Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-10-09

The Service Of Uncle Sam and the Pub
lie Not Very Lucrative-Report Of the
First Weeks Operations fm This City.

Inc special messengers employed at the city
post Office have none OF them yet been able to
business, but they are still hopeful that better
times will come. So far only one boy has re-
signed. He was employed as q messenger by a
telegraph company. but thought he could make
more serving Uncle sam. After one days trial
he quilted public Office and returned TO his old
employment. The report OF the first week s
operations OF the service in this city shows that
the average amount earned by each boy was
Sl.69ra. The number of messengers employed
delivered 6o2. the number of trips made
900, and the average time occupied
In delivery is minutes. The Post Office depart
ment mas sent out blanks To the post Offices,
upon which reports are made covering various
points connected with the service One point
upon which Information is asked is the number
of special letters received i'm the last mail be-
fore midnight Another Is the average time
employed In delivery. Each post office has to
as the number OF letters from other cities de-
Iivered; also the number OF failures TO deliver
letters and the causes. When the department
mas received a great many OF these reports, the
facts contained in them can be generalized
with the view of determining what rules are
needed to perfect the service.
THE SPECIAL MESSENGERS ROOM
In the basement of the city post Office presents
a rather interesting scene, much like that which
can be witnessed in any school room when the
teacher has stepped out for a moment. The
boys sit on long benches about the room and
assume all the attitudes limberjointed boys
are capable of. Overcoats and waterproofcapes
and lunch baskets hanging about on pegs bring
up to the mind of the visitor recollections OF his
school days. The clerk i'm charge sits behind
the counter In the corner, and occasionally
frowns down a boy who Is unusually noisy.
When the service was first started whenever a
letter came down the shute all tile boys rushed
to the desk and struggled To get glance
at the address, Ii it was addressed to
some one away out the outskirts
OF the city, all the boys, except the one who had
TO go out with ii, set up a shout of glee. Since
kept at a respectful distance from the desk
While STAR reporter was in the room yester-
DAY afternoon, as soon AS a letter came down
the box or shute. four or five boys rnshed out of
Inc door ana up the steps to the street outside.
They returned Immediately and called out to
the other boys what the address on the letter
was. This operation was repeated every time
letter came down. In order to solve the mys-
tery' the next time letter came down
sidewalk. There he saw two boys put
their heads down close to the
sidewalk sid and Immediately upon rising yell out
Is raised platform Of iron and Opaque glass
such as are used To light basement rooms Di.
rectly beneath this is the desk of the clerk in
charge. When a letter comes down the box the
clerks lets il lie on his desk until he makes the
proper entries i'm his record book. Two of the
broken out. The boys eyes were applied TO
these openings at is ouiy manifestation of
human nature, said one OF the officials at the
Office, 1.-THE eagernesS common TO all mankind
to know things in advance
LETTERS DELIVERED AHEAD OF TIME.
Yesterday afternoon a letter was mailed in
Philadelphia at 4:30 o'clock bearing q special
delivery stamp. 1t was stamped by the city
post Office officials here received 1l:3O D. m"
and was received at police headquarters at
1l:22 or eight minutes ahead of the receipt
mark. Another letter delivered Yesterday at
hali-past two o'clock was stamped as received
here at O'Clock. The explanation of the mys-
terry is that the stamperH change their dies
every hall nour and dated their stamps halt an
hour ahead. FOR instance, all letters received
al o'clock and until 2:30 are stamped re-
ceived at 2:3O All received from 2:3O to 3
O'Clock as received at 3 o'clock &c In the or
binary mode Oh delivery, the letters would not
reach the addresses before the hour stamped
upon il.