The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1897-12-08
AS LETTER WRITER'S.
Our People Rank First Among All
Nations.
The Enormous business of the United
States Post Offices as Compared
with That of other
Countries.

There are 100000 post offices in all
the countries of the world enjoying or
ganized facilities of correspondence,
ard of this number 10000 are in the
United States. In respect to the num-
Der of letters and postal cards written
and received, the revenue and disburse-
ments of the department., the extent.
promptness and accuracy of letter de-
livery, as well as the number of post
offices, the United States stands at the
head of all other nations, Germany fol-
lowing second, Great Britain third,
and Austria, among European nations,
fourth. The United States sells in q
year 2,O0O,0oO,00O two-cent stamps,
which is equivalent to 100000, ,oG0 let
tors sent through the mails in year.
In addition to this the United States sells
in a year 100000 one-cent stamps, some
of which are used for letters, though a
larger number for newspaper and cir
cular postage, 100000 three-cent
stamps, 90, ,0OO,0 four-cent stamps, and
$4,000, 900 five-cent stamps, mostly used
for letters sent from this country for
foreign delivery. More then 1000, ,OOo,-
600 letters year, therefore, paying full
postage, and exclusive of postal cards,
are written in theUnited States.
The business of the German and of
the English post office department. is
less than half as large. The postal card
system in Germany is in much more
general use than in England, and it is
for this reason, perhaps, that Germany
keeps ahead of England in respect to
the amount of correspondence done.
The number of post offices in Great
Britain by the last official statement,
made on January 1, 1897, was 20,275, ex-
elusive of what is officially called in
England ''the road and pillar letter
box" There are 10000 employees of the
post Office department in Great Britain,
of whom $500 are women and girls.
The number of post office employees in
Germany, where telegraphic communi-
cation is part of the post Office system,
is 125,OO The number of letters
handled by the Austrian post office de-
partment in a year is 750,000,000, and of
these two-thirds are handled in that
portion of the empire which comes un-
der the designation of Austria and one
third only is handled in the portion Of
ffcially known as Hungary. The Ger
mans in Austria, as well as in Germany,
are great letter writer's, and in those
cities of the United States in which the
German population is numerous more
letters are written in a year proportions
ately than in cities in which the German
population is small.
The Italian post Office handles $780,
100000 letters a year, the post Office
department of Spain, 12O,O00,OOO, of
Canada 1O0,0Oo,0OO, of Holland 10O, ,O0o,-
600, of Belgium 125, 600, 600, and of Rus
| STA 200,000,O00, a considerable proper
ton of which is carried on what are
called 'the mail coach roads," upon
which postal service the imperial gov
ernment maintains $4,000 horses. In
France the number of letters handled
by the post Office department is about
zoe, 100000 in a year and the receipts of
the department are about $35, ,0oO, 900, Oh
one-half of those of the United States.
The French government, however, does
a considerable express business, hand
ling more than 100000 parcels, or at
the rate of one to each inhabitant of
the country in each year. The expendi-
lures of the post Office Department. in
the United States exceed the receipts by
from $8,000,00O to $40 100000 in an or
dinary year. When times are bad there
is less corresponding done.-N. Y. Sun.
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