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NOV 19 1889
EXVETSR IS
““Sledmere,”’ Dorset, Vermont
The Post Office,
A History of the World’s Postal Service, with Interesting Accounts of Ancient Methods of Carrying the Mails ; Early Postal Service in the United States, including the Rates and Methods of a Hundred Years Ago; A Complete History of the Postage Stamps of all Nations, and a Statement of the High Prices Paid for Collections ; Particulars of the Railway Mail Service ; Thri- ling Account of the Lightning Trip with the Furst Overland Mail; A Description of the Washington Headquarters, Dead Letter Office, Growth of the New York Post Office, Inside Workings of the Boston Post Office, Post Office Savings Banks, Queer Errors, Laughable Mishaps, etc., etc.
“The growth of the Post Office means the increase of a spirit of -education, the development of trade and commerce, and the knitting more closely together of all classes of communities in the bonds of civilization.”
SMtHSONIAR
ROY — 8 1994
WELLS, RICHARDSON & CO., PUBLISHERS, BURLINGTON, VT.
LIBRARIES
COPYRIGHT, 1889, BY
WELLS, RICHARDSON & CO.
THE STORY COP THE POST-OFFICE:
CHAPTER I.
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S POSTAL SERVICE.
The Prime Factor of. Civilization.—A Glance Two Thousand Years Backward.—How Julius Ceesar’s Letters were Mailed. —The Star Routes of the Incas.—Postal Systems in the Middle Ages.—France and England copy Persia and Rome. —Why it Became a Government Monopoly.— Foreign Cor- respondence Discouraged.—The First Postal System for the General Public.—A Man who Knew Nothing About the Post-Office Reformed the Whole System.---Modern History of the Postal Service.
THE PRIME FACTOR OF CIVILIZATION.
There is a debt of gratitude due the postal service which but few people appreciate. It is one of the prime factors of our boasted civilization. A country without postal facilities is out of the world. It might as well be located in the moon, for all the benefitit is to mankind. One of the first things a nation must establish before it can successfully enter the race in commerce, in science and in the arts, is a means by which its people can communicate quickly and easily amongst themselves and with other nations.
What would the manufacturer or merchant do if, when he came to his office he found no batch of orders from the mails? Imagine, if you are able, the effect which the stoppage of the postal service for one month would have upon the commerce of the coun- try. Hosts of undertakings, employing thousands of men, would be obliged to suspend operations. The snow blockade of 1887 gives a faint idea of the reli-
4 THE STORY OF
ance placed upon the mails. Clerks sat around in offices, and merchants twirled their thumbs, just because Uncle Sam’s mail had to stop work on ac- count of the snow storm. The cry of the world for increased facilities of mail communication is based upon sound principles. Perhaps a brief survey of the ancient postal systems may make us realize that in this particular, at least, we are far better off than they were in days of old. A GLANCE TWO THOUSAND YEARS BACKWARD.
The birth of postal communication, like that of so many of our greatest blessings, is lost in obscurity.
In 2nd Chronicles we read, “ The posts went with the letters from the King and his Princes throughout all Israel.”
Job says, “Now my days are swifter than the post; they flee away.”
The Assyrian and Persian monarchs established stations at a day’s journey apart, where they kept saddled horses all ready for the courier to leap on to a fresh one and so carry with great speed the orders of his monarch. The Roman Empire, however, was probably the first to organize a postal service. This was not established for commerce or for the needs of the people, but solely for military and administrative purposes. Old Rome in her palmiest days was much inferior to the smallest town in the United States, as far as postal communication was concerned. She ruled the whole civilized world, but she didn’t have a decent post-office. Poor Rome! Her enterprise, however, has left us one word which is incorporated in every postal system. The word “post” originated
THE POST-OFFICE. 5
in the fact. that Roman couriers were stationed at posts certain distances apart, where they awaited the dispatches that were to be carried forward.
HOW JULIUS C/ESAR’S LETTERS WERE MAILED.
Julius Czsar’s writing materials were not ten cent a pound paper, square envelopes, violet ink, and a scratchy pen. He probably wrote upon thin tablets of wood, covered over with wax, and formed the letters with a stylus. As these tablets had no con- venient gummed flap, they were bound together with a linen thread, and where the strings fastened, were sealed with wax and stamped with his signet ring. This ensured their safe and speedy delivery. Per- haps this was the origin of the franking system. The letter was then delivered to a courier who bore it rapidly to the nearest relay station, or post, where it was transferred to another courier and so on until it finally reached its destination.
THE STAR ROUTES OF THE INCAS.
When the Spanish conquerors reached Peru, they found that the Peruvian monarchs had a well estab- lished system to forward the dispatches of govern- ment. All along their postal routes small buildings were erected, at a distance of less than five miles apart, in each of which a number of couriers were sta- tioned. These men were dressed in a peculiar livery, were all carefully trained to the work, and selected for their speed and fidelity. As the distance each had to cover was small, and as there was ample time to rest at the stations, they ran over the ground with great swiftness, and messages were carried through
6 THE STORY OF
the whole extent of the long routes at the rate of 150 miles a day.
POSTAL SYSTEMS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
In the Middle Ages there were a number of these so-called systems. They were all founded, like those of Rome and the Incas, for special purposes, not for the needs of the general public. In truth, it seems that in ancient times the needs and conveniences of the general public were but little thought of If in those days Jay Gould had uttered his famous sen- . timent, ‘The public be—,” he would have been called a radical reformer, or perhaps anarchist, for the lower classes, which of course constituted ‘ the public,” were not of sufficient importance to be even spoken of in such an emphatic manner. When the world was growing more enlightened in the middle ages, cities established postal systems for the purpose of commerce, universities to enable students and their relatives at home to exchange communications, and different orders of knights as a means of extend- ing their influence. Soon these improved conven- iences were thrown open to the use of any one who could afford to pay the high rates charged. Cheap postage was not then thought of.
FRANCE AND ENGLAND COPY PERSIA AND ROME.
It is quite improbable that France and England, when in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries they established systems of mounted posts, knew that they were simply copying the Persians and Romans. But theirsystems were almost exactly the same, and, too; were solely for the transmission of government dis-
THE POST-OFFIOCE. mo:
patches. There isa vast difference between then and now. Zhen governments were the only ones who had a right to use the postal service. Vow the government’s mail is almost lost sight of in the im- mense correspondence of the people.
The development of postal service is so nearly alike in all countries that it is unnecessary to treat separately of their ancient history. First, there was the establishment by the government of post reutes for the transmission of official dispatches. This sys- tem was afterwards thrown open to the uses of the public. Then private individuals, seeing the profit of this business, started rival systems, to be swallowed up in the monopolization of all postal business by the government. :
WHY IT BECAME A GOVERNMENT MONOPOLY.
During the infancy of the postal service, when letters were carried by both private individuals and the government, it soon became plain that competi- tion, though the life of trade, was not the proper thing in carrying the mails, and so in the majority of countries the government monopolized this business. England, in 1637, established such a monopoly, and. this has been adhered to in all her subsequent regu- lations of the post-office. A few years afterwards, in 1649, London, which always liked to have a finger in any pie which contained gold, attempted to set up a rival business, but the House of Commons would not allow this presumptuous city to cut rates, and sup- pressed the audacious competitor. In 1685, a Mr. Robert Murray of London, thought he could earn an honest penny by carrying letters and parcels between
8 THE STORY OF a
different parts of London and its suburbs. Just as business was beginning to boom, and a dividend was about to be declared, the Duke of York, on whom the post-office revenues of England had been settled, complained of Mr. Murray’s enterprise as an infringe- ment upon his rights. The Court of King’s Bench upheld the Duke, and this London post-office was_ annexed to the government, although it was con- ducted as a separate department of the general post- office until 1854. As private individuals seemed to find little honor and less profit in the post-office business, England has since had no further competi- tion within her own borders. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE DISCOURAGED.
It was not until 1833 that John Bull had a daily mail to Paris, while with other parts of the Contin- ent he had but two mails a week. By this time he had come to the conclusion that it was a good thing for his subjects to send letters amongst themselves. But his rates of postage to foreign countries showed that he wished to be exclusive and not interchange very many letters with people on the continent. This policy is indicated by the rates charged, for a letter could be sent from London toa Dover address for eight pence, but if it was to be forwarded to France it would cost one shilling and twopence to take this letter from London to Dover, while for other coun- tries the rates of postage were so excessive as to be almost prohibitory. England was not alone in dis- couraging foreign correspondence, for the postal ser- vice of all countries was conducted upon the same policy. But with the growth of commerce and the
THE POST-OFFICE. 9
great increase of emigration there came a demand upon the governments for lower rates of postage to the outside world. In 1834 the English government charged nearly one dollar to deliver a letter to a ship going to the United States. The lovelorn maiden whose John was seeking fame and fortune in the home of the free, could not send many letters at this price, for the postage on one would be almost, if not quite, a week’s wages. The rates had to be lowered, and to do it the different countries of the world made many postal treaties with each other, finally culmin- ating in the universal postal system described upon a following page.
THE FIRST POSTAL SYSTEM FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
The earliest postal system for the accommodation of the general public was established in 1516, be- tween Berlin and Vienna, by Franz von Thurn and Taxis. Afterwards this was extended over a greater part of Germany and Italy. Fortune favored the brave, for it really was a brave undertaking to estab- lish a postal system in those days, and the Counts of Thurn and Taxis were given a postal monopoly, which they retained until the dissolution of the Ger- man Empire in 1806.
Previous to 1524 the French postal department had labored under the delusion that it owed no duty to the people, but belonged wholly to the king and nobles. But liberal ideas were growing, and from that year any one who had the money to pay post- age was allowed to use the royal post-office. England in 1635 astonished the world when it established a
10 THE STORY OF
running post between London and eae to go
and come in six days.
A MAN WHO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THE POST-OFFICE REFORMED THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
It seems strange that a man not a post-office official, and one who had no practical experience in the business, should have been the greatest reformer of the service, and in fact, made possible the postal service of to-day. This was one .instance at least where “the outsider knew it all” proved true. In 1837, Sir Rowland Hill published the pamphlet that has made him famous. At that period rates of post- age were based upon the distance the letter was to be carried, as well as upon its weight and the num- ber of sheets. This original man succeeded in satis- fying himself, and, what was more important, the world, that the principal expense of letter carriage was in distributing and collecting, and that the cost of carrying differed so little with the distance that a uniform rate, regardless of distance, was the fairest to allconcerned. He also recommended that post- age be prepaid by the means of postagestamps. Of course at first this change in the rates would cause a deficiency, but he felt sure that the increased corres- pondence which would naturally result, as well as the savings gained by his improved methods, would more than counterbalance this. The effects bore out his theory. In one year after the adoption of his sys- tem, the number of letters carried in the United Kingdom was almost doubled. His services were rewarded with the honor of knighthood and a pen- sion.
THE POST-OFFICE. 11
MODERN HISTORY OF THE POSTAL SERVICE.
The history of the postal service in the last hundred years is best told in descriptions of the workings of the different postal systems to which, after steam, the world is chiefly indebted for its marvelous material and intellectual progress. ‘‘ We know now that by the supply of a cheap, rapid, and trustworthy means of communication not only have civilized people, high and low, enjoyed continuous intercourse and fellowship with absent friends, not only have works of charity been facilitated, schools enlarged, and united national feeling promoted, but in addition an incalculable stimulus has been given to trade and industry.”
CHAPTER II. EARLY POSTAL SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES.
Every Citizen a Letter Carrier.—The First Established System. —Virginia’s Unique Method.—The First Regular Mail.— Thirty Years Later.—It was High Rates and Poor Service.— The British Government Takes a Hand.—Honest Ben puts the Postal Service on a Business Basis.—Small Beginnings Make Great Endings.—Padlocks were not Used on the Mail Bags.—The Poor Newspaper had a Hard Time.—Franklin’s Successors.—The Post Office a Socialistic Institution.— aap oe Postage Fifty Years Ago.—What they Asked for in 1851.
EARLY POSTAL SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES.—EVERY CITIZEN A LETTER CARRIER.
Prior to 1639 there was no established postal ser- vice in America, although there were a great many letter carriers. Every inhabitant, excluding the noble red man, was appointed by his neighbors and townspeople to carry letters and parcels when going upon a journey. Parton’s Life of Franklin gives the
12 THE STORY OF
following interesting account of postal facilities at this early time. “ Letters arriving from beyond the sea were usually delivered on board the ship into the hands of the persons to whom they were ad- dressed, every family sending a member on board for the purpose of receiving letters. Letters not called for were taken by the captain to a coffee-house near the wharf, where they were spread out on a table waiting the coming of their owners. Persons from adjacent settlements called at the coffee-house and carried away not only their own letters, but all letters belonging to the people in the neighborhood, which they either delivered in person, or deposited at the house of the minister or magistrate, or some relative of the individual to whom the letter was addressed. Hence the custom grew of depositing at the ship coffee-house letters written in the town and destined to a place in the interior, as well as letters brought from the country and directed to an inhabitant of the town. <As the settlements grew in number and magnitude, it became usual to leave letters directed to one of them, at the inn most frequented by the in- habitants of that settlement. Thus, several years before there was a post office or a post-rider in the colonies, a rude, slow, unsafe, but neighborly system of letter delivery had sprung up; and long after the establishment of a post office this neighborly method continued to be the main dependence of the people for the transportation of letters for short distances.” THE FIRST ESTABLISHED SYSTEM.
In 1639 Massachusetts established a legal system
by the following decree: ‘It is ordered that notice -
THE POST-OFFICE. 13
be given that Richard Fairbanks, his house in Boston, is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas or are to be brought thither to be left with him, and he 1s to take care that they are to be delivered or sent according to the directions, and he is allowed for every letter a penny, and he must answer all miscarriages through his own neglect in this kind.” This was cheap post- age, and probably mighty cheap service.
VIRGINIA’S UNIQUE METHOD.
Virginia appears to have been the next colony to pass laws in regard to a postal system. Her arrange- ment was very unique, and if the penalty was en- forced, it ought to have at least ensured the delivery of letters within her borders, for the law required every planter to convey the dispatches as they ar- rived, to the next plantation on pain of forfeiting a hogshead of tobacco.
THE FIRST REGULAR MAIL.
A little over two hundred years ago was established the first regular mail in the colonies, the government of New York advertising a monthly mail to Boston as follows: “ Those that be disposed to send letters are to bring them to the secretary’s office, where, in a locked box, they shall be preserved till the messen- ger calls for them, all persons paying post before the bag be sealed up.” It may be well to notice that there was now established cheap postage, Mr. Richard Fairbanks of Boston getting a penny for every letter, and, according to this New York advertising, prepay- ment was also in vogue. Unfortunately these two wise regulations came into disuse, and about 100
14 THE STORY OF
years afterwards were among the reforms which were so clamorously demanded. THIRTY YEARS LATER.
The next thirty years must have seen an immense increase in the mail business of the colonies, for in 1702 the Boston News-Letter published the follow- ing order, showing that the monthly mail referred to before was to be changed to a fortnightly one: ‘“ By order of the Postmaster General of North America. These are to give notice that on Monday night, the 6th of December, the western post between Boston and New York sets out once a fortnight.” Probably some of the good old people of Massachusetts thought that this innovation could not be kept up, for there surely would not be enough letters to pay the ex- pense of the messengers going with the mails, who received three pence a mile.
IT WAS HIGH RATES AND POOR SERVICE.
In 1683 there was a weekly mail from Philadelphia to Maryland, the postage being six pence for each letter. As the worthy people who were settling this new country began to have more time for letter writing, other postal routes and postal systems were soon established. The New Hampshire colony estab- lished one in 1693, and the other colonies soon adopted regulations for postal service. Before 1760 mail was forwarded east of Portsmouth, N. H., only when a sufficient number of letters had been received to pay expenses—a sort of “go as you please” service.
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TAKES A HAND. In 1660 the British government sought to regulate, .
THE POST-OFFICE. 15
by an act of parliament, postal communication in the colonies, but these efforts seemed to have had but little effect until 1692, when Virginia accepted for herself the appointment of Thomas Neale to take charge of the postal business of the colonies. Thomas could not have been a very energetic sort of person, for no post-office was established in that colony un- til forty years after his appointment. Great Britain was not getting rich out of the postal revenue she derived from the colonies, as she received no profit from that business until 1753, In addition to the high rates of postage and irregularity of the mails, the post riders and postmasters of early times were rather untrustworthy. They evidently ran the mails to suit themselves, for Andrew Bradford, who was postmaster of Philadelphia, kept Benjamin Franklin’s paper, “ The Philadelphia Gazette,” out of the mails in order that his own paper, “The Mercury,” might obtain the most business. If Andrew had published a paper in New York City, A. D. 1889, he would un- doubtedly have had “the biggest circulation in America.” = *
HONEST BEN PUTS THE POSTAL SERVICE ON A BUSINESS BASIS.
Benjamin Franklin seems to have differed from the average “ Jack of all trades,” for he was master ofall that he undertook. In 1737 he was appointed post- master of Philadelphia. He managed this office so well that in 1753 the Crown appointed him Deputy Postmaster General of the colonies. He changed the hit or miss style of the postal service to one or ganized upon business ideas, and ran the post-oflice
16 THE STORY OF
department in sucha way as to makea profit for Great Britain. But honest Ben was too patriotic to hold such a prominent position in the service of His Majesty at that period, and soon made himself ob- noxious on account of his connection with a petition — for the removal of the governor of Massachusetts, and for this reason was dismissed from the service January 31, 1774. The people of the colonies thought that they could manage their postal business themselves, and combined in making arrangements for carrying their own mail without the assistance of Great Britain. They accordingly appointed Frank- lin post-master general in 1775 with a salary of one | thousand dollars per year. ‘‘ SMALL BEGINNINGS MAKE GREAT ENDINGS.”
One almost needs a microscope to find the postal department in the days of the Revolution. Massa- chusetts had fourteen post-offices, New Hampshire one, and a few offices were scattered among the other colonies. Then the average day’s journey of a letter was between thirty and fifty miles, and it was not until 1792 that the idea of sending a letter at the marvelous speed of one hundred miles a day was thought of.
In 1791 there were but six post-offices in New Jersey, which state by the way, could hardly be con- sidered one of the United States, for it levied a tax upon all passengers and mails carried across its bor- ders going to and from Philadelphia and New York. The gross receipts from these six post offices for one year were $530.00. Such were the small beginnings of our postal service.
THE POST-OFFICE. 17
Our ancestors had every reason to be badly fright- ened at the national debt caused by the Revolution ; but each year we now expend nearly as large a sum in carrying our letters and newspapers. From such a small start our postal system has grown to its present immense proportions, and the end is not yet.
In New York city alone more letters are delivered each day than were distributed in the whole United States in one year at the time of Franklin’s adminis- tration.
When the British decided that it was best for them to leave New York, there were three mails a week to Boston in the summer time and two in the winter ; and it was rarely that a pair.of saddle bags was not large enough to hold one of these tri-weekly mails.
The number of post-offices in 1776 was 28; now, in 1889, there are nearly 60,000. The postage upon a letter from New York to Savannah was exactly eigh- teen times as much as will now send one far beyond the Rocky Mountains into regions that were one vast wilderness a hundred years ago, and of which our ancestors had never even heard.
PADLOCKS WERE NOT USED ON THE MAIL BAGS.
The post riders of the eighteenth century had a free and easy way of taking care of the mails. Some of them made their long rides seem short by knitting mittens and stockings while they jogged slowly along, and others found pleasant company in the thoughts and writings contained in the letters and packages
~entrusted to their care. Many government officials _and business men found it necessary to use a cipher
18 THE STORY OF
in their correspondence. Madison in a letter to Jef- ferson, dated October 17, 1784, wrote, ““My two letters, neither of which were in cipher, were written, as will be all future ones, under the same conditions, in the expectation of their being read by the post- master.” |
THE POOR NEWSPAPER HAD A HARD TIME.
In framing the early postal laws no one seemed to think that the newspaper was entitled to any con- sideration, for no provision was made for postage upon these pieces of printed paper, which now form such an important element in our life.
The postmaster’s powers then equalled those of the Czar of all the Russias, as far as mailing newspapers was concerned; for they could either send papers through the mails free of postage, or decline to take them upon any terms, just as they chose. It was quite natural that many of these worthy gentlemen saw that here was a grand chance to turn an honest penny, and the publication of newspapers became almost an exclusive right of postmasters. When the postmaster was removed his paper naturally fell into one of two conditions, neither of which benefitted him particularly, —it was either sold to the new post- master, or else died a natural death.
