The sun., 1894-10-01
DESPATCH IN THE NAILS.
SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES THE
POST OFFICE MEN ENCO UNTER.
A wstchrul Pebble Keeps the Employees
Up 60 Their Work shsrply-The Sorter
nF

Whenever a foreign ship bearing mails Is ex-
pected there gathers little knot of men in the
eastern corridor Of the General Post ONCE
near the northern end Of the building where
door with a tiny window leads to the ONCE Of
Superintendent Maze. The window is ordi-
narily closed. but there is beside II push
button that rings bell and brings somebody to
open the window and answer questions. The
button is pushed every ten minutes by some one
OF the waiting knot and when the window Is
open there is eager inquiry "a TO when the
mails will be in from the ship then due OF re-
ported. II the ship is known to have been at
her dock an hour the inqnlries become i'm
patient. Every man waiting IN the corridor
represents some one expectant OF an important
letter by the ships mails.
Letters TO consignees of cargo come unstamped
in the ships box" as the phrase is, but the
ship may not bring ordinary letters so, and the
punishment for the illegal Transportation OF
letters may extend to years imprisonment for
the offending officer Outgoing vessels are under
like regulations as to the ships box, but 1t hap
pens now and then that tramp steamer, whose
hour Of sailing Is uncertain, may have an enor-
nous batch of letters that never passed through
the Post Office. This came to such an abuse
that one line was severely admonished touching
Its rivalry with the Post ONCE.
When the regulation as To the ships box Is
abused II comes less from desire TO defraud
the government tnan ITDm Ine WISH 10 HNOlu
any delay that may occur between the docking
Of q ship and the distribution OF the malls.
properly authentieated agent may receive letters
port, and thus save perhaps an hour when so
much time is exceedingly valuable. ,.,
tude OF complaints, whether the delay be OF
foreign or OF domestic matter. SO well do
parts OF the country and the General Post Once
that IL an expected letter from Chicago be not
once sent to ask what is the matter. Many such
letters are preceded twenty-four hours by de.
spatches 70 give notice OF their coming What
outgoing mails. A business man may hear In
sfew hours from Philadelphia that his expected
communication has not arrivcd, and his FIRST
II no sense OF duty, no watchfulness Of su-
such care and despatch as would prevent, as far
as possible, the delays to the mails, the watch
go Far to force 'Ss upon the Post Once such care
and despatch. Delays were never fewer ct the
SS York sd P1 1s a anS a
ter, the 'i result Of dull times The spubiic has
matter other than first class are subject to de-
lay in faySF ,,ro Of rstrSlsss PstteT Pas This
are "t treated as arst-ciass matter save
when they come In great mass ,t and ar, are
hy msy have to % wait mail while letters are cleared
even merchandise, are delayed more than few
hours, and only when the mass OF irst-class
tons s' Of the railway mali service require the
cleared up. and II. as sometimes happens. all the
matter below first class cannot be made ready
the matter carried past its place Of destination
must be III made up al soon rs and re-
1t used to be that vacation time brought
great pressure upon the New York Post Once,
but for years past vacation has been going on all
the year round, and there has been no conse-
Quent delay OF malls at any particular period.
This year most OF the vacations will be over by
hand for the holiday rush, That is about the
only season that seriously tries the general
Post ONCE. It is usual then to enlist many sub
stitutes for month, say. and there is seldom a
delay OF more than twenty y-fo1r hours IN the
Seshsr I
day, though II used 20 parslyze the whole Office
Easter gives No trouble The G truth is that the
80 enormous that considerable increase on
any one day is not alarming.
working under the Eight-hour law, though 1t is
observed as far as possible In the case OF
other employers. When there is need of help
to get q great mass OF matter out of the way
the superintsndeht OF mas caliS sc f9r v0nRteeIs e
To sss .ns
When one considers the thousand and one
possibilities Of delay IN the mails, one Is sur
A delay of Ave minutes at one place may mean
a loss OF twenty-four hours at destination. ~
when 1t Is intended to go out, Of town. IL may
miss one despatch of mail, and that may mean
many hours II the journey be a long one and con-
The Post office people know by their stamp at
snd pses al able o
complaint. The delays resulting from misdirec-
ton or iileglble direction amount to thoIsands
coming down to the underground apartments to
be sorted and sent of. The tables of the men 70
cleared up every half hour, and, in the ordinary
course Of business, a pacSage should leave the
posted II there be u mail departing 50 soon for
the place TO which IL Is addressed. The men
that sort the packages 81 other tah PoncS
packages are thrown from table into
great gaping pisGSSnhohes from the one sorisr Loot
Pigeonholes to catch matter f9r widely
sundered states or cities may be side by side,
and a defective aim, for example, may land a
package for Louisiana in the box for Kentucky.
delay Of twenty -four or even thirty-six hours
might follow such an accident; The sorter is
bound TO correct his mistake II he secs it, but as
he drops his eyes for another piece AFTER having
thrown one the blunder may escape his notice.
Blunders from this cause are fewer than one
might expect, for the sOrter comes 10 have an
astonishing skill in aiming at the pigeonholes,
and a man with such training would be a dan
gerous enemy In a stone-t throwing contest.
There may easily be delay In the caRcelling
OF letters OF unusual bulk and shape. The can
ceiling machine that cancels 10000 letters per
hour will not swallow all food that Is offered II,
Of his envelope, may make trouble for the sorters
anu cause utlhy. Inc puDllC lpbh
u the suggestion that letters be directed with
the state Of destination first ON the address and
the name of the addressee last, though doubtless
II every body so addressed letters there might be
some resultant expedition OF the sOrters' work.
A few persons have adopted this method, but
their elaborate care has no appreclable effect In
tightening the work of the Post Onice. Uni
furmity in the size and shape OF letters
and In the method OF arranging the address,
and of affixng the stamp, would be helpful; but
no law can bring this about and Il is as yet i'm
possible TO do it by COOPERATION. The sacrifice
OF personal convenience would be too great, and
In any such system OF uniformity could
be applied in It's entirety 70 only certain sorts
OF correspondence. The Post Once only pTays
that people will keep their wits about them,
write legibly and post their mail matter in the
proper drops.
There are many postal regulations and devices
designed 10 obviate blunders and consequent
delays A man OF persistently bad aim IS not
kept at the distributing table A slow reader Is
not put at the work at all or is taken away when
his fncApacity Is discovered. A careless man Is
brought up with round turn By a little device
cOntriyed especially for the purpose There
are sent out daily from the General Post
Once and from every su6-ofhce despatch
Properly marked 80 as 70 IDENTIFY the
OF the slips Is affixed; Every package OF letters