Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-04-25
EVENING STAR.
WASHINGTON:
MONDAY, APRIL 25, 1853.
OUR CITY POST OFFICE.

commodatlen OF the public than that In the
city of Washington. Aware of this impor-
tant fact, at the commencement OF the
Evening Star, we devoted portion of our
columns to the conduct of the post Office
especially with reference to the inequality
of the wages of several of its employees, as
compared with those paid to other public
servants.
We have advocated the following things
An increased pay for those who render
the most arduous services of the post Office.
An enlargement of the clerical force of
the establishment.
Better accommodations for the occupants
and mails.
More room for applicants and citizens.
There are two important improvements
that are specially demanded at this time.
One is the construction of long hall where
the paying customers of the government
can be better served. The other is. the
sorting of the letters and papers so as to
facilitate their delivery.
The advantages of the first improvement
are sufficiently manifest. With regard to
the latter, we would suggest the compilation
of packages Of letters and papers in syl-
Liable form, so that the names written on
them could be reached much more readily
By putting the AS in one pile, the Abs in
another, the Ac's in still another, and so on
through the alphabet, the number in each
pile would be materially lesse4ed, and the
time consumed looking for and delivering
made much shorter.
There is need, also, of q fre-proof
building in connection with the post office,
and the sooner it is obtained and occupied
the better will it be for the public interests
But we cannot close this article with more
profit to our citizens than by copying the
following statements from the New York
Herald:
"THE NECESSITY OF MODEL Posi- OFFICE
At WAsHINGToN.-It is an old saying that
"a shoemaker's wife always goes slipshod,'
and its applicability to the local office Of
general delivery at the metropolis of the
nation will be acknowledged by all who
have sojourned at Washington. The me-
tropolis of the country constitutes as fine
city as exists within the confines Of the
Union. Its broad avenues, whence wide
streets diverge in alternate acute and obtuse
angles, reflect the greatest credit upon the
founder of the city, the ever-to-b remem-
bered Father of our Country.
"Washington is one of the few cities in
our Republic which is capable of illmitable
expansion without an abrogation or quali6-
cation Of its original plan. Congress takes
pleasure in providing at the public expense
for its municipal decorations. The public
buildings are constructed with architectural |
taste, and art is called into requisition to
adorn both buildings and parks.
"The local post Office at Washington is
disgrace to the nation, and to the Depart |
ment which controls it. 1t is established |
in an old and dilapidated building on
Seventh street, adjoining the northe,ly side
of the marble ediice which is occupied by
the General Post Office Department The
window for general delivery can be attended
but by one person, who has the whole |
alphabet in charge. The consequence is,
that applicants for letters are obliged to
keep in single file outside, awaiting their
turn, until sometimes, even in rainy weather,
more than hundred persons are detained
without any shelter from the storm.
"But this, bad as it is, is not the worst
feature in the local post Office. Many, very
many persons, sojourn at Washington for a
short period, to whom it is a matter of great
necessity that the letters addressed to them
should at once reach their destination.
This could be accomplished were there
proper conveniences and regulations at the
metropolitan post Office. For want thereof
the mails which arrive from the North,
West, and East, are not assorted before
nine o'clock in the evening. One hour
previous to this the post Office is closed not
to reopen before seven o'clock the next
morning Meanwhile, mails for the North,