there were 21 houses in
Small Street.

[Illustration: [_By permission of Mr. John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo
Street, London._

CHARLES II. AFTER BATTLE OF WORCESTER ON ROAD TO BRISTOL.

_(From "After Worcester Fight," by Allen Fea.)_]

CHAPTER XV.

THE POST OFFICE TRUNK TELEPHONE SYSTEM AT BRISTOL.--THE COLUMBIA
STAMPING MACHINE.

The Post Office in Bristol commenced to undertake telephone business in
1896. It began with trunk telephone lines working to Bath, Birmingham,
Cardiff, Exeter, London, Taunton, and Weston-super-Mare. At the outset
the conversations averaged about 170 daily. In that same year the
department took over from the National Telephone Co., Cardiff,
Gloucester, Newport and Sharpness lines, and the conversations soon
increased to nearly 400 per day. At the present time the department has
from 1 to 5 (according to size of town) trunk lines to Bath,
Bradford-on-Avon, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Gloucester, London,
Lydney, Plymouth, Newport, Sharpness, Southampton, Swansea, Taunton,
Tiverton, and Weston-super-Mare. An increased number of wires has had
marked effect in diminishing the delays which at first occurred through
paucity of trunk lines, but as the business is constantly increasing,
the department is still looked to for additional lines. That the better
accommodation is appreciated, however, is indicated by the fact that now
the Bristol conversations average nearly 1,500 a day, or considerably
over a quarter of a million a year. On Sundays the trunk telephones are
available, but use is made of them only to a small extent, there being
only about 150 conversations per Sunday. The total number of trunk wire
transactions throughout the kingdom during the last year, according to
the Postmaster General's annual report, was 13,467,975, or, reckoning
each transaction as involving at least two spoken messages, a total
number of 26,935,950 (an increase of 16.3 per cent. over that of the
preceding year). The revenue was L325,525 (an increase of 18.4 per
cent.), and the average value of each transaction was 5s. 8d. There is a
silence box in the Public Hall of the Bristol Post Office, from which
conversations can be held with all parts of the Kingdom, with Belgium
and France. Of course, the greater number of trunk line telephone
conversations are held through the medium of the National Telephone
Company's local exchange, but many important Bristol firms have
contracted with the Post Office for