The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-01

There are $50 lock boxes in use at the
office. The present metal boxes were
put in in July, 1899. Previous to that
date there We're about 500 boxes. The
reed of more was felt, and the whole
front of the building was torn out, re-
modelled and the rev boxes put in
place Under the Hawaiian postal sys-
tenn the boxes could be used by an
entire family and the friends of the
family so that one box was ofen being
Used by at least dozen persons. I'm
de- the present system only the renters
eyd their Immediate families are emit
tied to use them. Up to August ID,
1901. boxes were far below the needs Of
the Office, but since the establishment
o. the free delivery. system there have
been ample boxes for all who apple
for them. One hundred boxes We're
gwen up at the beginning of the last
quarter, which ended yesterday.
The carrier system was inaugurated
August 10, 1901 and so far covers only
the district of Honolulu. 1t is eXpec--
ed that IN the course of a year free
delivery will take in a much greater
area. The outside districts proposed
The work of introducing the system in
Honolulu was beset with difficulties
brought about by the mixture of races,
and the census taken by the carriers
was fraught with discouraging fea-
lures. Houses were not numbered; the
Oriental population was constantly
shifting, but success was achieved in
the undertaking. Ten carriers appoint
ed from successful civil servie ranks,
perform the work. In time the car
rierS will do house to house register
Ing of mail, which has so far been de-
layed on account of the non-receipt OF
uniforms and paraphernalia.
The work of the mailing department
is the most difficult. On such days as
the. arrival Of a steamer from the
Coast, bringing anywhere from 100 to
200 sacks of mail, the arrival of
steamer from the Orient or Australia,
bound for the Coast, with two or three
Island steamers ready to depart, the
nerves of the mailing clerks are tried
to the utmost. The incoming mails from
two or three sources have to be assort-
ed and delivered into lock boxes, car
riers tables, or pouches for other ISL
andS; train mail has to be made up,
and the steamer mail for the United
States and the Orient, or the Colonies,
despatched. On such occasions the
mailing force has little time to rest,
and: is often compelled to work all
day, all night, and far into the next
day. wit short respites for sleep and
meals. When the mail arrived from
San Francisco with Christmas gifts
forming the bulk of it, the office was
worked harder than at any time in it's
history. AT such times the force is
ina dequate to the strain placed upon
1t. 1t is either a feast or famine.
Portions of the week are frittered
away in looking after inconsequential
patches of mail. On steamer days
not enough hours can be crowded into
the day TO get the mail out promptly.
In spite of this the letter mail is got
ten out N a comparatively short time.
One of the heaviest mails on record
arrived from the Coast late in the af-
ternoon. The clerks worked like Tro-
jams throughout the night, and at 4:45
a m. had disposed of it. The paper
mail was taken up later.
The transportation of the mails