The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-08-04
4 POSTAL MUSEUM.
COLLECTION OF CURIOS THAT
HAVE NO DUPLICATES 81
unclaimed Photographs Of Union
Soldiers Sent Through Mail
During the Civil! War.

Inere are few places in Washington
VI more general interest than the Post
olnce museum. Beginning modestly
several years ago with the peculiar
Things found in the mails unclaimed.
the muesum has grown with rapidity,
ana now embraces a collection at once
interesting and instructive.
1t occupies a large room on the first
moor Of the Postoffice Department build
ing, and is steadily expanding. Already
curator S. L. Slack is making. prepare
tons to move to the new building on
pennsylvania avenue, where large,
Well-lighted room on the second floor
has been set aside for it's use.
Postmaster General Smith takes a
keen interest in the museum, and dur
Ing his recent trip to Cuba made ar
rangements for the acquisition oil sew
eral old Spanish Postoffice relics. These
have arrived and occupy conspicuous
places in the collection. They attract
the greatest amount of attention. The
principal relic is an old Spanish
letter box that was located for many
years at the Grand Hotel Inglaterra,
in Havana All of these letter boxes
nav z OSSu ISpldCSQ Wy liz 1SS bAoeAOiA
United States box The old Spanish
letter box was made in Switzerland,
and constructed in such a manner that
the collector could not see nor handle
the contents of the box, the arrange
ment being the automatic closing of
the sack by peculiarly constructed
frame top, upon which the sack was Sc
cured. When the collector arrived he
datachad tho a Dd m 60
ed the mail pouch, at the same time
closing the letter box. The arrange
Z ment was both heavy and cumbersome,
although a safeguard against pilfering.
RELICS OF THE LATE WAR.
Just to the left of the entrance to the
museum as one enters is the Spanish
flag that waved over the old Postoffice
at Manila. When Dewey planted the
Stars and Stripes over the Spanish
capital this flag was removed and sent
to Washington, where it finally found a
place in the Postoffice museum. The
real curio of this collection, however,
is the Postoffice bulletin board used in
the Manila Postoffice. This board took
the place of the general delivery" as
we understand it in this country. 1t is
about a foot long by about six inches
small sliding panels the names of the
persons to whom letters are addressed
are pasted. When citizen saw his
name upon the board he called for the
letter at the office, and. after paying a
fee, it was delivered. Over the top of
the board are written in Spanish the
= words "A list of directed letters" The
names of some of the delinquent cor
respondents are still on the board
Nearby is the coat of arms of Spain
which was torn from over the door of
the old .Postoff1ce at Santiago. 1t is
evidently an antique. A great grin
ming Spanish gargoyle, or mask, of
heavy metal occupies position near
the door, and through it's capacious
mouth, Curator Slack explained, the
residents of Santiago were wont to drop
their letters The mouth is we'll worn,
illustrating the service it has seen.
The consistency of man is Illustrated
by a piece of flooring taken from the
old Postoffice at Baltimore. 1t shows
in distinct outlines the footprints or
the distributor, who occupied the pre-
else spot day after day for-years, his
shifting feet, as he moved in the pecu-
liar swaying motion common to all dis
tributors wearing a hollow, the exact
counterpart of his feet, in the heavy
floor.
Occupying a commanding position
over the doorway is an excellent paint
ing of Benjamin Franklin. the first
Postmaster General, while directly OPP
posite is a crayon of Postmaster Cen
eral Charles Emory Smith.
The display of curios is well planned,
and Curator Slack has a story for
nearly every exhibit. As the visitor
enters the door he is struck at once
with the great neatness and taste dis
played in the arrangement of the ex-
hibit. The articles are for the most
part placed in large cases with glass
fronts as clear as crystal.
THE FRONTIER CARRIER.
A Western mail carrier bars the way
for a short space, and you turn to
examine and marvel at the fidelity of
the reproduction. There, astride of
big chestnut horse, sits star route
carrier, dressed in typical frontier
style, with pistols peeking out Of leath-
er holsters at his side, and his precious
burden of the mails securely fastened
on behind The horse was once alive,
and the taxidermist has made a faithful
TeDfCQuctlOQ. In marked contrast WITH
this mode of carrying the mails is the
pneumatic tube exhibit, showing how
Uncle Sam, by the employment of mod
ern methods. shoots the mails with
lightning rapidity in large cities. The
first pneumatic carrier ever used is on
exhibition as is the latest improve
ment. Within a short time the curator
hopes to have a miniature tube service
in operation, SO that the features of the
system can be practically illustrated to
visitors.
4 Great interest centers in the exhibit
of the railway mail service, showing
the interior of the mail cars and the
clerks at work, calmly asserting the
mails while the train is running at
sixty miles an hour. In this exhibit
also is shown the method of catching
the mail bag while the train is in mo-
ton, as well as the way they have of
dropping off a mail sack at small sta
tions. 1t is astonishing how few I'M
derstand the system which has done
SO much to revolutionize the railway
mail service. The curator hopes to
have a train in operation shortly which
will demonstrate the method of catch
ing the mail bag.
THE UNIFORMS OF THE WORLD.
1t is interesting to note the different