Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-12-26
T5iraiuia fres grsss.
THE U. S. MAIL.
Hor It is Handled in the largest Post
office.

/
photographs of the men at work in various
departments. Superintendent Bovine
conducted the visitors through the entire
building and away down into the lower
basement where the tons of newspaper
matter are received and sent out As the
clerks who work for Uncle Sam in this
great workshop have just as much to do
as an expert can possibly accomplish in
given number of minutes, they had no
time to become curious or to wonder what
was about TO be photographed. In fact,
none of them seemed to know what was
to be done until the binding flash OF mag
nesium was set off for the first picture
Then the head of one of the departments,
known technically as time-keeper, rush
ed into the room where the light had been
flashed and looked all around. He
thought an electric light wire had burned
out. This would have been dangerous,
for the interior of the New York Post
office is a perfect network of electric light
wires.
The first picture shows canceling ma
chine. 1t does the work of perhaps twen'
ty men for every hour of the day. 1t
cancels the stamps on 10000 letters every
hour and never was known to miss one.
No matter where the stamp Is placed on
the envelope, so that it be anywhere above
the lower half of it, that delicate piece of
mechanism finds it, cancels its face, and
prints the New York postmark with date,
year and time of day as accurately as a
hand stamp could do it, and in a much
neater manner. A stream of letters was
flying through the machine when the
picture was taken.
Here is little job that would cause
most men TO feel very tired even before
beginning the task. There were eighty
six mail pouches in this little pile and the
letters contained in them had just arrived
on one of the fast mail trains from Chi
cago and the West. If there had been a
letter in one of these pouches for you, it
would have puzzled you TO have followed
it until it reached your office. The
pouches were tipped open, it seemed al.
most the instant the key in the hands OF
one of the postal clerks tOuchedit. That
man could open more mail locks i'll a
minute than the average citizen could un-
lock in half an hour. 1t was an art with
him. Then he picked up the pouches
and dumped their contents upon the tables
in front of him, at which many clerk;
were at york. Def hands caused that
pile of mail matter to melt away Ike snow
under a warm sun, but the pile was kept
replenishcd as rapidly as it was cleared
away. In front of the distributing clerks
were innumerabe pigeon holes. An in
slant after the first pouch had been un'
locked, there began ceaseless shower OF
letters darling hither and lhither through
the air, sometimes going only few inch
es, at others many feet, and all darling
into the little pigeon holes with what
seemed almost human intelligence. Not
a clerk looked up. Each threw the mail
intuitively, aud although watched for ten
minutes, not { mistake nor false throw
vase made. In an incredible snort space
of time the pouches were emptied, the
mail vas distributed and the city carriers
had it in hand making up their route.
The piles of letters, having Leen col
lected from the pigeon holes into which
they had flown from the deft fingers OF
the distributors, were laid on long banks
of wood at another table, and small
army OF mail carriers were sorting them
according to streets and numbers OF
streets, so that when they had completed
their task they bad every letter which was
directed to any one on their particular
route, 50 classified that the letter consign.
ed to the first house on the way was on
top and 50 on through the long route
Then the mail carriers slung their sacks
over their shoulders and with hands full
Of newspapers filed out into the street and
disappeared from view That letter that
came TO you from Chicago yesterday after
noon was in your Office within forty min
utes after its arrival at the Postofiice.
There is floor in the Postoftice seldom
seen by casual visitors. 1t is deep down
below the surface of the street. Here it
is that the great newspaper mails are
made up. There is little ventilation, and
the place is not as sweet smelling as
health demands. But nevertheless in this
immense basement, filled from end to end
with great, towering distributing cases
and long smooth chutes from the floor
above, work fully 800 men from morning
1 L,rr,.,,c, on1