Evening star., 1902-02-17
A NEW EXPERIMENT
TO BE MADE FROM
CENTRAL POST OFFICE.
How It Will Affect the Different Sub
postal Stations-BeGeve Time
Will Be Saved.

In order to better the delivery service in
| the suburban and on-business districts OF
| the city, Postmaster John A. Merritt Is now
| considering a radical change in the opera
| tion Of the local post Office. II his plan
succeeds he hopes to lessen by several hours
the time required for a letter mailed In one
section Of the city to reach Its destination
ir another section. The new method Is of
the utmost importance to the several sub
post office districts Of Georgetown, Colum-
bia Heights, Capitol Hill, lexington and
elsewhere.
AT present a letter mailed in Columbia
Heights is collected by carrier from Sta
ton F, which is situated at the head Of 14th
street. 1t is then postmarked sorted and
bundled for transmission to the main Of
flee down town. The clerk in the main Of
fee sorts it a second time. back-stamps 1t
and deposits it for transmission to the
other substation, In which territory IT Is to
be delivered; for example, Capitol Hill. AT
the Capitol Hill station 1t is then sorted a
third time, placed on the carriers desk and
finally delivered. 1t has been calculated
that of all the local mail collected in the
district of any substatiOn so per cent Is in
tended for delivery in the territory of other
suEstations. BY the present system, then,
50 per cent of the local mail is subjected
to at least one unnecessary sorting and
stamping.
Make COLLECTIONS Direct.
To obviate this delay Mr.. Merritt now
proposes to have the collections from all
parts of the free delivery district made
from the central office. In other words,
mail deposited in mail boxes in Bright
wood, Brookland, Georgetown, South Wash
ington, Capitol Hill, Columbia Heights and
every other section Of the city, as well as
In that section Immediately near the cen
the boxes to the central office. 1t will then
be sorted and sent without delay to the
substations for which it is intended. BY
this plan the office saves for so per cent
of the local mail all the time now con-
sumed in the sorting and stamping at the
substation where it is collected.
Letters asking the opinions Of the vari-
Gus substations superintendents on the new
plan were sent out several days ago, and the
replies are now being received. Nearly all
of the superintendent are opposed to the
change, their position being that the car
riers will lose as much time in Journeying to
the central office as is now lost in the sub
station. In answer to this objection the
officials of the central office urge that ap-
proximately as much time as the carrier
must consume in reaching the cetral office
is lost by the mail wagon which transports
the mail bags from the substation, and that
the system of carrier transportation by
street car is now quicker than the mail
wagon transportation of mail In bulk
BY contra ct with the street car companies
the post Office now merely places Its men in
uniform on the street cars and they are
taken to the beginning of their routes with
out giving the conductor ticket This plan
has been found to work admirably and is
expected to prove just as practicable for
purposes of collecting as it is now for de-
livering mail.
Some Objections May Develop.
1t is thought at the central Office that
the practical operation of the plan may de
velop some objection to it not apparent
now. In that event nothing could be easier
than to resume the present method of
three-time sorting and stamping. But the
change is not being made without the ex-
perience of practical trial. When the
BrightwOod station was established Post
master Merritt and his chief assistants con-
sidered for some time the several methods
of collecting and distributing the mail for
that territory. 1t was then decided that
the collecting, at least, should be done from
street cars and sent directly to the several
routes Of the Brightwood district and
directed to bring their collections directly
to the central office. The result is most
satisfactory service, shorter by an hour
or more than any substation Office which
could be obtained.
II this scheme for collecting local mail
shall prove an advantage to the local patrons
of the office. it Is not unlikely the central
Office may undertake the delivery of all
local mail as well. In that event the sew
than stamp agencies with rent boxes But
none Of the officials Of the local post office
could be induced this morning to look that
far ahead.