In 1790, Postmaster General Samuel Osgood, with true New England thrift, reported to Congress that “‘ Newspapers which hitherto passed free of postage circulated extensively through the post-offices, and one or two cents on them would probably amount to as much as the expense of transporting the mails.” This report led to the following law: ‘“ Newspapers
a a SEE aay So
THE POST-OFFICE. 19
shall be carried in a separate bag from letters, and charged one cent for 100 miles—one and one-half cent for greater distances.” From that time on newspapers seem to have been a considerable cause of trouble to the post office department, judging from the frequent changes in rates of postage, and the large space devoted to them in the postal laws and rulings. FRANKLIN'S SUCCESSORS.
When Franklin was appointed postmaster general his brain could do better service for his country than to manage the few post offices and look after the handful of employees, and in November, 1776: his son-in-law was appointed as his successor. He was succeeded by Ebenezer Hazard, who held the office until the adoption of the Federal Constitution, in 1789. ‘his constitution conferred upon Congress the exclusive control of the postal matter for all the states, and as soon as it was adopted, Congress pro- ceeded to organize the post-office department.
| RATES OF POSTAGE FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Previous to 1854 the sender of a letter must have counted well the cost before finally entrusting it to the hands of the mail carrier. Postage on a single letter for 30 miles was 64 cents. Over 30 and under 80, 10 cents ; over 80 and under 150, 121 cents; over 150 and under 400, 182 cents, and over 400, 25 cents, Every extra enclosure doubled these rates, while if a letter weighed over an ounce the rates were multiplied by four. Previous to the reduction of rates in 1845- postage on a very large proportion of the letters sent from seaboard cities as far west as Indiana, was a
20 THE STORY OF
dollar and over. When in that year the rates were reduced about 50 per cent., the birds of evil omen, who were always seeking some chance of prophesying disaster, predicted that this measure would bankrupt the country. That in less than forty years a small green stamp, which cost but two cents, would carry a letter weighing an ounce across this continent, shows most clearly that this reduction was just what was needed. It is an accepted truth that decreasing the price of anything increases its use, and this is well proven by comparison of our present postal system and that of fifty years ago.
WHAT THEY ASKED FOR IN 1851.
Now when the cry is for penny postage, it is inter- esting to look back forty years, and see what reformers of those days asked for, and, too, how far their demands have been met. A forcible writer of that day, in advocating postal reform, in an article in
Harper’s magazine, asked for seven improvements
and changes, as follows :
1. “ Letter postage should be reduced toa uniform rate of two cents prepaid.” Then the rates were three, five, six, and ten cents, according to distance, with optional prepayment of postage.
2. “ Ocean postage is enormous and burdensome, and should be reduced to alow rate. The greater portion of the letters are from persons in poor cir- cumstances, and to tax them 24 or 29 cents fora
single letter is cruel. To send a letter and receive an |
answer will cost a servant girl half a week’s wages, and a poor man in the country will have to work a
THE POST-OFFICE. 21
day to earn the value of the postage of a letter to and from: his friends in Europe.”
3. “Next in reduction to inland and ocean postage is the free delivery of mailed letters in all large towns and cities. They are now conveyed to the post-office free of charge and the next step necessary is to cause them to be delivered without any addition to the postage.”
4. “The franking privilege should be wholly abolished.”
5. “ What is most complained of by the people is the complicated and burdensome tax on newspapers and other printed matter. The rates are so compli- cated that not one postmaster in twenty can tell what postage should be charged upon newspapers. Again, the rates are enormous. The Journal of Commerce is charged to San Francisco, if not prepaid, thirty cents.”
6. “ Another reform which should be made is the payment of postage entirely by stamps.”
7. “There is one more improvement which I would recommend, and that is the establishment of a money order office.”
Of these seven recommendations, all but that in regard to franking have been adopted, and an enor- mous increase in business and efficiency has been the result. It is to be hoped that the writer of that arti- ele calling so vigorously for postal reform, lived to see the carrying out of his recommendations. Had
he prophesied that they would come, it might well
be said that he was blessed with a look into the fu- ture. At any rate, he knew what was wanted, worked
to obtain it, and, better yet, succeeded.
nida
22 . THE STORY OF
THE POST OFFICE A SOCIALISTIC INSTITUTION.
Justice Schwab, and his band of anarchists, will probably laugh at the idea that the post-office system of the United States is purely a Socialistic Institution, but this is true in one sense, at least. The post-office is not, and ought not to be, run for the purpose of making money. No short haul or long haul confu- sion has made it necessary to appoint a commission to see that the rich man gets lower postage rates than his poorer neighbor, Any one who has enough coin of the country to buy a two centstamp can send a letter as quickly and cheaply as the money king whose bills for correspondence may run up in the thousands each year.
The idea which has always dominated the postal regulations of the United States is,that the post-office revenue should not exceed its expenditures ; and that this department of the government should not be a money-making concern. It is established for the benefit of the people, and the people are to pay for it solely according to the use which they make of it.
CHAPTER ITT.
PAST AND PRESENT OF THE POSTAGE STAMP.
Who made the first Postage Stamp—Spain goes into the Postage Stamp Business—Sardinia was next—The First General Use of Postage Stamps.—The Introduction of Postal Cards.— The Grand Procession.— Why Brazil Used Tobacco Stamps. —The Russian Bear Begins to use Postage Stamps.—Postage Stamps in the United States.—Postmaster’s, Stamps.—The Largest Postage Stamp in the World.—The Beautiful Stamps of France.—Here and There among the Stamps.— Fortunes Paid for Postage Stamps.
WHO MADE THE FIRST POSTAGE STAMP. Like many other things of daily use which once
THE POST-OFFICE. 23
were not and now are, postage stamps have become such a familiar object that but few people ask, whence? But the history of their origin is very in- teresting.
Inthe reign of Louis14th of France, M. De Velayer, who did letter carrying for a consideration, placed boxes at the corners of the streets for the reception of letters wrapped in envelopes, with slips of paper tied around them, bearing the inscription, “ Postpaid the day of——_—1653.” These slips were sold for a small sum at the palace, at the turn tables of convents, and by the porters of colleges. M. De Velayer would have been called a “hustler” had his birth been delayed some three hundred years; for he soon extended his business to the printing of letter sheets with blank forms applicable to ordinary business among the inhabitants of large towns, leay-
ing spaces to be filled in with such special matter as might best suit the writer’s object. He evidently was ahead of his age, for these slips and forms were not largely used, and his business soon died out.
In 1758 M. De Chamouset established a post sys- tem in Paris, the charge for postage being prepaid by stamps similar to those nowin use. The govern- ment, however, seeing that there was money in it re-
leased him from the care of this business, although it compensated him for the loss of income with an annual pension of twenty thousand francs. But when the post came into the hands of the govern- ment, as the use of stamps did not necessitate enough red tape to keep the officials busy, the stamps soon fell into “innocuous desuetude,” and were forgotten.
24 THE STORY OF
SPAIN GOES INTO THE POSTAGE STAMP BUSINESS.
After France, Spain was the next country to use postage stamps, their use being authorized by a royal decree of December 7,1716. This allowed the sec- retaries to the Crown Prince, etc., etc, to have the privilege of impressing in ink upon letters addressed to other authorities a seal bearing the royal arms of Castile and Leon, which would pass their letters free. It is probable that some of the secretaries to the Crown, etc., etc., used this official stamp to save postage on letters to their sweethearts and friends; for about eighty years later notice was given that the stamps mentioned in the decree of 1716 were to be used only for letters concerning public business. These official stamps remained in use until the be- ginning of the present century.
SARDINIA WAS NEXT.
November 7, 1818, Sardinia issued some postal pa-_
per of three values, which could be procured at post- offices and from tobacco dealers who received a com- mission upon their sales. This paper was but little used, and was withdrawn in 1836. One very prob- able reason why it did not find more favor with the people of Titian and the great masters was its lack of beauty. A boy, whose only clothing was a tin horn, riding upon a fiery mustang, did not make a very artistic postage stamp. THE FIRST GENERAL USE OF POSTAGE STAMPS.
To Sir Rowland Hill are we indebted for the pre- payment of letters by means of postage stamps: Among his other reforms he advocated most strenu-
ously the prepayment of postage, and suggested that
PONE See ete
THE POST-OFFICE. 25
the difficulties attending this might be obviated by using a bit of paper just long enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous
_ wash, which by applying a little moisture might be
attached to the back of the letter. Of course, his suggestion was opposed. Happily a stream of peti- tions poured into parliament, urging this reform, and May 6, 1840, it was adopted.
As soon as postage stamps were decided upon the government offered a prize of five hundred pounds for the best design and plan for thé stamp, stating that the requirements were simplicity and facility in working, in combination with such precautions as should prove effectual against forgery. Thousands of people wanted the five hundred pounds, but Heath of London took the prize with a small but handsome design which was used until quite recently, the only change for years being in the color. There was also a prize offered for the best design for a stamped en- velope. This was won by Mulready, R. A., with a peculiar allegorical design, representing England sending out her winged letter angels, and thus draw- ing the commerce of the world. By the side of the stamped envelopes and postage stamps of to-day this looks like a work of antediluvian days. “Honor to whom honor is due,” and to England and Sir Row- land Hill should be given the honor of creating the postage stamp, which is now used by all civilized countries. The stamps of Great Britain are printed at Somerset House, London.
THE INTRODUCTION OF POSTAL CARDS. In 1870 postal cards were introduced into England.
26 THE STORY OF
The design was very handsome, consisting of the Queen’s head in a circle with ornaments, ete., and a broad label in the lower margin inscribed, “half pen- ny,” the whole forming arectangle. The main inscrip- tion which occupied the principal portion of the card to the left of the same was, ‘‘Post Card. The address only to be written on this side. To——-———.”
These cards were 4 and 1-4 inches long by 3 and 1-2 |
inches broad. THE GRAND PROCESSION.
England stands at the head of the column of na- tions, in the adoption of postage stamps. She was followed by some of the Swiss Cantons in 1843, Bra- zilin 1848, Russia in 1845, United States in 1847, France in 1848, Schleswig Holstein in 1848, Tuscany in 1849, Belgium in 1849, and Spain in 1850, until the use of the postage stamp became general through- out the world. |
WHY BRAZIL USED TOBACCO STAMPS.
Brazil, though separated from England by the Atlantic Ocean, was the second to follow her example in the adoption of postage stamps, and a decree of November 29, 1842, ordered their creation. It was the design of the head of the postal department to reproduce, as in England, the features of the sovereign, but the director of the mint had a very highly de- veloped bump of reverence, and the idea of repro- ducing his emperor’s features upon a common post- age stamp shocked him so much that he made representations to that effect in a letter dated Feb- ruary 13,1843. His delicate sensibilities were re- spected, and the first stamps of Brazil closely re-
: J
roel ee as ae yi A iey © 9 Pe
THE POST-OFFICE. 27
sembled parts of our tobacco stamps, having a large figure upon an oval of intricate engraving. Time conquers everything, even reverence for kings, and at present the portrait of his Brazilian majesty beams upon his subjects from beautiful stamps printed in two colors.
THE RUSSIAN BEAR BEGINS TO USE POSTAGE STAMPS.
Russia introduced the use of postal envelopes in 1845. These bore the imperial arms in a circle, and were of four values only. Adhesive postage stamps were first used in Russia in 1857, and have passed through several series. ‘The issue of 1864 was very beautiful, combining elegance and simplicity in a marvelousmanner. The Russian provinces of Finland, Livonia and Poland, by royal favor, were permitted to issue stamps, but they were much inferior in elaborate execution to those of the empire. The Polish stamps are now obsolete, having been super- seded by those of Russia proper.
POSTAGE STAMPS IN THE UNITED STATES.
Congress, in 1845, authorized the use of postage stamps, but it was not until 1847 that the payment of postage in cash, sometimes by the sender and sometimes by the receiver of the letter, was super- seded by postage stamps. Third Assistant Post- master General Hazen gives this short history of the use of postage stamps in the United States :
‘In 1847 the first stamps were issued. They were of the denominations of five and ten cents. The five- cent stamp had a picture of Ben Franklin and the ten-cent stamp the head of Washington as the principal figure in the design. Those heads have
28 THE STORY OF
continued to adorn the postage stamps of our coun- try from that day to this. The stamps first issued were a little larger than those now in use. In 1851 the carrier system was introduced in all large cities, and stamps of a peculiar design, costing one cent each and known as carriers’ stamps, were issued for the purpose of providing prepaid delivery. In that year the letter postage was reduced to three cents, and the old brick dust red three-cent stamp came in. At the same time the issue was enlarged to eight stamps, the largest denomination being ninety cents. The portrait of Jefferson was introduced on the five- cent stamp, but the other seven bore the heads of Washington and Franklin in different designs. These stamps were the most popular ever issued by the department. They remained in use for ten years. “The new three-cent stamp issued in 1861 was of alightred. It was almost as popular as its prede- cessor. At thattime the three-cent stamp was the popular stamp or the one most in use, and not the two-cent stamp as now. The lght red three-cent stamp remained in use until 1869, when there was a decided innovation in the designs of the entire issue. The new stamps were square instead of oblong, and many of them were printed in two colors, the central design being in one tone and the border in another. The principal figure in each design was in almost every instance a representation of some mode of car- rying the mails instead of the head of some departed statesman. The three-cent stamp was printed in blue, and the principal figure in the design was a locomo- tive. That issue of stamps lasted ten months, The
PS ~
f ee a
THE POST-OFFICE. 29
people clamored so against them that in 1870 a re- turn was made to the old designs, which were printed, however, in different colors. The three-cent stamp was then made green with the head of Washington in the center of the design. That stamp is of such recent date that its design is familiar to every one. A great many of them were stored away in old cash boxes and stamp boxes, and occasionally now, we find them on letters received at this office.”
The green three-cent stamp which was adopted in 1870 continued in use longer than any of its prede- cessors. It was used until October 1, 1883, and it might have continued in vogue much longer had not Congress reduced the rate of letter postage to two — cents. Under the new law a brown two-cent stamp was issued. It continued in use until 1887, when its color was changed to the objectionable green.
POSTMASTERS STAMPS.
Among the rarest American stamps are some which were not issued by the government. When Congress, in 1845, authorized the use of stamps, it neglected to make such provision as warranted the postal author- ities in their estimation in the issue of stamps. Dur- ing the period of two years preceding the issue of government stamps the principal cities of the United States issued what were known as postmasters’ stamps. They were intended for the convenience of business men who desired to mail letters after the closing of the post-oflfice,for the post-office did not re- main in operation all night in the primitive days of the postal service. These stamps were issued by postmas- ters at New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Bal-
30 THE STORY OF
timore, St. Louis, Providence, Alexandria and a great many other places. Some of these stamps were merely slips of paper bearing the signatures of the postmasters. Collectors value the Baltimore stamp which is of this character, at $200. A stamp which was issued by the postmaster of New Haven is worth on an original-used envelope $300 and more. A postage stamp issued by the Milbury postmaster, which was of elaborate design for those days, and bore the head of Washington, brings easily $300 to $900. THE LARGEST POSTAGE STAMP IN THE WORLD.
While the United States has received the congra- tulations of several foreign governments upon the beauty of workmanship of her stamps, they being prominent in delicacy of engraving and elegance of design and general beauty, she has also the honor of having used the largest stamps for postal purposes - in the world. These were the periodical stamps, which were used for newspapers carried outside the mails. They differed from the other stamps in being surface printed from steel plates, and not fine line engravings. The three values, five, ten and twenty- five cents, bore respectively, portraits of Washington, Franklin and Lincoln. Though large they had but a short life, being issued October 6, 1865, and with- drawn in February, 1869. They were used only in Chicago and Milwaukee.
THE BEAUTIFUL STAMPS OF FRANCE.
The postage stamps of France naturally followed her political changes. Their first permanent intro- duction in that country was in 1848, when the re- —
THE POST-OFFICE. 31
public issued a series which bore the impress of the French love of the beautiful. The central device of this stamp was ahead of the Goddess of Liberty. Soon after, in the presidency, the stamps bore the profile of Louis Napoleon, which shows that worthy to.have been a most consummate politician, for his elegant features upon the postage stamp did much to prepare the people for his later appearance as an emperor. In following years under the Empire, new stamps were issued representing his imperial majesty crowned with the laurel of the Czsars. When France tired of the magnificence of the emperors and overthrew the throne a new set of stamps was issued very similar to those of the republic of 1848. During the siege of Paris they were issued from the provi- sional capital of Bordeaux.
The postage stamps now used in France must have the same effect upon Anthony Comstock, Secretary of the Society for the Prevention of Vice, as a red rag waved before a bull; and it seems strange that he has not taken steps to prevent letters from France coming into this country.
All the stamps of France, as well as those of her colonies, and Greece, are made at the Hotel Des Monaies, or Mint. The sheets upon which they are printed are subjected to four successive operations, rendering them proof against forgery by the trans- ferring process. After printing, gumming, and per- forating, the stamps are carefully inspected by gov- ernment officials who destroy all imperfect ones, and _ forward the balance to the post-office department.
32 THE STORY OF
HERE AND THERE AMONG THE STAMPS. It would take a volume to describe all the postage stamps of the world, for there have been thousands
of different stamps issued by hundreds of different -
countries ; but brief mention of the distinctive char- acter of some of the more interesting stamps cannot fail to be interesting,
After the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were annexed to Prussia that government instead of forcing the people to use Prussian stamps, issued a series specially for these provinces. They were printed upon tinted paper with a simple design, con- sisting of a numeral value, with the inscription “ Postes Centime.”
Belgium introduced postage stamps in July, 1849, and familiarized the people with the features of the king by using his bust as the principal part of the design. All the succeeding issues of Belgium stamps bore either the national arms or a portrait of the sovereign. |
Postage stamps were introduced into Spain in 1850, and were sold by tobacco dealers, who received a commission of 3 per cent. upon their sales. The design was usually a portrait of the reigning sovereign, and judging by the portraits, the empress certainly was not beautiful.
Mexico, with all her revolutions, was the first country in Central America to use postage stamps. One series bore the portrait of Hidalgo, the first hero of the independence ; another, the Mexican eagle and cactus; another, the portrait of Emperor Maximilian, The present issue is quite similar to the early stamps
THE POST-OFFICE. 33
of Brazil, being a large numeral upon an elaborately engraved background.
The stamps of Nevis in the West Indian Islands are a pleasing deviation from the general practice of printing the portraits of sovereigns or the imperial arms. The stamps bear an emblematical device, rep- resenting the Goddess of Health, Hygeia, giving the water of a mineral spring to a sick person. Here is a valuable hint to some enterprising proprietary medicine house in this country. Just think of the amount of good that would be done if every United States stamp bore this device, “To strengthen the nerves use Paine’s Celery Compound,” or, ‘In the spring take Kidney- Wort.”
British Guiana, which adopted postage stamps in 1850, used a handsome design of a full rigged ship for the principal device. The stamps of Chili are the only ones bearing the portrait of Columbus.
Cashmere, Turkey and Japan furnish stamps that to an American strongly resemble the complex de- sign traced by a fly in his wanderings after a bath in an ink well. As the old lady said, ‘The strongest evidence of the intelligence of these people is that they can read their own language.”
Asiatic and African nations are well represented in the postage stamp collections of to-day. The Cape of Good Hope isthe only country which thought something better than the square or rectangular shape could be found. Her early issues were triangular and bore as a device an emblematic figure of Hope.
The stamps of Egypt with pictures of pyramids and sphinxes, those of Nicarauga and Salvador with
34 THE STORY OF
their volcanoes, of Mauritius with their emblematic figure of commerce, and those of West Australia with the swan, lend the charm of variety and novelty to the postage stamps of the world. ;
Canada introduced postage stamps in 1851, Nova Scotia in 1856, New Brunswick in 1856, Newfound- land in 1859, Prince Edward Island in 1861, British Columbia in 1860. Most of the early issues of these provinces were printed in the United States. In 1867, Her Majesty’s Proclamation announced the formation of the Dominion of Canada, and the post- office department passed into the hands of one offi- cial, with a single set of postage stamps prepared by ~ the British American Bank Note Company of Montreal.
