Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-14
NOT SUFFICIENT ROOM
Post Office Department Will Be Crowded in
the New Building.
AUDITORS Office and Money Order De-
partment Already
Moved.

Officials were not altogether pleased with
the new home provided for the Post Office
Department. The principal objection is the
ncapacity of the building to accommodate
the department. Already the treasury off,
cials have recognized the limited space and
have suspended that part of the act of
Congress which gives it the authority to
designate outside departments to rooms on
the eighth floor When Congress convenes
the matter will be brought to its attention,
with the object of amending the act SO far
as the eighth floor is concerned. Even
now, with only two branches Of the service
in the building, the rooms are overcrow wded
and the halls are occupied. This is particu-
larly so of the auditors Office. There are
1876 clerks in this department, and the sixth
and seventh floors occupied by
them. The ninth floor was set aside for the
files of this department., but the experts
who investigated the subject decided not
to store such enormous weight on the
top floor. This necessitated the storing of
the overflow on the eighth iloor, ana tjiis IS
pretty well filled now Even with this ex-
ira allotment, which is only temporary un-
til Congress acts, there are tons of Valu-
able files for which there is no room. There
are, for instance, 200,OO0O0O money orders
yet stored at the old post office, ana these
must be preserved, since the law provides
for their safe keeping seven years after is
Suance.
Filled With Historical Data.
Auditor Castle pointed out to a reporter
of The Star this morning 5000 registers, of
no official value, yet pregnant with his
torical data. They are the records of the
Post Office Department from the time of
Timothy Pickering of Pennsylvania, the
third Postmaster General. These old rec
ordS are in wonderful state Of preServa-
ton, and for years have been stored like SO
much cord wood in the attic of the old
Post Office Department, where they were
exposed to the ravages of time, without
any protection. The ink is black and dis
tinct, and the writing sharp and clear.
Opening one of the big icdgerS, dated 1898.
Auditor Castle pointed out how wonderful
had been the increase in the postal busi-
ness of the country. Everything in the
ledger was written in fine, legibe hand,
and set forth, among other things, that
the Postmaster General for that quarter
had drawn his salary, amounting to $500.
In those days there were only eighty-nine
post offices; now there are 1.022 The post
route that year only aggregated 1906 miles;
now it figures up 410,o32 miles. The gross
earnings of the department in 1875 were
SGT, ,443: last year they aggregated $s2.G65,
462. The gross expenses for Postmaster
General Pickerings first term were SOD $50:
now they are $94.077,2i2. The postmasters
then received in salaries $16,517; last year
they drew from the government $16,90S ,:iS4.
From these old registers the financial
history of every city that maintained a
post office may be obtained, and every now
and then the department is called upon by
historians to supply data that cannot be
obtained anywhere else.
Two Eureaus Moved.
No one can say exactly when the new
post office building will he completely oc-
cupied. Last week the contractor, Mr..
John Newbold, moved the auditors Office
and the money order department. Both o.
these branches of the service are so nti-
matey connected that it was deemed ad-
visable to move them first The 1st day of
October is given out as the day the post
office department proper will move al
though it is not believed everything W II be
transferred until the middle of the m nth
Every piece of furniture in the old build n
has been labeled. and there is no coaflsi. n
in properly placing 1t. the rooms to tie c.
cupied by the different offices havirg cen
already selected.
There is no Disgusting the fact that the
clerks in the post Office look forward to the
day when they leave their old Guarts..s,
with feelings of regret. The old building
mas become very dear to them and they
know every inch of it. For years many Of
them have occupied the same desk, and 1t
is like parting with old friends to take them
away. Many of them have inspected the
new quarters and are open in the deaun-
citation Of them. There promise 4, .e
lively times when It comes to the selection