Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-02

An 1nteresting Experiment In Man Delivery
and Collection to He Msde in This City.
Within the next two or three days . number
Of the residents Of this city will receive COM
munications from Postmaster Sherwood to
which the postmaster hopes especial attention
will be paid. An experiment Of more than q
little importance is about to be made, and
whatever success or failure it meets with will
be due very largely to the persons who volun-
tarily aid in the experiment. The circular
which will be sent out to residents ON GER
tain postal delivery routes has been heretofore
referred to in The STAR. 1t reads as follows:
q "The Postmaster General has selected St
Louis, NO., and Washington, d. c., az cities in
which practical tests Of the house delivery and
collection boxes recommended by the commits
sion are to be made. The proprietors of two
of the boxes included in those recommended
for adoption have signifed their intention to
furnish to the bouseholders on the routes
selected for the tests free Of charge and as a
gift outright the boxes necessary to demon
strate their merit.
Your residence..is located on one of the routes
selected for this test. would be glad to have
you call at this Office that you may see the
boxes and have explained the service which it
is proposed to extend. II you cannot conve-
niently do no, If You will notify me of the fact,
ana VIII indicate at what time the representa-
tive OF the box may call at your residence
place OF business, he will do 30, and fully in
form you on the matter.
II am anxious to have these tests fully and
satisfactorily made, as it will, am convinced,
secure to our citizens a more rapid delivery,
and collection service which will make it
unnecessary to leave the house during the day
In order to post mail"
WHAT IT Is PROPOSED TO DO.
Replies to this circular will be looked for
with some interest by the authorities. Post
master Sherwood is DESTROYS of having every
recipient Of an invitation call at the post Office
and see just how the boxes are expected to
work. OF course no box can be adjusted to \
door unless the householder is willing, but if
the experience Of the department in st. Louis
amounts to anything it would seem as though
there were really no DIRECTORS These expert
mental boxes ut in the front doors and are 80
constructed that the householder need not 60
outside to mail letters and cannot keep the
carrier waiting while he is engaged in the
work OF delivery. The box as viewed from
the street resembles a handsome door
plate and 1t may be used as such. When
a Carrier has letters to deliver at house which
Is provided with one ofthese boxes he will drop
the mail into the slot and it will be visible from
the inside OF the door. Should there be mail
to collect the carrier will be made aware of the
fact by the appearance Oh the front Of the box
OF bright red disk. II this signal is out the
carrier will open the outer box and the con-
tents OF that compartment will fall into his
hand. The adoption of this system would
compel carriers to watch every box for the sig
nal whether there we're letters to be delivered
at each house or not 1t is not proposed to col
iect from these boxes more frequently than de-
llverles are now made in that district. If the
carrier is accustomed to making three calls a
day he will not increase the number of his visits
simply because the doors ON his route are
decorated with handsome letter boxes; early
ana late collections will continue to be made
from the lamp-post boxes. The experiment
will probably be continued over a considerable
period of time, but whether it succeeds or fails
the boxes which are to be distributed to the
persons to whom circulars are sent will belong
only to those individuals. The proposed sys-
tenn Is said to have many excelepces, anu it
Is generally understood that not the least Of
these is the proposition to gratuitously dis
tribute number Of useful and Ornamental
letter boxes.
Two varieties of boxes will be used in the
Mitchell Cushing and the
Taylor.
The routes selected as the test covering the
areas indicated in the accompanying map, are
IA fOllows.