Stamped receipts were also given for all letters sent to the Post Office for dispatch. For the convenience of the residents, a register was kept of their individual postage accounts on the understanding that all postage due would be regularly settled every month. The first postage stamps were introduced for payment of postage only in 1854. In the early days, the flagstaff at Government Hill (now Fort Canning) was eagerly watched as flying of a flag at daylight, or the firing of a gun at night, signified the arrival of a ship with mail. This infused new life into the quiet community.