The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-01-12

postal laws were ereVlSe0, and logging substituted for the death penalty for robbing the mails3 This law, however, was repealed by "a subsequent enact ment. and Imprisonment for a term of years made the psnalty. In 1901 it oc- cupied forty days to get a letter from Portland, Me. to Savannah. Ga. and bring back the answer; and forty-four from Philadelphia for a reply to one ad- dressed to Nashville. Tenn. Ten years later this time had been reduced to twenty-seven and thirty days. Now it is less than foun days.
 The office of second assistant post master general was created in Madi- sons administration, and the scale of postage changed. Single Ietters-that is, containing one piece-were charged from eight to twenty-five cents, accord ing to distance The Sunday delivery at postofiees began in 1910, bringing forth vigorous remonstrances from va rious religious bodies. and the strife was kept up in congress and occupied the attention of the department for twenty years.
 In 1913 the mails were first conveyed in steamboats from one post town to another. the government paying not over three cents for each letter, and one cent for newspapers. The postal laws of 1916 made change in the post age, which lasted until 1S45. The new sscale charged for letters. consisting of one piece of paper, not going over thir- ty miles. six cents; not over eighty miles. ten cents; not over one hundred and fifty miles. twelve and half cents, and not over four hundred miles, eigh- teen and three-quarter cents; and for greater distances, twenty-five cents.
 On March g, 1929, William T. Barry, of Kentuckys~was~ commissioned post master general by President Jackson, a'ld called to a seat in the cabinet, be- Eng the first postmaster general to re- ceive that honor. Early in 1886 pony expresses, as they were called, were put into operation on the principal turnpike roads of the southern and western states for the purpose of carrying the mali of people desiring greater expedi- tion, newspaper slips and government dispatches at triple the ordinary rate; but the experiment. was abandoned, it not proving profitable. In July, 1S36 the postoffice department was reorgan- ized and an officer, now known as the auditor for the postoffice department, was appointed. The office of the third assistant postmaster general was also created at that time.
 Railroads were declared post routes by act of congress in July, 1888, and the mails carried by them. During Presi- dent Tyler's administration Postmaster General Charles A Wickliffe, of Ken lucky, instituted many reforms such as cheapening the postage, improving the mode of letting the routes by con- tract, prohibiting private expresses and restricting the franking privilege. The question of supplying facilities for for eign correspondence began to be agitat- ed in 1S45, and in 1850 "foeign desk" was instituted and Horatio King, of Maine, afterwardo postmaster general, was put in charge of it; and from this has grown the present arrangement of the Postal Union. The postage stamp was adopted in Great Britain in 1S4D, and the United States introduced stamps of the five and ten cent denom- nations, with the faces of Franklin and Washington, respectively, in 1S47. Pre- viously the postage was collected en- tirely in moneiy, it's prepayment being in all cases optional. On July 1, 1851, a new series of stamps was adopted, con- sisting at first of denominations of one and three cents, but afterward of lar ger amounts. Stafn ped envelopes were i first used in 1858. Through the efforts of Postmaster General Nathan K. Hall, under President Fillmore, the postage was again reduced. Three cents was made the rate when addressed to no greater distance than three thousand miles.
 The registration system was institut- ed in 1854, during the administration of Prs sident Pierce, upon the recommend ation of James Campbell, postmaster general. The first fee was five cents, but this not proving profitable, the price was raised in 1863 to twenty cents. 1t is now eight cents. nthe adminis- tration of President Lincoln the free delivery service was established. As edTly as loZ0 pTOVlSlOH WdS Ildue Uy congress for the delivery of letters by carriers at a cost of two cents each to the persons receiving them. In 1886 this was further amended by allowing newspapers and pamphlets to be deliv- cred at half cent each. In 1863 Post master General Blair introduced the free delivery system, beginning the practice in cities of fifty thousand pop ulatioh Receiving boxes were also put up and deliveries provided for as often as the public convenience demanded.
 The next great step forward in pos- tai improvement was the establishment of the railway mail service. The idea of railway postoffice was first brought officially to the notice of the depart ment by First Assistant Postmaster General Hobbie who, in 1S47, had been in Europe, and in his report gave his impressions of the travelling postoffice in England. Under Postmaster-Gener- al Holt, in July, 1882, the first railway postoffice was introduced i'll this coun- try. In 1864 the leading railroads were induced to alter their cars for the pur- pose of the railway postoffice, and from 1 that time this service has grown until