The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-08-08
FOR FREE.
DELIVERY
J. W. Erwin Here
to Establish
System.
SEPARATE MAIL
IN SAN FRANCISCO
Carriers Will Have Much Work
Done For Them Before the
Steamers Leave There.
w. ERWIN. superintendent of

free delivery. was a passenger
on the Sierra yesterday. He
comes to- Honolulu to establish the free
delivery system for the local postoffice,
and expects to have it in operation
within the next three weeks. The ap-
pointments of the ten letter carriers
will be made as soon as, he has looked
ovel the ground and determined upon
what plan to adopt. He brought with
him fifty street letter drop boxes and
yesterday afternoon drove about the
city, looking for suitable locations in
which to place them. To an Advertiser
reporter Mr.. Erwin said yesterday:
Honolulu is different from anything
We have in the United States. 1t Is a
feast or famine here. Under the law
we cannot work carriers more than
eight hours consecutively in a day. On
steamer days you have an abundance
of mail which taxes the department to
get out in anything like good time.
al here to study the situation. We
are going to make start of the free
delivery system. 1t may be only a
modest start but we will do what we
can. The department is very much in
terested in Hawaii and we hope in time
to have a good free delivery system in
operation. l brought down with me
fifty street letter boxes and I hope be-
lore / leave here, which will be in
about three weeks time, to get every
thing running smoothly. 1 have good
deal to learn, for as l have said, the
situation here is different from any
thing we have on the Mainland. The
carriers are held down to doing no more
thar eight hours work. That regula-
ton may be obviated in time.
II hope to have the mails separated
in Sal Francisco so that shortly after
the arrival of the steamers with mail
from the Coast we can put the carriers
right out on their routes. The way this
viii be done will be to train men in the
Office here to distribute mail according
to the carriers routes, and become IA
miIiar with every detail relating to the
Streets numbers, names, etc. When
they are trained we win probably send
them to San Francisco, where they will
make up the mails, as have just stat
ed
The use of foreign steamers for bring
ing the mails to Honolulu does not all
low of mail clerks being placed on
them to distribute mail as clerks do on
railroads. and the mails would have to
be distributed in San Francisco. if at
all.
''I have no idea yet as to who viii be
put on the carriers force. 1 am author
lied to go ahead and do what is pos
sible to start the system without de-
lay. I have been doing this work for
about fourteen years and l have never
yet put in free delivery system that
merchants and others in a business
| field have not objected to. They say
they prefer keeping their boxes, but it
comes just the same. / see you have
an average of ten people to each postof-
| flee box. You may not know it, but
that is distinctly against the regula-
tions. and will, in time, have to be
stopped I know there has been con-
sestion in the office here and the de-
partment has overlooked this on ac-
count of that fact"