The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-08
UNCLE SANS NAIL.
improvements Made and Max
ing in the Service.
DEAD LETTER OFFICE FINDS.
Cost of Transportation Pneumatic Tubes
Nseded--Letters More Than Pay
Their Way.

As an illustration of the rapid growth and i'm
proved service of the postal service. Postmaster
General wanamaker. in his annual report. refers
to the TACT that in the last fifteen months l,lis-
7C6 miles If mali service were added In the sta 9
of Washington alone In Wyoming ia fifteen
mon rs nave been added about $1,000 mi % OF
service, and Ia Idaho In fifteen mont . aooul
I60 000 miles.
Letter or package deposited in the mails with
imperfect directions Tor its deiivery is known In
the department as o "nixie," and the improve
ment in method Is such that the loss IN TINS
class Of matter is greatly reduced Daring the
past year 4.6ls,s3l piecs OF mail were taken
from the raj way postofice lines imperf city Oh
rected, OF which by later treatment 2ls6-sS
pieces, or ~ per cent, were ssnt nome lbs
kept out of toe dead letter office more than y
100000 pieces Of mali matter.
IL Is interesting TO know that the average
value of the money letters opsned In the dead
letter Office was IS: of the letters containing
postal notes, SIS, and Of the letters containing
NJ gotlable paper. s5507. By taking Into ac-
count all letters opened in tins dead letter ONCE
the average value per letter 10 found TO De .
little more than Is cents esq., II IL estin ateo
that there are carried IA ths NAL. l,sof,66I,oV-
ordinary letters per ennum. these nsures oeius
based upon the general count oi ma matter
made for one week in May last At the rate OF
d. ctUL1 per fetter tue Fhiuc VI thS SANA"~,s
letter.mail OF the United states for one year
would be s467 ,s76, 2S6.l0
OF the more than six million asa Q Dali Oh
pieces OF mail matter received annually Ut the
dead letter once, nearly I'VE millions and DALI
contained nothing OF value, and u 10 almost IN
conceivable, but none the less ;rue that ABOUT
one-naf OF this numbsr contained no signature
which would enable the department TO retura
them 10 the writers. They consist in h ma
- 1Ass t. II fAx . n nj
other. or letters passing between intimate
frienda and the signature may be. for example
Mother" "Jack." "Yoar All ctions;s Sister,.
or some squ ally ind finite appeilation.
About 5iS per cent II the whole number, or,
in round numbers, $4,000. OF ali letters opened
Contained valuable In olosures. either OF mon y.
negotiable paper, stage stamps, or misceilan-
eous papers and artcea The n 'uey fncios-
ur alone amounted to over $40 900, and those
There were nearly li,000 letters witch contained
lott ~ tickets. and nearly 10000 contai led
pictures and payers OF . character uuit Tor cir
culation. These ware all destroyed.
That the mails are not used solely Tor the
transmission OF Intelligence Is proved By the
curious collec ion OF articles deposited In the
museum OF the dead letter ONCE. IngsN OF
gold, specimens OF vslus lie ores. kid gloves
from the wreck OF the Oregon. imported
them from the customs Ola ,ers, Indian pipes
and tomshawxs and bircn bark can e, lava
from the Modoc beds, cocoons Of the slk.worm
agate from Lake Superior. residing cards for the
blind. birds egss. cakes, fruit, medicines.
knives, pistols, rings aud watches, live bees,
serpents, horned frogs and cen.pedes. are Q lew
Of the articles representing the varied assort-
ment rapidly accommodating here.
The department fs wholly dependent upon
efs vi As~a nj fhsr an
OF foreign ownership for the transportation OF
the mail Exceptions are the Pacific Mall Steam
ship Company, the Oceanic Steamship Com
pany, The United States and Brazil line aud
The Red "D" line. The total amount paid u
all the other Amer can companies 10 only $40.
955g7 The largest expenditure Of the de- art
ment 10 for transportation. The estimates just
sent TO the Treasury for the next fiscal year
so 6l0. l8 81 for rslroat transportation alone.
Between hity ard sixty miles of pneumatic
tubes are buried in the sire, Is OF Berlin. con
Meeting the sub-ststions with the mAfn post
Office. SINH Ar use Of pneumatic tubes Is made
TO q lesser de rec IN Paris and IN London. The
rap dity with vi ch letter goes from one side to
the other OF a city rs large as rlin 10 Q wonder
even TO sn American. Two rentleme at fer
ent times. one OF them an expert, at the quest
OF the department.. visited tue large postal GEN.
tiers of the world to suiy the pneumatic
system Their reports are not yet ready r
publication: but 1t is hoped that the
way may be ear 10 connect the executive de-
psrtments aud the Sens,e and the House of
Representatives. with the Washington City posi-
Office as the first experiment in this dir ction,
and that the system may then be extended to
The subs ations and postoffiees OF large cities
MIR. anamaker says he sac al / especially like
70 see pneumatie system working perfectly in
Chicago by the time the Worlds fair is in prog
gress. so that he postal exh BIT there would
really show this high development of the
service.
he gross receipts for the n York ONCE for
the year ended June 30 1890 were over
100000: the total expenditure during the
same period a. 81 500 100.
II the POSTAL revenue ar slug from letter post
age could oe set aside for Its proper uses the
millions af letter-writers OF this couatry might
gu cky BE- perm tied to emf y a reduced taxa
ton on letter writing. In point of fact there is
clear gain of nearly $50 00o. 900 from letter
pocayss This large profit, with the annual
appropriated out OF the general treasury. is all
swallowed up by the iosses on other classes Of
mail matter carried at less han the cost OF dis
tribution and handling. Part OF this loss is
caused by the transporia ion Of periodical aud
newspaper mail handled at one cent @ POUND,
OF newspapers carried free within the county of
publication, and OF other matter frsnked or
carried free u der penalty envelopes.
OF all the great powers I'm the world the
United states and Germany alone are without
pnstal-savings sysems The last report of the
British authorities shows that on the average
one person ont OF every eight in the United
Kingdom 10 depositor in the postal savings,
and while in England and wa'es the average
balance 20 each depositor Is almost SO. in Ire
land, where the conditions are harder, the av-r.
age balance TO each depositor is close % sei,
owing doubtless to lever opportunities to in
vest or fepasit money for safe-kseping Mr.
Wsnamaker advocates the establishment oil
postsl savings banks and Gays:
ITO teach economy and thrift as leading up
to better citizenship falls short II there is nc
adequate provision for the safc-keeping of .av.
ings sucn places ought 70 be within an hours
walk OF the home of every workiugman. They
cannot be left 70 privste cspi'aists TO provide
because ii would not pay them to deal in small
sums or perform the necessary labor The post
Offices aud p s,mssters ar. in every respec,
rightly situated to do this work. 1t would be .
great comfort TO the people 10 have these banks
IN cou,d not be affected in times OF financial
nj