Some 300 years ago, the word "post office" denoted intermediate stations, where breechmen changed mail horses, sometimes very tired and driven. At that time there was no transport other than horse riding. So who drove the mail horses , and why were they called that?
In the XVII century, a journey through the expanses of Russia was an event not only serious, but also significant. To move, first used their own horses. But they could not travel long distances, they were tired and needed a change. Trekking horses came to the aid of travelers. They began to be called postal, and the road - the postal tract.
Horse Post and Industry Development
The place where the horses changed was first called a pit or an inn, and then a postal station. Each station had its own caretaker, who checked the documents and gave permission to change horses. Cartage mainly carried mail and those who were supposed to deliver these letters with their own hands.
We drove with postmen and couriers, couriers, and just travelers, for any other need. At the end of the 17th century, the number of postal stations and horses was increased by a state imperial decree, and a schedule appeared. That is, the time of arrival of the postal horse and the crew was known in advance and everything was ready for its dispatch.
The advent of hotels and free employees
Towards the end of the 18th century, hotels began to appear in the first and second category postal yards, and several provinces were even exempted from the postal tax. At the same time, a decree was issued, which was allowed to use the postal horse to free people. They could collect linear money and use them for their own purposes. Their earnings were very decent. The salary of the postal government cabmen, on the contrary, was scarce.
The named service was in great demand, especially among the sovereign people. And the treasury received a considerable profit with an increase in the number of stations and crews. There were also more mail paths, they were built not only in the direction of the city of Pskov, but also to the East. News from both the sovereign and ordinary people was expected everywhere.
Horse threes and bell
At the same time, instead of one postal horse harnessed to the crew, triples began to appear, and their number began to increase in proportion to the growth of Siberian tracts. Cold, cold, large deserted distances, and mainly impassable impassability, required more endurance and strength. The postmen were even obliged to hang a bell on the middle arc of the harness and not in vain.
He notified the arrival of the crew to the post station, and warned oncoming mail carts in order to avoid a collision. It is the bell that owes its appearance in the literature post horses. Many authors in their works mentioned the mail troika and that cheerful, serene ringing with which it raced, delivering passengers and letters.
Post Office Relay
The postal tract was marked out in miles, and their account was kept from the main postal yard - the Post Office. Versts were designated by pillars. On each of them, the remaining distance to the city and the path already traveled were indicated. But this is how the horse is arranged - it gets tired, hungry, thirsty and relaxed. It is for this reason that the entire postal service of that time worked on the principle of a relay.
Having passed the way to a certain station, the crew returned home, passing mail to the next. For convenience, the horses most often changed in the carriage. This made it possible not to transfer the load from place to place and not lose time. Riding on the "cross-over" meant that cargo or luggage was transferred from one crew to another, while the horses were not changed. In this case, a lot of time was lost at the post station.
Russian coachmen in literature
For Russian clerks, time was especially expensive. They used to drive at a fairly high speed than usually very frightened foreigners. Many Russian works mentioning postal horses described that daredevil that was inherent in Russian cabmen. So, A.S. described the high speed of the mail crew. Pushkin in his Eugene Onegin. In the seventh chapter of the work, he compared the fast ride of the Russian coachmen with the charioteer of the god Achilles. He devoted this topic to the story "Station Warden".
Pushkin himself often used the services of postmen, loved them and remembered with a kind word. In addition to him, many writers and poets described the life and service of coachmen (Vyazemsky P. A. "Station", Chekhov A. P. "Post") how difficult and dangerous it was. By the way, there were foreigners who wrote separate chapters or even whole works of literature mentioning post horses and Russian postmen.
Postal Service Development
From year to year, the postal service was improved, and the sovereigns introduced changes to its work. So, each traveler on the road received a special document, without which it was problematic to travel outside the city.
Road - this is the name of this paper. She identified the traveler, the purpose of the trip. Documents were subject to mandatory verification at postal stations and guard services. Without road paper, it was impossible to get a postal crew. How many horses will be issued, it was indicated there and their number depended on the rank and rank of the passenger. The same Pushkin, after studying at the Lyceum, had the right to a crew of three horsepower, and the rank of general could already count on fifteen, or even all twenty.
Horseback riding was a favorite pastime for writers and poets. Roads and related impressions are found in the works of Karamzin, Lermontov, Gogol. The sadness of parting and the joy of the meeting are noted in their works by Russian poets of the 18th-19th centuries. Such emotions are almost always associated with postal crews, with bells and coachmen.