The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-15
Some Facts About
Our Postal Service
Extracted From Recent Lecture BY Ex-Postmaster
General Thomas l.. James.

and cadavers. In 1854 the rate of post
age was reduced and some said the
country would be bankrupted.
"There are several claimants for the
honor of starting the railway service.
1t was first started between Quincy
and St Joseph, when the mails were
distributed on the trains. Two years
later Colonel Armstrong, of Chicago,
under Montgomery Blair, arranged for
the service, and became the first rail-
way superintendent. He was succeed
ed by Colonel George S. Bangs, pro-
the, framework, while Bangs clothed
it with flesh. He started in to i'm
prove it on business principles. He re-
moved the sluggards and rewarded the
industrious, and well might he be
called the father of civil service re-
FORM He suggested g. mail train be-
tween New York and Chicago in "a
hours, and he was authorized to ne
gotiate with the Central Hudson and
the Lake Shore railroads, but there
was no appropriation, and the older
Vanderbilt did not think it would be
a success. w. H. Vanderbilt was ia
vorably disposed towards the project,
and by an agreement with Mr.. Bangs
it was stipulated that Mr.. Wander
biH should build 20 of the finest and
best equipped cars ever seen on this
planet. The men were picked, and the
service was marvellous. The train was
run for ten months, and then the gov
ernment took the mails from three
states from these roads and gave them
to other lines, and Mr.. Vanderbilt and
Thomas H. Scott, of the Pennsylvania
road, declined to continue the service.
IN NEW YORK.
when the service was first started
between New York and Washington,
in 1864, Henry G.. Pearson, afterward
postmaster in New York, was the clerk.
From 13 hours in ga the service has
been reduced to hours in 1895. Let
ters are transferred between New York
and Chicago in 20 hours. While 25 days
were necessary to carry them in 1860
to San Francisco. the time has been
reduced to four days and few hours
in 1896. Judging from what has been
accomplished in 80 years he would in
deed be a prophet who could say what
will be done in the future.
"It is singular fact that up to and
11lllCOlIl lUS
postmaster generals who have written
their names on the pages of history
because of their great achievement in
the developments of the fast mail
facilities of the United States were
printers or journalists. 1t has some-
times seemed to me that there is a
sort OF mutual affinity between the
professions of Journalism and post
masters. Certainly our own history
suggests that. You may remember
that the most distinguished of Ameri-
can printers, Benjamin Franklin, was
postmaster at Philadelphia, and our
first postmaster general.
"In considering the great service we
should not forget that the stamp in a
certain form has been used for over
400 years, In Paris slips were used
and marked Postpaid When stamps
were first used in the United States
they were of two denominations, five
and ten cents. In 1851 they were re-
placed by the one, three and twelve
cent stamps. In 1856 the ten-cent
stamp was issued, and soon after a
complete series from tive-cent up to
ninety cents" The speaker then re-
ferred to the recent stamp chain fraud
of an Illinois German, and it was esi-
mated that he had gathered in no less
than 100000, 900 stamps"