The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-17

Improvement. While the council is
waiting to receive, it's orders and to
have an ordinance put into it's waiting
hands, the people are doing some pret-
ty tall thinking jon their own account
about the attitude in which they are
placed by their cringing representa-
tives.
POsTOFFICE STATIONS WANTED.
st. Paul has been trying, thus far
without success, to get a postoffice sta
ton, just one, out on st. Anthony hill.
Mr. Costello holds out encourag cement
that this modest request may be grant
ed and appropriations made for it at
the coming session of congress. While
our able, influential and energetic rep
resentatives in congress have been
utilizing their private secretaries to in
form their constituents how they were
laboring for the interests of this city,
Minneapolis has secured four stations,
beside ten substations and any num-
ber of stamp agencies. st. Paul has
managed to get a-+hybrid station over
OF the West side, that is little more
than substation and a good deal less
than a full one. To the postoffice all
mail goes, is distributed to the car
riers and thence they go on their long
routes to deliver. In Minneapolis the
mail goes either directly from the
trains or from the central postoffice in
pouches to the four stations, where q
force of clerks and carriers, under
superintendent, distributes the mails,
and the carriers start out on their
routes. To them, the mail of the terri
tory comes whendgathered and is made
up and sacked for the train
The comment made in the local col
umns of our contemporaries shows a
confusion of stations and substations.
The former is a complete postoffice in
every respect, except that mail is not
delivered to individuals. 1t is a money
order, registered letter and stamp-sale
office, with its force of clerks and car
riers. A substation sells stamps. issues
money orders and takes registered let
ters, but handles no mail, while stamp
agencies sell stamps only ST. Paul has
no station, one compromise affair that
is neither station nor substation, and
some 20 stamp agencies. It's mail re-
ceipts are about two-thirds those of
Minneapolis, and we should have at
least three stations and seven or eight
substations. There should be a station
at either Merriam Park or ST. Anthony
Park, or between the two, another on
the West side, and one either on Day
tons bluff or Arlington hills All that
is in sight now, and that not at all due
to our representatives, is a station out
on the Selby line Somewhere beyond
Dale street, which is but little, better
than none. There have been recently
added to the carrier force ten new men
to work in quarters too restricted for
those who were doing their work there
before. 1t is proposed to send II of
these out to the Dale street station, if.
it shall ever be established.
Assistant Postmaster General Match
EFT, in charge of the free delivery bu-
reau, is so well pleased with the results
of the experiment made in st. Louis
and elsewhere of utilizing the street
car lines for the distribution and gath
ering of mail that he hopes to have it
extended to other cities. Under this
system the mail for several quarters Of
city reached by street car lines is
sent in charge of a clerk who occupies
small space in a car The carriers
are assigned to territory along the line
and meet the car, receiving the mail
for their routes and delivering the mail
gathered from the boxes. This i'm
mensely facilitates the movement of
mail. and, applied here, would dispense
with the need of stations, leaving sub
stations only to be maintained. There
should be an effort begun and pushed
strongly to get either the quota OF sta
tions to which we are entitled, or the
adoption of the Matchett system. Will
we have to get more energetic repre-
sentative in congress before this can
be done?