The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-09-07
POSTAL EVOLUTION.
STORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE MAIL SERVICE.

References to the Post-Beginning of
what Has Become an Almost Perfect
and a Cheap System.
1t seems almost incredible, in view OF
the wonderful labyrinth OF postal routes
all over the world today, that there ever
could have been time when there were
no postoffices, no letter carrier, no mail
facilities at all
But, of course, there had to be some
means of communication even IN the
earliest ages, though these were confined
for centuries to emperors and kings and
other great rulers. The emperors OF
Egypt, Of Persia, of Assyrla and OF
Rome held many lesser kings and satraps
as their vassals. With these it was nee
essary to communicate with certainty
and regularity, and therefore couriers
were employed to carry dispatches and
REPORTS to and from the more distant
provinces.
OF course no one man or one horse
could traverse the whole route, so sta
tions were established along the roads
at certain intervals, where couriers were
always in readiness TO relieve weary
brothers, and carry on the dispatches
with uniform speed. These stations
were called "posts, from the Latin
word positum-fxed or placed-whence
comes the name of our modern postal
system.
In the Old Testament are frequent
references to the posts. In II Chronicles
YOU will find, $50 the posts went with
the letters, . and $50 the posts passed
from CITY to city, In Esther also and
in Job and jeremiah you will find other
illusions to the posts. But they were
never for the use of the common people.
The Roman Emperor Augustus was
the first to establish system of posts
suggestive of the present system. You
have heard the saying, "All roads lead
to Rome. - This was the origin Of it:
From Rome as a center post roads were
built. called royal highways, extend
ing all over Europe. After the decline
! of the Roman empire these post roads
were abandoned by degrees, and during
| the dark ages they almost entirely dis
| appeared.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth CEN
turtles, however, their need began to be
so strongly felt that posts between diff
ferent parts of the same country were
established, and soon these were extend
! ed into other countries These posts
were carried first by foot runners and
then a little later by men on horseback.
1t was not long, though, before the
! post privilege was extended, and 1t was
! found impossible for horseback riders to
carry the increasing mail, so wheeled
conveyances were provided, and the
next step was for these cOnveyances to
carry passengers as well as the mail
And thus from the post was evolved
the mail coach What this meant to our
hitherto shut in ancestors 1t is hard for
us of the present day to realize even
family. But it is safe to say that the
| evolution of the public post and the
mail coach did more than any other one
thing to hasten civilization.
In the reign of the Emperor Freder-
! ick III. Francis Won Laxis, whose grand
| father is said to have established a post
al service across the Tyrol and Syria,
entered the service of the house Of Haps-
burg and became the founder of the
modern postal system. Through Won
Laxis the emperor established regular
posts throughout his kingdom between
the years f440 and 1893, and at the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century the
Austrian post became the international
post of the Hapsburg dynasty.
In France the University of Paris or
ganized postal service in the thirteenth
century which f1ourished until 1919. In
some parts of Europe there were brother
hoods and mercantile guilds which es-
tablished posts and postoffices subject
to the government
In England, in 1868, Rowland Hill
started a private post, but Cromwell.
heavy hand came down on the enter
prise, and the men who carried the let
tiers were trampled down and killed by
his soldiers. Later ON Mr.. Hill came t.
the front again, instituted many re
forms in the service, and at last gave K
England a real and effective postal serv
ice. Louis XI of France founded a posta
system in 1864, which was greatly I'M
proved by Charles TX in 1860.
, But it was not alone the Christian
. nations that felt the need of a pOsta
service. When the Spaniards invaded
South America, they found regula
system of posts in operation, so that tn
news of their landing was carried to tn
inca with incredible swifness, the post
= men being runners, who carried arount
their waists knOtted cords, a code OF sig
mails or sign writing
Coming down TO our own country
suppose we take a peep at the mai
n methods in vogue in its earlier days
i Let us take as a type the postal servic
a between Boston and New York, where
+ in 1862, post was established Ito go
monthly" Post riders, starting at tn
- same hour from each end Of the route
carried the mails Leaving on MOnda
n morning. they met and exchanged bag
e at Savbrook, Conn, on the following
d Saturday. Then each man returned
his starting point, which, of course
9 took nearly another week.
=. It was Benjamin Franklin that, i
1875, suggested the plan for posta
> service on which our present system
l. founded. In the early days of this syS