reason of the delay and the mistakes inevitably arising from the position of the places; and whether he can arrange that the Tycroes and Capel Hendre sub-post office shall, in the future, be at Pantyfynnon instead of at Pontardulais?
§ MR. HANBURYTycroes and Capel Hendre receive their letters from Pontardulais, which is nearly six miles distant from both places, while the sub-post office of Pantyfynnon is little more than a mile from Tycroes and within three from Capel Hendre. A memorial for a service from Pantyfynnon is now in the surveyor's hands for inquiry, and the Postmaster General hopes it may be possible to effect the improvement which the memoralists desire. The North mail letters are already delivered at Tycroes and Capel Hendre on the second morning after posting. If a service from Pantyfynnon should take the place of the service from Pontardulais, it will still be the second morning after posting before 421 letters from the North can be delivered, because the North mail does not reach either Pantyfynnon or Pontardulais before dispatch of the postman. The inhabitants of Tycroes and Capel Hendre will, however, have a shorter distance to send for their North letters should Pantyfynnon instead of Pontardulais become the office from which they are served.