These consisted of a piece of wood, hollowed out so that they could hold a small bottle in which a letter was placed, along with instructions for the finder to post it and a penny for a stamp.

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There was a secret deciphering office in London, a successor to the Post Office's foreign letter office, and another code-breaking unit in the Admiralty, both of which cracked Napoleon's codes, as did the bureau noir attached to every European government (though the Austrians reckoned their best intelligence came from the emperor's pillow talk).

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The commissioner is inviting MPs and other local leaders to strike up a dialogue with him either in person or in writing and pledges to post responses to his open letter on his website.

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The cost of sending a large letter up to 100g by second-class post rose from 58p to 69p at the end of April.

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The post - which included a rejection letter for a job application - has finally been delivered to homes in the Cardiff suburb of Radyr.

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"The refund will be available either through a transfer into your bank account, or to you personally at the counter of the post office, " the letter said, according to Reuters.

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