Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1855-08-01

Its n6w about cep.nry srcs Benjamin
Fssakitn, s..~n Postmaster b1ssral ri the
Colonies, 81 nus in his Did zig 10 make IN
pfheiai inspcssisu Of the pfinoipsiroates. IL
u sisont Eighty years since Cengfess sppnin-
I'D hian&D his old sfica andsr the aow ,nds--
fwpdsMs Celonies, anj wh.n a small folio,
containing batshree aaires oi paper, lasted a.
his sne6unt hook far two wears.
Tt~se ssnpse fasss bring up before Us, inors
than s!sbarales Mossis, the sass incsaase in
pest efaeefacsiissrs wsshin bandYei reafs;
for II Po4smaAssr GeBefAl 80 u Under
take TO ass osssA all shs foatsW As xfesent ex.
iaing 4 vcsi in4sirc iii u. ara - iaeessasit
railroad irasel, q In Esfs u n66 ksns3r~d
and twsssy~l Ave nils sisi.y; ubiIs, II ~ Was
70 andsstsks the Job 10 an Hsld ID, be
snnlj hsse ths work Of lifstisBe before
him. Instead OF the small foi;a, with its
three qairesof paper, the pest Office sscasnts
cansa,as every Two years three thausanJ 81
The largest size lsdxers. kerp ng no less ttsau
enc huDdrrd cis.k. constantly employed in
recording trans ictiens With thirty thousand
contractors and other persons.
Eysn ss late as the Gear 1890 the post Of
ice facilities wert n mere trihr, AZ ast as
eomtat i With The present time. There were
at ihat period but eighteen hundred and
seveBiy-Eye mites of }ost routes, OF about
the same number as ihere are now 10 Oregon,
and sHly seventy FIVE past Offices. The mail
was often week between New England aid
| pniladeipha a fortnight between Boston aud
Savannah; and in the winter almost rs long
| in going between thjsci'y and Pittsburgh
| Even 10 lS0Dihe whole pc !. Office bnsinesso Of
| The United States was but little greater than
! that OF Ptnnsy, yan'a now. Asla'c as Isle
| here We're buttweaty Srea hundred post Of
/ sses. or only 1.-THE Of the snnmbertnere is at
present: while the rcce;p's were but little
over half million OF dollars, against six
millions now. In fact, fifty per cent, more
postage is paid at tho present tim on news
papers and magazines (essn at th,ir present
reduced rItes) than was paid on letters,
newspapers. and every dcscr ption of malta.
bic matt in $50. The gren. impulse HIS
been given since 1890. At that period there
were emily one hundred and fifteen thousand
nils Of post routes, whereas now there are
nearly twice tint number. Then there wc.e
less than nine Thousand post Offices, now
! there nre over iwtnty-three thousand. The
last five and twenty years have, therefore ex-
| hibited progress in this department of civ.
| illzaiion that il in advance even OF The
growth Of tho population, rapid us that has
| been.
A good mary curious items are to be
found in the pos. Office expenditures. We
/ quote a few as the readi st method of show
| ing how vast the transactions of the Depart
mcnt are. Thus: there is annually paid for
mail-locks, keys, and stamps nearly thirty.
| two thousand dollars--a sum equal to the
entire outlay Of the whole Department in
the year 1890. The stamped envelopes and
| postage stamps csst over fourteen thousand
dollars; the mail bags fifty Thousand; the
| blanks seventy one thousand the wrapping
paper foity-ono thousand. We think we
can see Frankin's stare of astonishment if
he conld rise from his grave under the old
| ilagstone at Fifth and Arch streets, and
travelling to Washington, not in his cold
gig,' but behind one of Norris ocomotiv s,
sea the thousand lelgers, the one hundred
t busy clerks, and the enormous amounts paid
/ for the "snndries" which he used to buy for a
| trinc. 80
| 1t is by comparisons like these that we re-
/ alize what vast strides have been made with
| in century. Vague, general assertions Of
progress never have kulf the impression that
facts such as We have, quoted do, Franklin
( jogging along in the .'ald gig and 6 railroad
! train rushing at sixty miles an hour what
( q commentary on the difference betwesn IL
IS and tho present. L Philadelphia Led