When the Confederate States of America were insti- tuted they found themselves without postage stamps, except those of the United States, which were scat- tered throughout the different post-offices in the South, and as these, of course, would not carry a letter under that government, and no regular series had yet been devised,the postmasters of New Orleans, Nashville, Baton Rouge, Mobile, Memphis, and other southern states, issued stamps on their own respon- sibility. These and the stamps afterwards author- ized by the confederate government have become historical, although as works of art they were lament- able failures. The first series of three values, two, five and ten cents, were made in Richmond, and were furnished until 1863, when they were replaced by a five cent stamp prepared in England, and by two, ten and twenty cent stamps made in Columbia, 8. O.
LY "s eC EN ai ie inal
Peoeie| ses!
THE POST-OFFICE. 35
Postage stamps have almost an infinite variety of designs, and their collection is a captivating amuse- ment with boys, and a pleasing recreation among older persons. They have surely done as much in uniting closer together the bond of human brother- hood, as any one thing, and not only the postal offi- cials who have found them a great convenience in facilitating the work of their department, but the whole world, owes the-little postage stamp a debt of gratitude.
FORTUNES PAID FOR OLD POSTAGE STAMPS.
As a contribution to the history of human folly, the prices which a parcel of old postage stamps has just realized at a London auction are not unworthy of notice. The collection consisted of 286 “lots,” the most valuable being a set of rare British Guiana labels, and for these the bids ran to figures which must seem to any one not bitten with the mania, little less than monstrous. A “blue four cent” of 1856 excited eager competition, and was finally knocked down to a dealer for $180. This specimen, however, had been used, so that when a stamp “much finer,” and without the defacing marks of the sorter on its surface, was put up, there was nothing left but for the
buyer of the $180 specimen to acquire it at $65 ad- vance. After this a strip of four one cent magentas; issued in 1851, on the original envelope, from the same colony, at $35; four of the one cent 1853 issue at $5 each, and a pair of four cent magentas, thirty three years old, at $60, are barely worth notice, though their prices are so much in advance of what the first owner paid for them oyer the post-office
36 THE STORY OF
counter in Georgetown. Yet a book of 4,000 old issues of English stamps—postage, revenue, law, bill, railway, and receipt,—brought less than $40, and a thousand Mexican ones only $30, while a collection, of 380 Russian local stamps seem to the uninitiated, to be simply given away at $20. We may, however, take it that this collection, large as it is, did not, even if genuine, contain any of the rarer ones. For, as the student of M. Koprowski’s volume must be aware, some Russian stamps are so scarce as to cause the most ardent collector many a heartache in his futile endeavors to obtain a specimen which will pass the narrow scrutiny of the expert. These and all other high priced stamps are forged wholesale, and with such ingenuity that only the experienced connoisseur _ can detect the knaveries. The presence of such im- postors in the company of honest specimens is the reason why the amateur at sales finds, to his amaze- ment, a wretched square inch of gummed paper going for a thousand times its weight in gold, while he can secure an album containing it, and a host of similar rarities, almost at his own terms. The collection of M. Philippe de Ferrari is said to contain a quarter of a million specimens, and to be worth almost as many half eagles. Mr. Philbrick is understood to have sold this wealthy. Parisian virtuoso one collec- tion for $50,000, while Sir Daniel Cooper, an Austra- lian collector, wisely transferred to the same gentle- man the fruits of sixteen years’, hoarding for $15,000. Mr. Burnett's albums are currently reported to have brought something like $100,000, and it is nothing uncommon to dispose of a respectable, but by no
THE POST-OFFICE. 34
means remarkable, set of stamps for $2,000, $3,000 or $0,000. The collection made by the late Duchess de Galliera is affirmed to have cost, up to the year 1883, in acquisition and arrangement not less than $250, 000, and the value of the 3,000 volumes in which it was contained has since that date been put at $60 000 more. Yet itis believed that both in England and on the Continent there are public and private hoards very little inferior to it in interest and value. At the Paris Mint there is a remarkable collection,. and that of the Admiralty is famous throughout the world, while the Rothschild collection in Paris is so costly that the owner, with the true jealousy of the collector, reserves the pages containing his rarest specimens for the delectation of special friends.
The prices given at the recent sale are said to be the highest ever paid for single stamps. We doubt whether this is correct. The15 and 30cent Reunion stamps bring $500; the New Brunswick 5 cent stamp, with the head of O’Connell, is rarely parted with un- der $150. The set of four 1852 Hawaiian stamps are valued at $1,500, and the four British Guiana of 1850 are worth $375. Then there is the 1847 Mauritius stamp, printed from a wood block—in two issues— one worth a penny and the other twopence, when first issued, and these are so seldom met with nowa- days that we believe $500 has been paid for one of them. But the rarest of all literature of this sort is the Mulready wrapper on India paper, issued in 1840. Of these there are said to be only six or seven in ex- istence, although $125,000 worth were issued, and the last which changed hands brought, if our memory is
not at fault, the ridiculous price of $400.
38 THE STORY OF
CHAPTER IV.
THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.
The First Travelling Post Office.—A Gigantic Machine.—Its Birth.—The First Railway Post Office.—Its Rapid Growth. —Palace Postal Cars.—A Sample Run.—Duties of the Clerks.—The Paper Jerker and the Fakir.—The Catcher.— The Fast Mail Express.—The Dangers of a Railway Postal Clerk’s Life.—Importance of Permanency.—Trouble with. the Railroads.—The General Superintendents.
THE FIRST TRAVELLING POST OFFICE.
The first we hear of a travelling post-office, which is a name now often given postal cars, was in a me- morial address to congress in November, 1776, by Ebenezer Hazard, Postmaster General, where he mentioned that on account of the many and almost constant removals of the Continental army, he had to undergo great expense and fatigues, and that “ havy- ing to pay an exorbitant price for every necessary of life, and having been obliged, for want of a horse, which could not be procured, to follow the army on foot.” |
A GIGANTIC MACHINE.
Although Ex-Postmaster General Thomas L. James has written an admirable article on the Rail- way Mail Service, which was published in one of our leading magazines, and other writers have given the public similar articles, there is still a certain mystery about this valuable department of our postal service which seems to make those who do their postal work upon the rail a little more than ordinary men. Nor is this to be wondered at. An express train rushes into the depot; the postal car with its barred windows and heavy doors looks like a traveling bank, but the words, “United States Railway Post Office,” painted
THE POST-OFFICE. 39
in large letters on the side show what it is; inside areseen coatless men working for dear life, with piles of mail bags and pouches, heaps of letters and papers, and racks of pigeon holes ; a stop of a few minutes ; mail bags hastily thrown off; others taken in; a few short, quick puffs of the locomotive and the express train rushes out with the railway postal clerks work-
ing harder than ever. Even the post-office clerks
know but little more than this about that branch of the service which is of the greatest advantage to every man, woman and child in the United States. William Lewins aptly says of the railway mailsystem, “It is like a gigantic machine, one part dependent upon another, and all alike dependent upon the motive power of the different contracting parties.”
ITS BIRTH.
England, with her small extent of thickly settled country, was able to first put in operation a railway postal service, and the experiment was made in January, 1838, between London and Birmingham. This was so successful that one person made the remark, “By means of the extra railway facilities letters now pass along this line (London and Birm- ingham), in a space of time so inconceivably quick that some time must elapse before our ideas become accustomed to such a rapid mode of intercourse.”
lt was some two score years after its adoption in England before the United States postal department took any steps to avail itself of this great improve- ment. In 1860 an arrangement was made with the railroads to run a mail train from New York to Boston by the way of Hartford and Springfield, so
40 p THE STORY OF
that the southern mails should be immediately trans- ferred from New York instead of laying over until the following day, as they had done heretofore. This may be regarded as the birth of the postal railway service of this country. A few like arrangements were made with other railroads, so that mail trains were run between New York and Washington, although, of course, the only advantage of these mail trains was the quick transfer of mail matter from one place to another. The travelling post-office, where mails are assorted when going at the rate of fifty miles an hour, had not yet come.
THE FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE.
Mr. W. A. Davis, one of the St. Joseph, Missouri, post-office force, has the honor of making the first distribution and assortment of mails while they were in transit. In 1862 the thought occurred to him thatif the mail could be assorted on the cars between Quincy and St. Joseph it would save the overland mail con- siderable valuable time. The department allowed him to carry out this idea, paying him for the work which he did. But to Col. George B. Armstrong, who was afterwards the first General Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, is due the honor of es- tablishing the postal cars. The first car sent out upon his suggestion left Chicago for Clinton, lowa, August 28, 1864. At that time Col. Armstrong was Assistant Postmaster at Chicago, and his plan of running the post-office cars on the principal railroads, with a force of clerks to make up the mails for offices at the end of and along the routes, was tested in this trip under the following order from Postmaster
THE POST-OFFICE. 41
General Blair. “Test by actual experiment upon such railroad route or routes as you may select at Chicago, the plans proposed by you for simplifying the mailservice.” Although Mr. Davis was undoubt- edly the person who first suggested the idea of rail- way post-offices, yet to Col. Armstrong belongs the gratitude and credit of establishing this important branch, which, starting in such a humble way but a quarter of a century ago, now employs over five thou- sand men, extends to every part of the country, con- trols the contracting for mail service upon 140,000 miles of railroad and 6,000 miles of steamboat routes, and expends about $20,000,000 annually. ITS RAPID GROWTH. In 1864 a special agent of the department visited the presidents of the several railroads, whichrun bet- ween Washington and New York, to find out what ‘ explanation they could give of the irregular mail service between those points. The officers evinced _ both a ready willingness to admit the existence of good cause for complaint, and the desirability of rem- edying the trouble, and also expressed themselves as desirous of doing whatever was in their power to secure more correct and rapid mail service. Postal cars were accordingly tried on the road between New York and Washington, and were so successful that within a few months similar cars were run between Chicago and Davenport, Chicago and Burlington, and Galesburg and Quincy. It was not longafter the in- auguration of this service before post-office cars were placed upon all the principal lines leading out of Chicago and between New York, Albany and Buffalo.
Beery oy A ean BY.
42 THE STORY OF
PALACE POSTAL CARS.
The first travelling post-office which run between Chicago and Clinton was built by the railroad com- pany under the supervision of Mr. Zevely, who was | Col. Armstrong’s right hand man in instituting this service. The interrior arrangement was elaborate and elegant for that age, but in comparison with the postal cars of the present day it was crude and prim- itive. Although railroad companies build and own the cars, the post office department controls them. Different railroads have vied with each other in get- ting out elegant and convenient cars, some being — almost equal in their fittings to the drawing room cars of the vestibule trains. On the western roads especially, no expense is spared to gain all the con- veniences. The cars for long routes in addition to their ingeniously contrived work rooms, contain bed room, parlor and dining room. But the majority of the cars are not like “my lady’s boudoir.” They are built for hard and constant work, and the wear and tear of railroad speed soon leaves the marks of the service they have done for their country.
A SAMPLE RUN.
While the mail trains of the great trunk lines have several postal cars carrying between fourteen and fif- teen hundred packages of letters, a hundred ina pack- age, to say nothing of the sacks of newspapers, and employ a large crew of men, a better understanding of the work of the mail clerk can be gained from tak- ing a trip on a train having but one postal car. The general plan on the larger trains is the same as that on the trip we are about taking. We will find the
THE POST-OFFICE. 43
crew, which usually consists of a head clerk, with two assistants, waiting in the room which is set apart for their use at the city post-office. It is nearly time for the train to start; the head clerk has receipted to the register clerk of the post-office for the regis- tered letters and packages going to points upon his route and connecting lines beyond, and put them under lock and key in his register pouch; the cry of the mail despatcher—* All aboard,” is heard, and the clerks with their traps, consisting of postal guides, railway maps, tags and labels for pouches, distribu- tion sacks, working clothes, lunch baskets, etc., etc., leap into the mail wagon, which is filled to overflow- ing with brass bound leather bags, and are driven rapidly away to the depot; their travelling post-office is waiting, and the mail wagon is backed up to the door, the bags, pouches and boxes are quickly thrown in; now for hard work, expert, rapid and efficient. DUTIES OF THE CLERKS.
The through mail bags and pouches which con- tain mail going to the end of the route are piled up in the through mail room, while those containing matter which is to be distributed along the road are piled up in the working room in the forward and
-middle part of the car. The head clerk, who dis-
tributes the through letter mail, unlocks and empties upon the floor, “dumps up,” in front of a letter case, containing several hundred pigeon holes, the six or seven thousand letters which a pouch holds. These letters are all tied up in packages of about one hun- dred each. Picking up an armful of the packages and placing them on the shelf in front of the letter
44 THE STORY OF
case he rapidly cuts the strings and places the letters in their proper pigeon holes, with amazing dexterity. While the head clerk is distributing the through let- ter mail, one of his assistants is taking care of the way mail, which is to be delivered at different points along the route, in a similarmanner. As each of the large post offices is a distributing office for adjacent small ones, the railway clerks not only make up di- rect packages for the different post-offices on their routes, but also packages for lines which connect with their route at the large offices. The third clerk, who in the practical language of the postal car is called a paper jerker, distributes the newspaper mail in another part of the car. He throws his bulky packages at and into. labeled boxes in front of him. ‘It is rarely that he jerks a paper into a wrong place. THE PAPER JERKER AND THE FAKIR.
The postal clerks acquire a marvellous accuracy of aim which sometimes serves them well outside of their business. The following tells how a paper jerker increased his salary one day:
On a side lot near the Forepaugh grounds on North Broad street there was a fakir yesterday, says a Philadelphia paper, whose outfit consisted of the stake and ring game. The simple and enticing amusement is played as follows: The stake is placed in the ground at a certain angle, which leads the un- initiated to believe that it is easy to throw the five- inch rings over it, whereas the feat is almost impos- sible. The fakir had a crowd around him and was raking in the dimes—three “tries” for ten cents— when a black-mustached, middle-sized man walked
THE POST-OFFICE. 45
up and said he’d bet a dollar he could put three rings out of five over the stake.
The fakir winked at the crowd and took the man up. The black-mustached stranger threw five rings rapidly one after another, and, as three of them went over the stake, the thrower was in 80 cents. They doubled bets, and the stranger won again. Then ~ they bet $10 even that nine out of the first ten thrown could not-be put over the stake. The whole ten set- tled safely, and the fakir, as he handed $10 in silver over, said : |
“T’m broke; what’s your business ?”
“T’m a ‘paper jerker’ on a postal car,” said the ring thrower. ‘I don’t do anything but fling papers all day long into the mouths of fifty sacks.”
THE CATCHER.
The head clerk and his assistant have their mail nearly distributed and put into different pigeon holes for delivery at the proper station, when a bang on the door announces the arrival of the train at a large town, and in comes more mail matter, which will keep them out of mischief. On, on, rushes the train. It stops a few minutes at the larger towns and hurries past the small places, delivering and catching mail matter as the train glides by. Our car has a catcher attached for taking on mail bags at small stations where the train does not stop. This catcher, which is called ‘“ Ward’s catcher,” is a most ingenious, sim- ple and effective device. The pouch the local post- master wishes to deliver to the postal car is sus- pended from a crane by the side of the track, shortly before train time, and is easily taken off by the
46 THE STORY OF
catcher, no matter how great the speed of the train. It is a large iron fork with two prongs or arms, one considerably longer than the other. The shorter arm is fastened to the outside of the car near the door in such a way that when the catcher is not in use both arms are placed vertically against the side of the car. - When the mail clerk wishes to use it he turns the short arm with a lever, causing the longer arm to project from the side of the car at an acute angle, the opening between the two being in the direction which the train is going. As soon as the crane is reached and the suspended pouch is caught, the lever is turned and the pouch taken in by the clerk. Sometimes on dark and stormy nights the catcher gets too much. Being turned too soon, it tries to bring in telegraph poles and switch lights. In spite of these little inconveniences it is far ahead of the old English arrangement, which consisted of a net attached to the side of the car. This net was sup- posed to open and catch mail matter, but it often “muffed” the mail bag, and catchers like Ward’s have been adopted in that country. The American system has also been introduced into India and Aus- tralia. THE FAST MAIL EXPRESS.
Col. Bangs, who reorganized the railway mail service, and gave it new life and strength, in his re- port of 1874 recommended that a fast mail train be established between New York and Chicago, and suggested, ‘“ This train be under the control of the department so far as it is necessary for the purposes designed, and to run the distance in twenty-four
THE POST-OFFICE, 47
hours. It is stated by railway officials that this can be done. The importance of a run like this cannot be over-estimated. It would reduce the actual time of mail between the East and West from twelve to twenty-four hours.” -Postmaster General Jewell ap- proved the idea and ordered Col. Bangs to make fur- ther investigations. The plan was entered into with the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad and the Lake Shore Railroad, whereby they con- structed special postal cars for this service, and run them for ten months, between Chicago and New York, always on time. Congress, however, with its “penny wise and pound foolish” policy reduced the compensation for train mail cars, and as®a conse- quence the fast mail trains were discontinued for want of money to pay the cost of running. The ex- periment had, however, been so successful, that ap- propriations were soon made for this purpose, after a hard struggle by friends of the service, and fast mail trains have been extended so that they now reach nearly every part of the country. THE DANGERS OF A RAILWAY POSTAL CLERK’S LIFE.
In the year ending June, 1888, there were 248 ac- cidents to trains upon which postal clerks were em- ployed, resulting in the killing of four clerks, and serious wounding of sixty-three, while forty-five re- ceived slight injuries. Although the postal cars are fitted up with every device that American inventive genius has yet conceived for lessening the dangers attendant upon wrecks, such as axes, hammers, saws, and crowbars, with safety bars overhead in the cars, to which the clerks can cling when the cars roll off
ee \ te F MO aes tee hs ee es ey
48 THE STORY OF
an embankment, there are few more dangerous pur- suits in life than this. Wherever any cars are wrecked upon mail trains, the postal car is sure to be among the number. In addition to dangers from railroad accidents, the trains are liable to be “held up” by mail robbers, who often handle their pistols rather carelessly. For the hardships they are obliged to undergo, the dangers to which their life is liable, and the expert work they render the government, the sal- aries of these men seem altogether too small, ranging as they do from $900 to $1300 per year.
IMPORTANCE OF PERMANENCY.
The greatest drawback to the improvement of the railway post-office is the fact that it is sometimes made a political machine. If the clerks and higher officials are to be changed with every change of the administration, their chairs will hardly be warm be- fore they are removed and a green set of employees taken on. How can it be expected that men com- petent to discharge the duties of this difficult calling will devote themselves to it when they know that their hold upon office is to last but a short time ? Ignorance and carelessness in this service can cause the public more inconvenience and greater loss than in any other department, and it is a good thing for the country that the railway mail service positions bid fair to be taken out of those offices which are considered the “spoils of war.” Some of the men who obtain their positions through influence are as well qualified to fill them as the summer boarder who asked the farmer, ‘‘ What’s that yellow stuff you are feeding the chickens ?
et eo. gs SER ey eae
THE POST-OFFICE. 49
‘That's corn, mister.”
“What is thisin this bin?” ~
“ That’s wheat.”
“‘ What are these other things ?”
“Rye, oats, barley,—say, mister, what’s your business when at home in Chicago?” “TI am a grain speculator.” And as all grain speculators ought to know what grain looks like. so postal clerks ought to be able to read writing. A new man was appointed to one of the eastern runs, and the head clerk assigned him to the distribution of the paper mail. It was soon noticed that he distributed some of the papers and let the others go by, not seeming to know what to do with them, and the head clerk upon investiga- tion found that this specimen of “ influence” did not know how to read writing, and of course could only distribute papers with printed addresses. It is need- less to add that at the next stop an assistant who could read writing was telegraphed for.
TROUBLE WITH THE RAILROADS.
Another need of the railway mail service is larger appropriations by Congress, which would enable the service to obtain railroad facilities atfair rates. Hver since the introduction of this service there has been more or less clashing with the railroads, and the fault has not all been upon one side. Every little while a bill would be introduced in Congress requiring the railroads to carry the mail at certain fixed rates, which oftentimes were less than the cost of the train service, with large penalties for refusal or neglect on the part of the railroads. It is to be hoped that the
50 THE STORY OF
government will be liberal in future with this branch of the service. THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS.
