The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-07-10
AS LETTER WRITERS.
Our People Rank First Among An
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The E001D00o D0oaA0o0 0f the CAAtoA
states Pest O0ooe - Co1DAReA
WITH That ~ Other
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the countries OF the world enjoying or
ganized facilities Of correspondence.
and 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, a. well ~ the number OF post
Offices, the United States standa 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 .
year 1000, ,OOO,O 900 two-cent stamps,
which il equivalent to 1000, ,O0o, 900 let
ters sent through the mails in . year.
In addition to this the United States sells
in . year soc, 900 one cent stamps, some
Of which are used for letters, though
larger number for newspaper and cir
cular postage, 100000 three-cent
stamps, 20, ,0OO, 900 four-cent stamps, and
$4,000, 900 nve-cent stamps, mostly used
for letters sent from this country for
foreign delivery. More then 1000, ,00O.-
900 letters year, therefore, paying full
postage, and exclusive OF postal cards,
are written in theUnited States. &s;S<.
The business of the German and Of
the English post Office department is
less than half a. large. The postal card
system in Germany il in much more
general use than in England, and it il
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 il officially called in
England "the road and pillar letter
box" There are 150, 900 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 il part Of the post Office system,
u 125,0O0. The number Of letters
handled by the Austrian post Office de-
partment in . year is 750, ,OO0, 900, 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
fcially known a. 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 proportion
atcly than in cities in which the German
population il small. ~r.s4es'. ss-<.. =
The Italian post Office handles $780,
100000 letters . year, the post ofice
department. Of Spain, 10000, 900, Of
Canada 100000, 900. Of Holland 1O0. .000.-
600, Of Belgium 125, 900 900, and Of Rus
sia 200 ,000, 900, . considerable proper
tion Of which 10 carried on what are
called "the mail coach roads," upon
which postal service the imperial gov
ernment maintainA $4,000 horses. In
France the number of letters handled
by the post ONCE department is about
7O0, 100000 in year and the receipts Of
the department are about &35 ,OOO, 900, or
one-half Of those Of the United States.
The French government, however, does
Q considerable express business, hand
ling more than 10000, 900 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 $4,000, 900 to SO ,0O0, 900 in an or
dinary year. When times are bad there
h less corresponding done.-N. Y. Sun