The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-03-06

tees this on his next trip and after
delivering your mail, If he has any
lor you into the delivery compartment,
unlocks the box examines the order
and money through the transparent
face of the pouch, and, If the proper
change be inCosed, straightway takes
your unstamped letter and accompany
ing pouch with him, depositing both
with the proper official in the postoffice
later. Flr official takes out the money,
inserts the proper number of stamps,
afliNes the extra stamp to your letter
and has 1t Immediately sent in the next
mail He then hands your celuloid
pouch to the carrier for your district,
who returns it to the delivery COM
partment of your box. You take out the
stamps and keep the pouch until you
care to use 1t again.
Now suppose, you wish to dispatch
q special delivery letter to a friend
whom you wish to invite to dinner.
You have neither an ordinary stamp
nor special delivery stamp. You go
through the same process as before as
regards the two-cent stamps, or which,
ever denominations you purchase in
addition to those which are to be put
upon your letter At the bottom of the
order slip, below the list of stamps, you
ing. Enclosed find" these additional
spaces to be filled: cents to pay
for - special delivery stamps, to be
affixed at Post Office" The directions
further state that you must write the
Wbrd special ON the upper right
hand corner of the envelope upon
which you wish the special delivery
stamp to be affixed. This Is to identify
special deliveries from ordinary un-
stamped letters in the post office. You
Will inclose ten cents in addition to
| the price of the two-cent stamp for
your letter and the other stamps to be
| returned to you. Your letter will be
| dispatched by messenger Immediately
! from the post office.
The only step in all these processes
| of transacting business through the
new pouches which is liable to be mis-
| understood at first Is that caused by
| the necessity of ordering additional
! stamps to be returned to you after your
| unStamped letters have been mailed.
| Unless you send an order for stamps
! to be brought back you will fail to
| have your pouch returned. But, after
all, this will not seriously inconven-
| lenCe you, although it will cost you at
| least seven cents every time you mail
an ordinary letter. The smallest sum
| which YOU can invest in a pouch order
! for stamps will be five cents for five
ones But you would not have your
stamps affixed at the Post Office if you
did not need more. And, besides this,
Uncle Sam would almost always be
faced with the necessity of having to
lick the public's stamps if he did not
make it necessary for your supply of
| unattached stamps to be constantly re-
| infOrced.
The new private branch postoffices,
which will be officially known as
house collection and delivery boxes, in
connection with stamu-selling enve-
lopes, are to be improvements on the
boxes authorized for use in the house
to house collection and delivery sys-
TEN, adopted for several cities by the
last administration. They are of
many designs and grades, from which
the purchaser is at liberty to select.
Some may be screwed to the front door,
the openings to the compartments ex-
tending through, and the compart-
ments thecselves being on the inside;
others may be fastened to the outside
of the house. The arrangement of
some into compartments-the collection
compartment and the delivery compart-
ment-enables the carrier to hold the
regulation key to one and the owner
a different key to the other, thereby
preventing one owner from holding a
key which will unlock his neighbors
boxes, as would be the case if the uni
form carriers key opened both of the
compartment doors. The owner may
learn whether mail has been deposited
by moving a lever extending into his
house. OF course no boxes except those
tested and sold by the pOstottice will
be allowed in the service. They are be-
ing made by the Postal Improvement
company, of Norristown, Pa. A. Darl-
: ing Cushing, secretary of the COM
pany, is the inventor of the celluloid
pouches and many of the other i'm
provements necessitated by the new
, system.
Uncle Sam expects not only to bene-
fit his citizens, but himself also by
adopting this interesting course. BY
the introduction of the stamp-selling
| pouch he expects to increase his sale
of stamps. There is sound commercial
Z philosophy in the theory that people
will write more letters when they have
a supply of stamps on hand, just as
they will ride oftener in street cars
when they have supply of tickets.
: Besides this. there is the fact empha-
SlZeu ny tIle CtIlOOulSlS anu kllONH W
= every household, that men as a rule
find it a great bore to buy postage
| stamps from drug stores, where they
| feel obliged to make small purchases
| as remuneration for the trouble. TAX
ing all of these things into considera-
= ton the new system might be recon-
mended to housewives as a protection
against we'll known habit of their
? husbands, even - it offered no other
f. conveniences. 1t is estimated that the
. time which will be saved by postmen
f who, when dealing with patrons of the
5 new system, will no longer have 10
= wait for tardy servants to open the
5 doors, will more than compensate for
t the extra minutes expended in their
2 collection from the individual boxes
t If the trial of this new extension and
: the experiments now being made by
l the department with rural delivery sys-
, tens, hOrseless collection wagons and
pneumatic delivery tubes prove suc-
= cessful, as they probably will, our pos
t tai service will be the ideal one, What
more could be wished for than the abil-
e ity to transact our business with the
F postofTice without putting our heads
Y out Of doors, and besides this to have
e our letters dispatched in any city, only
( an hour or so before the receipt OF ans
= Wer; or Furthermore, the ability OF
t country folks, twenty miles or more
= away from the nearest railway station,
e to receive newspapers and letters within
= a few hours after their having been