During the first years of the Railway Mail Service, George B. Armstrong had charge of the western divis- ion, and Harrison Park of the eastern. In 1869 Col. Armstrong was called to Washington and given entire control of the railway post-office service, and made the first General Superintendent. He served but two years in the position, but grand addi- tions were made during that time, for the Union Pacific Railroad was added to the service, and lines were established as far as New Brunswick and _bet- ween Washington and Indianapolis, and Milwaukee and St. Paul. Owing to failing health he resigned, and was succeeded by Geo. 8. Bangs, May 3, 1871. Mr. Bangs reorganized the service. Among his im- portant improvements were the separation of the mail by states, establishment of eight new lines, and a division of the service. His improvements made it practically what it is to-day. He also saw the fast mail experiment of 1875 and 1876 through to its dis- continuance. Upon his recommendation, February 3, 1876, T. N. Vail was appointed his successor. During his administration there was a special com- mission on railway transportation which was unable to agree upon areport. He was succeeded by Wil- liam B. Thompson, who was promoted from the Superintendency of the ninth division. During his. term of office the railway mail service was reorgan- ized by an act of congress. Upon the last day of 1884 Thompson was promoted to Second Assistant
THE POST-OFFICE. 51
Post-master General, and John Jameson was pro- moted to General Superintendent. He held the office until 1885, being succeeded by Thos. E. Nash. June 1, 1888, William L. Bancroft assumed the duties of General Superintendent, being the seventh who has held that office.
CHAPTER V.
THE SPECIAL AGENT SYSTEM. What it is.—Murder Will Out. WHAT IT IS.
The idea of a special agent or post-office inspector did not originate in this country, but it started, as did many other postal ideas, in England, where these agents were called post-office surveyors. The system was first organized in this country in 1840 and has proved a very useful branch of the department. It ferrets out frauds on the government and the public, keeps an eye onthe general administration of the service, investigates complaints that relate to depre- dations, watches suspected people, arrests those who use the mails for illegal purposes, detects and arrests post-office employees who rob the mail, and in fact embraces a much wider range of action than any mere detective service. The members of this force must be courageous and shrewd, as well as possessing a great deal of tact, combined with a thorough knowl- edge of human nature. It is not the province of this work to tell detective stories, as that has already been done in books written by post-office inspectors.
52 THE STORY OF
MURDER WILL OUT.
It is an interesting study to watch how the im- proved schemes of crime are always equalled by ereater ingenuity displayed in their discovery. The reverse of this is also true, for as new and more com- plicated bank locks are invented, more powerful tools and new ways of reaching the hidden treasure are also found. But it is true that, “murder will out,” with very few exceptions. The post-office in- spectors sometimes find themselves at fault in tracing mail robbers, but other means outside of the depart- ment get upon the right track and the criminal is hunt- ed down. The true story of the capture of some mail robbers, told in Harper’s Magazine, well illus- trates this. Merchants and others in Philadelphia who had dealings with Boston found their most val- uable and important letters constantly miscarried. They disappeared without a clue, and the corres- pondents soon complained at the post-office depart- ment, which upon fullinformation applied itself with its most skillful detective force to the discovery of the thieves, but without success. Similar detective skill differently employed struck the clue. The de- tective agency of an Express Company was busily engaged in the search for a valuable package that had been stolen, and some of the agents who had been shadowing two suspicious persons, followed them from a house in Prince street to the office of the American Express Company, at the corner of Broadway and Fourth street. The suspicious per- sons here left two packages addressed to Canada. When they left, the detectives entered the office, and
THE POST-OFFICE. , 53
told the agents of the company their suspicions that the packages contained stolen goods. The packages were at once opened. One was found to contain a mail bag and the other a traveling bag or satchel, in which were the stamps of a mail route agent’s outfit. This discovery was at once made known at the post- office, and its agent carefully examined the contents of two bags. The mail bag contained mutilated let- ters which had been mailed at York, Pa., and the satchel the working tools of a route agent upon the Pennsylvania Railroad. Here was a long sought clue, and the post-office and the express detectives followed it closely to the end. The satchel had been stolen from the mail wagon while -going from the New York post-office to Jersey City. One of the drivers was arrested, and his capture led to that of the apparent leader of the gang, a woman with whom he lived and other confederates. The woman’s house was searched, and in a trunk claimed by her were found letters mailed a few days since in Philadelphia, containing checks payable in Boston. Other letters were found from which the enclosures had been taken, and it appeared that money had been paid upon forged endorsements of signatures obtained in this way. The last man arrested was a mail driver, who allowed the bags to be taken from the wagon. When the bags had been thoroughly rifled they were carefully done up in packages and sent by express to various distant cities, addressed to fictitious names. All trace of the bags thus disappeared. It was a clever scheme, but not clever enough. As Fielding is fond of saying: “It hath been remarked by some
54 THE STORY OF
wise philosopher, that the ingenuity which is devoted to knavery if turned to honest industry would not only suffice to carry the world far upward toward virtue, but would make the knaves prosperous and respectable citizens.”
CHAPTER VI.
AT WASHINGTON.
The Home of the Post-office Department.—Duties of the Chief Officers.—The First Assistant Postmaster General.—The Second ‘Assistant Postmaster General.—How the Star Routes are awarded.—The Third Assistant Postmaster Gen- eral.—How Dead Letters are Resurrected.—Even Post- masters are Liable to Error.—Broken down Clergymen in Demand.—-Honesty the Best Policy.—The Government Old Paper Business.—The Imps in the Dead Letter Office.— Millions of Dollars Found in Dead Letters.—Curious Arti- cles without Number.—How to Keep Letters out of the Dead Letter Office.
THE HOME OF THE POST—OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
A whole block is given to the beautiful Corinthian building in Washington, which is the home of the post-office department. It is bounded by Seventh, Kighth, E and F Streets, and is 300 feet long by 204 feet wide. It contains 85 departments. The inner offices look upon a grassy courtyard enclosed by the building. The greater part was designed by F. A. Walter, but other architects have had charge of the extensions which have been added from time to time The main entrance is on 7th Street, where there is a rich and ornate vestibule whose marble ceiling is supported by four marble columns. Walls, niches, floors, all are marble. The other entrances are also elegantly decorated, and are marvels of the designer’s art.
THE POST-OFFICE, — 55
DUTIES OF THE CHIEF OFFICERS.
Prior to 1829 the Postmaster General was not a member of the Cabinet, but General Jackson’s in- vitation to his Postmaster General to take a seat in his cabinet was a precedent followed by all succeed- ing presidents. The head of the post-office depart- ment, which is second only to the treasury in import- ance, receives a salary of eight thousand dollars per year, while his three assistant-postmaster generals each draw four thousand dollars a year from the na~ tional government. He also has a chief clerk ata salary of $2,200, a stenographer at $1,800, and a dozen or more special employees. He has gen- eral supervision of the whole department.
The First Assistant Postmaster General’s duties consist of the management of five divisions, appoint- ment, bond, salary and allowance, free delivery and blank agency. All questions relating to establish- ment and discontinuance of post-offices, changes in location and name, appointment and removal of postmasters and agents, are referred to this depart- ment, which also has charge of the general mail, and the foreign and international postal arrangements, and furnishes the greater part of the department sup- plies. Rubber stamps, letter balances, official blanks, etc., etc., come from the First Assistant Postmaster General, whose work is done by about 100 clerks.
The Second Assistant Postmaster General has charge of the contract office, the inspection division, and the mail equipment division, and employs more than 100 people. The contract office has charge of the arrangement of all mail routes in the United
56 THE STORY OF
States, advertises for proposals for carrying the mails, receives the bids and awards the contracts to the lowest bidders. The time tables and schedules of the arrival and departure of mails, their frequency, manner of carrying, and the routes which they shall take are decided upon in this department.
The Star routes, numbering about 8,000, which go to places not yet invaded by the whistle of the loco- motive and the toot of the steamboat, are made in this department. The system followed in awarding the contracts is interesting and exact. The country is divided into four postal sections, and contracts are made in one section each year, so that new con- tracts are made all over the country every four years. The law says, “The contract must be awarded to the lowest bidder,’ and upon the last day for re- ceiving bids, three officers of the department, with assistants, assort the bids by states, open them, and pass them through a printing press which affixes the seal of the department and the date of opening. From here they go to the chief clerk of the contract office, and are examined to see if they are made out in pro- per form. All thatare correct are assorted according to reutes and recorded in the proper route books. Then the chief clerk goes through these books and selects the lowest bidder for each route, who must, when the contract is awarded to him, sign an accept- ance blank that he will faithfully carry out the terms of his bid.
The Third Assistant Postmaster-General has © charge of the official business of the department. The issuing of postage stamps. and stamped envel-
THE POST-OFFICE. 57
_ opes, the registered letter accounts, and the dead let- ter division. He might be called the cashier of the department, as he issues drafts in payment of the amounts due the mail contractors, collects the postal revenues, and has general superintendence of the accounts.
_ HOW DEAD LETTERS ARE RESURRECTED.
There is no department in Washington, unless it be the treasury, where new money is made and the old destroyed, that is of more general interest than the dead letter office. It occupies a large room, well lighted by a glass roof and many large windows, in the F street portion of the post-office building. It is surrounded by a wide gallery, connected with the lower part by an iron stair-case. The lady clerks occupy this gallery, while the men work on the floor below. Bags upon bags of dead letters and other matter from all over the world come to this room every day. The chief clerk and his as- sistants first look through their daily mail of 15,000 dead letters to see if any have come that cannot properly be termed “dead.” Postmasters and postal clerks are human and liable to err, and about 5,000 letters which have gone astray through their care- lessness reach the dead letter office every year. The clerk may send to a place in Illinois, a letter plainly addressed to a place in Maine, and the postmaster will keep it the usual time, and then forward it to the dead letter office. After the chief clerk and his assistants have examined the letters, they are sent to men who, sitting at long tables, quickly cut open the envelopes with sharp knives and examine the
58 THE STORY OF
contents to see if there is anything of value. These men who open the letters are all elderly and present a venerable appearance. Quite a number of them are broken down clergymen, who are given the pref- erence in appointments in this department, for the department thinks that those who have reached old age and seen that “ honesty is the best policy” will be less liable to yield to the temptation which an outsider would think must be ever present at the opener’s table. It would be so easy to slip a bank note or some valuable article into one’s pocket, while opening a letter, and detection would be well nigh impossible ; but as one of the clerks remarked, “We soon forget that the money we find in the let- ters is money. It does not seem anything more than printed paper.” Hach opener makes a record of what money and articles he finds and puts the let- ter containing these articles one side for future dis- position. Letters containing nothing of value are sent by a messenger to the lady employees who look them through to find, if possible, an address to which they can be returned. If none can be found the letters are reduced to paper pulp and sold. This old paper business of the dead letter depart- ment brings the government several thousand dol- lars a year.
The lady clerks sometimes find letters written by friends of theirs without other signature than initials or the first name, which they return to the sender. This occasionally gives rise to the thought that the dead letter office must be blessed with second sight, for if not, how could the clerks return a letter with
ae Ate ease
THE POST-OFFICE. 59
no name or town upon it, or no further clue than simply “that Bob has the measles,” or “ Ellen is to be married next week.” As a usual thing, how- ever, the clerks have little time to read the interest- ing letters that were never intended for more than one person’s eyes, and that person not a clerk in the dead letter office. They have their little jokes as well as any one, and some times cannot resist the temptation to add a word or two to the letters they send back. In one love letter received at this office some years ago the sender wrote, “I do hope, my dear, that none of the imps in the dead letter office will get hold of this letter,” and the clerk in return- ing it added, “I am very sorry, but the imps did get it.” It must have made the young man blush when the letter was returned to him.
Immense quantities of money are found in dead letters, the bank notes, checks, drafts, money orders, etc., found yearly amounting to several millions of dollars. If no address is given where this money can be returned it is deposited in the treasury subject to application of the owner. A careful record is made of all letters containing valuable articles, and a most minute history is kept of their travels amongst the
dead letter clerks. We have seen that the opener makes a record whenever he finds a letter containing money, and each morning these records of the pre- vious day are recorded by the head of the opening table, and then the letters are taken from the safe through assistants, recounted and the record verified. From the head of the opening table they go to the money branch and are divided among different clerks
a
60 THE STORY OF
to be forwarded to the writer of the letter. Each clerk receipts for every letter that he receives from the opening table, and again records them in his de- partment. When returned to the sender each letter is accompanied by a receipt blank, which must be filled out, signed and returned to the office. When it reaches the dead letter office it is examined by two clerks and compared with the record to see if all is correct.
In the dead letter office there is a show case crammed full of articles whose owner’s address could not be found. These are kept for six months, and then sold at auction. A careful record is made of the sales, and the amount received can be recovered by the owner if applied for within four years. There is here amore varied assortment than any pawn broker’s store or second hand shop can show. Comedy and tragedy are closely mingled on the shelves. Precious keep-sakes, the loss of which has caused many a tear, are here waiting for the ‘ Going, going, gone,” of the auctioneer. In this collection are found articles which only a very original person would have thought of sending by mail,—a horned toad from Texas, a crocodile from Florida, patchwork quilts that some fond mother with misty eyes has pieced for John in his city home, hats and bonnets which will never reach the heads they were intended for, baby clothes and dainty undergarments which may be bought by some enterprising second hand dealer, jewelry which was to have made “my girl” _happy, and photographs almost without number,
“ - BX wi a aga tk a a
oe ng ett gl, ile ea
THE POST-OFFICE. 61
nearly 40,000 being received every year at the dead letter office. .
These letters and parcels do not become dead on account of the inefficiency of the postal service. Far from it. No branch of the government is conducted in a more businesslike way and with fewer errors than this. The poison which kills these letters is in almost every instance the carelessness of the senders. Nearly 10,000 letters reach the dead letter office every year with no address whatever on the envelope. A set of rules like the following may seem foolish, but if they were followed many a clerk in the dead letter office would be out of work :
1—Put the letter in an envelope. Do not mail letter and envelope separately.
2—Have the envelope addressed, for postal clerks are not as a class blessed with the clairvoyant ability of reading sealed letters.
3—-Write the address so that it can be read.
4—In the left hand upper corner of the envelope put, “If not called forin... return to ....... AOE it sometimes happens that letters are wrongly ad- dressed, or the person written to has moved away.
5—In addition to signing the letter, “‘ Your affec- tionate John” add your full address, with the street and number, city and state where you live, so that if any of the previous rules have been disregarded and your letter has reached the dead letter office, the clerks can return it to you without trouble, and without being obliged to read the letter through in search for some clue to the address,
62 THE STORY OF
CHAPTER VII. POST—OFFICES, POSTMASTERS AND CLERKS.
Early History of the New York Post-office.—Postmasters and Clerks of a Hundred Years Ago.—The Post-office Family in 1889.—In the Early Part of the 19th Century.—It Goes Through War and Yellow Fever.—The Club House of the City.—The City Grew Bigger.—The Father of the Mug- wumps.—The New York Post-office in a Church.—Then and Now.—A Novel Feature of the New York Office.—The Chicago Post-office.—The Work Day of a City Post-office. A Solid Building in Boston.—The Distribution Center for Over Half a Million People.—A Wilderness of Pigeon Holes.—Stamps Cancelled by Machinery.—Interesting Facts About Letter Carriers.—Left to Plod Along on Foot.—The City Delivery.—How the Money is Handled.—Newspapers, Cashier’s Department and Inquiry Office.—A Glance at Post-office Work in Chicago.—Post-office Names.—Odd Cognomens Bestowed Upon Some Offices.—A Democratic Postmaster’s Good-By.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK POST—OFFICE.
When an enterprising boomer lays out the town lots of a future metropolis, his first act is to ask for the establishment of a post-office; but those who founded New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other eastern cities, let the post office take care of itself, relying, as we have seen, upon the coffee house de- livery. The history of the growth of a post-office in any one of these cities will do for all, if the reader makes a few changes in dates, names of postmasters and locations of buildings. Let us follow the devel- opment of the New York post-office. The New York Gazette for the first week of May, 1732, contains the following advertisement: “The New York post- office will be removed to-morrow to the uppermost of the two houses on Broadway, opposite Beaver Street, Richard Nicholl, Esq., P.M.” It was, how- ever, a long time before the people would give up the coffee house delivery, which had this advantage
THE POST-OFFICE. 63
over the government office, that there was no charge for postage. In 1775, those citizens of New York who wanted to dissolve business relations with the mother country, set up what they called a constitutional post-office to distinguish it from what they considered the unconstitutional one of the British Government. This was kept at Holt’s printing office on Water Street, near the coffee house. Upon the evacuation of New York by the British, a post-office was set up at.38 Smith Street.
POSfMASTER AND CLERKS OF A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
‘Sebastian Bauman, who was the first postmaster under the Federal Government, kept the office in his grocery store. The official notice of his appointment differed slightly from those sent out by the depart- ment in-1889. It read as follows :
New York, October 3d, 1789.
S1r,—It gives me pleasure to inform you that Ihave it in my power to make the offer of an office to you which I hope may not be unacceptable. It is that of Deputy Postmaster for the city of New York. Your friends have given you a character so agreeable to me that I have no doubt we shall perfectly har- monize in our operations.
If it is agreeable to you to accept of the same you will be kind enough to inform me, and from the time of your acceptance you may consider yourself in office. I am, sir, with great esteem, your most obedient servant,
SAMUEL OSGOOD.
SEBASTIAN BAUMAN, ESQ.
The condition of the clerks, as regards their hours of work, and their relations to the postmaster, seems strange to us of the latter part of the 19th century. They lived in the house with the postmaster’s family, after the same fashion as in England at that date, where in some cases now the banking clerks live with their employers. The office was opened at 7 a. m.
64 THE STORY OF
every day except Sunday, and at 8 o’clock the clerks breakfasted with the postmaster. They would then be compelled to work very steadily until the dinner hour. Tea was served at 5 in the afternoon, when the office was closed for the day. The postmaster furnished the clerks with their food gratis, and on New Year’s day it was a custom with Colonel Bau- man to present each of his assistants with a new suit of clothes. He was wealthy and very liberal toward his clerks, who, however, were well paid by the govy- ernment, their salaries amounting to much more in proportion to the cost of living than the salaries paid the clerks of the New York office at this day. 7
THE POST-—OFFICE FAMILY IN 1889. Although the clerks in the New York office to-day do not live with the postmaster’s family, yet very harmonious relations exist between the postmaster and his employees, as is evidenced by the following memorial presented to Postmaster Van Cott by the letter carriers and clerks of the New York post-office,
July 4th, 1889, which read as follows: ‘‘ Honorable Cornelius Van Cott: As a means of expressing the sentiment of esteem and loyalty they feel towards you, their honored chief, the Clerks and Carriers As- sociations of the New York post-office, adopt this address ; and in selecting the memorial day of In- dependence to commemorate this event more auspi- ciously, we trust that this token of our esteem will be regarded in that golden sunlight of honor to whom honor is.due.
On assuming the duties of postmaster, you prom- ised to remedy existing evils, to examine and hear charges yourself, that the humblest employee can always expect justice, and that employees can in the future, depend on the assistance and co-opera-
THE POST-OFFICE. 65
tion of the postmaster himself, and that the welfare of your subordinates will be considered your own. In the brief space of time you have been postmaster, you have given sufficient evidence of interest in the workings of the postal service, by personally inspect- ing the different departments, thus directly acquaint- ing yourself, and not depending upon indirect in- formation, thereby affiliating more closely with your subordinates.
That the relations between us in the future will be amicable, we have abundant evidence in your past record, which shines forth resplendent after many years service of the people with your long and varied experience.
We, the Clerks and Carriers Associations of the New York post-office, will do everything in our power to promote a spirit of unanimity and loyalty in your post-office, and when called, will not be found wanting. ,
We thank you for your kind endeavors of good will, and will endeavor to reciprocate.”
IN THE EARLY PART OF THE LOTH CENTURY.
As the efficiency of the postal system increased, and the government passed stringent laws to make the people use its facilities, the business of the New York office was augmented, and as a consequence, removal to other quarters was necessitated. It was beginning to outgrow its knee pants. In 1804, Gen- eral Bailey, who was then postmaster, removed the post-office from Broadway to his house, corner of William and Garden streets. General Bailey was a man of progress, and in one of the windows of the new office, built a case containing 144 small letter boxes, which were rented to those who could afford such a luxury. He probably had two ends in view when he decided to live with his family in the upper
66 THE STORY OF
part of the house containing the post-office, for his official eye could always be upon the office, and this plan would also give him a low rent. The office was closed between twelve and one o’clock for dinner, and any persons who called at that hour, looked | through the mail themselves, and if they found any letters belonging to them, left the money for postage on a table in the center of the room.
IT GOES THROUGH WAR AND YELLOW FEVER.
