midday
Prigge discoursed at length on the merits of the Post Office and all its works , but the only remarkable thing I noticed about it , besides the censorship of letters , and the enormous number of people employed , was the ingenious arrangement whereby a conversation carried on in any part of Meccania could be overheard at the Central Office . The absence of life and bustle in the streets was as striking as in Bridgetown . Most of the people in the Government offices belonged to the Fourth Class , and as these all lived in the two quarters running north and south of the central ring , they could reach their offices in a very short time . The midday meal was taken in a canteen within the office . The few inferior employees , messengers , porters , cleaners , etc. , who belonged to the Fifth or Sixth Class , lived almost as near . The higher Civil servants of the Third Class , who of course were less numerous , did not make a crowd in the street . The green uniforms of the Fourth Class were the most conspicuous object everywhere .