The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-10
s14S. 5OOAYEAR FOR WHAT?
,,,.RryTLr FOR S5,5e5 WORTH OF
uoBK FOR THE POST OFFICE.

uoPK FOR THE POST OFFICE.
-...., same B,rht on John n. Milboiinnd's
80, the Trlbune's Tabular Dispatch Coma
80, and II. Contracts with the Govern
-.,,-Contractor Ira Wis OF the HHsn Wagon
..,,.. uppes the Tubea May Ne the work
=, Three wagons. but Doubts It-Enourh
,,o,., Lost to the GoVernment TO Hire
a gar. Letter Cnrriers-Nuch TO Explain.
u..o rncts about the Tubular Dispatch
c.mnany. the chief hackers of which are John
r NiIbolIand and the Tribune. and about the
III CARRYING service OF the United States Gov
.-.n,ort that merit careful study bv the men,
o.. ~ tho Committees on Post Offices and Post
po.ds OF the National Congress. They also
a.rI, study by the Post Oficc Department. which
.nsdca contract with the Tubular Dispatch Com
..,v m the amount of $lis,500 q year, and
!, IA alleged by the bond fioaters Of tho
TrbpIar Dispatch Company. has arranged
an agreement with tho company for
connecting tho Post Office with all sub
Post Offices and with the principal rail
vav stations at S55O,000 per annum. pay
.hl, quarterly" Moreover. these facts may
urrest the proprioty of Congress demanding
an exclamation from the Post Office Depart.
want NJ how the contracts cam to be entered
,nto and how an agreement can DO arranged
tnr the expenditure OF double tho amount Of
money that the department has asked Congress
to appropriate.
when the last contract for carrying the mails
about New York city. and to and from the rail.
road stations to the General Post Office. expired
the United States Government, through the
Post Office Department, awarded the contract to
two new contractors for S24o. 600 q year. That
contract is in existence to-day, n the con-
tractors are drawing their pay quarterly. Tho
report Of the Second Assistant Postmaster
General for 1897 contains also the following:
November 81, 1896. With the United
States Mail Packet and General Pneumatic
Delivery Company for Pneumatic Tube Mail
Service between the main Post Office In Brook
Iyn and the main Post Office in New York lover
the Brooklyn Bridge, for a term of four years
beginning Aug. %. 1897. at a compensation Of
$4,000 per annum.
March 25, 1897. With the Tubular Dispatch
Company for q pneumatic tube mail service In
New York city between the main Post Office and
station p in the Produce Exchange building;
also between the main Post Office and station H.
Forty.fourth street and Lexington avenue. via
s~tationsD D, Madison square, and T, for tho term
from Oct. /, 1897, to June 80. 1901. at . COM
p~ensation Of Sl4s, 500 per annum."
These two contracts, 1t will DO noted, have no
connection whatever with the other contracts
for the carrying Of the mail. The amounts ap-
propriated. namely. $4,000 and $14s, 500, are
In addition to the $4,000. which is paid
for carrying all the mail. hat is to say,
the Post Office Department voluntarily in
5000 - .-lt.- l. ~
York city and between New York and Brooklyn
by s162, 500 a year. This at o time whom the
department was running behind and when Con-
gross committees deemed 1t absolutely neces-
sary to reduce the number of carriers in tho
city to bring the expenses Of the department
within the appropriation.
In accordance with this contract, the Tubular
Dispatch Company has constructed o line Of
tubes from the Produce Exchange to the
General Post Office aud from the General
Post 0face to Station H via the three
stations named in the contract. Tho line
from the Post ONCE to the Produce Exchange
has been In operation since Oct. Is last. Tho
line from the Post Office to tho Grand Central
Palace Is not In operation yet. though John e.
Milholland and the Tribune promised . week
tgo that 1t would be opened before last Sunday.
Tho contract for the line across tho bridge,
though awarded to tho United States Mail,
Package. and General Pneumatic Delivery
Company. is to-day in the possession of the Tub
ular DISPATCH Company. 1t 10 not necessary to
enter into the details OF that transaction here.
mont, made by the Post Ofice oGiciais. about
the work OF the line of tubes in operation bo-
tween Station p and the General Post Oflce.
carried the letter and post card mail between
ne hours OF 9 O'Clock in the morning and 8
o'clock &c In the afternoon. that they had carried
Central Palace will, when It Is put in operation,
oerry the same sort Of mail and no other.
Yesterday TIE Sun reporter talked with the
contracts. He is the best judge Of the relative
guanutes OF the various classes of mail that
siS carried . In the city. He estimated with tho
Dersonally on the ground at important stations
that tSs I Isitsr m6;, estimate Of these two was
Ssation + and Station P and the Post Ofice is
Sneiouftn OF all the mail carried between these
n %Ulni .a n AND 3 IN in the afternoon: It is not
asJ, put let that GO. Call 1t one-fourth in bulk
H. / az cost n os and in the matl;carrying service
tbe 9 mil OF carriage is fixed almost wholly BY
~ ouik. 80 between the hours of o o'clock in
tnSr morning and 8 o'clock of the afternoon ono.
'0 NeIt al an the me mail is carried BY the tubes.
oetWeen the GRAND Central Palace and the Cen.
Srai Post Office both ways, and the answer was.
poine ietter mail between the Grand Central
.hiace branch and tho General Post Office "a
t t1oaI 9hhe,tenth In bulk of the whole mail be-,
90 when this limo is put in operation the
n no according TO these authorities, will carry
T Thetentn OF all the mail between the points.
is = esIimate Is unquestionably accurate, but
made iH ~ might say, that tho men who
fIma !. we're Interested let us double the Cd.
Imste and assume that the proportion In just \
fP1 anS less than the proportion between station
a r ~ general Post Office. that Is, one-hfth.
Y.nort rost Vfice authorities" said THE Sun
ttepOr1er 10 Mr.. George G.. Travis. the con.
nS9&caoNor, say that the tubes between The Pos,
vmSo ana the Produce Exchange nave done the
y oI one wagon. That liz to say. hat where
ons,S S " 70 keep TWO wagons running continue
"Tbss = now have TO use but one"
renlv Is not absolutely accurate" was the
bean "a III VI she supplemental mails have always
IA ali tha Ga oy the wagons, and the Post ONCE
me exchange" 50 'N"~ "Hsoh ior
pl,c men the tubes have not actually taken the
. W, they have not"
Fort NY are your expectations in regard IN the
". 1TSurlh street tube when In OPERATION Y%
IA a.. travis smiled. rs he said. "Of course n
rsdn our interest to have IL succeed Tor IL
Wauves our work and doesn't reduce onr nav
wao ~ m hopes that 1t may do the work NJ two
on ths ro maj We may be able to take two wagons
NAV th ,sH. 4 your hopes are fulfilled. the tubes
or A. H. H. ,ne place OF two and one.half wagons
routes S saiS lhree wagons a day on the two
win these aeO .sti la;n said Mr.. Travis.
NipherlnR. The Tuhulnr nisnn,