The war of 1812 reduced the postal force of the New York office just one-third, for it so diminished the amount of mail delivered that two clerks were able to do all the work, and one of the original three was dismissed. 3
During the yellow fever epidemic of 1822, the post-office was removed to Greenwich, to be outside the infected district. With the return of cold weather, the office resumed business at the old stand.
In 1825 the business had grown to such immense proportions, that eight clerks were employed, and larger quarters were obtained at the Academy build- ing on Garden, now Exchange street. The rack of 144 letter boxes was multiplied by six, and to the surprise of the citizens, these letter boxes were all rented by business houses within a short time.
THE CLUB HOUSE OF THE CITY.
The post-office was the social club house of those days, and its frequenters were always overflowing with wit and wisdom. Many a practical joke of old postal times is told to-day by the oldest inhabitant,
THE POST-OFFICE. 67
who rubs his hands in glee when he thinks how smart men were when he was a boy. In the war of 1812, one of the junior clerks was drafted, but hired a substitute who was killed. This gave rise to many discussions in the post-office, as to whether this clerk whose substitute was killed, ought not to get a pen- ‘gion for his heirs, and at the same time receive pay for the work he was then doing at the post-office. This question was argued pro and con by the emin- ent lawyers and editors who found amusement and social chat at the place where they got their mail.
THE CITY GREW BIGGER.
In 1827, when New York was beginning to assume the airs of a metropolis, she became ashamed of the humble post-office in Garden street, and thought that the growing importance of the city demanded more pretentious quarters for this branch of the public service. Accordingly the Federal govern- ment leased the basement of the new Exchange building, and the post-office was established there with two delivery windows, 3,000 delivery boxes, 22 clerks, and 22 carriers.
In the disastrous fire of December 16th, 1835, the Exchange huilding, with its basement post-ofiice, was burned to the ground, but owing to the exertions of the clerks, none of the mail was lost. The next day after the fire, the office was open for business in a couple of stores on Pine street, but these stores were not adapted to its needs, and it was removed to the rotunda in City Hall park. This new location was so far from the business center, that a letter de-
68 THE STORY OF
livery was established where the custom house now stands. THE FATHER OF THE MUGWUMPS.
Jonathan J. Coddington, who was appointed Post- master in 1836, may be regarded as the ancestor of the mugwumps. He certainly was no politician, for when the chairman of the ward committee asked him for an assessment of $50, Mr. Coddington, draw- ing himself up to his full height, said, “I refuse to pay any such assessment as this you speak of. Td have you understand that Iam postmaster of New York City and not postmaster of a ward committee.” Mr, Coddington was afterwards removed.
THE NEW YORK POST-OFFICE IN A CHURCH.
In 1844, the Federal government, in answer to the demand to remove the post-office down town, pur- chased the Middle Dutch Church, and tried to make it over, so as to answer the needs of a post-office, but its beautiful steeple and the Dutch inscription on the walls inside that ‘“ My House shall be a stouse of Prayer,” proved that such a task was im- possible. In June, 1869, the foundations of the present post-office were laid in City Hall Park, and when the office was removed to this new building in August, 1875, church and state were once more separate.
THEN AND NOW. .
A brief comparison between the then of a 100 years ago, and the now of 1889, in the New York post-office, is interesting. There were no letter car- riers in those days, and every one who expected a
THE POST-OFFICE. 69
letter, paper or parcel through the mail, went to the post-office to get it. All mail matter had to be in the office one-half hour before the time set for the closing of the bags, and if not deposited within that limit it was left over until the next mail, two or three days later.
The income of the New York office for one year, 1786, was $2,789.84. To-day the expense of con- ducting the office is 100 times greater than it was 100 years ago, pay rolls alone amounting to about $200,000 per month. There are over 1,100 carriers who receive from $600 to $1,000 a year, and 1,200 clerks with salaries ranging from $480 to $1,380 a year. In the last three fiscal years, the receipts have shown an increase of $1,040,000.
Appointment and promotion are now governed by ability and conduct to a greater extent than in the earlier days. At one time, a ward politician obtain- ed a position in the post-office to “ kill postage stamps,” that is, cancel the stamps on the letters. One morning’s work was enough for him, and at noon he left his table, went to the postmaster, and complainingly said, “Look here, I wanted an ap- pointment, not hard work, and if this is the best thing you can do for me, I'll quit.”
A NOVEL FEATURE OF THE NEW YORK OFFICE.
There is one novelty in the New York post-office which might be adopted to advantage in other lines of business. During Postmaster James’ administra- tion, he introduced the employment of deaf mutes, and the noisy men were kept quiet by putting a dummy between them.
70 THE STORY OF
THE CHICAGO POST-OFFIOE.
Assistant Postmaster John M. Hubbard of the Chicago office, in speaking of the needed increase of employees in that office, recently said: ‘The Chi- cago post-office is the second largest in the country. Its net surplus last year amounted to $1,800,000. The New York office has1,200 carriers, while Chicago, with a vastly greater area, has but 490.
The expense of running the Chicago office amounted to 34 per cent of the gross receipts ; those of the New York office 36, and of Philadelphia 45 per cent. <A great advantage, too, which the Philadelphia office has over ours is in the adoption of the ‘ van system.’ The carriers are taken in large vans and conveyed to their routes, effecting a great saving of time. Ours are obliged to furnish their own transportation, in street cars or buggies, and much time is necessarily lost. This is shown by the length of time it takes to send a letter from one division of the city to another. Hach carrier in Clucago handles yearly the enormous sum of 704,000 pieces as against 463,000 in New York, 457,000 in Boston, 634,000 in, Philadelphia, and only 280,000 in Brooklyn.
The distributors, who go on duty at 5:30 at night work until 6:30 the next morning, and each one handles about forty thousand pieces of mail. Thir- teen hours a day is too much work for a man.”
THE WORK DAY OF A CITY POST-OFFICE.
Having traced the early history of the New York post-office, let us take a glance at the inside work- ings of the Boston office. A trip through this office will give us an excellent idea of the way in which the
THE POST-OFFICE. 71
business of the large post-offices of the United States, each handling millions of dollars, and billions of pieces of mail matter yearly, is conducted. A Boston Herald reporter wandered through this granite bee- hive of postal workers to a good purpose, as is shown in the following condensed account of his report. The building is, in its general character, very like the government buildings in other cities in the United States. In this respect the impartial ob- server might say that it is very like frozen pudding that has been run into a mould and set up to be ad-— mired before using. Those who have travelled over the country have noticed, perhaps, that the general style of the government buildings in the different large cities has little variation. The enormous pile in Washington that houses the state, war and navy departments, seems either to have served as a model for post-offices and custom houses and United States court houses in other cities, or to have been mod- elled upon them. It seems to have been built strongly enough to last till the crack of doom Everyone will remember how, in its unfinished state, it resisted the progress of the great fire of Novem- ber, 1872, and for that reason, everybody must have a feeling of gratitude. Here is one of the chief sta- tions of the public service. It cost almost $6,000,- 000 to build, and it was, altogether, 16 years in building. Patience ever has its reward, and Bos- ton’s patience has been rewarded by a government building admirably suited to the varied business for which it is intended. Here is the largest post-office in the New England States; here is the chief pen-
72 THE STORY OF
sion office in New England; here are the United States courts and the sub-treasury, the internal rey- enue department and the bankruptcy office; here is the station of the signal service.
The Boston post-office is the distributing centre of the mails for about 540,000 people. Not many of these 540,000 people have ever peeped behind the strong partitions that separate the public from the working force engaged in the postal service, In the long corridors are the lock boxes, the stamp offices, the apertures for depositing the mail; but who, hav- ing deposited his letter in one of these apertures knows what becomes of it and how it happens to reach its destination. It is a very simple matter so far as you are personally concerned, this addressing a letter and stamping it and dropping it in a little slit in the wall and letting it go off to Jerusalem, Madagascar or East Boston, without any further in- tervention on your part. But howisit done? Let us see.
Behind the lock boxes and stamp offices, and the other places with which the public comes into di- rect contact, is a hall, large, very large indeed, high and light, with a gallery running around it. It is the great working centre of the post-office. Here letters are received from, and sent away to, all quar- ters of the earth. From any one of the galleries the onlooker beholds a briglit and lively spectacle. He looks down upon a wilderness of pigeon holes, called sorting cases, delivery cases and the like, and before each of these stands a man busily putting letters in, or busily taking letters out, as the case may be.
THE POST-OFFICE. "3
Here every day many tons of mail matter are han- dled, and handled with an amazing accuracy and an almost miraculous speed.
Over against the partition on the Devonshire street side, back of the apertures which, fronting on the corridor, are labelled “city letters,” and so on, is a wide wooden table upon which the letters fall in great heaps as they are dropped by the senders. At the rear edge of this table stand 10 men, each manag- ing a cancelling machine. These cancelling ma- chines are very ingenious devices indeed, and remark- able Jabor savers. Each one of them does work equal to that of four of the quickest men in the department. It is their business to cancel the stamps of the letters as they are received. And thereby hangs a tale The Boston office is the only post-officein the United States that has the cancelling machine. These in- genious appliances were invented and perfected some three or four years ago, and they were placed in the. post-office for the purpose of demonstrating their practicability and their powers as labor savers. As has been said before, each of these machines does the work of four men, and, consequently, a great saving is effected for the public service. Letters and postal cards, as they fall upon the table aforesaid — Niagaras of them are continually streaming through the apertures—are taken by the men and “ faced” directly into the hopper of the machine where they are automatically adjusted, stamped, packed and propelled toward the sorting cases, ready for distribution to outgoing mails, all by one contin- uous mechanical operation. These machines are
> 74 THE STORY OF —
speeded to run a little faster than the fastest operator can “ face” letters into them, the average speed being from 100 to 150 letters per minute. The machines, of course, save all the time and space necessary for stamping by the old hand processes. The post-office department has accepted the 10 machines in the Boston office at a yearly rental of $300 each, includ- ing care, repairs and renewal. Ten more machines are about to be placed in position, and 2500 more will probably be required to supply all the large post- offices in the country. Strange as it may seem, the post-office, although of the greatest importance to the public, is, perhaps, the last field in which labor-saving machinery has been adopted. It may be well to say that these cancelling machines were invented by a Bostonian, Mr. Etheridge, and that they are owned by Boston parties. The machines have now become absolutely indispensable, and the 10 now in operation save the labor and salaries of forty men. Their operation is amazingly quick, and they will cancel 1000 letters in the time it takes to write this paragraph. -
The letters, after the stamps have been cancelled, are sorted into their respective cases, where they are arranged for transportation or immediate distribution. If they are for the city delivery they go to the city delivery cases, from which they are put later into the carriers’ cases, or into the lock boxes. If they are for out of town delivery they are put into the out of town cases. They are then done up in little pack- ages, each bearing the mark of the post-office to which it is to be sent, and are then placed in the
THE POST-OFFICE. 05
mail bags. Letters arriving in the mail bags for delivery through the Boston office come in similar little packages, and are at once undone and distrib- uted. This sorting into the cases requires great dexterity and a prodigious memory. Take the city delivery alone as an example. There are at this main office about 3000 lock boxes. There are also 104 carriers, each with a specified route. Now, it is indispensable for the sorting clerks to remember whether a given letter should goto thelock boxes or to one of the 104 carriers, and also to which box or which carrier. For each box there may be a number of names, the average, possibly, being 10. Messrs. John Blank & Co. have lock box No. so and so, and there may be 10 peoplein the employ of this concern whose individual letters go to that box. It will easily be seen that sorting all these letters is a task requir- ing special qualifications. Dexterity and memory have to play important parts in this work. It is in- dispensable that each sorter should remember the streets on the route of each carrier, and the numbers on these streets where the carrier’s route ends. This is no small task in itself, and yet, great as are the de- mands made upon the men whose duty itis to sort the mail, there are remarkably few errors. In this con- nection, itis well to state that, in one of. the recent months, the Boston post-office handled over 17,000,000 pieces of first class mail matter, and over 13,000,000 pieces of second, third and fourth class matter; that the office dispatched over 35,000 pouches of mail and over 52,000 sacks; that it received over 34,000
76 THE STORY OF
pouches and about 50,000 sacks, and that there was
only one error to every 19,234 pieces handled.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CARRIERS AND LOCAL LET- TERS.
The city delivery division is one of the most in- teresting departments of the post-office. It is, and has been for years, in the direct charge of Supt. Edward T. Barker, who has brought it to a high pitch of perfection. What is called the city deliv- ery embraces, not only the central post-office, but also 22 stations in Boston and adjacent towns. The main office employs 104 carriers to deliver the mails and 88 to collect them. The 22 stations employ 191
carriers. There are 106 clerks in the city delivery
division of the main post-office and 66 clerks at the branch offices. There are 57 substitute carriers and 56 special messenger boys, 36 at the main office, mak- ing a total of 598 people employed in the direct
service of the city delivery department. The carriers -
of the main office make from four to six trips a day. They report for duty about 6:45 o’clock in the morn- ing, and all of them have finished by 6.30 at night. Twenty of the carriers at the outlying stations are furnished with horses and carriages to assist them in quickly covering their wide-spread districts.
The city delivery division in the main post-office is all day long a scene of activity. Each of the 104 carriers has a box, in which his letters are placed by the clerks, and before every trip each carrier re- moves these letters, takes them to his desk, which is very ingeniously arranged for the purpose, and sorts them for distribution over his route. When this
THE POST-OFFICE. U7
process of sorting is completed—a specified time being allowed for it between each trip—a_ bell is sounded as a signal for the men to start on their de- livery routes, and they all march to the Water street door, from which point they proceed over their devious courses. A large omnibus, or barge, conveys a dozen or more of the men to distant points of the Back bay district, where each man is dropped at the beginning of his route and left to plod along on foot. Of course, some of the carriers’ routes are desirable, while others are not particular- ly so. The Back bay and Beacon hill districts are highly esteemed by them, but some of the poorer localities of the city are not at all promising. — In the business sections of the city the routes, so far as ter- ritory is concerned, are the smallest, but the mails are the largest. In some cases one side of a street may constitute an entire route, the other side being taken by another carrier. Pemberton square was a route of itself, until so many buildings were torn down to make room for the Suffolk county court house. In localities where there are great office buildings, like the Equitable, the New York and New England insurance, the Mason and the Hos- pital Life buildings, the routes are considerably shortened, but there are just as many recipients of letters, and the volume of mail is greater than in other parts of the town. A count is made of every piece of mail received and delivered by the post- office.
Lhe mails for city delivery, when they arrive, are sorted in three ways. Some letters are sorted for
78 THE STORY OF
the lock boxes, and those that are addressed to streets and numbers go to the carriers, while letters that are addressed neither to box holders nor to streets and numbers go to the general delivery, or poste restante. “The poste restante,” says the Dial Postal Guide, “is primarily designed for the delivery of the mail matter for transient residents and casual visitors. All mail matter bearing no street or box address (and the proper addresses for which are not known and cannot be found in the directory ), and all mail matter found undeliverable at its street ad- dress, is placed in the poste restante to await call. If bearing the name and address of the sender, with a request to return within a specified time, it is, if un- called for, returned at the expiration of that time ; if no particular time is named in the request, or if it bears the name and address of the sender only, with- out request to return, it is returned at the expiration of 30 days.” ‘There is a special window at the poste — restante called the women’s window, from which all all letters addressed to women and intended for de- livery on call are delivered. No mail matter ad- dressed to a woman will be delivered to a man, un- less he presents her written order, and the same rule applies where women apply for men’s letters.
The special delivery system is a branch of the postal system that is steadily growing in importance. Boston, it is said, makes a better use of the special delivery system than ‘any other city in the country.
Here the special delivery has become almost, if not’
absolutely, indispensable. It provides for the im- mediate delivery of any letter or package bearing a
THE POST-OFFICE. 79
10 cent special delivery stamp, in addition to the regular postage, within the carrier limits of a free delivery office, between the hours of 7 A. M. and 11 P. M.,and within a radius of one mile of all other post-offices between 7 A. M. and9 P.M. An organ- ized force of messenger boys is employed to do the work. ‘These boys are paid a specified sum for every letter they deliver, and those at the Boston office earn, on the average, about $30 a month. These special deliveries are made every day in the week, Sunday included. As soon as the mail clerks find a special delivery letter or package, it is sent by a travelling basket across the office to the messenger’s section in the gallery, from which point it is at once delivered. Within afew seconds after it has reached the office it has left for its destination in the hands of the messenger.
There is forwarded to the main Boston office every morning a complete record of the work of every em- ployee at the 22 stations, so that it is possible to know at a glance just when every clerk and carrier reported for duty, and to keep otherwise posted on affairs relating to the discipline enforced by the post- master.
There are over 800 street letter boxes from which collections are made by the Boston office and its sub-stations. To people who reside within this postal district it is well known that some of these boxes are painted red and others green. The red boxes are the most important ones, and they are visited every hour by the carriers. The others are visited four or five times a day, and on Sundays
80 THE STORY OF
twice. All boxes in the city proper and all that are located on what are called the central office collec- tion routes in the station districts are collected at midnight.
HANDLING MONEY.—TWO IMPORTANT BRANCHES AND
THEIR WORK DESCRIBED.
For the utmost perfection of system the registry division is to be commended. It is in the charge of Supt. A. B. Weston. This office employs 23 clerks, receives for registration about 150,000 letters a year, and delivers at its window in the post-office square corridor about 200,000 registered letters a year, and by carrier and otherwise over 100,000 pieces of reg- istered mail. Beside all this, it is constantly hand- ling pouches which pass through here for transmis- sion to other offices. Now, it must be remembered that every identical letter or parcel that is registered is carefully accounted for from the time it is received at the office until the time it is delivered to the person whose address it bears. The registered letter division is that portion of the mail service by which the gov- ernment ensures security to the senders of valuable matter. Any article of the first, third or fourth class of mail matter may be registered by the payment of a 10 cent fee in addition to the usual postage. Every letter intended for registration must be fully and plainly addressed and securely sealed, and it must have on the outside the name and address of the sender, either in writing or in print, and all this must be done by the sender, as the post-office employees are forbidden by the government to do this for the public. This is quite natural, as the employees of the
THE POST-OFFICE. 81
registered letter division have enough responsibility, in all conscience, without gratuitously taking upon themselves any more. Every transaction of the reg- ister department is designed to secure safety to the letter or package entrusted to its care. Of every identical piece of mail there is an accurate written record, and for every transfer of it from one person to another there is a recorded signature. The work of the registered letter department may be briefly de- scribed as being divided into five sections, the receiv- ing, mailing, pouching, opening and delivering sec- tions, A letter when received is registered in a man- ifold book, from which a receiptis given to the sender, and a slip recording the transaction is torn off and forwarded to the office of destination. At the time of record the “ manifold” made a copy that is retained by the Boston office. All this is done at one opera- tion. The letter is then passed from the receiving clerk toa mailing clerk, and the latter gives the former a receipt for it. After the cancelling and of- fice stamps have been impressed upon the letter, a serial number having been affixed to it, the letter is put in an envelope with other registered mail, all of which is numbered, and this registered envelope is put in one of the pouches belonging to the register department. But before passing from any one divi- sion of the office to any other, a full written receipt is given by the receiving section to the delivering sec- tion. The registered pouches are quite distinct in appearance from those belonging to the ordinary mail. They are of strong canvas, marked, for pur- poses of distinction, with red stripes. They are
82 THE STORY OF
locked by an ingenious rotary lock, operating a dial, which registers the number of the pouch. This lock cannot be tampered with in any way without chang- ing the registered number on the dial. The registered pouches never leave the care of their especial depart- ment either in preparation or in transmission. They are put upon the mail wagons by employees of the register division, and these men accompany them until they are delivered to some other properly authorized officials of the register department of the post-office. They are thus as carefully guarded and watched as they are carefully prepared. The system of handling and registering provides not only for an accurate record of the work of the department, but it insures the surest possible checks upon all persons who have handled the registered mail either in piece or in bulk. The Boston registry division exchanges pouches with 42 other offices. It ranks fifth in the service in the amount of business transacted. Some idea of the value and security of the general register department of the United States postal service may be arrived at when itis stated that the United States treasurer alone sendsannually through the registered mail over $800,000,000. The total value of the mat- ter handled by the registry division is something almost fabulous. Every employe of this division is saddled with serious responsibility. He or she can- - not receive or dispose of a single item of the mail
without giving his or her signature forthe transaction. -
If, by any accident or design, a registered package is lost, the responsibility falls upon the employe who cannot account satisfactorily for the article after
THE POST-OFFICE. 83
having signed for it. The lady who delivers the reg- istered mail at the registry delivery window at the post-office in Boston, handles, as has been stated, at least 200,000 registered pieces per annum. It is her duty to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of every person into whose hands she delivers a letter or package. Failing to do this, and in the event of her delivering to the wrong party, the responsibility rests with her, and she has to bear the loss if claim is put in to the department.
