Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-08
Proposed Collections and Deliveries
Through Street Cars.
WHERE THE SYSTEM Is At IT'S BEST
What the City Post Office Authori-
ties Say.
ONE IMPROVEMENT ASKED

The locat tons of the sub post offices in this
city are to be investigated, with view to
putting into operation the same system OF
distributing and collecting the mails which
Is now in vogue in Brooklyn, Philadelphia
and Chicago. The system is already used
here to some extent to facilitate the delfv-
cries at the suburban stations-the George
town and Tenleytown road carrying the
mail from the Georgetown station to Ten
leytown and Bethesda, the Rock creek road
to the station at Chevy Chase, where the
7th street electric line takes it on to Bright
wood, and the electric road in Alexandria
distributing and collecting the mail along
its route to Mount Vernon and New Alex
andria.
Where the System is at It's Best.
In Brooklyn the system is at its best.
Here whole cars have been given up to the
postal service, and are fitted up with
benches. bags and pigeon holes, with regu-
lar clerks on the different runs, on rail-
way runs. When the mail is received at
the central office it is sorted for delivery
to the various districts of the city. The
bags are put on the mail cars, to be carried
to their destination, with the clerks sorting
the letters en- route, throwing off the
pouches as they come to the station, and
receiving those which are to go to the CEN
trail Office. In this way great deal Of
time is saved both at the central office and
at the substations In the more distant
parts of the city carriers make substa-
ton their headquarters, instead of coming
all the way in, and are thus enabled to
make more trips both for delivery and col
lection. Brooklyn, however. is peculiarly
| adapted to this method of mail delivery and
collection on account of the large number
of substations being on the car lines, and
1t remains to be seen how many stations
are situated on the different lines in this
city before the same plan can be put into
operation here.
The system is practically :. the same in
Philadelphia and Chicago. the latter city
having just introduced it. In Philadelphia
| half the car is used as mail car and the
other half as Smoker" but in Chicago
the whole will probably be fitted up for
the use of the Post Office Department.
Although the mail facilities in this city
are nothing to complain of, yet every idea
| soon as careful survey of the city has
been made, to ascertain how many stations
are on the car lines, the system, If practi-
cable, will be put into operation.
What the City Post Office Authorities
Say.
This matter Of transfer of the mails by
street cars comes under the general head
Of star routes, and such is under the
| jurisdiction of the second assistant post
master general. The authorities at the city
| post office, as rule, do not view the
| proposition with great favor. They are
| will facilitate the collection and delivery of
| the mails, but, owing to the character Of
| the city. the location of the substatons
| and the directions in which the car lines
| run, they do not regard the system as well
adapted to the city's needs. If the post
Office were in its new building on the ave-
nue. the story would be different one. but
as 1t is, located on G street east of 9TH
| street, the question is Simply whether the
mails cannot be collected quicker through
| the agency of the substations and by means
| CT the cab service. At any rate, little If
| anything has been done as yet looking to
he n q n
city.
! Postmaster Willett is one of those who
i believe in advanced methods, and he thinks
| that by the time the post office is in its
| handsome new home there will be a sys-
| tenn of underground pneumatic tubes in
use by means of which the mails can be
| received at headquarters at frequent in
tervals, and with practically no delays.
The street car service works extremely
well when a city is spread out over a con-
siderable territory or along the line of
long road, as is the case in st. Louis, where
there is an electric road in the neighbor-
tood of fifteen miles in length When the
system was first proposed there the city
did not have the system of substations
which prevails here. and which has proved
such great help in the work of collection.
One Improvement Asked For.
There is one improvement in the local
mail service for which the local post office
officials have long contended. and that is
the abandonment of the present fourth
class post offices within the District lines
and the substitution therefor of branch post
offices, making the whole District into the
city of Washington, SO far, at least, as
the mails are considered. Owing to the
failure of the department to provide suit
able facilities for the star routes within
the District the mail service at Anacostia,
for instance, is VIGOROUSLY unsatisfactory
and cannot be compared with that at Be-
thesda, which is just outside the District
line. Among the points which would bene-
fit by this change of system are Anacostia,
Brookland, Lanier Heights Benning. Bright
wood and one or two others. With the
extension of the free delivery service many
of the complaints which are now raised
against things as they are would be done
away with.
In its work Of improving the mail facik
tiles within the city limits the postmaster
has made arrangements for opening three
important branch stations OH the first of
next month These are to be located in
the Masonic Temple drug store, 9th and
streets; at A. NJ. Daniels store, 1900 18th
street. and at Franci Petroias, $50 Penn
sylvana avenue southeast. On the first
of this month stations were opened at the
southwest corner of 1st and streets, and
at Sd street and Pennsylvania avenue in
the Belvedere drug store.
tNnESY tn