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So I was reading an old issue of the Asahi Shimbun and I came across this:

[從來]{これまで}[醫]{い}[師]{し}[出]{しゆつ}[張]{ちやう}[診]{しん}[察]{さつ}[所]{しよ}[設置]{まうけ}の[儀]{ぎ}[情願]{ねがひ}に[依]{よ}り[聞]{きき}[屆]{とどけ}[鑑]{かん}[札]{さつ}[下]{さげ}[付]{つけ}[致]{いた}し[來]{きたり}[候]{そろ}[處]{ところ}[自今]{いまより}は[願書]{ねがひがき}に[出]{で}[張]{ばり}[所]{しよとの}[扱]{あつかひ}の順序[及]{および}[出]{しゆつ}[張]{ちやう}[診]{ちん}[察]{さつ}の[時]{じ}[間]{かん}[等]{とう}を[詳記]{しるし}し可願出[時]{とき}としては[衛]{ゑい}[生]{せい}[掛]{かかり}をして[巡]{じゆん}[撿]{けん}せしめ[候]{そろ}[儀]{ぎ}も[可有之]{これあるべき}候[條]{でう}此[旨]{むね}[管]{くわん}[内]{ない}[該]{がい}[業]{げふ}の[者]{もの}[無洩]{もれなく}[想達]{あいたつし}候事

What does ゑ mean here?

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    It's the archaic hiragana, 'we.' It was declared obsolete after WWII but when it is rarely used it's usually read the same as え. I think it's meant to mean へ is this context, just dressed up. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_(kana) Jul 2, 2022 at 6:05
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    @StandAlone2323 I was asking what ゑ meant in this context, not what ゑ means, but I guess you answered my question. I had a suspicion it was just a replacement for へ (which does make sense here), as the Meiji period was famous for wacky spellings that were phonetically correct but etymologically wrong (like てう for 張 or ぎよふ for 業), but I wasn't sure. Jul 2, 2022 at 6:21
  • @StandAlone2323, would you consider converting your comment into an answer post? Oct 10, 2022 at 20:14
  • @EiríkrÚtlendi I'm not sure what you mean, to just repost it as an answer? Oct 14, 2022 at 12:31
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    @StandAlone2323, yes, exactly. 😄 This question currently shows up as having zero answers, but that’s because the answer is currently a comment. Oct 15, 2022 at 1:04

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It's the archaic hiragana, 'we.' It was declared obsolete after WWII but when it is rarely used it's usually read the same as え. I think it's meant to mean へ is this context, just dressed up. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_(kana)

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