The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1894-03-21
MAIL BAGS.
THIRTEEN MILLIONS NEEDED
FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE.
Some of Them Have to Stand Hard
Csage-How the Damaged
Bags Are Patched aud
Mended.

when you put 13, 100000 of
such bags together, the pile 80 created
becomes mountainous. Such noun
tain was required TO represent the
number of mail bags, pouches and
sacks used last year by the United
States Postoffice Department to handle
the business of the SO, 4O3 postoffices
in this country. Sixty per cent. of
these 13, 900, 900 receptacles were used
by 6s, 402 postoffices, while the single
remaining office on the list required
forty per cent, or $4,000 of tho
pouches and sacks This single Office
is at New York City.
All bags used by the postoffice de-
partment are not two-bushel bags.
There are variety of sizes and they
are designated as leather pouches five
sizes), through register pouches three
sizes), catcher pouches lone size), horse
mail bags three sizes), jute canvas
sacks three sizes) United States for
eign register sacks (four sizes), United
States foreign canvas sacks -four sizes),
domestic inner register sacks (four
sizes), one size of cotton canvas sacks,
and one size Of coin sacks. Each size
of each kind of sack does a certain kind
of service, and wherever any sack may
be doing duty at any time, the mail
equipment division of the postoffice
department at Washington can locate
it.
As these sacks are made of leather,
or fabrics of cotton or iute, they will rip
and tear under certain conditions, and
rs they are dragged over floors of stone,
iron or wood at times, TO be pitched
into wagons or cars, or to be tossed
upon rocks or hard frozen ground oc-
casionally, these injurious conditions
are frequently present. This is par.
ticularly the case with the catcher
| pouches, which, thrown off from and
taken aboard of trains, travelling fifty
or sixty miles an hour, get unusually
hard knocks. Thus, il is 40 trifiing
matter to look after the welfare of the
mail bags of the country, and for this
reason the Government has established
and conducts the mailbag and lock.
repair shop in Washington.
Postmasters throughout the country
are instructed to prevent, daily, any
surplus mail bag or lock, in good con.
dition, from lying idle, by shipping
such excess of supplies to the ware.
house and shop at Washington. They
are also notified that it is not lawful
To use any such bag as a convenience
for the storing of records or the re.
ception of waste paper or for any pur.
pose not legitimately under the head
of the transportation of nails, and.
finally, when any bag shows the slightest
rip or tear, or when any lock is bent
ont of shape, or. for any reason fails
TO work easily and securely, those arti-
cles must be at once shipped to the
shop.
For this reason the shop In question
is a very busy and interesting place.
1t Is in five story building, at Nos.
479 and 4s1 G street, n. W., and it is
5Ox140 feet in size. From 10000 to
900 mail bags are received each day
ut the repair shop. and AZ you enter
| the lower floor where the receiving
| clerk and his assistants perform their
duties, you see one single apartment
fifty feet wide by 40 feet deep, which
IL occupied by tiers of empty bags,
sacks and pouches, neatly piled ten
AMI twelve feet high. and looking quite
like n storeroom for the exhibition of
bolts of jute and cotton fabrics and
various qualities of leather.
The inspectors pack the damaged
bags IN lots of ten, taking five badly
damaged and five slightly damaged for
each lot, the leather bags, the jute
bags and the canvas bags being kept
separate. From the inspectors these
lots are distributed to the repairing
department, the leather bags going to
the leather workers aud the other ones
| going to those who work on jute or
canvas. BY the operation of this
system, it will he seen, there can be
no fayoritism in the distribution of
work-each workman gets five badly
damaged and Ave slightly damaged
bags to work upon. All repairing is
done by piece work. There are 1OI
women employed in the repairing OF
iute and canvas bags, and they receive
three and onehalf cents per bag
They work eight hours day, and earn
from 81 to 81 % day. An interest
ing fact connected with the duties of
these workers is, that they are sup
Piled daily between noon and half pa At
/ IL q clock free of cbaroa with al Al