The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-01-15
A PRIVATE POST OFFICE.

The New House to House Collection
Plans Described-Whati it Gives Peo-
pie-How to Get Stamps of All Kinds
Special Delivery Orders-Provision
for Almost Everything but Money
Orders.
Residents Of free-delivery cities who
have two dollars and a half to spare
will shortly be able to purchase, at that
price, the privilege of keeping branch
post-office at home, if an interesting
system straightway to be introduced
in Washington proves successful.
The family branch post-office Will be
trifle over a. foot long, six inches wide
and four inches thick. With access to
it, you will have offered to you every
ordinary service now rendered by your
druggist who keeps the sub-station at
the corner. You will purchase these
services for a life-time minus the
frowns and understanding chances
which the bored pill-roller now exhibits
when he tears you off strip of stamps,
or rings for your special delivery mes
senger. The postman will do all of the
walking which you ordinarily perform,
although you will have no direct
intercourse with him whatever. In
short, you may have in your vestibule,
if you wish, compact, inanimate
medium through which you may trans
nit all of your business directly with
the city post-of1ise, except as yet, the
dispatching of registered mail or money
orders. You Will be able to buy stamps,
send unstamped letters to the post
Office and have them mailed, dispatch
special delivery messenger in the same
manner, and receive all of your letters
without their passing through the
hands of careless Servants.
The family branch post-office selling
for two dollars and half will be made
of enameled steel. You can have your
name and house number stamped upon
it for a meager sum. 1t will be an orna-
ment to the entrance of your house. If
you taste is luxurious or beyond the
mediocre, you may purchase more Ella
borate style for varying prices, running
up to a maximum of six dollars and
sixty cents. The highest grade is OF
solid bronze and is adorned with artist
ically moulded designs.
But the most interesting and novel
feature of this new system is the pri-
vate mail pouch through which you
will transact with the main post-office
all business requiring the exchange OF
money. 1t will be made of transparent
celluloid the edge being bound with a
thin sheet of composite metal 1t will
be six inches long and three and one
half inches wide, being fiat like ar
ordinary envelope. Pasted against the
| inside of one face will be a printed list
of instructions carefully prepared by
the Post Office Department, explaining
| every detail of the new system to the
user. Though the transparent celluloiG
| forming the other face will be visible
what at first might be mistaken for 6
| blanket ballot. This will be neatly
| printed upon a slip of opaque celluloid
such as used for making memorandum
| tablets The end Of the slip will pro
| trude a fraction of an inch from thu
open end of the pouch and may b.
pulled out or slipped in, like the cove,
of a Photographic plate holder. Thu
| indelible printing on the movable Sill
| consists principally of five lines, in
| dicating different quantities and den
ominations of stamps. Your purchas
| is limited to five tWo-cent,, twenty-five
| two cent. two five-cent, five one-cent o
| twenty-five stamps. Opposite each lin
| is a little hollow square or frame
| cross made in one or more OF THESE IN
| dicates that stamps of the number AM
| denomination in the opposite line ar
ordered.
After making the crosses, according
to your wants, you will sign your nam
and add your address in approprlat
snace at the bottom. You will next in
sert the slip into the pouch, printed sid
up, so that it may be read through tn
TRANSPARENT face. You will then tax
from your purse sum, in exact chang
corresponding to the worth of your OF
der. and insert it through the end
the pouch, 1t must rest between the OF
der slip and the transparent piece
celIuloid in order that it may be dis
tinctly seen from outside, though pro
tected by the pouch. The end of tn
slip will fold over, forming sort c
valve. preventing the money from fall
ing out. The other end is folded in Xix
manner, that the money may be pulle
out with the slip. Your next step wi
be to drop your pouch through the Ii
Of your private branch post-offict
which is similar to the valve lid of tn
ordinary letter box. Before you can d
this, however, you must work
mechanism which raises above the to
metallic signal, bobbing up from in
side and containing the word Mail.
Some of these signals will be supple
with discs of phosphorus, which wi
be conspicuous in the dark On hi
next round, the postman, noticing tina
the signal is raised, will unlock tn
door take out the pouch, note whethe
1t contains the proper amount of mon
ey and proceed with it on his rounC
If the correct change is not enclose
he deposits the pouch in the box again
together with such mail as he ma
leave for the same address.
Suppose you have an important lette
to be mailed Immediately, but that yo
have used all of the stamps left yestel
day in the little pouch. Your wife is |
San Francisco and you are here i
and you would go two squares to tn
nearest drug store at great sacrffic
of comfort, and probably to the detr