Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-02

-nIiles lli,lou, Total pay Sl3, .6O6, rate
per tnlie?ll5 y; lSSd-miles 12l, O32, total
pay $l4, toS, 4gJ, rate per mile $l2l %.
me Postmaster General says: ''The
constant increase shown BIZ these figures
chaiienges careful examination Of the
! present method and serious inquiry
! "hethef IL does not work somewhere eX-
! ceeslVe compensation for the service re.
turned. The disproportiOnate jump in
Tue rate per mile Tor the last year, as dis
closed oy the statement, is due partly to
/ the TACT Just mentioned, that the service
mas been more closely pad and that the
! computation OF rate has been annually
| maze on the actual payments Of the year
/ reported instead of the full cost. That
I practice has operated to exhibit a less in
crease In the rate per mile during previ-
! Gus years than was in truth attained, and
1t 10 one of the benefits of the more prompt
adjustment OF accounts that such infor-
nation is more accurate"
Inc actual increase IN railroad service
during the year was As routes, 1872 miles
and Sl,6l5,3S0 in annual cost.
THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.
The report Of the Superintendent pre-
sents the affairs of this branch OF the
| postal business during the past year in
extensive detail, and he contrasts the sta
tlstlcs OF Its proportions and performances
In the last with former years of it's history
In such manner as not only to exhibit
It's present aspect, but to illustrate its de-
Velopment from the beginning.
The total length of clerks routes at
tanned in the year was 121, 167 miles, and
the entire number of miles actually run
gives daily average to each clerk of
l2O.94 miles. The gross number OF pieces
handled, exclusive of registered matter,
| increased by 9.4S per cent. This fact
tends to prove an increased employment
of the mail, Notwithstanding the untavor-
able business condition during part Of
the year, and gives support to the obser-
Fatlons previously made upon the rev.
enues OF the service. Altogether about
5,OO0, 100000 pieces We're handled by these
clerks during TIE year.
The appfopri atien Tor special facilities
was expended chiefly on the general
north and south cQastwise line from the
New RngIaSd States to Florida.
EXTENSION OF THE POSTAL UNION.
The area of the Uaiversal Postal Union
has become SO enlarged as fairly to Justify
its name. Its service was extended
| during the year to Massonah, on the Red
| Sea, through the action Of the Italian
| government in creating post office at
that point sr0n July 1 last the
kingdom of SIAM became member
of the uaieH,-eR-- Jan. ! next the
State of Congo 6oins, and by next April
| the republic - of Bolivia, the
latest lingering government on
this continent, will be united
to the league. n On that date the area OF
| civilized postal privileges will compre-
bend ,QEfg 5haQqf eeQsssquare miles and
more than S50,0O0,000 people; and all of
AngPjcaand Of. Europe, with most of the
! clyliiz6d world beyond, will enjoy the
! equal benefits Of a system Of communica-
| ton over which, as upon yet unworn
/ highway through the new-brOken forest,
a reasonable imagination may perceive q
! far off tinger-post pointing the mill6nial
brotherhood of men.
The NEWsPAPERs PAY IN OVER 81, 000, 900
The entire weight of newspaper and
| periodical matter carried, not estimating
the free circulation allowed within the
county of publication, was in round num-
bers 50,529 tons, on which postage to the
! gross amount of S2,021, 1j9 26 was col
lected, more by $13l ,567 u, or nearly
per cent, than during the previous year.
DEAD LETTERS.
The statistics of the dead letter office
are given in extensive detail, and require
a patient review TO fully appreciate the
useful service performed by it. Four
| million seven hundred and ninety-fOur
thousand eight hundred and forty pieces
were handled during the year, and the
work so closely brought up that but 13, 306
were ''left on hand' at the end of the year,
as compared with 1906 pieces at the be-
ginning of it.
The revenue Of the office comprised
IS, 141 "A, taken from dead letters which
could not be restored to the senders, and
81, $50 81. the net realization from the Jan.
auction sale of articles of merchandise
for which no owners could be found; IL
all So, 1872 81.
The utility to the general public of this
Office, in a merely pecunlary sense, may
be better judged from the tables furnished
by the chief of the division, eXhIbitOry OF
the money branch of it. A summary Of
these is. that of 1878 letters handled
during the year (of which 1884 were on
hand or outstanding at the beginning of
it), e5neafni1g money 10 the amount Of
S35. 5lS lG4. dl2 1896 containing 500, 453 40,
were prbBsris' deliVered, ala, containing
$S,265 IA, were fled to await claims of uu-
known Owners; ES5, containing $2,64l 90,
are outstanding,-an 1,115, contain
i 1f sss s,nc csG9 p i nnRd; o and
standing at the beginning of the year,,
containing drafts cAecks, notes, etc., TO
the value OF $2.2l5. 066 Oh at their face,
17.5SS, containing 81 ,795.764 81, were de-
livered 10 their owners; l95, containing
S1O3. $40 43,yYeIe fled, and 1926, contain
| ing S3lB.t0901. were outstanding June 30;
of 81. 666 packages of books, merchandise,
etc, 30, 4a ware correctly delivered, a.
407 filed, and 10, Tfa destroyed; and of &c.
PSI, containing receipts or paid notes,
q. $50 weredeii4ered and A,697 filed. Be-
sides these there were received -, I3l pho
tographa, Bfwhich % 94T were delivered
aud 6,Ie4 filed; 3 anft n l07 $50 postage
stamps.l u which 105834 were delivered
and 1926 filed.
MONEY ORDERS AND POSTAL NOTES.
Nearly 1926. 900 domestic money orders,
averaging $l5 26 each, Welding an aggre-
gate amount of nearly $924,OO0 In fees,
were purchased during the year. Postal
notes exceeding 5000, 00Oin number, aver
aging 81 IS each, reaching in total almost
$40 0O0, 900, and producing over Sl32,OOO in
fees, were issued 20 buyers. International
money orders TO the number OF almost
10000 were drawn upon the nineteen diff
ferent foreign countries with which mu-
tual interchange had been put in opera
ton, averaging about Sl5 % each, aggre-
eating over 81, $40. 900 and returning gross
fees exceeding Sl4l,OOO.
There was "A decrease In both the do
nestle and foreign money-order business,
denoting the effects Of the general depres-
sion in the pecuniary affairs OF the coun-
trv. the more strikingy because with our
increasing population there should have
been under ordinary circumstances an
increase Of the transactions. The total
...f....o If ha hpafunGa If the apVprnl