The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-18
POSTAL SERVICE PROGRESS
An Insight Into the Workings of
an Important Establishment.
How the Mails Are Hurried From
Sender TO Destination Over Land
and Sen-Hnynrdous Transfers nt
the Mouth of the Detroit River.

the Mouth of the Detroit River.
When Timothy Pickering served as
Postmaster General in Washington's
Administration his balance sheet of
expenditures and receipts for n whole
quarter of a wear showed an aggre-
gate of $4,000 This amount is now
expended by the Postoffice Department
every six hours So great has been the
increase of the postal system of this
country of late years that in 1880 the
revenues and expenses were just
about one-third what they are this
year.
THE great development of the postal
service" said prominent official OF the
department, has come within a single
generation. Thirty-siX years ago there
was no free delivery; now one-third of
the people of the United States have
their mail brought directly to their
doors. y generation ago there was no
distribution upon the rail. Every piece
of mail, instead of going directly from
the sender TO the receiver, went to a
central distributing Office to be redis-
tributed and recarried. In those days
there was no uniform foreign postage,
and every time u foreign letter was
mailed the sender had to study guide
to find out what the postage was.
There We're no fast mails, no letter
carriers. no railway mail force, no spe-
cial deliveries. and no money-order sys-
tenn, which now transacts such an i'm
ments which have made the service
what 1t is. and which excite the won
der and admiration of all who grasp its
details, have come within comparative
ly few years. and no development of our
modern economic forces is more re-
markable than the evolution of the
splendid machinery which now main
tains the intercourse of civilized So
ciety."
The Postofiice Department is divided
into four great bureaus. each being I'M
der the immediate charge of an Assist
ant Postmaster General The general
scope Of each may be stated without
being too precise, or entering into an
amount Of detail foreign from the pur-
pose of popular descriptive article.
The First Assistants bureau deals with
the practical administration Of the
posiofiices, with their great clerical and
carrier forces and with all the many
questions of actual management. 1t
SURPRISES an annual expenditure of
more than s40,00O,0 900. The bureau of
the Second Assistant has the immense
task of providing for the transportation
of the mails. The yearly cost is over
ss5.Coo,000. That of the Third Assistant
looks after the financial side, furnishes
the stamps ard keeps the accounts. The
Fourth Assistant has charge of the ap-
pointment of over 10000 postmasters
and directs the force of inspectors. Be-
sides these principal divisions of the
-'ostoffice Department, there is the Au-
ditor's office. with its 500 clerks. which
is a bureau of the Treasury, and
through which all postoffice accounts
must pass for scrutiny and audit.
The postoffices are of every rank,
from that of New York, with its rev.
enue of more than $1,000, 900. and its
net profit of more than s.. 000, 900. to
the little crossroads office, the receipts
of which do not exceed s25. What are
called Presidential offices are those
where the annual salary of the post
master is not less than 81 900, and in
these cases the President makes the ap-
peintment. The number of such offices
is nearly 1000. The fourth-class Offices,
with salaries of less than $1,000. where
the appointment is normally made by
the Postmaster General. number about
10000, and this figure sufficiently ex-
plains why ii is impossible for any
central authority to make the exami-
nations necessary for selection, and
why the practical choice must be left
to local representatives, or an entire
ly different system adopted.
The delivery of the mails is the pop
ular aud visible result of the postal
system. The delivery system has been
carried TO a high degree of perfection.
The city residents, who accept as
matter Of course the visits of tn. grey
coated or shirt WASTED messengers OF
the postoffice. from three to eight times
day, find il difficult to recall that
prior to 1863 the letter carrier service
had no existence in the United States.
Now it is represented by a compact
army OF more than 1900 men, with
payroll exceeding 1900, 600 a year.
In a number of features the postal
Service is not devoid of personal dan
ger to the employees, as for instance
the marine service on the Great Lakes.
At the mouth of the Detroit River, dur
ing the open season of eight months. a
steamship passes every three and one
half minutes. day and night, the total
tonnage exceeding that entering the
ports Of New York and Liverpool in a
whole year. The flying delivery of
mails 10 these ships has no parallel
elsewhere. Every steamer is met and
mail collected and delivered without
even slowing up. Orders from head
quarters, messages from home, letters
written on the trip, the thousand and
one communications to and from an
enormous feet are all handled in this
great exchange on the water. Letters
are stamped on the back, each with
the name of the steamer it is intended
for, in characters so large that they can
be read by lamplight. They are enclosed
in water-tight bags, so that If the boat
carrying them should be upset the
mail would float uninjured, and are
hauled on board the passing vessels,
while the return mails are received and
an exchange is effected, without deviat-
ing from the course or slackening the
speed.