The National tribune., 1903-04-09
ATENs PATRONAGE ELSEWHERE
PosrMAsTERs NLIIoNAIREs'

records, can only be family prefgured
now, but will be something colossal.
One new safeguard to the Government
in our money order system lies in the
vastly improved condition of business in
the Office of the Auditor for the Post
Office Department. Work has been pushed
there SO within the last few years that
the Auditors clerks are up to within about
three months of the business conducted in
the Post-office. In the old days they were
sometimes four years behind, which, Of
course, encouraged the greatest slackness
at the money order offices. and aentailed
considerable losses to the Treasury.
The Postmaster-General says that on
the rural routes already established the
saving by the discontinuance of the star
routes and fourth-class post-offices has
already been about one-sixth Of the entire
appropriation which has been made for the
service; and that, in addition to that, the
increase Of the revenues from these routes
last year was from 20 TO 80 per cent.
Not long ago the Post-of1ce Department
received notice from a man in Pennsy!-
vania that his wife had lost her trunk,
which he desired the Department to look
up. Upon speaking Of the matter to one
of his friends, the friend Undoubtedly
wag) had suggested that the trunk might
be located by communicating with the
Dead Letter Once. This letter struck one
of the newspaper correspondents as being
so extraordinarily humorous that he print
ed it in his paper. This act, it was thought
closed the incident. Ridicule was turned
into amaZement, however, when a letter
from the same man came to hand last
week informing Mr.. johnson that the
trunk had been found and thanking him
for the interest taken by the Department
in tracing" the lost baggage. He had
seen the publication in the paper and i'm
agined its insertion had been made under
Departmental auspices.
1t may be interesting to note the COM
parison Of the expense of our postal sys-
tenn with that of other countries. The
latest published comparison is that of
1899, when Great Britain had surplus
of S1S,O29, 024.93; France, $13,201, 1880;
Germany, $11,713,239.47; Austria, 81
769, S02.45, while the United States had
that year deficiency of $6,413, SS5.S1.
Our large area makes a necessity for a
greater number of Offices. The countries
named have the following number of post
Offices:
Great Britain. 2l,345
france ............... ......... 3,olZ
Termahy ............. ......... 4o,Oio
AuStrla o,2OO
While the United States has. 80. 7G,2S5
In 1891 Congress appropriated $4,000
for rural delivery in the United States.
The next year it appropriated $4,000
more, and the third year Superintendent
Machen wrote some letters to the Post
masters about it. He got some replies,
and one fell into the hands of Postmaster
General Bissell. He sent for Machen, and
said to him: Don't write letter on that
subject to anybody again without word
States would rather go down to the post
office after their mail than to have it
brought to them.
From a Postmaster's "reminiscences:
"Lemme see some O yer stamps" said a
fellow who had doubtless never been pri-
yate secretary to magnetic healer.
laid out some of the different kinds for
his inspection. ''These red un's is worth
two cents, amt they? These green un's
amt worth but one cent, air they? Amt
they just as good as the red un's?" /
told him they were very nice stamps, IL
deed, but according TO the postal regula-
tons and Robinsop's Arithmetic, two ones
were required where one two would do.
lie took red un and handed 1t to me
with his letter, requesting ME to stamp
and back" it for him. "In what State is
the town." / asked him. 'Wal, I'll de-
clare" he said. 1--WE plumb forgot what
State it's in, but it's summers in Arkan-
sas." l BACKED" the letter and dropped
it in the box and received the usual I'D
monition ito be sure an send ito the first
| train" By way Of q parting remark he
said: "Say, you feliers make heap of
profit sellin' stamps, don't yep told
him we didn't average over IS per cent.
He looked incredulous, but left without
further words.
Three trains running out Of Chicago are
the fastest mails in the Government en-
plOy. Five hundred miles in $40 minutes
every night in the week, 1855 times q
year, Is the startling record made by these
trains, which places them In the list as
the fastest long-distance runners on a
regular schedule in the entire postal serv-
ice. The runs Of all 0f These trains are