New-York tribune., 1903-01-26
DROP BOXES IN STATIONS.
VELLERS WANT IIEH
Beffcr, Postal Facilities Needed for
Hurried Passengers.

The travelling public is always in hurry
Those persons who provide transit faclltles long
ago recognized this fact and made Que aio"-
ance for il in furnishing conveniences and COM
forts for their patrons. Modern railroao s'a-
,ions have almost everything could need.
from a newspaper 10 dinner boothlack to a
stenoeranber. They lack. however. one most
important thing postal facilities. None OF 'he
great railroad terminal stations in this city or
Tarsaz CITY have drop boxes for mailing letters;
name have rlaces designated for the sale OF
star,lF,s or postal cards. Station employees read
jIv recognize this deficiency
J, is = frequent occurrence to see a traveller
-,,sbfnc frafticaIly around the Grand Central
Station letter in hand afraid OF missing MS
train. stin more afraid not to post his letter
Commercial travellers especially are subjected
20 this annoyance. Grown wise from expert
e,ce they carry stamps and writing material
with them. Their letters, however important
l,rsiress .cornrlunica tions containing orders or
,ernirtances they often must trust TO the tender
rnercies of the station porters.
Most of the newsstands in the stations sell
hostage stamps. Few travellers know this, now
ever Not infrequently when one hastens 10 d
stand money in hand. demanding "a stamp
the Iaconic reply is. "All out Result, ualh
missed or letter unposted 1t is Impossible 10
rroc,,re from these stands stamps Of denomina-
tions larger than TWO cents
CONSTANT DEMAND FOR FACILITIES
There is constant demand for postal facil-
-ies at The railroad terminals a demand Whlch'
met by the establishment Of sub-stauons' would
,evelon into regular steady business when peo-
ME knew they could certainly obtain 'heir
stamps OF register their letters at the railroad
station.
The suggestion of establishing a branch post
office AT the Grand Central Station was submit
red by The Tribune TO the postal authorizes.
Edward NJ Morgan, assistant postmaster, sald
that il was a good idea, and deserved conslo-
GRAFTON The postoff1ce people. he continued
we're always glad to put q sub-station wherever
there was a demand for one. He recognized the
fact that travellers were frequently 1nconVen-
ienced. but said:
There is no room for a, branch office In the
Grand Central, so the railroad people say we
tboueb+ Of putting in q station there, and it was
,,r6sr consideration when the station was re
modelled The authorities said that they had
Do room. Now. the Grand Central travelling
r,11tiA, = pretty we'll cared for: there is q SUD-
station across the street, and then there Is Sta-
zion II only q couple Of blocks away he ad-
.nitted that train might easily be lost While the
r5ayeIer was crossing the street TO post ms
l,tter. and declared that there We're no city crop
:,7xes IN the waiting room because thele Was
IF Tbe railroad people want these postal IA
riljrieS let them ask for them wen oe eiou ~
meet them more than half way
S-a-ion employees who were visited all recog-
r:zed the demand for postal conveniences.
HE EAyORs THE PROPOSAL.
Mr. Hanna. assistant station master at the
Grand Central Station said he favored branch
mica system He has charge of the station at
l5rbt and related many instances in which per
sons f1Irrvine to catch trains were unable TO
procure stamps or to mail their letters "hen
asked q pout the scheme he said:
u think II would be excellent thlnE. you
know il WAS talked Of when the stalloh NaS
,a,DodoIled but didn't have the room We
~ ia accommodates our passengers in every
,...- b..t- You can usually get a stamp al
tr,a stand outside there. but we nave no Clls
Ifor box IN the station The nearest one u q
s-,lrfy--f fi-d-st and Madison-aVe- one couIu
-ssIly Jose train while going there we nave nave
t.,a boxes for outgoing mail Inc lrd1lste5 @ sc 4
.ter1s make regular collections from lhese, anu
distribute the letters for our trains. IhaI
though doesn't help city delivery any II Is
-l,nosr impossible TO get a stamp OF denofnlIld-
80, 1arrer Than two cents If a branch post
office we're established people who now make
atber arraneements would do business there, ana
money orders and registered letter trade "ouiu
oroballv be established. I can't see. though
where we could find room for the office.
Mr.. Kelley, station master at the Pennsy anna
criminal in Jersey City. thought there was
hardly enough demand for postal faclIlties TO
make sub-station pay. Once IN Whle'
he said -'ore gets stuck for stamp or paper,
nut the newsstand has them for sale Ihls. IN
nv experience, does not happen often, for traV-
gllers provide for such emergency Our me
trains all have stamps, paper. and even stenoe-
raphers aboard. We have the railway service
drop box for outgoing mails
The station of the Delaware, LaCka wanna and
Western Railroad at Hoboken has transfer
clerks for outgoing mail, but no other Postal
facilities
Commercial travellers. statesmen and collectors
saw that branch offices in the stations would
save them much time and money, TO say nothing
of personal inconvenience Frequently sloes letters
given 10 station porters TO mail are delayed,
and orders with time limits sometimes can
relied as A result. In Boston, where the two
r. jlroad stations have branch postoflces at
fached travellers are saved much trouble.
one traveller said: IF a pOstofice were es-
"a blshed in every railroad station il would save
rs regular travellers lots OF trouble and should
think the general public would find it a great