The evening times., 1898-11-26
The City POstOffice will Open
in a New Home.
THE WORK OF REMOVAL
Location of Various Departments
in the Avenue Structure.
The Quarters Are Admirably Ar
ranged tor the Convenience of
Patrons.

the city P0stotf;ce will be installed in the
handsome new building on Pennsylvania
Avenue. between Eleventh and Twelfth
Streets northwest. tomorrow morning.
The City Postoffice Building has been de-
layed more than any Government build
ing in the course Of construction during
the last five years and the delays have
mostly been caused 10y the failure OF the
subcontractors TO attend properly TO the
work given them. Within the last few
months there have been several strikes
among the bricklayers, and the contract
which was subiet TO several firms has
been finally fulfilled by the original con-
tractors Al last, however. the people
are about TO have look at the inside of
The structure that has cost so much mon
ey and has caused nervous prostration
among a few who We're not AT all certain
that the Government would ever finish
the building.
Tomorrow morning the Union building,
on q Street, where the postofice has
been situated for several years, VIII be
deserted, and the busy throng Of men
and women that have made tnat section
OF the city one Of the most frequented
and made business good for the retail
dealers in various commodities Will have
transferred their affections TO another
quarter of the town, and G Street will
know them no more. When the general
delivery window is opened tomorrow
morning il will be a new general de!lY-
cry window at a new place of business,
but the employe who opens it Will be the
same and he viii do exactly the same
as he has done for years past. There VIII
be no interruption in the routine bus:-
ness of the postoffice by the moving. AT
4 O'Clock this afternoon, when the car
riers have returned from their last deliv-
cry the movement toward Twelfth Street
viii begin, and when the night force
comes 10 work at II O'Clock they viii
begin their daily or nightly grind al the
new building instead OF going TO the old.
and by that time everything but the mail
ing division win have been moved and in
place.
At u O'Clock tonight the heavy mail
wagons will disGOrge their burdens at
the Twelfth Street building for the first
time The mailing division, which in
cludes the packing and transportation OF
the out-of-town mail. will move at eX-
actly u O'Clock. This is one of the most
important divisions OF the postoffice but
much trouble is not anticipated in the
:
thing Will be moved by O'Clock tomor-
row morning when the office viii be open
for regular business. although persons
having urgent business can transact il
after O'Clock this afternoon at the old
structure, and al the new a -er l. O'Clock
tonight
The building Is said To be an almost
perfect postoffice establi> hment and al
most everything that is necessary for the
proper handling of the voluminous de,iv-
cry and transportation business Of a larS q
city has been purchased. When tn fore
goes to work tonight they will find IN
tirely new furniture throughout the
building and it viii all b. Of the mos i'm
proved variety. Ii is expected that all
the canceling VIII be done by machinery
hereafter instead of having a few ma
chimes and canceling what mail there re-
manned by hand.
The cases into which the mali Is dis
tributed Will be of the latest variety and
the men employed on them VIII have
more room In which TO work than i'm the
old building. There is an abundance Of
room for everything in the new Office and
that will De appreciated by the men who
have been compelled TO work in cramped
quarters.
Postmaster Wiilett with the assistance
OF his subordinates. has employed an his
time during the last TWO or three months
I'm making preparations for the mov:ng
and the assignment of the various floors
and rooms in the new structure. Every
thing has been provided for by the post
master and he has diagram of the floors
OF the building on which is marked the
places allotted to all the depal tments un-
der his care and has given valuable sug-
gestioHs as to the best manner OF arrang-.
ing things to facilitate the work Of B is
force
The city postoffice will not occupy all
the floor space i'm the new structure az il
viii be months before that Is finished. and
besides there is too much for the use of
the local office. The Postofice Depart
ment and the Sixth Auditors Office will
take the greater part of the space and
only part of the basement and the first
and mezzanine floors will be reserved for
the occupancy of Postmaster WiIlett and
his men.
The greater part of this space will be
taken up by the receiving and delivery
divisions on the main floor This fmpor-
tant branch of the postoffice work takes
up the entire center OF the building and
is lighted from above. The center of the
building is rooted with glass and from
the second floor is one immense court
which affords plenty of light and accei-
crates the handling of the letters. In the
old building artificial light was used most
OF the time and gave little satisfaction.
The center compartment is encased in
handsome partitions of hardwood and
glass and the visitor can see the workings
OF every department of a metropolitan
postoffice from the corridor which entire
ly surrounds il on three sides The south
side is left open for the reception of the
mail and ii is here that the wagons drive
in and deliver the mail from the depots
and the street railway postoffices. A plat
form Of stone, three feet high has been
built and trucks will be run from the
Office direct 10 the wagons
The general delivery window is on the
Pennsylvania Avenue side and under the
tower, with the wholesale and retail
stamp windows on the left and the bu-
reau Of information on the right
The location of the mailing department
and the carriers windows will be about
the same as in the G Street building
They Will be placed on the west side of
the center of the building opening into
the Twelfth Street corridor and the mail
viii be deposited nearly opposite The
Twelfth Street door.
The registry department will be locat-
ed in the southwest corner and persons
wishing TO insure the delivery of money
10 friends or relatives can reach this di-
vision as early from the Twelfth Street
side as from the Pennsylvania Avenue en-
trance except that they will not be able
10 enjoy the walk through the handsome
corridor.
he money order division is to have its
b ne in the northwest corner OF the main
or just at the opposite end of the corri-