Evening star., 1894-01-06

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va of the railroads in
one year. the Postmaster General has the
country divided into four districts, and
weighing is done in one Of these each year.
Last year the mail Of the Atlantic division
was weighed. This year 1t will be the mail
Of the Pacific division. Last years reweigh-
ing increased the expenses OF the Post Office
Department for railroad transportation a
little more than $1.5OO.OOO, or q IA per cent
This year the increase will not be so great,
because the business on the western routes
Is not nearly so heavy as the business on the
eastern routes.
The weighing of mail is done usually in
February or March. Last year it began on
the SOth of January. AS the Post Otttce De-
partment wants to establish a fair average
or the years business, 1t chooses a time
when there Is an average" mail handled
TO weigh the mail in summer, when bust
ness Is light, would not be fair to the rail-
roads. To weigh 1t in December. when
there Is rush OF holiday business, would
not be fair to the government. February
and March are recognized as average
months and they are chosen by the superin-
tendent Of the railway mail service usually.
The Postmaster General has the authority
to name any time for the weighing and he
will order a reweighing of mail on a road II
the railroad company gives any good rea-
son for believing that there has been an un-
usual increase in the amount Of mail car
ried.
Sometimes, when there is a phenomenal
development of new country, the railroads
ask reweighing OF the mail. big road
uynt1 ,Af r.
traordinary. None of the railroads running
to the Oklahoma country have asked a re-
weighing since that country was opened to
settlement, though the increase in mail
service has been very heavy. The Oklahoma
routes are likely to show the largest per
cent Of increase in the readjustment next
month.
The road which asks a reweighlng is usu-
ally the small road which has 10 look close
ly after the dollars and cents. Sometimes
large quantities Of mail matter are diverted
OF through route. Then the company asks
the Postmaster General for a special weigh
ing. and usually gets It,
How the Weighing IL Done.
The quadrennial Weighing of the mail is
done by the employees Of the railway mail
service, the clerks Of large post offices and
few special agents. Whenever 1t Is pos
sible the regular postal employees are used.
Where this is not possible. special agents
are employed for thirty days at s. a day.
These special agents travel on the railway
mail cars. A platform scale is put in each
car. The special agent puts each bag or
bundle Of mail on the scales as 1t Is put on
board the cars and notes the weight. AS
each mail bag Is delivered at the appropriate
station it is weighed and it's weight entered
In another column. The two columns are
added and they should balance within
fraction Of pound. The mileage Of each
package of mail is noted. At the. end of
thirty days the Post Office Department
figures up the number of pounds of mail
hauled and the number of miles and CAL
culates the haul for the whole year. Then
the compensation of the road Is figured out
at the rate provided by law.
contracts for carrying the mails are not
let to the lowest bidder. There is no COM
petition for them except as one railroad Of
fers better facilities than another The
Postmaster General awards the contract for
carrying the mail where he pleases-always
where the quickest service can be had, If
there is choice Where there is no choice
in speed, the oldest established road usual
ly has the contract-because IL has ALWAYS
had 1t and because it is better prepared
therefore. to handle the business. A rail-
road is never willing to give up the mail
contract. though every railroad company in
the United States will swear that it is los
ing money on mail handling Even the
pennsylvania railroad, which takes more
than 81. 1J,OO0 from the treas every wear
on account Of post office work. will solemn
~ assure Congress that 1T is losing money
II the question of reducing compensation is
brought up. The New York Central rail-
road receives more than 81, ,500,OOO annually
for hauling mail matter-but Mr. DepeW
would assure congressional committee
that the work was worth two millions
What the Railroads Receive.
There are many mail routes which do not
pay expenses. Just as Congress has arbi-
trarfly determined that a letter from Port
land. Me-, to Bangor. Me-, shall pay the
same rate as a letter from Portland, Me-.
to Portland, Ore. so 1t has determined that
the railroad that hauls thousands of pounds
shall receive almost the same compensa-
tion as the railroad that hauls hundreds of
pounds There Is a slight graduation which
lessons little the compen sa ton for car
rying large quantities Of mail-and there ia
minimum rate per mile for very unimpor-
tant routes.
No railroad receives less than $40 75 per
mile per year for carrying the mail. The
minimum used to be $50. 1t was reduced
by Congress 10 per cent in 1876 and 5 per
cent two years later. From $40. Is q mile
the compensation ranges up to $3151 per
mile, which is the rate that will be paid to
the Pennsylvania railroad for three years
to come for hauling the mail from New
York to Philadelphia is 9O.65 miles, The
number of mail trips made every week is
252 That makes more than 1900 trips in
year. For this the PENNSYLVANIA Com
pany used to receive S257, ,495. Under the
readJustment last year this was raised to
$2S5, ,6S6, and that is the sum that will be
paid to the Pennsylvania until June 80.
1897, when another readjustment will be
made. The adjustment of compensation on
this route Is too important a matter to be
determined by a thirty-day average The
New York-Philadelphia mail is always
weighed for sixty consecutive DAYS to get
an average for readjustment.
Special Mail Cars.
The amount paid for transportation does
not include the use of special mail cars.
When the first contracts for railroad trans
portation of the mails were made it was
understood that the mail bags would be
slowed away in baggage cars like trunks
or travelling bags. Now so much of the
work of asserting and distributing the mail
Is done in transit that the Post Office De-
partment has to have not only special cars.
but special trains. The railroad companies
build the mail cars and the Post Office De-
partment pays a rental for them varying
from $25 to $50 year, according to the
size of the car. The Pennsylvania railroad
receives $5S, 273 year for rent of the mail
cars used on the Philadelphia-New York
division. The best-paying route after the
New York Philadelphia is the route be-
tween New York and Buffalo The gross
amount paid for the service annually used
to be S919, ,933 Beginning with July /. 1898
the New York Central will racaix,a g.. g.,