The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-02-04
UNCLE SANS MAIL SACKS,
How the Many Postal Pouches
Are Handled

How the Many Postal Pouches
Are Handled.
An Looks Must Ne changed Oucs ID
Eight Years = The lusy post
Once Equipment De
partrnent.
Once in eight years all the locks on
United States mail bags must be
changed, II not oftener, says the Wash.
ington Star. This is because utter
awhile q good many lost keys get
around, and they are not very safe 10
have SO distributed. Just now the
equipment division of the post office de.
partment is making over two hundred
and fifty thousand old locks, merely for
the purpose Of rendering them different
They were very good in their day, and
are SO still in other respects.
At first it was suggested that oil these
two hundred and fifty thousand locks
should be thrown away. The junk men
were asked how much they would give
for them, and they said twenty cents a
hundred pounds. This did not seem
large, inasmuch as the post office had
originally paid fifty-seven cents apiece
for the locks. Therefore it was con-
cluded to make them over again, and
this is being, dones now at the repair
shop of q street ct p cost Of six and
three-fourths cents per lock. Il iss y veryy
pretty sight to see the workmens cut the
old contrivances apart, polish them up
on rapidly revolving grindstopes, which
give out showers Of sparks, redrganizing
the tumblers and putting together the
pieces into as good shape, as the new
lamps which the magician in The story
OF Aladdin exchanged for old ones. vi
These locks, as has been said, are to
secure mail bags, but even more inter-
esting are the mail bags themselves and
their histories! Naturally. in the course
OF ihumansevents, these receptacles wear
out now and then This being regarded
as inevitable, in former times they were
turned over promptly to the Junk man.
Now, however, IL Is ALL very different.
According to the regulations, Ias fast as
the bags show symptoms Of wearing
out they are forwarded to Washington
from all over the United States. Thus
one finds in the equipment shop on O
street great rooms heaped with enor-
nous stacks Of mail sacks IN ali staees
OF use, decay, and Que might almost
say, of decomposition. tz44 r.
II Upon arrival they are convened by a
big elevator to the third floor, where
one hundred and ten women Sit sewinu
with coarse thread, The bags are made
OF jute. Some Of the women wear
Ounce caps Of brown paper on their
heads, and all are as busy as SO many
bees. They are eli sewing upon mail
sacks. and when one has finished her
task she holds up her, hand. At once
the foreman in charge goes to her.
takes the bag she has finished and laws
it on a pile. In exchange, he gives her
another, which he takes from a stacl,
near by. Tho sacks in the latter Mia
are in all stages Of dilapidation, and
the rule Is that each worker must take
the one on top. A wooden partition
shuts off the women from sight Of the
pile, because some complained awhile
ago that 1t was possible for others to
see when there were good sacks on ton.
and 80 escape bad ones. It is like the
- =
system Of takes" in newspaper Office.
Thus far only the jute bags have been
spoken Of. But there is another room
in which the leather mail pouches are
mended, twenty-five workmen being
employed for. the purpose. This sys-
tenn has grown up within, tho last four
years. So short a time ago only eight
women and three leather workers were
employed to do the work. But It was
believed that a great economy would
result from devoting attention to the
mending Of old sacks. and this has
proved so far true that many thousand
fewer bags are made annually now than
were required in 1887. although the
post Office business has increased one
quarter since then. The bags are man.
ufactured in New York state.
When the mending Of each bag is fin.
ished it is inspected by a man who is
the only person in the United States
with whom the decision lies rs to when
mail sack is worn out and shall be
used no longer. Condemned ones are
all utilized in one fashion or another.
The best parts of them are used for the
bottoms of sacks that have to be re-
paired, while other portions serve for
patches, the ragged bits being slashed
off with sharp knives. Such rags 90 to
the junk shop. After each sack has
been repaired it is taken to q room
where piece of rope for drawing it's
mouth together is strung through It by
blind woman. Another room is de-
voted 70 the making of coin sacks, in
which postmasters send money.
Symbolic Language
Some years ago white man was cap
sured in the course of raid made by