Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-03-14
THE PEOPLES SERVANT.
The RAILWAY NAL SERVICE
A Fs~ Facts Relative % its Esrlf His
torY, Growth and Present hsgni-
tude Something OF the 6ua-
piosss an1 feesr Duass.
aosf

80 generally Interested. and which b. al tbs
same tine so little understood, as that of the
HALLWAY Nail Service Almost every body, no
matter what their station ia life og Their aVo-
cation may be, l. served bs the mails.
People deposit their written nlssires IN a
letter box, or Ia post Office, and know. u, a
general way. that they reach their dsriins-
F lion in due course of time. but few have auy
thing like an accurate idea OF the aofas
operal,d, Of their transit.
The Railway Mail Service, as a. present
operased, Il Of comparatively modern origin.
only middle aged people can readily re
member when all letter mail from country
pos. offices was forwarded ia packages ss-
curely wrapped IL strong paper, 30 the near
est distributing post Office IN the direction Of
it, destination. For example: letters ad-
dressed 10 points westward mailed IN Mich
+ igan, were forwarded to Chicago ID. Z. O.;
/ those for points eastward 10 Detroit or
I Toledo ID. L. O. Only the large ciiy oilices,
and those where numerous routes Centered.
/ were designated a. distributing post OiIcos.
( Al these offices all letter packages received
g were opened and distributed IN cases con
I tanning a pigeon hole for each post Office IN
-
were filed or when the mail for those points
/ WAS about 10 depart, OF when the dag + work
was concluded. rs the case might be, their
contents were again enclosed IA paper wrap
perS and the packages addressed 10 their re-
spectlNe destinations. As may be readily
seen. this method of distribution involved
considerable delay, usually about thirty-slN
+ hours, mails arriving al evening beng dis
Z trbutcd next day and sent Out the following
morning There were no might lines
F then. and mail matter usually
+ tar.fed ia the ID. r. - Office two nights aud
/ one day. There was not only serious delay
F in the j.. =. O., but many letters We're carried
directly past their destination. and not re-
+ turned tail after the usual -. i. %. manlpu-
/ iau0n. Thus, letter mailed az HUDSON,
+ Mich. for la Porte, Ind, would very likely
be placed IN the package for Chicago -. i.
+ O.. and on its way there pass directly through
the village Of la Porte. Some pOstmaster>
/ may have exercised little care and have
4 taken pains 10 make up packages for local
OF intermediate points. bat The average
I country l.. N. bundled everything OF = the
+ nearest ID. p O.. regardless OF Its nnal des-
uuatOn.
Mail apartments in the railway cars of that
/ day we're crude affairs. when compared with
those of the present time. They We're pro
Vided with a few boxes holding bushel or
more each. few hooks for hanging ~
pouches ana table, upon which mail was
I t1nlfAlFU ana A~-OfltO. No pigeon -ftlt-
were provided. and none were needed. Tor
no letter packages were opened. Postal
Clerks. or Mail Route Agents. as they were
then styled. distributed and forwarded letter
! packages as they did newspapers. solely 10y
I the address upon the outside wrapper. I'M
/ pOrtant inventions anU wonderful discover
/ les IN science and philosophy nave frequently
+ had their origin IN some trIling incident or
I circumstance. and revolution III the kail-
! way Mail Service resulted from and was IN
/ augur8ied 10y a simple accident. a. lt were.
/ On certain Summer day IN leob. the mad
run westward, between Toledo and
Chicago. over the LAKE Shore & Mlchi-
gan Southern Road. was IN charge
+ of John Caldwell gentleman
whose head is well filled with practical com
4 mon sense. In cmptylng mail received from
a way office. wrapper came open and
/ package of letters was scattered about the
! Table. In gathering them up. he discovered
! that several were addressed TO Offices on hIs
/ line and IN towns through which his train
! had not yet passed. 1t instantly occurred 20
/ him that he might deliver those letters that
/ day. instead OF taking them through 10 the
! Chicago ID. II. O., a. the address on the
/ wrapper indicated. To do so would be
violation of the regular practice. and per
I haps subject him 10 cenSure and reprimand.
/ bat the fact that II would place the letters IN
/ the hands of the people 10 whom they were
/ addressed that day. instead Of the day after
+ the next. prompted him 10 take the chances,
/ and he did so. On reaching Chicago. he re-
ported the matter 10 hon. Geo. B. Arm
| strong. Superintendent of the Railway Mail
/ Service. That official approved Mr. Cald-
/ wells action IA the premises. and therCupOn
the latter suggested that he might devote hi-
( leisure moments during the run each day 30
/ an inspection Of packages received from way
I offices. and sort ont and deliver such letters
( as he might find for Offices not yet passed.
I Mr. Armstrong assented 10 n; and n con
/ yorsation which ensucd. be expressed q de
/ termination TO try the experiment Of doing
d. r. %. work on wheels-While the mali-
( should be in tTausii--aud thus obviafe the
I delays which were unavoidable under the
/ old system, provided the railroad companies
oF some OF them. would furnish the requisite
/ facilities for IT. From that time Oh, Mr
F Caldwell gave much attention
81 possible. with hIs limited
/ facilities. 10 the labor Of sorting ont and de-
livenng letters for local points. and this was
probably the real commencement of j. y.
%. work while the male were In transit
+ But Mr. Armstrong proposed new de-
parture" encountered many obstacles. and
( if= early experience was similar % that u
+ almost all other progressive suterpriees
Many readers vii readily recali some Cf tiie
absurd objections urged against toe build
ipr % railroads. thirty or forty gears ago.
Most ~ the farmer- and teHnsters aruued
that the raising of horses would become p
F prottiess industry, becau-e 80 feE Wouid be
needed after the railroads should be huit.
hut in the matter ~ ludicrou- objection. the
. argument which the writer Guce heard made
IS pioneer settler Of Northern MichiFar.
against the buii5ing ~ the Grand RsT6ds Il
f indiana Road. takes thf belt Tie earnestly
protested against ~ fb=cause the whistle ~
ths pes zy locomotive wo1id drive sIi tile deer
0af - tbe country. lhe obieciions
urrel against Mr Arnstr0nz pfoIeri mes
Dot have been quite so sb-Br7. hJf ft.sg we're
cIefT ar1gutiass Haa-ro7d mana -ar. we're
reluctant abouf providing fhe increased eaf
sracs and other facilities necessary foT p
fair t~ei ~ tae e1p' rimeut. and ID p. 90.
Tostnaa-fers and ttfir emrfoFes were Gee
tofalF aFVoeea - it fife former fsr ths
ffaaCT ffef if fhf f7fef fI1aanf -fse1'd rFcee p
.1rr=ss. the salsr5es and e1Dsea1tli inrort
fuee ~ thfir rs41cee urst necessarily te re
eer end tre laffer ueenrse of tise s~eet.-
Flnl rese-tlol wnict f1r= ~ mrde n fnf
rlencsI Force ~ = j. g. Offices fsa. at
fs h~ifnE ~ ralr1ads artrsr iHeeraef
ftfe demand frf -~-sz-e- i-.rar-e ~ iaa 81
c-ese1 snsa1t of vclt to - TerferTs, bT
f .o ftf uuate ssrrfen n 4ft
trrasfrfrE rW rrree rrtttr taaf
h1 eis-r rs