The sun., 1898-03-09
MAIL SOAKED IN THE TUBE.
STILL ANOTHER MIsHAP IN THE
UNDERGROUND PIPE LINE.

Carrier rron the General Pest once Rraohca
station n Fall or Water Mixed with Letters
-Copicctures TO what Happened-Tabu-
lar Dispatch Go. TO ne Called On to Expinin.
There was another accident in tho Tubular
Dispatch Company's pneumatic mail carrying
tubes yesterday, the third In two weeks. This
time, fortunately. tho mail was not ground up
and utterly destroyed, as IL was In tho other
two accidents, but It was soaked through and
through, and looked moro like a wet rag than IL
did like package Of United States mail. 1t
was necessary to lay 1t all out md dry 1t before
any of 1t could be delivered, and of course,
its delivery was groa ly delayed.
As usual with accidents in the Tubular Dis
patch Compnny's tubes, nobody knows exactly
what happened or what caused the accident
The Post Office officials say that in the after
noon they loaded one of tho company's car
riers with three packages of hrst-class mail
that is, letter mail. Letter mail is tied up in
square packages little bit smaller than tho
carriers that are used in the tubes. These car.
riers are cylindrical in shape They are made
OF metal and have two canvas bands about
them, one at either end. They open at one
end. and when they are closed and locked their
contents are supposed to be absolutely secure.
This is only supposition, however, as two. pre-
vious accidents resulting in the destruction Of
checks and other articles of great value, have
shown.
As stated before, the carrier which met with q
mishap yesterday was packed with three square
packages of letter mail. 1t was bound from
the General Post Office to Station II. which Is
in the Grand Central Palace. The clerk who
filled it did not SEQ anything wrong with It,
and declares that it was all right and exactly
like all the other carriers. 1t was placed in
the tube, and the air was turned on to shoot 1t
to its destination In course Of time 1t got
there but it was half full of water when 1t did,
and every scrap of mail was soaked. How tho
water got in was mystery. The Post Oflco
officials took the mail and carried it to the office
OF the superintendent of the station. He set a
force Of clerks at work separating 1t and sort
ing it so that the addresses should not be oblit-
Grated by tho action of the water. and after this
the work Of drying 1t was begun. Anybody
who has handled wet paper with ink marks
on it can realize what a job 1t was.
The employees of the Tubular Dispatch Com
pany were hauled up. Theysaid they did not know
what had happened. They had delivered the mail
to the Post Office officials just as it had come
to them. The employees Of the company at
the General Post Office who had supcrintended
tho filling and the sending of the carrier were
certain that the fault did not rest with them.
the carrier whom they put the mail in it. The
tubes are supposed to be as dry as any under.
ground tubes can be, and the only explanation
of the presence of water in them that the Off
cials could think OF would be its rapid conden-
sation from tho air that was used to force the
carriers through. There was explanation
that any Of them could think Of for the con-
densation Of water from the air when this par
ticuar carrier was in transit any more than
when other carriers were in transit.
Tho presence of water in the tube no
explanation, however, Of how the water came
to get into the carrier that contained the mail.
Supposed, as they are to be water tight and
air tight, If the tube was full Of water the mail
should not be damaged. So far as tho Post
Office officials were concerned. the matter was
all speculation. They conjectured that perhaps
the carrier had been put in the tube wrong end
first, and that in transit the cover became
loosened and the water scooped up or
blown into it. They speculated also on tho
possibility Of the clerks who packed the carrier
having neglected to close it properly. Both
these conjectures were denounced and COM
bated by the clerks involved, and nothing def
mite will be known until the experts of the Tu.
bular Dispatch Company investigate and ex.
plain the accident. The company will be noti
fed of tho accident this morning, and an ex
PLANTATION will be demanded.