Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-09-10
THE WASHINGTON POsTOFFICE.
Tons of Letters Handled EsaIIy-Tha
President:s Mail.

The president of the United States
receives daily an average of so, 900
letters, which, as rule, are answered
or receipt acknowledged on the day
of delivery. To enable him TO cope
with this vast correspondence, says
the New York Sun, much Of which
requires not simply q formal reply,
but considerable research and especial
knowledge, the executive is furnished
with 10000 clerks, who, for conven>
fence, are divided into seven depart
ments, according as their work has to
do with our foreign relations, the
army or navy. the fiscal machinery
of the government, It's internal rela
tons, the postal service, or the admin
istration of justice. The heads of
these seven principal Departments are
asked by the president to meet him
ouce or twice week at the White
House, and form what is known as
his cabinet. At these conferences the
more important busldess Of the several
departments is discussed, SO that the
work may be done promptly and har-
moniously; and SO well regulated is
the system that 1t is not necessary for
the president to see personally but q
very small part of the executive cor
respondepce. Two Or three sacks only
out of the tons of mail matter that is
dumped every morning on the floor
of the Washington city postoffice goes
to the White House.
This postoffice is the third in the
country IN volume of business, though
Washington is only the fourteenth
city in population This is on account
of the enormous Official mail that pass
es through Postmaster Conger's hands.
During the fiscal year which ended
June 80, 1885, the letters received were
in excess of 25,000,0 900, or about 70, :
900 daily, and of this total it is esti~
mated about 20 per cent. goes to the
departments.
The refuent tide is even larger, for
the outgoing delivery includes &ll the
publications of the government.
Statistics in this field would be stag
gering. They would be on such a
huge scale that the figures would lose
their meaning. On some days, for in
stance. during the busy days Of Cons
gress, 1000 large sacks, mostly of exS
ecutive documents, will pass through
the Office, and the average for the
summer months is 10000 sacks
month. Much of this is registered,
for greater safety, SO the work thrown
on the city force is prodigious.
There are "creWs" of men III the of
fee all the time, night and day, week
days, Sundays and holidays. One
section works from Z A, III. to 3P. NJ,
one from to IL P. NJ, and from IL P.
III. to A. NJ.
AL the departments have a mail
room where the letters are received
and sorted. In the larger departments
these rooms have quite q postofice
look of their own, and exceeded in the
volume Of business transacted the
figures of many towns Of considerable
size. Here the sacks are opened and
the contents distributed into trays or
boxes which represent the office of tie
secretary and the different bureaus.
When thus sorted the letters GO TO the
chief clerks, who go through the pile,
whether confidential" or not.
Then, in due progress, the reply
goes back, on thick white letter paper
of official size, deliberately headed,
and gathering Endorsements as it pro-
ceeds-red marks and blue marks,
numbers and dates, circles, squares,
and crosses-till it is finally signed,
folded and mailed again.
The last hour or two of each office
day In the departments Is devoted to
finishing up the correspondence and
signing it. The latter means great
drudgery to the secretaries and their
responsible subordinates. Some days
these officers siga their names for two
hours as rapidly as they can write,
with messenger at their elbow to
pass them sheet after sheet, and blot
the signature as it is scratched off.
Rarely are the contents noticed. 1t
comes TO the desk through the proper
channels and is assumed to be correct
If not, the one who suffers by the er
ror will be very likely to complain.
Of course, the more important CORES
pondence is treated more carefully.
And now the reply begins its trav
els. Again the department wagons,
from the heavy red vans, to the sus~
piclously neat carriages, convey the
sacks to the city post>office where
they are emptied and the letters con-
veyed from clerk to clerk. One ar
ranges them in piles, then the cancel
ing stamp and postmark put on, and
then the distribution begins. About
twenty thousand postofhces are locat>
ed by the most direct railway lines,
thus saving the railway clerks from a
vast task that would have to be done
very quickly.
The busiest time of the day for the
incoming mail is early Ia the MORN
ing, when the great night mails arr
rive. From z to 8 o'clock the Office
seethes with activity. Shortly before
9 o'clock The mail wagons for the de-
partments and the outlying bureaus
are hauled up IN the rear of the office
and the mail is hauled to them for
distribution. These vehicles are of
every description, from heavy, red,
circus>like vans to neat covered car
eiages, which have a strong suspicion
of twilight and Sunday excursions
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