8 4 ( Ireland.;- Ninth R E P O R T © F THE COMMISSIONERS [ Appx. No. 30. ACCOUNT of the EXPENCE incurred for the MAIL COACH ESTABLISHMENT ; for One Year, ending 5th January 1809. Mail Coach Contraftors - ^ 10,360 3 1 Mail Guards - - 3>° 9r 3 1 -^ 13,451 6 2* No. 31. The Examination of Mr. JOSEPH FERGUSON ; taken upon Oath' the 16th of May and 10th of July 1809. This Examinant faith, That he is Surveyor and Superintendant of Mail Coachcs, and has been fo fince the infti- tution of the office, about the beginning of the year 1808. His duty is to examine the Way Bills of the Mail Coaches that arrive every morning at the General Poft Office, and alfo the Crofs Poft Way Bills, tranfmitted to him daily from the Poft Towns, where the feveral Crofs Pofts join the direcft lines ; to enter in a printed form, which contains the names of the Gene- ral and Crofs Poft Towns to which the Way Bills belong, the lofs and gain 011 the time affigned for their arrival at their refpe£ tive deftinations; to return the fame daily to the Secretary; to enquire into the caufes of any irregularity in the arrival of the Mails, and if occafioned by the mifcondu£ l of thofe employed in their conveyance, to report the particulars to the Secre- tary ; to controul the Mail Guards, to puniffi them by difmiflal in cafe of mifcondutt, and to return to the Treafurer, every quarter, the charge on Account of the Mail Coach and Mail Guard Eftabliffiments, adding thereto, on the authority of new Contracts approved of by the Lord Lieutenant, the charge for fuch Coaches as have been eftabliffied fince the preceding quarter. Examinant, on entering on his office, did not receive any written or printed form of Inftru£ tion, but attended for fome weeks the Surveyor of Mail Coaches at the Poft Office in London, in order to acquire a knowledge of the duties of his office. Examinant is allowed two Clerks, who are fully employed in correfponding with and conveying Inftru£ tions to the different Poftmafters in the country. It is their duty to attend, one in the morning at the arrival of the Mails, the other in the evening at their difpatch, to fee them fafe into and receive them out of the Coaches ; to obferve whether the Guards are fober, and to deliver to and receive from them their time- pieces and arms. Examinant has alfo the care of the arms belonging to, and provides ammunition for, the Guards who have the charge of the Mails the firft ftages from Dublin ; for doing this duty he receives 26 guineas per quarter •, viz. 10 guineas for the care of the arms and 16 guineas for providing ammunition. Examinant pays half a guinea a quarter for cleaning and loading the arms, but has kept no Account of his Expenditure for ammunition ; he has been allowed the above- mentioned fums on his own charge without having made any previous agreement on that account. Seventeen Guards, including the Britiffi Mail Guard, leave Dublin every night, each being provided with a blunderbufs and a cafe of piftols ; the Country Mail Guards are allowed each 6^ d. a week for ammunition and for cleaning their arms befides which Examinant was direfted to fend fome fpare ammunition to the Country Guards, for which he furniffied a feparate Account. When ,1 Mail Guard is difabled by accident, it is ufual for him to procure a certificate thereof from fome medical perfon, which is returned to Examinant, and he generally reports the fame to the Secretary. In cafe of ficknefs or the abfence of any of them, the falary goes to pay the perfon doing the duty.— Examinant ufually pays the IVIail Guards in advance, drawing monev from the Trcaiurer on the Secretary's order for that purpofe. Examinant's hours of attendance at the General Poft Office, are from ten to four; but he frequently attends in the evening, though he does not confider he is bound to do fo. As Superintendant of Mail Coaches, he was fent feveral times in the courfe of the laft year into the country on bufinefs relating to the Mail Coaches, ana is paid the fame allowance as a Riding Surveyor. Fred. Geale, J, Fergufon. Robert Alexander, Cba. Stewart Hawthorne, John Hamilton.