Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1882-09-13
NEW YORK LETTER
INTERESTING NOTES FROM THE
GREAT METROPOLIS,
The Specially Newspapers-An Organ
for Every Branch Of Trade-A Well
Managed Mail Service-Etc.

Special correspondence of the TINES.
New YORK, September 6, 1882.
To THE EDITOR OF THE TlMEs:-
Having occasion the other day to
try and hunt up missing letter, l
came across the Superintendent of the
Railway Mail Service and was inter
ested in learning something about the
general subject, and also about the
vast number of complaints which reach
the New York postoffice as to letters
lost or gone astray. 1t is but few
years since the mails were carried on
railroad trains in sort of haphazard
way, the contracts for compensation
being given out to corporation and
then having no supervision, except in
vague and unsatisfactory way. Now
the postal cars-thcir construction,
running, general management and the
work done on every trip-are as
closely looked after as if they were
local postoffices, and if a letter can be
shown to have been dropped into a
collection box and subsequently de-
layed, it can be traced, step by step,
until the cause, place and time of de-
tention is pointed out. In very
large majority of cases of letters going
astray the fault is that Of the sender
not properly addressing them. A day
or two ago United States Senator
made vigorous and highly indignant
complaint because very important
business letter had not been received
by the party to whom he had adj
dressed it. Search was begun for the
letter and it was found at town in
New York having the same name as
that which it was designed to reach.
The Senator had put IN. Y" in place
of "N. j." and to New York it had
properly gone. The superintendent
of the railway service has busy time
Of it i'll the winter when snow and
storms may delay trains and miss con-
nections for mails, but it is equally
trying in summer when increased mail
facilities must be arranged for all
prominent watering places. All COM
plants have to be sifted down and
investigated and the superintendent
is equally sure that whatever he may
decide he will be denounced by some
body as totally unfit for his place.
SPECIALITY JOURNALS.
1t will hardly be credited but there
are printed and published, in New
York alone, nearly 800 periodicals de-
voted to specialties. These are pa
pers in the interest of the grocer, of
the jeweler, of the chemist. There is
a carriage makers journal, hatters'
journal and another, discussing every
thing connected with the tanners
trade. Medical and law journals there
are too and several religious news
papers. Then there are two billiard
papers, three or four tobacco journals,
several that are printed for the in
crease of trade in drugs, and three
that set forth the usefulness, the vir-
tue and the general worth Of the sta
toner. The clothier has his organ,
and so has the hair-dresser, and the
cooks are represented by a culinary
gazette and gastronomical weekly.
Then there are plumbers papers and
confectioners' paper and soap
makers journal, an india-rubber
journal, carpenters journal, a paper
makers journal, journal published
in favor of the Five Points mission, a
prison journal and a journal designed
to foster a kindly feeling for our dumb
animals, and you have an extended
list. But these are not all. There
are sporting papers, financial papers,
real estate papers, insurance papers,
and several that deal only with books.
Dramatic papers are as common here
as art journals of which there are three
or four; nautical journal keeps us
posted in regard to ships, yatchs, can
oes and row-boats, two export papers
tells us how rich we are becoming by
sending our substance away, and three
import papers prove to us that we are
growing richer by purchasing goods
from abroad. There are three organs
for the wine and spirit trade and
another for the beer-brewers and anoth-
er for the ale brewers and still another
for the bar-keepers. Then there are
three hotel papers that teach the
world where to stop when it is away
from home; and it is queer that every
hotel mentioned-provided its name
be in the advertising column
Is the best hotel in the city or town
which it ornaments. The leathermen
have their journals and SO have the
dentists, the photographers, the litho-
graphers, and the telegraphers. The
elevated railways are represented by
u