The most assiduous care is taken by the register division to prevent any error or fraud. So admira- ble, indeed, is its system of checks that a registered letter can be traced all over the country into the very hands through which it has passed, and to the very hour when it was in the keeping of any of the employees of the service. Mistakes almost never happen, and a phenomenal accuracy of operation prevails. There is a very interesting record book kept here at the Boston office, in which the particu- lars of every parcel of registered mail,—first the let- ter’s “serial number,” then its office of origin, then its address, and other particulars in their proper columns—so that it is possible to see ata glance just when the letter was received, who delivered it, by what department it was delivered and when it was delivered. Every night before closing, the reg- istry division has to take an account of stock and strike a balance, as it were. It has to go over the transactions of the day and ascertain, with the ut- most correctness, just how matters stand. This
84 THE STORY OF
division is one of the most interesting in the entire postal service.
The money order division, however, shied with the registry department a large measure of public interest. Here again is a complete system of checks and careful accountantship. Here every year many millions are paid out and millions are received for transmission.
NEWSPAPERS, CASHIER'S DEPARTMENT AND INQUIRY
OFFICE.
In the basement on the Post-office square side is the department devoted to the newspaper mail, un- der the charge of Mr. HE. A. Reed. About 2000 sacks of papers are sent away from here every day. They say that the Americans are the greatest newspaper readers on the face of the earth. One would think so after a visit to the post-office. The papers (and packages of merchandise as well) come down to the basement by means of a shoot from the floor above. Into this shoot the mail matter is poured in great quantities, dropping in great heaps upon the tables, from which it is taken and sorted. Sorting news- papers is, to the stranger’s eye, even a more inter- esting task than sorting letters, whether they are sorted into “bag racks” or “ovens.” An “oven,” by the way, is a great, circular structure, divided into pigeon holes of all sizes, each one labelled with the name of a post-office. The “oven” is a dozen or 15 feet high, and inside it the sorters stand and throw their papers into the respective boxes, of which there are 200 or 300. These sorters are the sharpshooters of the post-office. They are as adept
THE POST-OFFICE. 85
in shooting newspaper into pigeon holes as Capt. Bogardus and Buffalo Bill are adept in shooting glass balls when riding at full speed on horseback. These men throw the papers by a quick twist of the wrist to points two and three times as high as their heads, and they do so, apparently, with the slightest exertion, and certainly with the perfection of ac- curacy. Why an oven is called an oven, unless be- cause it is a very hot place to work in, it is difficult to say. The work at the bag racks is pleasanter than in the ovens, for the sorters are not cooped up as in prison cells. One, two or three hundred bags, as the case may be, are suspended in a semi-circle, or a series of semi-circles, on iron racks, each bag hung before an appropriate label designating its destination, and into these bags the sorting clerks throw the papers.
About 1,000,000 pounds a month of this sort of mail matter is handled in this department. Since the post-office went into competition with the ex- press companies, and began the transportation of packages as merchandise, the business of the de- partment has increased immensely, and the work of the employees has become in mary cases more bur- densome than ever before. Every description of package goes through this mailing department in the basement. Merchandise in thick wrappings of paper, and merchandise not wrapped at all—boots, trousers, hoopskirts, rubber overshoes, bunches of keys, pa- pers of pins, books, pamphlets—come down the shoot in helter skelter jumbles.
A passageway, running under the building and ex-
86 THE STORY OF
tending from Water street to Milk street, opens into a wide, subterranean area, where the mail wagons come to load and unload. There are dozens of these wagons, and they are constantly coming and going between the post-office and the different railway sta- tions. They bring the mails to the building and take them away. There is also a printing office in the basement for the use of the various departments of the post-office. Immense quantities of printed forms of one sort or another are used in the service, and the little office down stairs is kept busy in supplying them. | In the gallery, on the Water street side, is the cashier’s department, in the charge of Mr. Henry 8. Adams, who has been in the United States postal service ever since he was a boy, having served in other post-offices before he came to Boston. Mr. Adams, as cashier, has charge of the revenues of the post-office, and of the stocks of stamps and stamped envelopes. The sale of stamps, etc., in 1860 was about $10,000 per month ; it is now about $150,000 per month. In 1853, when Mr. Adams came to the Boston office, there were only 30 mail carriers and 60 clerks, and the pay-roll of the establishment was $9,000 per month. It is now about $80,000 per month. In the cashier's department a stock of stamps of all denominations, and of stamped envel- opes, amounting in value from $250,000 to $300,000, is always kept on hand, These are stored in a great fire-proof room (but then, of course, the post-office itself is a fire-proof structure), and they are sold to the stamp departments down stairs as wanted. The
. x " +3 + ahS said co 0 2A eee, ep Sno Dee le sees le eee
THE POST-OFFICE. 87
stamps are kept in a great safe capable of holding many millions of them, and they range in denomina- tion all the way from one cent to $60.
At the other end of the Water street gallery is the inquiry office, of which Mr. W. E. B. Ryder is the superintendent. This place might properly be called the puzzle department of the post-oflice. To Mr. Ryder is sent all the unmailable matter that comes to the office, and he and his five clerks do their best (and their best is quite wonderful when you come to investigate it ) to set right the blunders and the ig- norant mistakes and the careless omissions of the general public. The letters, newspapers, packages, postal cards that come with wrong addresses, illegible addresses and no addresses at all, are sent up here to the puzzle department. Mr. Ryder is constantly in receipt of packages of merchandise and of dainty little packets of presents that-come all very nicely done up, but are all innocent of addresses. If, by opening them, any clew can be found to the senders, or the persons for whom they are designed, measures are taken accordingly ; if no clew can be discovered, the things, of course, are never delivered. The gross carelessness of humanity is pretty well illustrated by the amount of work that is put upon the inquiry di- vision of the post-office. Hundreds of letters come without addresses, and hundreds of letters with ad- dresses come without stamps. Letters come very neatly and very distinctly addressed, say, to “John Smith, Massachusetis;” to ‘Peter Robinson, 114 Blank street, Chicago, Maryland.” and so on. These are evidences of absent mindedness more than of
88 THE STORY OF |
ignorance. It is a common thing to find letters ad- dressed to such and such a number, Boston, or such and such a street in such and such a State. Misdi- rected letters are among the common things of life. Illegibly addressed letters are amazingly numerous. The inquiry office is fitted out with a complete set of directories of almost every place under the sun, and it is really astonishing how quickly clerks will un- ravel the conundrums that come to them on the en- velopes, sometimes at the rate of 1,000 or 1,500 a day. Writing that puzzles all the other members of the force is deciphered by the clerks of the inquiry division instanter, and if they cannot decipher it Mr. Ryder can. If people could only realize how much better they would serve themselves by carefully ad- dressing their letters, the work of the inquiry divi- sion would be materially lessened, and hundreds of thousands of letters would every year more quickly reach their destination.
The general delivery window, where foreign letters are handed to people who call for them, is often the - scene of amusing episodes. The department will not, for reasons best known to itself, engage an in- terpreter, and so when a man comes along unable to make himself understood in English, all that the clerk can do is to hand him a fistful of letters and ask him to pick out the one intended for himself. Half the time it is almost impossible to read the direction on these foreign letters, and it seems as if there must be a good deal of chance in their deliv-
ery:
Re ‘ a
THE POST-OFFICE. 89
A GLANCE AT THE CHICAGO POST-OFFICE.
The letters and postal cards are assorted, and the stamps cancelled on the first floor, but the post-oflice building, which occupies a whole block, has under- neath it a large basement, where the most important workings of the post-office can be seen. In the west- ern side of the building are two large chutes or slides for the reception of the mail; one for newspapers and regular publications, and the other for books, papers, and packages of merchandise. Every week | about 400 tons of mail matter slide down the chutes. This is taken care of by a force of 69 men, 10 of whom are constantly at work cancelling the stamps. When a load is dumped into the 2nd. class chute, which takes newspapers sent by publishers, it glides down the boards, and lands upon large scales, where the weight is recorded. Men load this upon trucks, and cart it to the clerks who separate the mail. The newspapers and merchandise packages, after they come down the chute, are stacked up inthe stamping room. ‘This room contains a number of large tables, and is separated from the rest of the basement by a heavy wire grating. As the stamps are cancelled, the mail is dropped into bags, which when filled, are taken into the distributing department.
One can scarcely conceive the great diversity of this merchandise mail. Everything imaginable, from a piece of an old door key toa base drum, is handled in this department. Old door hinges, pieces of stoves , grates, screws, banjos, overcoats, old socks, pieces of sewing machines, pictures frames, and feather pillows,
are afew of the articles which are daily handled.
90 THE STORY OF
One firm sends every day a two-horse wagon-load of catalogues and general merchandise, most of which goes to towns where there is no post-office. A woman once purchased a seal skin cloak, and wished it sent to a small town out west. As there was no express office in the town, and freight transportation is not a safe way of forwarding seal skin cloaks, it was sent to a seamstress, who ripped the back seam, and made the cloak into two packages, each weighing about 3 pounds, and these packages were mailed. A large bicycle was recently taken apart, and sent in pieces through the mail, with the exception of the two heaviest bars which weighed a little more than four pounds.
On the floor of the basement are distributing cases arranged in convenient order. These cases are about 18 feet square, and are made of one inch gas pipe. Each case is divided into 3 or 4 sections containing 18 mail bags apiece, hung mouth upward in their res- pective places upon four small hooks. The distributor stands upon a platform in front of the case, and takes from his helper the mail which he has arranged with the addresses all one way. One sees a regular shower of mail as each piece travels through the air from the hand of the distributor to its respective bag. One old man, who has been in the employ of the postal
service for over 38 years, is Mr. J.G. Kerr. He has .
charge of the most difficult distributing case in the office; that for Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ken- tucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He must remember the names of 13,- 000 offices, and the quickest and most direct route over which each piece can be sent.
Lg gi cr
THE POST-OFFICE. 91 POST-OFFICE NAMES.—ODD COGNOMENS BESTOWED UPON SOME OFFICES.
Naming a post-office, says the Washington Post, is like naming a child— there is no accounting for the taste displayed in the name selected. Usually the post-office is named after the town, and when the town is started some enterprising citizen gets in his deadly work and the town is named after him. Others take their names from surroundings and often from incidents which happened when the site was first selected. Some are good, others bad; some long and some short, but there seems to be a gen- eral disregard of the proprieties in the selection of names. For instance, Happy Camp is the name of a newly created post-office in California, and the probabilities are that the inhabitants are constantly fighting, and the only person who is happy is the undertaker, who is growing wealthy. Mountain View is more than likely to be the name of a village at the bottom of a 200-foot hill than to be near a mountain, while Marble Cliff is very remote from a marble quarry. |
Passing events also help decide the names of places, and with the Johnstown horror fresh in the public mind, many smaller towns will select that name to emphasize the establishment of the place.
Peace and Cain are two villages where post-offices have been established in Alabama, while Rat, Rye, and Urbanity have been discontinued. Sassafras is the name of a spicy Arkansas village, while people who desire to go to a new postal station in Alaska will have to have their letters addressed to Bel-
92 THE STORY OF
kofsky. California has a choice collection of new names. Bitter Water, Calabasa, Orosi, and Simiop- lis, make a splendid quartet. Tourtelotte and Bovina are Colorado offices. Dakota, as becomes a newly admitted State, is selecting names for its new offices from among those who advocated its admis- sion, and is getting rid of its old territorial names, reminiscent as they were with the names bestowed by cow-punchers, whose idea of the ridiculous was very keen.
The warm climate of Georgia boasts of an Arctic town, while Sinker is the name of a village in Idaho.
The people of Illinois were so glad to get new postal facilities that they did not stop to complete the names, and sent them out as Lis and Mac. Nail and Cheek are two villages in the Indian Territory. Fritz, Snider, and McBrayer represent the ruling population in three Kentucky places. China is
located in Michigan, and Minnesota boasts of its.
short Line Park. Missouri contains Last and Clio. Raten is in Nebraska, while Redstone takes its name from the granite hills of New Hampshire. New York is provided with a Best, an Echo, and a Jay- ville. Stem and Wharf are the names of two post- offices in North Carolina, and Scrub, Ego, and Twin have Ohio written after them on envelopes.
Ale and Joy, while both are in Oregon, are not in the same county, and there is no connection be- tween the two. Peach Tree, Early, Orphan’s Home, and Venus are in Texas. Exit and Joe are in the neighboring State of Virginia, and Washington Ter- ritory has a newly created small post-office called
a
THE POST-OFFICE. 93 Nickle, while Fossil and Shell complete the list for
- Wyoming.
A DEMOCRATIC POSTMASTER’S GOOD BY.—AN ILLINOIS EDITORS VIEW OF POLITICS EXPRESSED IN A LETTER OF RESIGNATION.
The following document has been received from the editor-postmaster at Mount Carmel, [linois.
MOUNT CARMEL, ILL., June 7, 1889. To Hon. B. Harrison, President, ete.
Str—By the grace of God and Grover Cleveland I am post- master at Mount Carmel. My official term will expire January 20, 1890. In addition to editing the mails of this city I am also the editor of the Mount Carmel Register, a live, local, demo- cratic newspaper, established in 1839, and published at $1.25 a year, cash in advance; a discount of 20 per cent to ministers and presidents.
While the office has agreed with me, and I have in the main agreed with the office, and while I might reasonably entertain the hope of holding on for eight months longer, yet I feel it my duty to tender you my resignation.
Being a democrat, I have preached that ‘‘to the victors be- long the spoils.” I feel disposed to practice that which I preach.
Your immediate predecessor hoped to build up his party by keeping the opposition in office. You are probably aware, if you are at all familiar with the vocabulary of true and trite sayings, that his name is Dennis.
Iam moved further to tender you my resignation because of the anxiety of a barnyard full of patriots to succeed me. I be- lieve that a tariff is a tax. They do not. Therefore they are of your own kith and kindred, and he who provides not for his own household is worse than an infidel. I amtoldthat you are not built that way.
But to resume the thread of my discourse: The boys who are anxious to be my successor are very hungry; they have been feeding on shucks and icicles for four long, weary years; the official calf is fat, and they yearn to taste its tender joints. They fought (among themselves), bled (at the nose), and are willing to die for the g. 0. p. When I asserted that you were the Chinaman’s candidate and ate rat-tail soup with chopsticks they swore by Dudley and Foster that it was a campaign can- ard and threatened to detail blocks of five to fry the fat out of me. Fortunately for me their threats were never carried into execution. They carried torches, drank with the coons, sang “‘Grandpa’s hat will just fit Benny,” and did divers and many foolish things, none of which would they have been guilty of doing had they not scented an aroma of post-office on the crisp
94 _ THE STORY OF
morning air. And the pzeans of praise which they sounded when it became evident that you ‘‘had got there, Eli,” will never be a Sahara in my memory.
For these and other reasons, unnecessary to mention, I tender you my resignation, with the hope that my successor will be animated by a similar spirit in 1893. If he is, your democratic successor will be spared the painful necessity of ‘‘turning the rascal out.”
I am respectfully yours,
FRANK W. HAvILL, P. M. te B. —I would rather be right than be postmaster.
CHAPTER VIII.
A CHAPTER OF ERRORS.
Queer Mistakes Made by an Army of Letter Writers.—The Odd Address on Mr. Smith’s Letter.—Mr. Muggefeldt Calls His Brother a Fool.—An Interview with a Chicago Official.— Bankers and Business Men Make the Most Mistakes.—_How Their Errors are Rectified.--The Chineseare Poor Penmen. —What ‘‘ Nidibbonavegna” Meant. —Sometimes an Inter- preter is Called In.
Just imagine, Mr. Smith, receiving a letter ad- dressed on the envelope in bold, plain writing, in the following manner :
MR. JOHN H. SMITH. Druggist and Stationer.
1785. Clark street,
Chicago, U.S. A. 1. Prescriptions carefully made up. Fine Cigars, All Periodicals and Newspapers. Telephone No. 6782.
wrote a Chicago Herald reporter. You will notice that every inch of space has been utilized, and that every detail of trade which you desire to specially impress on a forgetful public has been unfailingly copied on the address. The letter-carrier in deliver- ing the missive smiles. You, too, have to smile. You
THE POST-OFFICE. 95
see from the postage stamp and the post-office imprint that the letter comes from Ireland. The address is the exact copy of one of your business cards, which you some time ago, in order to insure a correct ad- dress, sent to an old and unsophisticated uncle in County Wicklow. And you see that the old uncle has been as careful as he could in addressing you. Mr. Smith’s next door neighbor, Wilhelm H. A. Muggefeldt, simultaneously receives a letter from his brother in Germany. The envelope bears the follow- ing inscription :
FAA CR sie! “Old Reliable.”
Mr. Wilhelm H. A. Muggefeldt, Esq.
: Fine Liquors, Wines und Bier. ‘
: Imported und Domestique. {
| Family Trade solicited. ‘
: Cigars und Tobackos. }
Orders promptly attended to. :
: ‘The Sharp Corner.”
' Live und 1787 Clark St.,
Let Live. Chickago, Amerika,
This, as you will perceive, is an exact copy, with some orthographical changes, of another business card. Like his neighbor, Mr. Muggefeldt smiles a ghastly smile, and five minutes later he may be heard saying to his wife :
‘“‘Katreena, mine vife, dot is doo funny mit dose
ledders. Mine brudder in Tchermany ish one phool.”
“ Yaw, dot ish so, Wilhelm.”
If Mr. Muggefeldt could, however, see the a of foreign letters daily arriving in Chicago with ad- dresses the exact counterpart of the above, he might hold a little better opinion of his brother. The good souls over there on the wrong side of the At- lantic merely go to the other extreme—they are too
96 THE STORY OF
careful in addressing letters ; while over here people, as a whole, are too careless in doing so.
No better illustration of this fact can be found than by interviewing E. J. Rook, at the Chicago post- office. That gentleman is foreman of the city dis- tribution and also chief of the directory department, with four clerks to attend to nothing but rectifying careless letter-writers’ mistakes and oversights and in disciphering illegible chirography. What a big job that is no one has any idea who has not taken pains to find out. The daily average number of let- ters which get into the hands of this small corps of clerks because of having been misdirected is alone about 1,000. The most frequent mistake is made in writing the wrong city down on the address. Instead of Milwaukee, New York, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pitts- burg, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Paul, ete., the letter bears the word ‘ Chicago,” and often, too, the re- verse mistake is made. Just from one day’s mail the writer picked out at random the following mis-
directed ones:
Wilson Godfrey, Wall street, city, instead of New York. Written by Greenlee Bros. & Co., Chicago.
Mathews, Blum & Vaughn, 85 Leonard street,. Chicago, instead of New York. Written by Union National Bank, LaCrosse, Wis.
Jones, McDuffe & Stanton, corner Federal and Franklin, Chicago, instead of Boston, Mass. Written by Kirby, Carpen- ter & Co., Menominee, Mich.
Montgomery & Co., 104 Fulton street, city, instead of New York. Written by Keene Bros., 167 South Clark street, Chi- cago. ; L. E. Johnson, Cincinnati Enquirer office, Chicago, instead of ae Written by Whitaker & Jordan, Washington, Dek
“T suppose a great many of these people who so frequently misdirect letters raise the old Nick when they find there is a botch, and blame the postal offi-
eres uP eae aoe
- THE POST-OFFICE. 97
cials for delay or miscarriage,” said Mr. Rook, hur- rying the huge pile of letters, whose addresses had just been rectified, off on their intended destination. “The public is always blaming the post-office and everybody is always willing to lift up his good right hand to the azure dome and swear by the great hornspoon that he never made a mistake in address- ing a letter, and is not liable to do so at any time. Yet we here can tell a different tale. As a general thing I must say that mistakes of business houses are more frequent and Jess excusable than by poor and badly educated people. And that is true, even taking into consideration the difference in propor- tion to the bulk of mail from each. Business houses and business men of all kinds are awfully.careless in addressing letters. Why the other day a St. Louis bank sent us a letter to Chicégo, intended for a firm but five doors distant from the bank itself, and the very next day a big printing house in the same city made an even worse error. And such mistakes occur by the hundreds every day. Yesterday, for instance, a lawyer named Baxter Foster sent us five letters, all of them directed ‘Chicago,’ and all of them in- tended for some outside city. The banks, though, are the worst of all. They will pick up printed en- velopes with ‘Chicago’ on them and then address them to the Chase National Bank (which happens to be in New York) or to the Flour National Bank (in Rochester), or to the Second National Bank of St. Louis, for instance. When the mistake is discovered before the mail leaves Chicago, there is no trouble.
