THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1911 DISTRICT MESSENGERS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10413, 6 September 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1911 DISTRICT MESSENGERS.

Slam© curious information about the work-of thiait very usefnl institution, the District Messengers of London, was given other day at the' anniual distribution of prizes in canmection wfotih the corps. The District Messiemger syistemi is now in fys ifcwienty-iirstt year, and every year seesi iris utseMneiss extend. * Besides running messages, tie messenger boy keeps places in queues!, looks aift&r hlabies, does many other curipua itMngis," and sometimes' goes as- far afield as the Continent. A boy hamed. BeaXe was awarded three mediate, orie if or good conduct, and two for. journeys abroad. He went from London to Rome to deliver a uniform to ia customer wfho was in a hurry, and to Paris to take some saientifio inistruments to another customer for whom .the mail was not quick enough. But his most curious job ,was a journey to Liege undertaken solely for. Itlhe purpose of handling to the Grand Dukejotf Meoklenlbuirg—who was on Ihis \viay from Paris to a Qiundheon basket from London conttaaining delicacies' which' the Grand Duchess .particularly favoured. Ifibe average boy would thdnk the traveling necessitated by a messenger'is work fine 'fun, but Beale has already learnt .what others ilearn later in !fe. fthlat the glamour of travel wears off in ;time. To him globetrotting at eight sfoilingsi a week is not so attraotilve as checking, and he wants to be a clerk. A curious task befell one Rabbins, he being told to go to Brixton and bring an elephant and its keeper, and Indian hoy, to tihl©. Palladium, and conduct it back' to Brixton the same night. TMlshedid, riding to and from Ithe muisic-ihial on the elephant's back. Even more QUGriouts than this was the case of a messenger who was sewb for in hot

haste to a place In Bond. Street, t where he found a lady in terror at a ta'ble because .there was a j mouse in the room. She refused, to descend until tlhe mouse had been captured, and the saiessiengeir despatched the laniiimal. Most humorous of all the tasks mentioned was that of the wiessienger who was emiployed by some irate -Kensington residents to rout a German band that was ipdiayinjg in their istreet. The iboy wias iimistnuoted '0 -stand in. front of tihi& (band and suck a lemon. Left us (hope it had the desired -effect. The experience €he&e boyis (get shouldislandl theta in good stead in after Me. , .