The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-24
CHECKSIN
.rpJorS PHASE OF TIE AcCI-
nEyT> IN THE PIPE LIVE

o,h.r p.pers or Great vaIue 1n-
-,.s.a In tho Mail Matter which was
oH,..,.a on Noudny-The Tubular Die
-..s coup.nJ Trying to shirh the Btnuae.
No.. n, clerks was kept at work In the Gen.
., po., Onlcc yesterday picking over the
u-.,i,p and blackcned bits OF paper that had
~. s-s, class mail matter, but which
" aes,royed on Monday afternoon and
-, in the pneumatic tubes OF the
r-,r,.r Dispatch Company. They wero try.
~. "a find In this ground-up mass bits
- writing that could be identified. Now
" ", ,bcn they were successful and every piece
tornd was rlaccd in an official envelope with
..o,ice and was forwarded TO the person whose
.~.b,d been discovered. The notice was 81
follows;
,,orrp1 DEPARTMENT FOR MISSING AND DEAD LkILhha
mi, niece Of mail was damaged by accident while
-t,au,it through the pneumatic tnoe' TINS Guy.
nuusnn,sa mai This formed part OF a sealed letter,
~ tsai The enyelope wa destroyed; but careful
,.srch among the frag nent, reSoveten SHOWS nosnans
~. Sbirh can be associated with this, or whlch can
spsis,.r,in.d a, yours. c.. Vas Corr, Postm aster.
rhs accident WAS admitted by the Post once
..,ho,itie, Yesterday TO be the worst that has
,.rr.n.d in the department in New York city
~, great many years, considered from the
.,,ndpoipt OF the amount OF mail matter de-
..,oyed ard its character. There was at least
80 hushels OF fragments. and as stated in II
erS Yesterday ii was ground up in the tubes
~, Il looked like wadding after II had been
,.a from a gun. Much OF the matter des-
,A,rsd wa, OF a character to lead to business
..mn,ications. There were upward of forty
,bects alone in the carrier that was wrecked.
Th,re may have been many more, but frag-
p.nt. Of that many were picked out OF the mass
yesterday. They were torn and twisted and
h,ckeped, The numbers on many OF them
x,re destroyed. On others the name OF the
h.rr m which they were drawn was missing.
On some OF them 1t was just possible, to make
out the name OF the person to whom they were
irsvp and on others 1t was possible to make out
IN whole or IN part tho name Of the person who
drew them. Ot other Fragments all that could
Be told was that they had once been checks.
The variety OF complications growing out Of
destruction OF valuable property. such as this
can be better imagined than described. II lie al.
most endless. Some Of the checks no doubt
IN time, OF course. the notes have been pro-
rested, and the credit OF. the makers injured.
The persons who mailed letters containing
on Monday. don't know whether their letters
and checks were among those destroyed. OF
conrse. 1t was necessary for these persons yes
al checks they sent out by mail during. the
afternoon. In ord r TO protect themselves until
they sscertained which had been destroyed.
terdny from the Post Office Department, but
thsy couldn't get any except in the cases whore
fragments Of the destroy ed letters were ident
Fable. In addition TO the torn and ground-up
checks, the clerks who were sorting over the
papers found il ,that had evidently. boon parts
Of insurance policies. There were other bits
that had been parts Of deeds, but these were so
far destroyed in most cases that 1t wasn't posi-
bio 70 tell anything more about them. There
wa also a fragment that looked like q draft
lrn~n IN thu ApNariron E~rhnnoa National
Bank. and there was what looked like a note
made payable at the same bank, hut payable by
whom was a question, for that part of the note
Bad as was the condition of the mail that
had been. ground up in the Tubular Dispatch
Conpany's tubes between the General Post
Once and the Produce Exchange, that which
lad been ground up in the tube Of the same
Pot otaoe was worse, b mail in that tube
silver dollar. and.the Identification OF more
tnan q very little OF II was entirely out OF tho
S SDs ! r. II each piece had been ground up
hardly have. been In worse condition.
y Is not possible yet7to tell exactly what
day were not made. Postmaster Van Colt said
a. WAS carrying on an independent inyestigs-
ton to tI the responsibility. He said also that
and that II was possible that they would mako
an Investigation on their own hook. He said
i ss Tho he company tina. runs the tubes and
y@r was also making an investigation. In
telling about:the two:aecidcnts:and the destruc-
Gon o. the mails the Postmaster said that the
Iqou!ar Dispatch company had two lines Of
tubes. one running from the Post Office to the
Sroduce Exchangesand the .other.from. Station
a 70 me Post Office. The last-named line. he
Nd, nan not yet been accepted by the Govern
nent though 1t had been in operation about a
week. Only hrst. las mail is carried by the
tubes. he said, and as 1t was explained in THE
GUN Yesterday. IL iS rnrript in fttla IN ata 4 nor.
which are pushed along by air pressure.
III, p Is nara 70 say exactly what happened in
@hsteSi blu: the company claims that the man
Hho nled the car that was wrecked did not
Sipse and lock the door as he should have done.
have had that man before me and have cues.
toned him closely. He tells me that he did
aIs EAa lock Inc door, he says he is positive
Do a s1 +. the asv COMPANY M any any proof that he did not
Wei. they say that he couldn't have done
L Or the accident would net have happened.
ne insists that he did do it."
ms accident" said the Postmaster" took
Pace az a.little before s O'Clock in the evening.
me DINER one on the station II line took place
H., cdock tae same afternoon. Monday. In
, ,Sst case the officials of the company admit that
.lese was something the matter with the car.
!. 1 a9h Know exactly what it was. but IL
II /. '9 aimas, and The mail was ground UP.
.i,bs. Almost impossible To say anything about
s.taer OF the accidents. however, until our in.
s9srsS IS completed. and I can't tell now
"a Anhl viii Dt. Inc OnClal report,
u course, will first be sent to Washington"
me postmaster was asked whether the letters
s",eere ground up by the carrier in which they
SHar.ed on their journey or by another carrier.
tto y FrpAed mat as he understood IL the destruc-
y WAS done by a second carrier.
DO Inc men who were running the tuhe
tSs nv" tne moment the accident happened that
sneie was trouble In the tube, or did thew have 10
s sHi until parts of the broken carrier came
...nph, they knew right away"
linen why did they nut In anntbar carr;ar
sne 20 destroy the maiii"
a ~ yonl have 10 wait for the completion
II = Inveslisatlon, said the Postmaster.
hH appears from the talk THE Sen reporter
tSins n nm me Post once officials that when any
81 X naRpehs TO one OF the carriers In the tubes
dnnmhe Dispatch Company and the mail is
fittn mp out, there Is 10 way to save the mail.
Ills ~ ne ground up and destroyed, that is, II
khnO De removed quickly. 1t could. Of course.
down f., "a iSS t9pGGatins i in the pipe and digging
so%. exliained, that would cost the COMPANY
AH ISTESTIGATION TO BE MADE