98 THE STORY OF
We have to carry the register of all the principal banks of the country in our heads.”
“And how are the misdirections on other letters rectified ?” |
“By means of the street guide first, which is fur- nished us by the Department, and which contains the name and location of every street in every city in the United States. Then, after tracing the street, we take the directory of the city in question and find the name and correct address and forward it there. If we find the same street names in several cities, we hunt through the various directories until the right city with the right address is found. We have for our use the latest directories of some thirty-five cities in the Union, comprising every town of about 100,- 000 or over. Then, another mistake we have to con- stantly correct is that people persist in addressing a party living at Fifty-ninth and State, for instance, as living in Chicago. Now, the city delivery only ex- tends up to Fifty-sixth on the South Side, and all of those letters marked ‘City’ and running up to One Hundredth street have to be addressed anew, and ‘ Englewood, etc., put on them. We have the same trouble with letters meant for the extreme ends of the West and North Sides. The last street we deliver on the West Side is Crawford avenue, or Fortieth street, and yet people constantly mark let- ters for Forty-second and Harrison or Forty-eighth and Madison, ‘ City, so that we mark them afresh with ‘ Central Park,’ ‘ Moreland,’ etc., and they have to go there by mail. It’s the same with Gross: Park and other suburbs on the North Side, which get
THE POST-OFFICE. 99
their mail by railroad, as other outside towns. Still another trouble we have to contend with are the abbreviations which many people, too lazy to put the name of the addressee on, indulge in. Commis- sion houses are the worst of all in this respect. What could you make of such an address as this, for instance?” And Mr. Rook showed one couched in these mystic signs:
Which meant, strange to say, P. B. Weare & Co. Another one reading :
Which stood for G. Lasher & Son.
“We have to know all these firms and then guess which one it is meant for. They use stencils, and the stencil puts merely the initials and the stencil number on. All sorts of other firms are addressed in | a similar way, many only by initials, like “ R., M. & F.,” which is ‘short-hand’ for Reid, Murdoch & Fischer. All these, and many other things, we have to guess, and we couldn’t do it if we didn’t have oa years’ practice at it.”
“ How about the difficulty of illegible hand-writ- ings ?”
“Well, that is, generally speaking, not as bad as might be expected, especially in a cosmopolitan city liké Chicago, which can boast of all sorts of national handwritings. Long practice has skilled our eyesight
100 THE STORY OF
and gift of distinction so that we but rarely have dif- ficulty in deciphering any style of writing. In my twenty years’ experience I think I remember only two or three occasions where I was unable to make the writing out. Judged by nationalities the Chinese are by all odds the worst penmen—that is, of our style of writing. You'd die laughing if you could see sometimes the chirography some of these almond- eyed gentlemen indulgein. The Italians come nextas illegible writers, and then some of the Scandinavians and a few of the Germans who affect German script, and get off some very bold figures with the pen. The Americans are, that goes without saying, the plainest and most distinct writers. But even among them there are a good many who affect such peculiarities of hand writing as puzzle us not a little. Especially — what’s called the ‘backhanded’ ones—it may look - pretty enough, but the characters all run into each other and make the effect of blurring the whole. It takes study to decipher this style of writing, and you often have to twist the letter and turn it sideways and upside down to get any sense to it.”
“And don’t the foreign letters give your depart- ment much trouble ?” |
“Well, yes—some. But we get a great deal of fun out of some of those letters, too. The Italians, for instance, will often write down for their correspond- ents in Italy the names of streets, such as they sound to them, and, of course, they do not know the correct spelling. Thus, a fruit peddler recently got a letter addressed :
THE POST-OFFICE. 101
MARISI PASQUALE.
Quinzi.
: Nidibbonavegna. : Which meant :
OP ARCAE MARIGL cae A ee re
!
'
‘ Kinzie near Dearborn avenue.
“ Still, we don’t have so much trouble with Italian letters, for the majority of them are wise enough to get them sent in a bunch to one place on Clark, bet- ween Polk and Taylor streets, a sort of Italian Bank, and everybody who knows enough to put Italian Bank, Chicago, on the envelope, is sure to have the letter delivered all right. Then, too, they don’t write . or receive many letters. We sometimes have to wrestle with Chinese letters, but we get an inter- preter for that.”
CHAPTER XIX.
POST—OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS, LIFE INSURANCE AND TELEGRAPHY.
The Benefits of Post-office Savings Banks.—Thought of in 1807. —The System of to-day in Great Britain.—Effect upon the Old Banks.—Advantages offered the Opulent Depositor.— Opposition from Banks.—In other Countries.—The United States has talked about them.—Post-oftice Life Insurance and Annuities.—Annuity Business.—Life Insurance Busi- ness.—The Postal Telegraph.—Why the United States should own Telegraph Lines.
THE BENEFITS OF POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS. Post-office Savings Banks have been such a great success wherever introduced, that it is a matter for surprise that they have not been adopted in the Unit- ed States. It is a system of banking established
+
102 “THE STORY OF
by the government for the simple purpose of benefit- ing people with small incomes, affording them the utmost facility for depositing and withdrawing money, with the fullest security which government credit can give. There are now nearly 9,000 of these post-office savings banks in the United Kingdom, and they have undoubtedly done much to promote habits of thrift and economy among the British working people. Many communities are far removed from private savings banks, and before the deposit can be made, the sum of money intended for deposit, has gone some other road, and there is no snug penny put by for a rainy day. Where banks are numerous and accessible, there is too often the glaring fault of poor management and dishonest officers, ending in a dis- aster which sweeps away sums representing the labor and struggles of a life time. These two readily ad- mitted facts can leave no doubt in any mind of the need of a system of post-office savings banks in every civilized country. THOUGHT OF IN 1807.
_ Great Britain was not only the first in adopting the postage stamp, but it is to her sound minded govern- ment officials that millions of people owe the bene- fits derived from post-office savings banks. A Mr. Whitbread suggested, in a parliamentary speech in 1807, that the machinery of the post-office could be admirably adapted for receiving the savings of the -people, but it took more than fifty years for this skeleton thought to clothe itself with flesh. Mr. Chetwynd, an official in the money order department of the post-office in 1860, proposed to the postmas-
THE POST-OFFICE. 103
ter general that “‘Hvery money order office should receive and pay money on account of the Central Government savings bank, the depositor being fur- nished with a pass book for entries to be made at the office, and that receipts for deposits should be sent direct from the central office to the depositor.” Be- fore the act under which the bank was constituted, was passed, in 1861, Mr. Chetwynd’s scheme was changed in various ways. THE SYSTEM OF TO-DAY IN GREAT BRITAIN.
From the first, the post-office savings banks have been entirely self-supporting. The rate of interest upon deposits has never been over 2 1-2 per cent a year, and the difference between this rate and that upon investments made through the commissioner for the reduction of the national debt, has not only paid all expenses, but given a considerable surplus. It is plain to see, that notwithstanding the greater facilities and security afforded depositors, itis possi- ble to transact the business at a less expense than in regularly established savings banks, because the doors are always open for mailing purposes, and the chief expense is borne by the carrying department of the post-office. The most important of the regu- lations under which deposits are received, are as fol- lows: Deposts from 1 shilling up to £30 are re- ceived, not to exceed £150 in a single year. The total amount to the credit of any one person, includ- ing interest, must not exceed £200. Minors and women may be depositors as wellas men. Friendly societies, bank companies, etc., are also admitted to
the benefits of this plan. Every depositor is re-
104 THE STORY OF
quired to make a declaration that he is not directly or indirectly entitled to any deposit in any other savings bank, nor in any other account in the post- office savings bank. Deposit books are supplied free of charge, and all the letters addressed to the Sav- ines Bank department are carried free of postage. When a deposit is made in a post-office savings bank, the depositor must have it properly entered in his deposit book, and will receive by mail within four days after making the deposit, a receipt from the Savings Bank department. All books are to be sent yearly to the postmaster general for the entry of interest. When a depositor wishes to withdraw any sum, he can obtain from any post-office savings bank, a form of notice of withdrawal, which he is to fill up, and forward by mail free of charge to the above department, in return for which he will receive an order payable at any post-office savings bank named by him. In this way every possible conven- ‘jience for withdrawing money is afforded to the de- positor. All post-office employees are bound to sec- recy as to the depositor’s account, which has led many working men to avail themselves of these banks, who otherwise would not have saved money for fear that their employers might find out that it did not take all their wages to pay for the necessaries of life. Interest is only paid on deposits of a pound and multiples of a pound. Another feature of this plan which has done much to increase its popularity, is the issuing of blank sheets, which, when filled up with one shilling’s worth of unused postage stamps, are received as deposits. This practically does
THE POST-OFFICE. 105
away with the regulation that the smallest deposit shall be one shilling, and a child who has a half penny can buy a stamp and start his sheet, and thus have a bank account. This idea has been adopted in some of the Children’s Aid associations in the United States with very satisfactory results. The following table shows that post-office savings banks have been a success in Great Britain: Total de- posits including interest: 1863, £3,376,818 ; 1866, £6,626,400; 1871, £17,025,404; 1876, £26,796,550 ; 1881, £36,194,495 ; 1886, £50,874,334. EFFECT UPON THE OLD BANKS.
The old savings banks could not retain their pop- ularity in the face of the improved facilities and greater security offered by the post-office savings banks, and in less than ten years after the passage of the act establishing this new system, the old- fashioned banks had decreased in numbers from 638 to 496; in depositors, from 1,586,000 to 1,385,000; and in capital, from 41,000,000 sterling to 38,000,000, while the post-office savings banks had grown from nothing to 4082 in number, with 1,183,000 depos- itors. Since 1870, the business of the post-office savings banks has grown rapidly, as shown in the foregoing table, while the old banks have just about held their own on account of paying a little higher rate of interest.
ADVANTAGES OFFERED THE OPULENT DEPOSITOR.
In order that no poor boy might be deterred from ‘obtaining a sheet for his half-penny, for fear that when his deposit amounted to £200 he could get no
106 THE STORY OF
interest upon it, arrangements were made for the in- vestment of sums in government stocks through the post-office banks. A depositor can now invest any sum not less than £10 in any of the British govern- ment stocks without any further trouble than to for- ward an application through a bank, accompanying this with his deposit book. The investment will then be made for him at the following charge for brokerage: On stock not exceeding £25, 9 pence; £25 to £50, 1 shilling 3 pence; £50 to £75, 1 shil- ling 9 pence; £75 to £100, 2 shillings 3 pence. The investment is made at the current price of the day on which the application is received at the head office, and a certificate for the stock is sent at once by mail to the depositor. The stock will stand in his name on the books of the post-office savings bank department, and the dividends will be credited to his account as they become due. The amount in- vested in this manner in any one year must not ex- ceed £100, and the whole amount to the credit of any one depositor must not exceed £300. The com- mission on the sale of stock is the same as that charged for the purchase. If any one wishes to con- trol the interest himself instead of having it credited on his post-office savings bank book, he can apply to the central office for a bank certificate with div- idend coupons attached, and then be able to draw the interest himself. OPPOSITION FROM BANKS.
When the postmaster-general proposed to raise the limit of deposits, a great outcry went out from the banks of the United Kingdom, and well-founded
THE POST-OFFIOE. 107
charges that it was not policy for the government to dabble in trade banking, caused the abandonment of this idea. If the limit had been raised, undoubt- edly a different class of depositors would have used these banks, and at times of great speculation, there would be considerable danger of the department being called upon to pay immense sums of money which would be liable to cause the government quite aloss. It is generally conceded that the post-office savings banks, under the present regulations, do not interfere to any great extent with regular banking institutions, for they draw a class of business which, if it went to regular banks, could not be taken at a profit; and it is undoubtedly true that they have done great things in the encouragement of habits of thrift among the poorer people. IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
The English colonies and most of the European countries, seeing the great benefits resulting from. this system, made similar provisions, although many pay higher rates of interest, and allow larger depos- its. In Canada they were established in 1868, and the deposits in.1880 amounted to $3,946,000; in 1884, to $13,245,900 with 66,682 depositors. Ac- counts are kept at the head office in Ottawa, where daily reports are received from each postmaster. Among the depositors in 1884 were 10,500 single women with deposits of over $1,000,000. In Italy postal savings banks were established February 29, 1876, and at present, all post-offices in that country, receive and pay out as banks. The French system went into operation December 31, 1883,
108 THE STORY OF
and bids fair to make the greatest success of any. The Austrian government opened post-office savings banks January 12, 1883, while Belgium, the Neth- erlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway soon fol- lowed the lead of their neighbors in taking care of the surplus earnings of their people.
THE UNITED STATES HAS TALKED ABOUT THEM.
Many efforts have been made in this country to establish post-office savings banks, but thus far without success. Mr. Creswell, while postmaster general, in 1871, recommended their adoption, and in his annual report of two years later, gave the matter further attention. Ex-Postmaster General Thomas L. James thought highly of this plan, as is evidenced by the following: ‘It is my earnest con- viction that a system of this description, if adopted, would do more than almost any other measure of public improvement for the benefit of the working people of the United States.” Many bills have been brought before Congress to procure the necessary legislation for this purpose. A bill introduced by Mr. Lacy, which was strongly recommended and en- dorsed by the advocates of this measure, provided that “None but money order offices should receive deposits, that no single deposit should be less than 10 cents or more than $100, that no one person should deposit more than $100 within 30 days, or have at any time more than $500 to his credit, and that interest at 2 per cent should be paid on all sums over $3, beginning the first of the month fol- lowing the deposit, and stopping the last of the
THE POST-OFFICE. 109
month preceding the withdrawal.” Though as yet all efforts have been unavailing, post-office savings banks will undoubtedly be established in the United States in the near future.
POST-OFFICE LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES.
In this country, post-office savings banks and the postal telegraph have been discussed so much, that they are comparatively familiar words, though little has been said about another branch of the British post-office—life insurance and annuity. There are very few aside from those who have made a specialty of postal reforms, who know that the British post- office department not only carries letters, papers, and express parcels, and offers facilities for saving surplus earnings, but also does a fair life insurance and an- nuity business. This started in 1865, with the same object as the post-office savings banks ; that is, the promotion of thrift. Life insurance was offered to the people in sums not to exceed £100, and annuities not exceeding £50. This branch of the department, however, has not been such a complete success as the savings banks, but the following tables show a fair business :
| ANNUITY BUSINESS:
Number of annuities granted in 1887, 1002; an- nual amount of same in 1887, £20,927 ; cash received | in purchase of same £243,895. Number of annuities in force, 10,913 ; annual amount of same £194,829.
LIFE INSURANCE BUSINESS.
Number of new policies in 1887, 585; amount of new insurance in 1887, £36,168. Number of policies
110 THE STORY OF
in force, 5,859; amount of insurance in force,
£447,310. THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH.
In 1867 the English government decided upon the bold and socialistic step of gaining possession of all lines of telegraph in the kingdom, and combining this means of communication with the other branches of the post-office business. In 1880, for the first time since the acquirement of the telegraph, have the receipts been sufficient to pay the interest on the capital, and leave a surplus.
Previous to the transfer of the telegraph to the British government, its use was considerably restrict- ed, owing to high charges and inaccuracy; besides, the companies showed no desire whatever to improve the system. The government has developed the telegraph bnsiness in a wonderful manner, and now nearly 7,000,000 messages are sent each year through about 6,000 offices.
The idea of employing women in the postal tele- graph service was fora time an experiment and a riddle, but the experiment has been successful, and the riddle completely solved. At the close of 1880, there were nearly a thousand female telegraphers in London, Edinburgh and Dublin, and as many more in other parts of the country, while in the different branches of the department, female clerks had be- come a settled fact.
WHY THE UNITED STATES SHOULD OWN TELEGRAPH LINES.
In an article in the Worth American Review, Prof. Richard T. Ely, of John Hopkins university, argues
THE POST-OFFICE. 111
strongly in favor of government control of the tele- graph system, and says: ‘I believe no assertion is safer than the prediction that the purchase of tele- eraph lines would improve our civil service imme- diately, and soon lead to measures which would diminish the ‘patronage’ of elected office holders, such as senators, representatives, president. I think also that the wire-pullers appreciate this. There is not one of the worst class of ‘spoils’ politicians who does not oppose an extension of the business of govern- ment. The shrewdest of them must see that to make government an important business agency will mean death to ‘practical politics.’ In conclusion, we must ask the testimony of experience, and this in all countries where a government telegraph has been tried,is unanimous in favor of public telegraph service. ° In none of these countries would the people even con- sider the subject of replacing public telegraphs by private telegraphs, and everywhere the experience of the United States is regarded as a warning against private telegraph companies. England’s experience is instructive. Private companies were there tried until they proved to be intolerable; then they were purchased. Elsewhere in Europe the telegraph was from the start a public institution, and this is the result ; while the estimated cost of telegraphs in all other states in Europe is 282,000,000 francs, the es- timated cost to England of her telegraphs is 272,000- 000 francs ; in other words, owing to unsuccessful at- tempts to secure a good private telegraph system, England paid nearly as much for her telegraphs as all the other countries in Europe put together.”
112 THE STORY OF
CHATER X.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT WITH THE U. 8. MAIL. (In the Spring of 1860.)
A Thrilling Account of. Uncle Dud’s Overland Trip, as told by Himself.—A Brave Man’s Dangerous Trip.—‘‘ He is the man I want.”—The Overland Mail Company’s Oath.—Colt’s Pistols and-a Sharp’s Rifle for Traveling Companions.—The Rough and Tumble of California Traveling.—Rearing Kicking, Plunging, Wild Mustangs for Coach Horses.— An Indian Expedition.—Shooting Buffaloes.—Once more in Civilization.—The End of a Twenty-three Days’ Trip, Covering nearly Four Thousand miles.
You ask me why I, a merchant of Boston, was in California, and how I came to make this dangerous and fearful trip. I will tell you: ;
In the Fall of 09 I was selling goods to a favorite customer—now put yourself in my place and you shall have it—while with this gentleman I heard the. steps of one of Boston’s great “I am’s” (if money makes one great) behind me.
I went to him and he asked me if I was well, and if my family was well, and if he should say to me, that he wished to use my brains for six months to a year thousands of miles away if I would serve him; I told him if [ was competent to do so, I would go. “ Very well,” he said, “there is a hack at the side-door ; get all your private matters and papers arranged, bid your family good-bye, and meet me within an hour at the President’s office of the Boston & Albany BR. R. Take no baggage, as you will have letters of credit and power to get all you need.” I went to the office, and after receiving my instructions, took my
*The writer of this chapter, who is well known to the literary world under his nom de plume of ** Uncle Dud,’’ is still living in Boston. This is the first account ever printed of his thrilling and dangerous trip with the ‘‘ Overland Mail.”
OM MENT MEt nt RR ee he 7. GY or ak ln) RS ae ae
THE POST-OFFICE. 113
seat in the train bound for New York. At two the next day a gun fired on board the Steamer Baltic in the New York Harbor, and I was on board, bound for Aspinwall, via Panama R. R. to Panama on the Pacific ocean, to San Francisco, California.
After arriving in San Francisco I presented my- self and letters as directed. My business in this country is too long to tell, and would be of no in- terest to you.
My last trip from San Francisco, found me up the head waters of the Sacramento river. I made up my mind one night while camping with a party of surveyors, that the best thing to do, was to return to Boston as soon as I could do so; I was lying in my blankets on mother earth at the time, one end of my lariat was around my pony’s neck and the other was around my ankle. My guide’s mule was picketed near by. I called Tom (my guide) and said—“I want to be in the saddle ready to start at day-break. I am going to leave this valley.”
I was glad when we got to Forbestown, you bet. We rode down through Oraville and Marysville to Sacramento City, and on my arrival there I learned that there had been some delay about the steamers at San Francisco, and it was quite uncertain when a steamer would leave there.
I took steamboat to San Francisco. Arriving there in the morning, I went directly to the Interna- tional Hotel on Jackson Street, and in conversation with the landlord. said, “If I could find the right kind of a man to go with, I would go home ‘ Over- land’ by the Butterfield route.” The agent of the
114 THE STORY OF
“Overland Mail Company” was in the office at the time, and heard my remarks. After I went out, he inquired of the landlord who I was, and he told him. He said, “he is the man I want.”
