Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-28
AIR LINE MAIL LINES
Proposed to Be Shown to Visitors to
the Chicago Worlds Fair.
FACILITIES WOULD BE DOUBLED.
Great Saving of Time in Collecting Nails
in CongeSted Streets.
A BIG SYSTEM OF OVERHEAD CABLES


weight of ten tons, shooting across the city
as swiftly as electrical power can impel
them, is one of the possible scenes that will
greet the ewes of Worlds Fair visitors and
at the same time furnish q solution to the
problem of rapid delivery of mails in Chi
cago:
The plan which proposes this method Of
transmission of mail is the latest sugges,
tion evolved from the efforts TO devise a
practical system for the accomplishment Of
what has become a great necessity. The
recognition Of the fact has resulted in the
Offering of various devices and plans, chiefly
OF pneumatic and electrical character and
all containing degrees of. practicability.
The elevated wire system was explained by
Postmaster Sexton, 10 whose consideration
it had been subjected He said:
There is a great deal of practicability
about il, and if the minor difficulties can be
overcome and the plan will work in the
manner claimed for it, it would undoubtedly
bc etfectuaL 1t is the result of II years
study on the part Of its originator, who is a
Chicago man. The plan embraces system
Of overhead cables radiating from the fed
erai building to all central points in the
city They will be put sufficiently high to
clear allbuildings, even the "sky scrapers"
viii not be obstructing. as the cables are to
be placed above them. They are to BE strong
enough to sustain bags containing as much
as zen tons of mail The sacks will be i'm
PEELED by electricity at a rapid rate, and
mail will be sent from the most remote parts
of the city 10 the central postoff:ce for dis
trbution in a wonderfully short time.
THE DETAILS ALL CONSIDERED.
All the details have been studied and the
expense considered, and this plan will un-
douhtedlv be one among those to receive
consideration in the projecting of some
method to relieve the constantly increasing
demands upon the postOfice OF Chicago. If
this or some of the methods proposed do
prove successful" continued Colonel Sex
ton, lit simply means that business men
will euioy greater service, service that will
be of inestimable value. Every day we are
reminded OF the inadsq aacy of the Suburban
service by complaints which come to US in
the belief that we are responsible for it. 1t
is. Of course, entirely beyond our jurisdie-
zion, and we are no more responsible than is
the postmaster of New York, and / know
that Chicago people do not complain as long
as thev are receiving fair service. They are
TOO busy to do so. The schemes for rapid
transit mean solution of this problem as
weil for it will place all in the one iurisdIc-
tion with the advantages of the system.
None among the growing demands of
the city is more deserving Of attention than
this very rapid transit Of mails. We are
more than entitled to it, The business of
the office increas IS at a rate that is enormous
every year. The Postmaster General has
afa.or
10 secure some special legislation for Chi
cago's mail service in view of the Worlds
Fsir and from this, with the effort con-
stantlv being made to devise practical way
Of accomplishing it, L am confident that a
more rapid transit of mails than can possibly
result from the present system will come.
1t is bound to"
THE TROUBLE AFTER MAIL Is COLLECTED.
Captain J. J. McGrath, Superintendent
of the Chicago Free Delivery Department.
said in reference to the new suggestion:
THAT any system by which the transit of
mails NAV be transmitted with that speed
which hourly becomes more necessary Will
he welcomed goes without saying. Time is
the great object constantly before the mail
and accuracy. Give us suffi-
cicnt Of the former and the latter will fol-
low. Our greatest delay, the very greatest
Of the time which is 50 valuable,
is due to the method by which mail is de-
livered to the central postotfice after it has
been gathered up by the collectors
''Thc Chicago postoffi sc free delivery sys-
TEN covers an area of about - square miles,
or one-third of the entire area of Chicago.
Within that boundary there are IL carrier
stations or central points. Besides these
there are % sub-pOstal stations, at which
nothing but stamps, postal notes, money
orders, etc, are issaed. Outside of this
there are 5S regular postoffices which send
their mail into the central office bv railroad
.rains, the same as any outside city.
Formerly it was the plan for the collectors
TO deliver the mail at the carrier stations,
where il was assorted and then sent into the
central office, but this consumed time when
the work could just as well be dom at the
central office, and that method wa aban-
doned. Now the mail in the district under |
cur jurisdiction is gathered up by carts,
CaCh district being covered bv two or three |
men. The collectors of each district when |
through, meet, and the mail is all delivered |
10 one, who brings it to the central office, |
while the Others resume the collecting
'In the districts neaT the postoffice 10 |
minutes is allowed from the time the col |
lecting is commenced until the mail is at the |
central Office. In the outer districts 216 |
required for the collecting outside you can |
readily see where the rest of the time goes.
One hour and a half is spent in getting the |
mail through the congested streets to the |
pOstoffice.
CHlCAGO'S CoSGESTED STREETS.
'Nowhere in the country is there a city |
whose streets are so congesteG as Chicago. |
Its great rush of business keeps them con- |
n III.
other than q surface delivery of mails to the |
central office must be adopted. Let it be |
either above or below, whichever is best. If !
his collected mail could he delivered at the |
central office in from five to eight minutes
rs is claimed by the prOpOSers of the pneu-
matte and other schemes, mails could be
brought in every few minutes. Where we
are now making six deliveries a day we
could deliver at least Is to the business part
IF the city All the 81 outside postoffices
and where they are receiving one
md two mails a day they could have one
very few minutes.
at is coming to that by virtue of neces-
,itv. The Chicago postoffice turns in an an
lual revenue of S2, 500, coo, and it is entitled
q A true recognition of its Importance. The
u5ject is not only important to Chicago,
DUt to the world Of people who will be here
luTinG theWorld's Fair, and to whom a safe
nd speedy delivery Of their mail is due.
Another loss of time that would be OBJ
lated would be that which constantly oc-
urs in the delivering to the depots. A great
many Of the railway depots are across the
liver on the blockaded streets, with the fre-
.uent delays at bridges, making ii matter of
-reat difficulty. Mails must be started long
,efore departure of trains TO insure its
imely arrival. All of these difficulties will
isappear in ratio with the increased speed
q thn -rnnSit L. nd1-n tnr 90 nnlr L.. !