Priory Bridge Removed - A Blind Letter carrier
The work of removing the Priory Bridge and laying down a culvert for carrying the water from the brooks into the sea was completed on the 6th of April, Mr. Jonathan Reed's contract for the same having been accepted on the 29th of October, 1838.
But for the receipt of two or three interrogative communications, the reminiscences pertaining to the year 1839 would now have closed; for, although the questions embodied in the said communications have been answered privately, they have impressed me with the notion that what may be of positive interest to a few, may be of comparative interest to many. One of the questions is, "Was there not a blind letter-carrier in the Hastings Post-office who had seen better days?" and another is, "Can St. Leonardensis inform a constant reader of the GAZETTE who is the oldest tradesman still in business, and whether there has been any general re-numbering of houses in the old-town since his connection with the Post-office?"
As concerns the first question, there certainly was a blind letter-carrier during the time that I was post-clerk, and of whom I intended to chat about further on. He was designated the rural postman, and his district comprised the parishes of Fairlight, Guestling and Pett. We know that many persons who are deprived of sight often accomplish some marvellous work, and perhaps not the least marvellous was the delivery of letters and newspapers by a man to whom the superscriptions were as a perfect blank. It was our practice to read over to him the whole of the addresses upon the letters in something like their proper order (some of which letters he would separate and place in different pockets), after which a rehearsal of those that had to be delivered in the nearest portion of his round would be made and then he would at once start upon his journey. He had one or two houses of call on the road where he could always depend upon honest and friendly help in case of doubt, and it was rare indeed that he committed an error. He was a healthy, respectable-looking man, quiet in his demeanour, yet cheerful in disposition. He used to say that he was fond of singing be it ever so good or ever so bad; for, if the former it delighted him, and, if the latter, it amused him. He was unmarried at that time, and his excuse was that being himself a good-tempered man, there was the risk of getting a good-tempered woman for a wife, and consequently the possibility of Darby and Joan having to live a hum-drum life. He could conceive no greater pleasure than the having a little tiff now-and-then, if only for the opportunity of "making it up again," when, according to his dictum the felicity would be akin to a second courtship. At an advanced age, however, our rural letter-carrier took to himself a wife, who with her husband lived but a few years in connubial bliss. He must have had something more than the small pittance derived from letter-carrying, or he could not have subsisted; but I never knew from what source that something came, although for a few months we lodged together in the same house. He more than once told me of the common practice of playing cricket on Sunday afternoons when he was young in the parish of Fairlight, of which parish his father was Vicar. When the church was restored in 1845, the remains of his father were removed from a grave in the churchyard to the chancel, but over the grave there still remains a monumental stone erected "To the memory of the Rev. Richard Wadeston, many years Vicar of this Parish." Also "Richard Wadeston, his son, who died Sept. 29th 1870, aged 80 years." Thus it will be seen that the blind postman was the son of the Rev. Richard Wadeston, who, as Vicar of that parish, must have died some years before 1839, at which latter date the vicarial duties were being performed by the Rev. W. Pearse.
There was an extrordinary (sic) performance at the Pelham Arcade for a few evenings in the month of December, by Mons. Chylinski, the so-called "Fire King". The performance was numerously attended, and the audiences were greatly astonished at the feats of strength and fire-proof representations. The performer was of slender make, and although possessing muscular power greatly exceeding the proportions of his bulk, his feats must have been the result of long training and a knowledge of the mechanical structure of the human frame. The impurity with which he handled, licked, and bit off red-hot iron, drank boiling butter and pitch, together with a variety of other feats which he performed, were, doubtless, due to the employment of some chemical preparation which neutralized the power of caloric in a most astonishing manner.
