New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-23
RAMBLING MAIL ON TRAINS.
REPORT OF YEARS WORK AND PROGRESS.
SUPERB NTENDENT JACKSON OF THE PosToFFIcE
RAILWAY SERVICE MAKES HIS AN

NUAL ACCOUNTING.
The Office OF the Railway Mail Service In this city
Has lust finished the compilation Of the annual report
to the Postofhce Department at Washington OF tpe
business transacted IN the year ended June ~ Inns
division Of the Railway Mail Service comprises tne
States of New York. Pennsylvania, New-JerscS Deia
ware and the Peninsula Of Maryland and virginia anu
its particular work is the distribution of mail IN trshs.
in the cars and the supervision Of the distributor anu
dispatch OF mails at all pOstoffces within the states
named. The number of postal clerks assgneu 10 l,iS
work of distributing mall in transit Is '.o, anu e
humber Of pOsofces in the division, tle uain oPo'"
lions of which In distributing and dkpatchng man are
supervised by the Railway Mail Service, Is oo34'
In the year Just ended, the total number OF pieces
Including letters second Third and fourth class matter
and registered mail, distributed on tic cars was 800
1880 Every madeup mail is accompanied OS
check slip. upon which the postal clerk OF postmaster
receiving the mail IS obliged TO note any errors 1ouhu
therein The slip Is then returned TO the DIVISION
superntendents Office where the errors are charged
against the record OF the clerk Or postmaster VINO maui
up the mail. In the last year 9'7S' pieces oi niSl
were forwarded correctly by postal CLERKS 10 cat"
error This was far better than the previous year.
when the number OF pieces handled correctly to each
error was 1923. The tetal number OF errors aoe y,
postal clerks last year W77o, TINS being oecea
of over Is psr cent on the record Of 1880. much
greater number Of was MAGE by the puohc III ~
period. The reports of the snpenh'enuens y.
Mails at the principal postoheeS III tie uiNisiou'
New.York Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Pttsburg, Buuaio'
Rochester and Albany show that the number OF pieces
OF mail received from the public wrongly addresseu'
insuficicntly prepaid etc, was 2,lO7,oo4 :,
In the hast year the equipment Of clerks has III
creased per cent although the amount OF mall us
ributed has increased per cent and the nuhoor
of errors made in the distribution has fallen Oh over
is per cent In the last five years the WORKING loce
has increased nearly 10 per cent while the amount VI
mail distributed has increased 80 per cent anu 'he
errors have increased less than 10 per CENT
NETWORK CITY ESPECIALLY CARED F0k'
One feature of the report possesses pecui,'i anu
important interest to the business men Oh 'e i,lo
tronos that Is the work of extending and improving
the separation Of tie NewYork City mail arriving here
nv trains the object being TO avoid the massine OF any
of this mail upon the General Postoee ana 10 iuu0
IL up in direct separations for the branch sUaois %
which it Is promptly delivered by carriers. eve" '',
mail for the General PostofIce is subdivded' all man
fo- hanks boxes and other subdivisions OF ue Guy
service being made up for immediate hanuhns' wiz"
ouA the necessity OF primary separation at Ihe
General Postoffce. The number on iet'ers ior We"
York City thus separated the cars IN the Iaet year
was 1903 354950 In the previous year tne NUMBER
had been 50 632 $50 Increase OF over 10 per ceu
At the present time the number OF letters separated W
branches of the New-York Office, both IN the Railway
Mail service and IN other postoices, is not far from
100000 letters day.
The examinations Of the clerks in the Second Division
were excellent and many Of the men nave deserved
and received special concentrations from the posla
authorities at Washington. The superintendent OF tle
division. Richard c. Jackson, has offered five gold
medals for competition in the year ending December
Al 1901 and fhe General Superintendent OF the
service at Washington, J. f. White, has onered
special gold medal for general competdon ms VIII
provlde one medal for each class, ana already TIC
stimulus of strife for these tokens of success is OBJ
served The clerks Of the Railway Mail service arc
examined not only before they enter the service ana III
their probationary terms of six months, but contlnu
ously during their in the service 10 the hst
year the postal clerks in their examinations caseo
p644039 cards representing different postohces, ana
of these 23os.155 were cased correctly Inc average
percentage Of the permanent clerks was over so per
cent and the average percentage Of probationary CLERKS
about II per cent.
EXTENSION OF THE SERVICE.
II was not expected that the fiscal year inst passed
would Include any general extension OF the mai service
on new roads within the division, or ON adoltoha
trains because only a restricted appropriation was
available for this purpose Nevertheless the record Oh
The wear includes many alterations and extensions
THESE include the consolidation of posalcar service on
the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad between VIII
Transport and Potsvlfe Penn. the establishment OF
service on the New-lOrk and Rockaway Beach uails'
to and from Oceanus and Averne, " Y. closed pouch
service on the Scranton division Of the New-forh'
Ontario and Western Railroad; full postal cars and
increased equipment on the Pennsylvania hall-
road train from NewYork to Pittsburg, thereby pro-
vidng a complete local Interchange Of mails on TINS
train increased space and equipment on the New
York and Washington line; early morning conhec-
ton from Philadelphia for Melville and Vinelano,
n j. the full separation Of the Philadelphia city mall
BY branches, as had been done for Newfork CITY
the establishment of postal service the Bat-
more and Ohio line between New-York and Washing
ton: the extension of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad mail service from Harrisburg to the junction
of the Gettysburg and Harrisburg road the extension
of the Ulster and Delaware mail service to Bloomvle
~ y: the establishment Of service on the Atlantic
City Railroad between Philadelphia and Atlantic City,
Blicantne and Grenloch, N. j.; and afternoon ser
vice northbound Oh the Delaware Peninsula.
NAIL FOR SUMMER RESORTS.
Particular attention has been given this year to the
mail cessities of the summer resorts This has been
done by providing a clerk between jamestown and
Mayv,le, in the ChautauQua Lake region clerk on
the Lake George boats who receives and delivers mail
nj every landing there Is pOstOfiice clerk on
the Oyster Bay Branch of the Long Island Railroad,
who makes a round trip daily and provides a local
inferchance with the offices that branch which they
never had Ef6re an additional clerk the sag Hdr-
nor division of the Long Island Railroad; and clerk
the NewYork and Point Peassnt hne 70 aS s, II,
Park ocean Grove. etc, and especially assigned 10
separate Newforb City mail arriving IN the city ron
these summer resorts In the morning, SO a. 70 expedite
lis delivery. The Orange County and sullivan County
resorts have been provided for by an additional postal
clerk on rhc New York ontario and Western road ar
riving AZ VewYorlk in the morning and leaving II in
the afternoon and additional help ha been paced on
the West shore and Ulster and Delaware sds 70 faci-
ase ire distribution Of mails for the Catskill region
The correspondence in the superlntendent's ONCE In
attending to the service embraced 2O0,3I3 c0mmuni-
cartons received and 273.044 dispatched, or a daily
veTage of 056 received and S75 written and forwarded
The railway mail ystem was established ony tWen-
tyseVen years ago. ann IT'S GROWTH ana ueVelOpneast III
is comparatively short existence have been astounding