New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-06
OCEAN MAIL SERVICE.

business men in this country who have CORE
spondeEts in Europe, and especially in Eng
iand VIII note with satisfaction the change
maze this week in the sailing dates of the
American Line steamships from Wednesday to
saturday. III 1t takes 4 passenger longer TO
reach London by way of Liverpool than nv
southampton, the delay is not serious Re-
sides, the total number of peonle Tins tncon-
venlenced In the course of a year is small The
mail service is different matter. There are
thousands Of transatlantic letters to one trans
atlantic traveller. Hence. the aggregate effect
Of hardness in the same period of time is vastly
greater.
Heretofore the Saturday mails have gone nv
the Cunard Line, whose vessels have a high
reputation for speed, safety and convenience
but letters thus dispatched were not ready for
delivery In London until a week from the Mon
day after departure. 1t is now thought proba-
bic that they will reach the people for whom
they are designed on Saturday afternoon. The
gain thus effected is not due to any essential
difference in the routes taken, but in the facili-
ties on the steamships themselves The Ameri-
can Line vessels have sea pOstofices, which pre-
pare the mail for immediate distribution upon
arrival The Cunard steamers do not Hence
the bags which they have carried have gone
and the work of sorting the contents has been
performed then and there. The delay thus
caused might not exceed few hours ut other
times in the week. but through the interposition
of Sunday it has been extended to nearly two
days
Were 1t not for the fact that new provision is
about to be made for facilitating the Wednes-
day mails, these would suffer by the change
Just made. 1t is asserted, however, that the
White Star steamers, whose sailing day is the
same as that now abandoned by the American
Line, will soon be equipped with pOstOffices.
That arrangement will be welcome to the pub
lie. Already two or three vessels belonging TO
the leading German lines have similar con-
veniences, but the benefits which accrue there
from are enjoyed only on Tuesdays and Thurs
days, and not always then. One hears good
deal about having n daily steamer, and hence
a daily mail, TO Europe. The establishment of
such a service may come eventually, but at
present the most pressing need is the saving of
all possible time on the four principal dis
patches of the week. As the largest mails go
on Saturday, the largest opportunity for i'm
provement was afforded at the close Of the
week. The weakest point left in the whole sys-
TEN is that for which the White Star steamers
are now TO make provision.
The American government has long pursued
a peculiarly enterprisng foreign mail policy.
It represents a nation of 'hustlers' n people
who want to get there" The hands Of the
United States Postofice Department have never
been tied by contracts which would compel it
TO sacrifice expedition. Hitherto its choice has
been based on the nominal speed of competing
lines, regardless of nationality. Now it recOg-
nizes superiority OF another character but
+ba
has discovered a method whereby prompter de-
iveries in London can be secured, and is max
ing the most of the chance. The chief occasion
for the satisfaction which Americans will feel
in the change will grow out of the fact that
they are getting more for their money. A five
cent stamp now means more than it did before.
All the same a legitimate pride may be taken
in the fact that the ships which will hereafter
take the Saturday mail fly the Stars and Stripes.
The transfer is another outcome of that en-
dustrial rivalry-earnest but generOus-between
the United States and England in which Amer
lea has already won many triumiphs.