The Newtown bee., 1896-07-17
REPAIRING MAIL BAGS.
GREAT INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISIMEN LNCAEEN AT TIE NATInN.s CAPITAL.

GREAT INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT LOCArED AT THE NATIONS CAPITAL. i Every one knows that Uncle Sam is en- gagged in various phases of business in or der to carry out his main purpose, which i3 the proper conduct of the government i of over 60, 100000 people. Perhaps the average citizen does not realize, even those who are more or less familiar with Washington, that at the nations capital l there is d large establishment controlled entirely by Uncle Sam, which is devoted 1 to purely industrial purposes. It is the shop where the mail bags used in the pos 1 tai service are repaired. Some idea of the magnitude of this business can bel gathered from the fact that the building ] occupied for this purpose is a large five story structure where there are over 250 persons empIoyed. i The annual expenditure is about 5l0O,- GOO, and while this may seem to be B l large amount to be used simply in the repair of mail bags, yet is said by the postoNice department officials, that ifthis i shop, was not in existence, that the gov ernment would sp2nd two or three times as much as it does at present in the pur- chase of mail bags. As every one knows, these bags are made of canvas or iute, and are subjected to considerable hard 1 usage. Even an expert baggage smasher does not handle the luggage of the tray cling public with more recklessncss than r. Ha 11i] h04 i~ t{7 journeys. i Time is prime requisite in the dis
 patch of mails, and the bags are loaded into wagons, and from thence into eara,
 or the process is reversed, and the alaja
 consideration is the saving of time
 When the b"gs become woro CT torn OF | 4magdd in any way, they are gathered
 together and forwarded to the great re,
 pair shop iD this city. There is a small
 repair shop ill Chicago where, however,
 only minor injures are made good. At
 the shop in this city, some 200, 000 mail
 bags are received, oYerhauled, and sent to different parts of the country every 30 days. Some of the mail pouches ase
 made of leather, and experts are needed
 to make the necessary repairs. There is IA addition a~t1ait lock shop, where l5
 skilled mechanics are employed. and
 about 90 other men and boys,
 The paE of those who repair the mail ! bags is not large, but the labor is un-
 killed, as it consists mainly in sewing
 and patching the canvas sacks. It is Il
 singular thing but occasionally mail
 matter i5 found in the sacks which are
 sent to the repair shops, This f8 mostly
 newspapers and circulars, but once in a
 while leBter is found. For this reason
 the bags are carefully inspected before
 they are placed in the hands of the work
 people.
 Some time ago 2 patent attorney in
 this city forwarded book of patent coupons to a client to be used in secur-
 ing copies of patents. His client receiv-
 ed the letter, but it did not contain the coupons. A long while afterwards a
 postofice inspector called on the attor- ney and asked him if he had not sent 8 boUk of coupons through the mails which
 had not reached their destination He
 said that he had, and the inspector pro- , auced the lost coupons, which it seems had been found in mail sack, which had
 been forwarded to the repair shop 3 1t. was evident that the letter had been , rIfled by some One who supposed that
 the coupons had an available money value. A list is kept of the purchasers
 of the coupons and in this way the post
 office inspector was able to trace the own , CT of the lost book,
 year orso ago one of the curious features of the mail bag repair shop was
 woman employed as one of the repair
 CTS who had been totally blind for years. Her special duty was to examIne the mail bags which had defective cords, and z either to repair them or supply new ones, .sf She'did this work with wonderful quick . 4eness, and was regarded a8 one of the 7, most efficient workers in the shop.