The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-11
FREIGHT SHIPPED AS MAIL
Members of Congress Not Slew to
Use Their Franks.
The Articles Sent by the POstOffice
Department Range From Laundry
to Safcs and Carriages Behav-
ing More MOdestIy This Year.

department Hunge From Laundry
to Safes and Carriages Behav-
ing More MOdestIy This Year.
gross, when the exodus of members
clerks, and attaches takes place the
Washington City Postoffice has a diff
cult time to handle the outgoing mail
Especially is this true at the end of a
Congress when many members of both
branches retire to private life The rea-
son for this exodus of mail Is not hard
to find. Senators and Representatives
have the privilege of franking their per-
sonal effects through the mails. In
theory, this franling privilege extends
only to Congressional documents, books.
papers, and letters relating to official
business, but in practice it covers almost
| everything that the ordinary member
of the Senate or House has in his pos
session. 1t is one of the perquisites con-
nected with Congressional life, which
make the life bearable.
Toward the end of the session each law
maker receives from the Capitol carpenter
shop three chests. Two of them are Of
pine but strongly built and braced. They
| are about three feet in length, two in
| width, and a foot and a half deep. The
| third is of cedar, slightly larger than the
others Having been utilized for shipping
| purposes, it is stored away in some closet,
| where it becomes the receptacle for the
| family furs, fine dresses. and other ma
| terials on which the moth feeds. Some
| times 1t is used as chest for the family
silver. When the Senator or Representa-
| tive receives his quota of boxes he has
nothing to pay They come from the
| House carpenter shop and are built by
the House carpenter and paid for out OF
| the contingent fund of the Senate and
| House.
Into these boxes the member or his
| clerk loads all his letter flies, papers,
documents, books, maps, and other pub
| lications which he has in stock. Type
writer's letter presses. inkstands, and
other Office paraphernalia are stored away
| in their recesses. Frequently clothing.
bedding, and other personal or household
| effects are packed in these boxes. When
| filled to the brim they are locked and the
| tops screwed down and then carted off
to the postoffice. where they are shipped
through the mails to all points within the
borders of the United States.
Abuses of the franking system" said
an employe of the postoflce yesterday,
ARE not nearly so prevalent as they were
some years ago. / remember the time
when it was considered the proper thing
for Senators and Representatives to ship,
home anything they wished by simply
placing their address and their frank
upon it. That time has, fortunately for
the service, gone by. 1t is now considered
breach of good manners to ship any
thing under a frank that cannot be pack
ed in these special boxes or in the mail
sacks which are provided for documents.
Formerly, furniture, desks, trunks. and
even buggies and carriages We're franked
home in mail cars. Nowadays we sel1om
come across anything Of that kind except
an occasional trunk or two.
1t is also no longer considered a fair
thing to send laundry or family wash
home and have ii returned under a frank
There used to be a Representative from
Indiana who was addicted to this habit
He had q family of about five children
and yet after two terms he retired with
about $1,000, which he had saved out OF |
his salary. One of his daughters acted as
his private secretary, another was a clerk |
in one of the departments, and a small |
son was page at the Capitol. The entire |
family practiced rigid economy, and |
among other things the Representative |
each week franked home his family wash |
ing. OF course, he did not save much by |
the operation. but in the course of his |
four years service it must have amounted |
to 500 l have heard he was one of those |
members who use their committee sta
tionery and draw their allowance in |
cash. |
What was the most difficult shipment |
you have known enquired the reporter. |
We'll, we have had many difficult and |
peculiar jobs in that line. responded the |
postOffice employe. Probably the worst |
job / ever had to tackle was when a re-
firing Senator franked home a safe In |
his committee room at the Capitol he had |
a very fine and large safe, which had |
been purchased for the use of his COM
mittee, but which had been condemned |
and sold to him at a nominal price II
weighed about 6.000 pounds. All the Sena- |
tor did was to place an address, and a |
frank upon IL and notify the officers of |
the Senate postoffice to some and get 1t. |
They got 1t all right, but the getting was |
accompanied by much sweating and pro- |
tanity What the clerks in the postoffice |
SAID where 1t was shipped when it landed |
l have never heard | don't think IL was |
delivered by letter carrier
we used to have considerable diff |
Guilty with household furniture A fold |
ing bed or a lounge is not a desirable
object in postal car. 1t is bad enough
to have the car filled with bags of docu-
ments or boxes of goods, but when it |
bric-a-brac. and other things of that
character, including china closets and |
kitchen utensils, ones patience is strain
ed TO the limit. ! have heard OF a Re-
upright piano. The clerks were so en-
ragged at his presumption that heavy
box was allowed TO drop, accidentally, of |
course, upon the lid which was split open |
I
the piano, and by the time ii reached it's
destination ii was very badly damaged. |
OF course the Representative had no re- |
course and could not make a complaint |
about the treatment his piano received |
when he was clearly violating the law.
We have had some queer requests in
regard TO the shipping of franked matter. |
Just few days ago a Representative |
from a Western State brought hand |
some fox terrier TO the office, which he
wished to frank to his home We per- |
shaded him the dog might suffer from |
inattention en- route and he sent il by ex- |
press. There is a member of the Senate |
who was once accused, according to the |
public press, of franking home his horses |
and carriage. | am not saying whether |
this is true or not but the hullabalIoo |
which was raised by the publication of |
the charge prevented a repetition of the |
abuses of the franking privilege since |
the passage of the new law. Still, the
outgoing Congress has respectable rec |
ord in that line. Over LOCO boxes have |
been or will be, shipped to different parts
of the country. together with more than |
that number of bags of public documents |
which will be distributed by the members |
and ex-members. during the summer sea-
son. Their total weight will approximate
40 900 pounds and the shipments average !
~, 900 pounds or ten tons DAY. As il costs |
cents pound on the average YOU can |
see that the Postoffice Department ex-
pends a considerable sum every year in
moving the effects of the members of |
Congress.
How is it that no complaint is made?"
You see, it's this way. Congress makes
the laws, and Congress Appropriated the
money 20 rl2u ihi6l