The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1902-12-20
ODDITIES OF THE POST.
Arc Taking Place in the Govern
meat Postal Service. ff4f-

= mc0t fObtal SeTNICc.
A little item which appeared. hid.
den away in a mass of other Washing
ton news, day or two ago. unimpor-
tant in itself. gave an interesting
glimpse at the ramifications of the
most gigantic of modern public utili-
ties, the United States post office de-
partment. The item was the announce
ment of the establishment of the new
est post Office in the country-in Alas
ka-and the appropriation of $4,000
for the annual salary of the Letters
rier who covers the route from Daw-
son. says the Detroit News-Tribune.
The new service is at present a
monthly one, and the letter carrier
provides his own sledge and dogs.
Large as his salary is. it appears that
he earns it all. for already the man
has been carried; away by aralanches,
made prisoner by snowdrifts. fallen
down mountain precipices, and had
other adventures exciting if not pleas
ant. 20. ..-.,.,.
just how big an institution the post
Office is. probably few people realize
Even figures convey no very clear i'm
preston since they begin to mount
up .-.a the hundred millions. Still,
a few figures of the post Office are not
without their interest. 81 -
To begin with. there are over 77.o0O
post Offices in operation throughout
the country. and about 100000, 900 miles
of mail service performed. This is on
the authority of a pamphlet just is
sued entitled: postal Statistics of the
United States" which the third assist
ant postmaster general has prepared.
From thesa source it is learned that
during the single year of 1901 there
were 4,329.273.696 stamps used by the
people of the United States. 772, $780,
600 stamped envelopes and 659,614.s00
postal cards. sf
The number of pieces of matte1of all
kinds mailed, during the year was
7.424 .390.329. There We're ts0.sf4.s0O
registered letters. and the amount is
sued in money orders was $274,546,06T.
Parenthetically it may be interesting
to mention that, according to Brad
street,. two-thirds of aiiathe letters
which pass through the post offices of
the world are written and sent to peo-
pie who speak English. OF this two
thirds considerably more than half
pass through the post Offices of the
United States.
Every now and then people who are
accustomed to receive much CORE
spondence find themselves surprised
by. the accuracy with which the OFF,
Gals of the postal service have sue
ceeded in tracing out. through sue
cessions of changed addresses, many
of them altogether inadequate if not
absolutely erroneous. the proper own
ers of the letters and delivering them
at their destination in safety. This
is accomplished through a system
which, in its way, is as perfectly or
ganized and as, efficient as the best
equipped detective or police bureau in
the world.
At the general post Office in every
large city is kept special directoryi in
which all the names which appear in
the regular city directory. and thou
sands of others. are kept. Between
each of the printed leaves of this d.
rectory are bound four blank pages.
These pages are for the inscription Of
changed addresses. 4 person who
changes his address so informs either
his carrier or the post office. and the
change is noted in the directory.
If mail comes improperly addressed,
or without any address excepting the
persons name. reference is made to
the directory. If the name is not found
the five names most like it are writ
ten upon the envelope with their adj
dresses appended, and these five adj
dresses are tried. OF the letters which
thus Ego through the directory" the
owners of about halfare found.
A recent test of the safety Of the
mails and the honesty of the postal
clerks was made by a man in Detroit.
He pasted on one side of silver dollar
a bit of paper on which he wrote his
daughters address. On the other side
he put one-cent stamp sending the
dollar at merchandise rates.
The experiment was the result of a
dispute with foreigner, who doubt
ed the safety of the United States mails
and warned the American that thatwas
the last he would hear of his money.
Two days later the patriotic Detroiter
received letter from his daughter ac-
knowledging the receipt of the coin.
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