, 1896-12-17
POSIOFF|CE At DOOR.
HETEROGENEOUS TO SELL POST
AGE AND SPECIAL DELIV-
cry STAMPS.
Scheme Outlined Six Years Ago by
Postmaster Harlow, of St. Louis,
Adopted by the Department at
Neutrality-suspicious. of the Plan
Which Was Ordered Into Effect.


Which Was Ordered into Effect.
Washington, ID. c., December To-
The postmaster general today issued an
order extending the house-to-house
mail collection and delivery system so
as to provide for the sale Of postage
and special delivery stamps by letter.
carriers while making heir rounds
The scheme is one outlined TO the post
office department six years age by POST
master Harlow, of st. Louis.
The carriers will he provided with an
official stamp-selling envelope, which
will contain order slips, upon which
orders for stamps may be indicated as
follows:
Five (5) two (2) cent stamps; TWEEN,
ty-five (25) two (2) cent stamps; two
(2) five (5) cen stamps; five 90 one
% cent stamps; twenty-five (25) one
% cent stamps.
The department order further pro-
vides that the Postal Improvement
company shall assign to the United
States all United States patents now
held by it on the envelopes adpoted,
and all United STATES patents pertain
ing thereto which may be held by it in
the future, with the understanding that
these envelopes shall only be used in
connection with the houSe-to-hOuse
collection and delivery boxes adopted
and tested by the department. 1t shall
also provide n of these envelopes
with each house collection and deliv>
cry box Of the forms adopted by the
department., without COST to the Uni
ted States or to the person purchasing
such boxes, such envelope to become
the property of the United States. The
requisite number OF envelopes for the
use of letter-carriers to be provided by
the department.
Carrier shall collect from house let
ter-box official stamps-selling envel-
opes containing orders for stamps
when such orders are properly indi,
Gated, with the name and address of the
person ordering written thereon, and,
when accompanied by an mount equal
to the value Of the stamps ordered; and
he shall turn ove to the clerk desig-
mated to receive them such official
stamp-selling envelopes. whose duty it
shall be to fill such orders by placing
in the envelope the stamps SO ordered
and paid for, and the carrier, on his
next trip, shall deliver this envelope
N the delivery compartment of the box
at the address designated in the order.
This order provides for one Of the
most radical improvements made in the
postal system. In operation the sys-
tenn is perfectly simple. The following
is an explanation made by Maj. Har-
low of its workings when he first pre-
sented the plan to the p~ostofice de-
partmeut:
Mrs. A. in San Francisco has written
a letter to her husband in New York,
but when she goes to post it, finds that
she has no stamps. She does not live
e the postoffie, o stage stamp
agency, or even a convenient drug
store, and it is raining hard. Mr.. A.
would have to wait for his letter II
Uncle Sam did not step calamity for
ward and offer his services as errand
boy. Mrs. A., having provided herself
with a house collection and delivery
box of the form specified by the de-
partment, has one Of the above de-
scribed envelopes, and marks in the
space designated on the order slip for
unstamped matter. across (thus X;
she makes q similar mark opposite
some one of the quantities Of stamps.
perhaps i've twos. writes her name and
address, ON the margin. incloses 12c and
slips the envelope in the collection
compartment Of her letter box. The
act of mailing the letter has raised the
carriers signal on the box. He sees it
ON his next trip. unlocks the box and
carries the letter and the stamp-selline
envelope to the p~ostodice, hands them
to the clerk IN charge, and the latter
takes out the money, inserts the prop
er number Of stamps to NIL the order.
afhxe the stamp to the letter. for
wards It by the next mail, and. on his
next trip, the carrier returns to Mrs.
As letter boz the envelope contain
ing the stamps. Mrs. A. removes the
stamps and keeps the envelope until
she wfshes 70 order again. Perhaps
she wanted the letter to be delivered
quickly. and she generally does. II 70.
~ andtcated this on the order dip,
n ~ space provided. by ordering .