Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-02-10
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
A Letter Carriers Memories of
81 Years Steady Service.

Island Nineteen Ycnrs-New York
In the MidcentUry.
NEW YORK, Feb 9.-tSpccial. You
might talk to good many men I'm this
town without finding one more interest
ing than 7d-ycar-old Charles A. Tyler
who has carried mail matter about in New
York for more than half a century and
has made trips daily to Governors island
for almost 10 years.
In spite a his age and his accompany
ing stoop and wrinkles Mr. Tyler gets
about on his feet with agility and prompt.
ness. So far as any one knows, he gives
perfect satisfaction as a carrier, and he
considers himself good for several years
more of continuous service He began in
1915, and between that year and 1880 he
filled almost every place in the New York
postOtlice excepting that of postmaster
In 1880 when Thomas l.. James, later
postmaster general and now one of the
towns leading bankers, was postmaster,
Tyler was assigned to deliver the mail to
the denizens of Governors island, the
official headquarters of the military divi-
sion of the Atlantic.
Public Men, Actors, singers.
General W. = Hancock was running
for president Of the United States that
year, said Tyler to the writer this morn
ing land l used to meet him often. lie
had an enormous mail every day for
months. / used to think that every news
paper publisher in the United States must
send free copies Of his paper to the general.
His letter mail was something back
breaking too.
"In my time I've met good many pub
lie men. l heard Henry Clay make a
speech when | was only boy. I saw all
the great actors Of the fortics, the flfties
and the sixties l used to like Junius
Brutus Booth, hut | liked the famous
Placide brothers. in their day thought the
best comedians in America, too. l heard
the prima donna Of the first Italian Opera
company that ever sang In New York
sing. She was Nine. Pcdrotti Nobody
seems to remember her now, but she Great.
ed a big sensation then, and she sang
beautifully. Her company appeared in the
| Richmond Hill thcatcr. which was com
| posed Of a house that once had been Aaron
Burr's, in Charlton street, and building
added on at the rear.
"Richmond Hill thcater was by all odds
the best playhouse in town, though it
! wouldn't suit Mt all now, even in a small
| interior city. The best seats were benches
made Of planed planks with iron legs We
| called what Is now the parquct the pit
! then. Tickets for the dress circle were ,
shillings C2j .tnts). In the pit they were
shilling, and up stairs they We're SIX
pence.
when Carriers Made Money.
81 wasn't hired by the government
when l began was only an assistant,
and | was engaged by "a carrier who had
| too big route To handle alone Many Of
| the carriers had assistants in the forties
| You see, the regular force couldn't posi-
bly, distribute all the mail, and there was
opposition to an increase of carriers, and
| the engagement Of assistants was positive
| ly necessary.
Carriers and their assistants made
| good money in those days, for they used
TO collect > cents for every letter they de
| livercd, and that gave us the title Of penny
| postmen, by which we were known. That
money was kept by the carriers in pay.
ment for their services. A good many OF
them made 81 900 year apiece. and ]
knew some that got together incomes OF
not cent less than 50, 600. 1t was dark
day for the carriers when the change tC
free delivery came. 1t cut them down tC
$1,000 and $500 apiece.
penny postmen wore no uniforms
They came in 30 years ago, and caused al
most as much Of n sensation as the estab
! lishment of substatons had few years
before. The first uniforms We're much
like those used now, only there was NOR,
braid on them.
"When was an assistant penny post
man, l had the section bounded by ole
Chatham street, now Park row and tho
Bowery, on the cast, Grand street on tho
north, Broadway on the west and City
Hall park on the south. l used TO gel
over that territory twice day. 1t now
takes between 80 and 40 men to cover tn,
ground,
Old New York.
"I don't know that l could show NOR,
clearly than that what a difference there 1,
between the New York Of today and tho
New York of the forties. Every availabl,
inch of the region used TO cover is now
built upon. Some of its buildings ar,
among the most splendid in the world
Some are among the most squalid, anC
there is more intense crowding in tn,
whole territory than almost anywher,
else on earth There may be n tree or ty
still standing somewhere-in back yard
say, or some such place-but then tn, =
were long rows Of shade trees. Mayb
there are still few blades of grass too
Then there were broad green lawns anC
plenty of flower beds on all but the princi
pal streets.
1.-THE fire department was then n volun
teer service, and the alarms were rung OF
the church bells, of which the one hang
ing in the tower of the old Dutch churcl
at Pine and Cedar streets, afterward use,
for the postotlice, was the clearest tone,
and generally was the first to be sounded
"When l began to carry there wer
only 23 carriers; now there are /, 433
The postoffico was in City Hall park, as /
is now, located in what was known as tn
Rotunda, fronting on Center street
There was q big fuss when they talked o
moving it to Pine and Cedar streets, be
cause that meant taking up the bodies il
the old Dutch churchyard. At one time i
seemed the opposition might block tn
project altogether, but it didn't succeed
and the bodies were duly dug up.
ave delivered daily newspapers then a
we'll as letters and got the same fee
cents each. That made each paper cos
the subscriber considerably more than it
selling price. The Evening Star was
great favorite when began, but nobod
remembers it now The newspapers q
those times were not much like those O
today. There are probably 100 cities IL
the United States today and maybe NOR
that have better papers now than the bes
in this city were then.
uNOV daily naDarS Of and 10 Daues