Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-05-10
Swift Transport to Meet Steamships
at Quarantine.
TO FORWARD LETTERS WITHOUT DELAY
Success of the Experiment of the
Past Year.
GREAT GAINING IN TIME

Much interest is relt at the Post Office
Department to the outcome OF nlan
which was devised 10y former Second As
| sis,ant Postmaster General Nelson, having
for its object a saving Of :Tom twenty-four
to thirty-six hours in the delivery of mails
| which arrive at the port of New York. and
which are Intended for interior and western
| points.
If successful as the Post Office Depart
ment officials feel confident 1t will be, this
| will produce a complete revolution In the
manner of handling The great bulk of for
| eign mail matter arriving at New York
| and intended for places outside OF that
| city.
In pursuance of this plan. bids will be
opened at the department Saturday next
| fer providing a steamboat for carrying the
mails from incoming mail steamships OF
| the American. the Cunard, the Hamburg
American, the North German Lloyd, the
General Transatlantic and the White Star
| liEes, upon the arrival at Quarantine, TO
| Pier A Battery) and the Pennsylvania
reilr DAD pier, Jersey City, and to the Seth
| street pier of the New York Central and
| Hudson River railroad. on a schedule of
seventy-five minutes running time for the
| entire distance, and for the period from
July i next to June 30, 1891.
With the exception of the deliveries by
| the ships of the American and the North
| German Lloyd lines, all matteraeaNing Eu-
| rope is deposited in bags at their principal
| point of departure and shipped to the sail
| ing port of the line by which ii is brought
| TO the United States. On the American and
the North German Lloyd lines, and especi-
ally the former, the Post Office Department
| several years ago was able TO secure the
appointment of distributing clerks, some OF
whom cross the ocean on each steamer and
assert The mail on the way. A. there are
| Oh some of these trips from .2,1 10 600
| pouches, whose contents are intended for
| every portion of the United States 1t can
| be readily seen that there is a great adj
| vantage in having the mail properly as
| sorted for the different points OF destiEa-
ton when Ii reaches New York city which
| is the case on the ships of those two lines.
The Post Office Department despite tho
| most earnest efforts on it's part, has not
| been able to induce the manaeements of the
Hamburg-American. the General Transat-
| lantic and the White Star lines. TO permit
the placing of distributing clerks upon their
4 vessels, and 1T is now the custom it has
| been for many years past, to carry the mail
| from these ships Immediately upon their
arrival to the New York post office where
| the business of asserting is attended to.
| 1t is an unavoidable result that under this
| system mail matter intended for Chicago
| St Louis, Cincinnati and hundreds of other
| places is kept in the New York post office
| from twenty-four to thirty-six hours longer
| than II should be. or than is expected to be
| the case after the new contract goes into
| effect.
The department has long tried to remedy
ms state of affairs, and after much hard
work the former second assistant postmas-
| ter general secured the passage OF an act
| by Congress making an appropriation for
| the Post Office Department of Sl0,Ws, TO he
| used for the transportation during the pres
| ent fiscal year of the foreign mall between
] the steamship piers in New York city and
Jersey city, and the pest Offices and rail-
way stations.
Under this appropriation expenditures
| amounting to $500 have been authorized
| by the department. This arrangement has
not, however, been entirely satisfactory
| In connection with the primary object of
| expediting the transfer of the mails from
| incoming steamships TO the steamship and
| railway piers i'm New York and New Jer-
sey. separate appropriation of $4,000 was
| made by Congress for the fiscal year end
| ing June 30. 1898. to enable the Post Office
Department to provide a steamboat TO per-
form this service The advantage of the
improved direct service, which has been
| in Use since July ! last. has accord
ing to a letter from Postmaster Day.
| ton of New York TO the department. been
| apparent since its inception, and resulted
in the saving of about 80 per cent in the
| time occupied in the rehandling of incom-
| ing foreign mail at that post office POST
master Dayton says that even under the
| present system the prompt receipt of the
New York city mail from foreign points
| frequently connects with the last carriers
| delivery. which prior to the inauguration
| of the system now in use was impossible.
| Mr.. Dayton illustrates the benefits of this
| improved service by reference to an incl
\ dent in the experience of his Office, as fol-
| lows:
Mails received by the steamship Bril-
| fannie at Quarantine at 6:25 a. m, for Chi
| cago, were dspatched by the 900 a. m.
| train, and reached Chicago at go a. m.
| next day; for ST. Louis they were dis
| patched by the 9:155 a. m. train. and
| reached there at 3:44 .. m. next
day. The same steamer arrived at G:30 a.
| m, date previous to the establish
| ment of the present plan, and the malls
passed through the New York post office.
| The Chicago mail could not be dispatched
| until the ] p. m. strain. and reached Chi
| cago at 2:40 p m. next day, over five hours
| later than when transferred direct. while
/ the St. Louis mail could not be dispatched
until the 2:13 D. m. train, reaching there
| at 7:24 y. m. too late to be delivered that
| day. Under this improved system Phila-
| delphia, Baltimore, Washington and Bos-
| ton mails are often delivered the very day
| of their arrival in this country; whereas,
| under the old arrangement this never hap
| pened."
| Mr.. Dayton also expresses the opinion
| that the building and equipping OF one
| more swift government postal transports,
| such IL Is now proposed to build and
| for which the bids are TO be opened, will so
| improve the service that I'm less than forty
| minutes from the arrival of foreign mails
| letters and papers for every large city In
| the United States, Canada and Mexico Will
/ be on their way without a moments deten-
| ton I'm the New York post office