††The radial pneumatic mail system was based on a device used to provide the Stock Exchange and the London Telegraph Company with a quick means of communication.
This device used a combination of compressed air and suction to move telegrams along a system of tubes at high speeds. The direction of movement could be changed so that messages could be sent in either direction.
In 1859, R.S. Culley and R. Sabine developed a similar system linking branches of the British Post Office to a centrally located telegraph office.
A pneumatic tube is still used in Paris and New York, to avoid traffic congestion. In London, however, an underground railway has been used since 1927, with automatic trains linking the main sorting offices.