The next morning quite early, as I was crossing the “ Plaza” I heard my name called with that pecu- liar Western prefix—‘ Ho.” I turned and walking towards him, found it was the mail agent. He said he had heard my conversation the night before and and asked me if I meant what I then said. I told him ‘ Yes.” We then went to the office of the “ Overland Mail Company” where I was required to take the following oath :—“ You solemnly swear, that you cross the Indian countries at your own risk, and will in no way hold the mail contractors responsible for your safety.” I read the rules of the company — and signed them, and was told to be on hand the next morning at eight o’clock.
Having done this I called on my friends and told them of my decision. They said I did not know what I was undertaking, and had I consulted with anyone who had made the trip, would have decided differ- ently. But it was too late to back out if I had wanted to do so—which I had no wish to do. I was in for it, and was bound to go, let the result be what it might. When I told them of my intention to go through without laying over (I had the right to stop over at way-stations three days if I chose to do so), and meant to go through or die, they thought I was a fool, but kindly refrained from putting their thoughts. into plain words.
Iwas on hand the next morning at the required
THE POST-OFFICE. 115
hour, and my friends were there to give me a good send off. I put on my two Colt’s navy pistols with belt, and cartridges, and with a Sharp’s rifle in hand, was ready for the start. At the door was a Concord coach with six splendid gray horses. I chose my position, and now we were ready for a start. Are you ready ? then “ Git.” Crack went the whip, round went the wheels and we were off. One of the require- ments of the driver was that his horses and mules should go from station to station at their highest rate of speed.
The morning was lovely and we dashed on our way to Thorpe’s Station, and on to Redwood and San Jose, where we left our fine Concord coach and still finer horses, and were dumped into a mud wagon (called a thoroughbrace) with our mail bags. Imagine, if youcan, what a come down this was for us, both in style and comfort, but this is one of many changes, before the end of our trip.
We were now beginning the rough and tumble of life. We had descended the magnificent valley lying between the foot hills of the Sierras, and the coast range of the Pacific ocean. We drove between five and six hundred miles down south, before steering south-east, through the countries of Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and San Diego to Los Angeles, which promises to be the vineyard of the world.
In passing through some of these valleys, flowers of every hue meet the eye, and one regrets having to leave them all behind. At some points the rivers are fordable, but where the water is too deep for this, the wagon horses are driven on to the flat boats
116 THE STORY OF
and ferried across. In one of these passes we crossed a small stream ninety-four times ; this may seem like a Californian story, but it is true. The stream takes a zigzag course, winding its way along.
The San Fernando Pass is but little wider than the wagon, the bluffs on either side rising from eighty to one hundred and sixty feet. There isa mission at this place, established in 1774 by Span- iards. Oranges grow here as common as apples at home ; we also saw great numbers of horses, sheep and cattle in these valleys, apparently without herders.
We now left the foot of the San Phillipe Mountains to cross the great Mojava Desert, which is one vast plain of sand, surrounded on the east and west by mountains ; not a green thing to be seen for miles.
As we approached Fort Yuma on the Colorado river, we encountered a severe sand storm, which almost hid our horses from sight. We were now on the banks of the Gila in God forsaken Arizona. The whole territory seemed a barren waste, and one could not help wondering why our Government should wish
for its possession, enough to pay such an enormous —
sum for it.
We followed this river on the south bank two hun- dred and fifty odd miles, where we saw some twenty men digging for gold. One side of this river is a level barren country. Near by, all of the houses were adobe, of the old Spanish style.
Now we were in the home of the Apaches, the worst of all bad Indians ; here the wagon and mails were lowered down over the bluff, the horses were
THE POST-OFFICE. 117
led down a winding path of over two miles, we fol- lowing to where the wagon was landed, then off we started over the Oatman Flats. Here are the graves of the Oatman family ; the details of the massacre are familiar to all.
One hundred miles back, we had been told that when we arrived at the Pinto Change, we should see lots of fun, as here we changed and took wild horses fora while. We drove up to the corral without sounding as usual the bugle, and found four white wild mustangs waiting for us. They had to be lassoed and thrown in order to be collared and bridled. I took my seat with the driver, the pole horses were brought and placed in position, the reins given to the driver, a man holding the head of each pony; two leaders were then brought, and the driver took the reins. During this time they were blindfolded, the word to start was given, the blinders taken from their eyes, and the fun commenced. Such rearing, kicking and plunging, until they kicked themselves into the traces. They had a run of twenty-two miles over a road of flint-bedstone; all we could do was to hang on for dear life, and see them go—the wheels struck fire at every turn ; it was an exciting ride.
We passed an emigrant family with women and children; they had been on the road for months ; a hard looking set, but happy and in good health. Here we are at Maricopa Wells ; from three to four thousand Indians are here, who take their name from these wells. Farther on, we met a party of volun- teers, from an Indian expedition, sent out by the « Overland Mail Company;” they had thirteen scalps
118 THE STORY OF
and five prisoners. One fine looking boy of eleven years, they offered to sell for fifty dollars. He told his captors if they would send him back to his home, he would show them mountains of just such stuff as they bought their hay with. These Indians have always been friendly with the whites, and are an in- dustrious people, owning large ranches. The “‘ Over- land Mail Company” bought twelve hundred dollars worth of hay and barley from them in ’59. They are a tall, athletic race, and intelligent looking.
Now, they told us there is trouble ahead. The Mexicans had driven the Americans out, and at Mesilla they had had a massacre, and five men and one woman were shot. We were delayed here, and stood guard at an adobe house until the U. 8. troops arrived from a fort about seven miles distant.
After leaving Hl Paso, in Chihauhau, we crossed the Brazos river into Texas. We now steered north- east, and were to run through this State about nine hundred miles; through the Comanche country and the Indian Territory, through the tribes of the Sioux, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokee, Fox, Ute and Pinte Indians, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. [am a little ahead with my story. At Camp Stockton we met Captain Carpenter with body guard after some greasers, who had stolen a mule team the day before. The Comanches had also been troublesome all the season ; they had shot four men from their wagons between this place and the ‘“ Overland Mail Com- pany’s” station. .
At Phantom Hill, we had an exciting adventure. It was Sunday morning and misty. I was awakened
— e
THE POST-OFFICE. 119
by the driver’s voice and a call for rifles; in two minutes I was on the run, shooting right and left as fast as I could. We had come upona herd of buffaloes and succeeded in shooting three and wounding three or four others.
We are now about coming into a civilized country ; arrived at Fort Smith, then over the Boston Moun-
tains to Tipton, then the Western terminus of the
railroad from the East. My route then was from Tipton to St. Louis by rail to Chicago and New York.
I have been told that the U. 8S. Government paid the mail contractors $600,000 to carry the mail one year, but they failed to do it; and the government, rather than make a new contract with any other party, agreed to give them one million dollars. The contract then not being a paying thing, was aban- doned. The government imported camels to carry the mail across the desert, and that scheme failed. The pony express was a lightning thing, but short- lived.
Well, I have finished, and can truthfully say that to the best of my knowledge, I have traveled behind more horses and mules, in a given number of days, and distance, than any other man living. Having traveled some three thousand eight hundred miles in twenty-three days, without taking my shirt off my back, or my feet out of my boots, and employing from seven to eight hundred horses and mules, eighty-five drivers and conductors, and nearly a hundred wagons.
120 THE STORY OF
CHAPTER XI. THE POST-OFFICE IN OTHER LANDS.
In the United Kingdom.—tThe British Dead Letter Office.--The Postmaster General Objects to Dead Rats.—-Price of English Postal Notes or Postal Orders.--Short History of the English Money Order System.—Cost of Postage in England.—The English Parcel Post.—Postal Business in China.—The Cen- sorin Russia.--In the English Colonies.--The French Method —Statistics of the Postal Service in Other Countries.—The
International Postal Union.--Different Countries, Different _
Laws. IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
Appointments are all made through open competi- tion. The number of letters delivered yearly amounts to nearly 2,000,000,000, while postal cards, packages of books, circulars, newspapers, etc., are carried to the extent of another billion every year. The death rate is very low among the employees of the post- offices, not averaging over five in a thousand yearly.
The pressure of Christmas business is tremendous, and the poor postal clerks work overtime, and hardly find a chance to sleep or eat. Christmas week brings willions of letters and packages over and above or- dinary correspondence. One year there was about 15 tons of this extra business to dispose of.
The dead letter office of the United Kingdom, like that of the United States, is one where the clerks are obliged to work, over five million letters reach- ing that department every year, to say nothing of the millions of postal cards, packages and newspapers. The English people seem to be made out of the same common clay as those on this side of the water, and are no less liable to carelessness, for about 30,000
letters are mailed each year without any address
ee 4k ae De ol ae
able
THE POST-OFFICE. 121
whatever. Then, too, they do not use sufficient care in wrapping their packages. About 30,000 articles reach the dead letter office each year, on account of
_ the fragile covers in which they are enclosed. The
postmaster general, in his report of a few years since, says: “It is necessary to appeal to the public to abandon the practice of sending animal matter through the mails : fish, sausages, birds to be stuffed, cream, fruit, salads, live kittens and dead rats, are injurious to the health of the officers of the depart- ment,and the mails with which they are transmitted, and it is to be hoped that such articles will no longer be mailed.”
The British postal system, on account of the proximity of the towns, and the frequent trains run- ning upon the railroads, is better able than most countries to take care of any unusual amount of mail matter. At Hull, nearly 300,000 circulars, weighing 20 tons, which were issued by a single company, and represented £2380 worth of postage, were taken care of by the department without confusion or delay, in 48 hours.
Under the provisions of the postal orders of 1880, a new system was introduced Jan. 1, providing an inexpensive and easy way of sending small sums of money to different parts of the United Kingdom; and postal orders can now be bought for different amounts, any where from 1 shilling to 20 shiilings, at a commission of. from 4 pence up to a few shil- lings. — :
The postal system is not only self-sustaining, but
122 THE STORY OF
gives a surplus, the gross revenue being nearly £10,- 000,000.
The post-office force of Great Britain now num- bers about 100,000.
The money order department of the British post- office started as a part of this branch of the govern- ment in 1838, although for about 40 years it had been run by three clerks who worked in the London post-office, as a private enterprise. As soon as the government assumed the charge of this business, and reduced the rates, business picked up, and the money order department assumed large proportions. In 1871, the rates were reduced to 1 penny for or- ders of 10 shillings and under; but as it was esti- mated that every money order, issued and paid, cost the department 3 pence, this reduzed rate brought a loss, and the rates were raised. The public, how- ever, demanded that they should have service at the old rates, and as money orders could not be issued at the old rate, a system of postal notes was devised. These were afterwards called postal orders. To-day these postal orders are being sold at the rate of £30,000,000 a year. They are an advance over those used in this country, for the postal notes of the United States, while a great convenience, are really no safeguard against loss. The postal orders of England must have the name of the person to whom they are payable inserted by the purchaser, and the person to whom they are payable, must insert the name of the money order office at which he wishes it to be cashed. In addition to this, the purchaser may, if he chooses, cross the order so as to invest it
THE POST-OFFICE. 123
with all the safeguards of a check. These oruers of course diminished the amount of the money order business, but that department still does about £25,- 000,000 business a year.
The postage stamps, which were also used for revenue, are + penny, 14 pence, 2 pence, 24 pence, 3 pence, 4 pence, 5 pence, 6 pence, 9 pence, 1 shilling, 2, shillings 6 pence, 5 shillings, 10 shillings, 1 pound. There are special envelopes for registered letters, and four kinds of postal cards. The telegraph tariff | is the same for all telegrams in the United Kingdom, no matter what the distance; six pence for twelve words, the address and signer’s name to be paid for as words. Hach additional word over twelve words costs penny. They are paid for the same as let- ters, by sticking postage stamps on the blanks which the English call the “ Form.”
The parcel post in England is more nearly a sepa- rate department than in the United States. It was introduced there August 1, 1883, although it had been thoroughly discussed and agitated for many years. The total number of parcels posted during the year amounts to over 26,000,000. Postage is never less than 8 pence, and increases at the rate of 14 pence per pound to 1 shilling 6 pence. The largest amount of a single package allowed to be sent by mail, is 11 pounds. This system is, as one might say, an express business.
! » POSTAL BUSINESS IN CHINA.
Each city has a certain number of licensed com- panies who make a business of receiving and sending letters and small parcels, at charges dependent upon
124 THE STORY OF . \
weight and distance. As the different companies are either joined in partnership, or have very close finan- — cial relations with each other, the communication between the different cities is of a most efficient character, considering the materials. So much re- liance is placed by the public upon the certainty and safety of this postal system, which goes from one end of China to the other, that large sums of money in paper are freely consigned to the charge of the companies. Instances are rare of this trust being violated. Speed is less of a consideration among the Chinese than in countries where railroads and telegraph make the news of to-day the ancient his- tory of the next week. However, when it is impor- tant to get a message quickly between two points, the companies use carrier pigeons, which traverse the distance very quickly.
In Russia, at the beginning of 1886, the number of postal éstablishments was about 5,000. Most of these offices had one or more mails each day, but there were several hundred with but four a week, about a thousand with only two a week, while two on the East Siberian coast received mail but once a year. The Russian postal department has a very large free list, carrying all the correspondence of the govern- ment, and that of many public offices and private institutions without charge. The weight of this free mail matter amounts to almost one-half that of the domestic correspondence. The Censor holds an im- portant place in the Russian postal service, and no book or paper is allowed to come into the Empire until it has been thoroughly scanned by his eagle eye,
3 i gt ee : A nee eS Oe ae a
THE POST-OFFICE. 125
which watches over the morals, both political and domestic, of the inhabitants of Russia. The only way a paper published outside of Russia can reach a Russian post-office, is by having twelve copies go. through the mails, for the Censor does not think it worth his while to read through one paper for the seditious matter, and will not allow any paper to pass unless there are twelve of the same date.
In Australia and New Zealand, with about 5,000 post-oftices, there are about 200,000,000 letters and postal cards, with nearly 100,000,000 packages and newspapers mailed each year. Canada’s correspon- dence amounts to about 75,000,000 letters, 15,000,- 000 postal cards, and 3,000,000 registered letters each year. She issues something over 500,000 money orders, and has about 7,000 post-offices. The 6,000 post-offices of India take care of 150,000,000 letters, 35,000,000 postal cards, nearly 25,000,000 newspapers, parcels, etc., each year.
The French post-office undertakes not only to de- liver to the inhabitants of every city and town, but to every house, cottage, mill, and factory, where let- ters are addressed. All letters reaching the great Paris post-office, are brought into a large, well-lighted room, and tossed upon long tables. On one side of these tables are a long row of men, whose sole duty, which does not require any great amount of brain effort, is to arrange the letters so that they all face the same way. When this has been done, the letters are handed to clerks on the opposite side of the tables, who divide them into two classes, one for Paris and the other for the balance of the world.
126 THE STORY OF
They are then stamped by a force of cancelling clerks, and those for Paris are taken to aroom on the ground floor, while the others go up stairs. A large force of men assort the letters for the carriers, who deliver them to their different addresses in the city. The letters which are going to other parts of France and the outside world, are assorted on the second floor, and when enough letters are found for any one dis- trict or district route, to make a square parcel about two feet long by eighteen inches wide and deep, they are wrapped up in brown paper and secured by a strong string wound twenty or thirty times around the par- cel. These parcels are sealed by a very ingenious method. A large pot of -hard sealing wax is made fluid by heating over an alcohol lamp, the flame of which can be increased or diminished at will. At right angles to the stick which holds the seal, is affixed a stick which the sealer dips into the liquid wax, and as soon as he has transfered a sufficient quantity of the wax to the paper and string, the seal is imprinted by simply turning his wrist.
STATISTICS OF THE POSTAL SERVICE OF OTHER COUNTRIES.
In France the number of letters carried each year is about three quarters of a billion. The gross reve- nue nearly $35,000,000, and the net revenue about $5,000,000. This is taken care of by about 7,000 post-offices.
The gross revenue of the Australian postal depart- _ ment is about $10,000,000 per year, which pays for. carrying over 300,000,000 letters and a large number of parcels, newspapers, ete.
THE POST-OFFICE. 127
The postal revenue of Hungary is nearly $5,000,-
- 000, and the department carries over 100,000,000 let-
ters. In Germany the net revenue each year is over $5,000,000. Italy’s postal department carries about 300,000,000 letters and postal cards each year.
THE INTERNATIONAL POSTAL UNION.
In June, 1863, delegates from the United States, France, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, the Hanseatic towns, and Costa Rica, met in congress, with M. Vandal then Postmaster General of France, as President, to discuss the question of a Postal Union between the different nations of the world. They rec- ommended the optional prepayment of foreign letters, the readjustment of the regulations concern- ing the international weighing and tax of letters, the reduction of the transit tariff, and important regula- tions as to changes of routes, and matters relating to the International Money Order system. This laid the foundation for the treaties of 1874 and 1878, and was the first step towards the simplifying of the laws governing postal communications between the nations.
In 1874, at Berne, representatives of 22 nations, whose united population was 350,000,000, met in congress. Many matters were effected, such as a half ounce unit of weight for ordinary letters. The uniform charge of 5 cents for a letter from any one country within the union to any other. Uniform rates for newspapers, etc., and the regulation that, ‘Hach post-oftice shall retain its own collection, and the bills due for transit shall be estimated only from accounts taken twice in each year.” An International
128 THE STORY OF
_ Board was also created which has been supported by contributions from the different countries of the Union. The proceedings of this board are reported in L’Union Postale, which is printed in three lan- guages, English, French and German, and appears monthly. At the next convention in Paris, in June, 1878, there were 33 states represented, which had a population of 653,000,000. The last meeting was held in Lisbon in 1885.
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES—DIFFERENT LAWS.
In Great Britain the ownership of a letter while in transit lies in the Queen, as represented by her Post- master General or Secretary of State, and only on the order of the Secretary of State can a letter be with- drawn. In the United States, however, the sender owns a letter until delivered, and may recall it under proper regulations. India, Belgium, Austria, Hun- gary, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, and other states, possess the same regulations; but Canada, Italy, Spain, and Greece, rule that a letter belongs to the party to whom it is addressed as soon as it is posted. The Netherlands and France have no fixed law in re- gard to this, yet a sender may claim its return prior to actual postal dispatch. The different countries differ just as widely in their other laws relating to the postal department.
THE POST-OFFICE. 129
CHAPTER XII.
HERE AND THERE IN THE POSTAL WORLD.
Before the Use of Postage Stamps.—A Bright New York Boy Tests Uncle Sam’s Mail.—The Smallest Post-office in the World.—The Postage Stamp Collection of Germany.—Post- office Statistics of the United States.—What He Wanted.— A Financial Transaction.—Rough on the Chaplain.—Cos- tumes of Mail Carriers in India, Egypt, China, Natal, Etc.— The Fifty Years of Queen Victoria’s Reign.—The Pigeon as a Mail Carrier.—They May Send a Letter Free.—The First Carrier Delivery in the United States.—Oxen as Post Horses. —Sending Cows and Servants by Mail.—A ‘‘ Soft Snap.”— The Slow Going Post Boy and the Rapid Mail Coach.— Postal Order of Over Three Hundred Years Ago.—Romance in Old Letters.—Two Old Time Love Letters.—Only Harm, Never Good, can come from Keeping Letters.—‘‘ Six Days Shalt Thou Labor.”—The Wily Messenger.—The Face at the Window.—Mail Carrier, Katie Reimer.—A Mean Man. —The Mail in Mississippi.—A Floating Post-office.—Some Foolish People.-—German Red Tape.—The Poste Restante. —The Commission Came too Late.—A Good Sentiment.— A Boom in Registered Letters.
BEFORE THE USE OF POSTAGE STAMPS.
In England, before the introduction of postage stamps, when cheap prepaid postage was adopted, people rushed to pay postage as they now crowd around the ticket wagon of a circus. Soon after the adoption of cheap prepaid postage, a writer in the Westminster Review gives the following description of a rush to prepay letters: ‘The great hall was filled full of spectators marshalled in a line by the police to watch the crowds pressing, scuffling and fighting to get first to the window. The president of the inland office with praiseworthy zeal was in all quarters directing the energy of his officers where the pressure was greatest. Formerly one, window sufficed to receive letters, but on this evening six windows with two