New-York tribune., 1891-02-19
POSTAL FACILITIES IN LARGE CITIES.
4 COMPARTMENT LETTER-BoX PROPOSED ~ r"r
VENT THE MASSING OF NAIL MAIIEH-
PUBLIC COOPERATION NEEDED.

VENT THE MAsSING OF NAIL MATIEh-
PUBLIC COOPERATION NEEDED.
Washington Feb. Is (SpeciaD.-Ihe urgent hoS
and growing demand for increased fachues III ui'P'
ing Of the enormous mall now passing lhruusi 81. a
PostoIice of New-Yorl are constantly bringing lor
new suggestions from many quarters ho'ei pi'
was submitted to Postmaster General Wanah'Aer ~
June last and is still, far has been learheu.
under consideration by him. II involVei rdui."i
change in the present methods OF collecting assoi7
and distributing mails in large cities It's auv"oi
d. Skutsch whose proposition appeared 10 me.'' w
approval of the Postmaster-tienerai III Is paso "p
tbe theory that the public at large can be nduceu 10
assist in avoiding the masslng Of mall from tle starr
through proper ella asslfcatlon by sections. WIN tl''
object in view he submitted sketches Of what lie deSiS
mated compartment lcter-boX,' divided lhto io"i
parts corresponding to the principal points Vi '
compass: and also, Photographic views oi lio mon
wagons now In use in Berlin, Germany, ior car'Sl"e
mails from station TO station, thereby aVoluis .'o
delay incidental to the useless carrying to and masss
Of letters at one central point In further eApiha
,ion be made the following statement yesterday:
There seems to be no acceptable reason why a tlhg
borId 6yst he done only TO be diligently undOne aer
ward What seems queer proceeding Is uhe p'eS'i'
promiscuOus plng together OF mall matter Ill po''
Offices railway postal street letter-boAes' business
houses, newspaper offices, etc. WIN le lroe0"' '''
tenn of the division Of large cities into eis'erh
western porthern and southern sections, system
which is now so thoroughly understood by the resi-
dents both young and old, 1t occurred to me tiaV .'
simplest thing do, at the start would DC 10 Ioom
that division up in the arrangement OF our ma'l ooi
lection and to letter boxes divided corTespohuneS
into four sections, adopting for each sectioh us0'
color preferably one OF the National colorS, with one
more for the fourth section. Accordingly ahOpted'
I'm rho sketch submitted TO the POstmasterGeneral'
the red color for the eastern section the white for the
western and the blue for the northern leaVns ''c
color for the fourth southern section 10 De ch"nHoo
according 10 the location OF the box in order to indicate
the section itself to person mailing letter. so 'hae
ono wonld always know in what section of the city he
deposits his mail by this fourth color mus ullS ad-
ditional color might in the eastern section OF the Guy
be uray in the northern bronze In the western vloet
and the southern gilt Of course IL would take TWO
boxes where only is in now-One for the o'aI
mall or sections Of the city, and one for the correspond
ing sections Of the whole country. and for foreign mail
"If such plan were to be followed up oy the estao
lishment of four corresponding main branch poStoceS
one for each section with the necessary suDsauohs' III
every large city, and by the establishment Of system
Of exchange by means Of mail wagons, between them'
the massng Of large bulks Of mail matter at the MAN
postonices would be thing of the past
Bat it is not with the postal authorities alone anx-
ions as they are to improve the service, To remeuy
existing difficulties. There Is much need for active
cooperation on the part Of the public at large, ana
NDNNAN'~'-N
having a largo mail to send out. First OF all, inc
indl,almnate mixing together Of letters ana crch-
lars Of city and country domestic. tanscontnehtaI
and foreign mails Of business and private correspohn'
ence ought to cease. Every business house, large OF
small should have its little poStohice, As 1t were
that is to say the persons interested in the sending OF
mail matter should be Instructed TO sep
ar,te from tho start the different xmas
~ mail in boxes, baskets, etc, or upon
table desk or bench provided for that purpose
Thi, alone would save enormous amount ot tlme'
labor and space AZ the different postoces and would
certainly result in great advantage 10 the pubhc III inc
Way of avoiding delay, errors in distribution etc' IL
wond virtually leave the miscellaneous mall or that
~ individuals a. the only remaining portion requlr-
ING further assortment and with the adoption OF thc
compartment letter box, II could not form grl per
cruta.c of the entire mass Of mail matter Perhaps
I wonld not % too far In suggesting besides tuit
business houses might adopt the use of boxes niue
mail bags etc Of their own, bearing their names,
aud the coIors corresponding with the sections IN
dicated as stated above by cOlors So tha Were
such a system and that Of exchange by malI wagons
adoped such boxes or bags could be placed WIN tie
lettr boXe, or delivered o. the mail wagon anu WIFI
their content. already assorted hurried lorWau
toward their dcstinato In view OF the fact that
with the exception Of the few Colorblnd people every
man womnn or child however Ignorant, can easily
lr made T. understand tho significance ot cOOr ,uc
plan as this would. II seems 70 me- commend ilSeH
Ia nm favor