SYDNEY TELEGRAPH BOYS AND THIER PONIES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 238, 7 October 1880, Page 4

SYDNEY TELEGRAPH BOYS AND THIER PONIES.

Some 2000 telegraphic messages are received daily in Sydney, and the Sydney " Telegraph " gives an interesting account of the system of distribution. Thie iB under the management of Mr King, who iB officially styled overseer of messages and dißpatoh clerk. This gentleman is generalissimo of a little army consisting of about fifty boys, of whom twenty hold the position of " pony boyß," while tbe remainder, wboße du?y it is to deliver the messages within a limited radius of tbe telegraph office, libvo to perform thiir journeys on foot. The emoluments of Ihese young fellows on entering the service is lOs per week. By-and-bye, when they show themselves to be both smart and careful, their pay is increased to 15?. and finally they receive the handsome hebdomadal reward of £1 sterling. The fate of a telegraph boy after he haß so' increased in bulk and weights as to be ineligible as a rider of the light ponies employed by the department ia governed by circumstances over whioh the youth himself may be snid to have no control. \lf he is well educated he may be token "upstairs" and developed into a lelegraph operator. We ray " may be," because thia pnrt cf the programme depends largely on the amount of political influence that can be brought to bear in hie favor. Political influence, in point of fact, is as potent a fact in connexion wi'h the rise and progress of a telegtaph boy ss it is in relation to t c higher ranks of the public -service. A youth cannot hope to seouro an engagement as tne£B<.nger- unless: he.iß possessed of friends who can, pom mand the ear of a member of Parliament ; aod his prospects of future advancement io. .tb& service .are o7 theglopmifßt complexion unless his father or moti er is an adept in the art of button-holing. Hence a great many of these telegraph boys pass out of the department altogether when they become too big-*— either in a material or figurative, sense —^to carry out message.?. Abo.ut thirty ponies are kept to' carry the boys to distant ports of the city. A telegraph pony enjoys a tolerably happy career withal. His average official life is five years, but some last much longer, About six ponies ore reserved for night work, and tbe rest for day work. The former enter upon duty at Bix o'clock in the evening, and retire to rest a two o'clock in the morning. The day ponies are held in readiness from nine in the morning until Bix in tbe evening. The coßt of feeding these quadrupeds is on an average £50 a month ; about £10 is disbursed, for shoeing, and between £1 and £2 a month is expended in securing medical aid and advice for tbe horseß.