New-York tribune., 1905-07-16

Improvement in short time. much neede"
branch postofiice has just been opened In the
Wall Street district. Another will be opened IN
the neighborhood of West Farms in the fai
Twenty-eight numbered stations have beeh
opened in drug stores and other public places,
making total number in the city on July 'l
2O9. New carriers to the number Of forty-tWo
and new clerks 70 the number of 100 nave oeel
added to the force Early in the fall oranch
nos+oe5ca viii he opened in the Custom
House notwithstanding the fact that the re-
uaainder Of the building will not be ready for
occupancy for two years. The crowded condl-
ton Of the Postoffice building has been relieved
in q measure by the occupation OF bGlIdlis az
Jay and Greenwich SITS. as a storehouse. The
Irinting plant and all stores not needed for i'm
mediate use at the Postoffice will be located
there AS a result of the Postmasters letter
suggesting that business men as far as possi-
bic post their mail early in the afternoon the
volume of mail during the rush hours in the
early evening has been reduced u per cent.
Few Of the hundreds of thousands of persons
who, week in and week out. pass the triangular
graystone building south of the City Hall have
any idea OF the magnitude Of the activities di-
rected from that structure, or of the remarkable
and interesting facts of the local postal service.
There IS nothing remarkable, or impressive
about the appearance OF the building to attract
the attention. No one pays any attention to
the mail wagons and the horses which drag
them as they stand or move slowly through the
little street which separates the Postoffice and
City Hail Park, unless the unwieldy vehicles for
a moment block the stream of pedestrians hur-
ryng between Broadway and Park Row. There
is nothing especially striking about the corridors
unless il is their gloom. On a pleasant day
only a few persons are TO be walking
through them. with The exception Of the
luncheon hour and those hours when people
on their way and from their offices, there are
only one or TWO persons at the stamp windows
purchasing stamps. The bulwarh of private let
ter boxes hides any activity which may be
going cn within. Everything is going forward
in such an unostentatious fashion that one does
ne; stop TO think how much is accomplished
without surface disturbance. Everything moves
as automatically a machine.
The building IS the personifcation of the
postal service in the city. and one is apt to
make the mistake OF thinking of it as the
'VaoIe thing" As matter Of fact, it is only
the headquarters OF the postofce for the bor-
oughs Of Manhattan and The Bronx. There are
ff;y-two other postotfices entirely distinct.
wi1hin the borders of New-York City There are
thirty-eight branch stations and 209 numbered
sUb-stat;ons under the direction of Postmaster
WHcox There are more pieces of mail regis
tered more money orders issued and more
stamps sold at the branches than at the General
FostUf5ce, as the Office in the Postoffice building
is cli!ed. So far handling mail is concerned,
u ranks only as the most important station
The total receipts of the New York postoffice
Iat year were $14,G91 ,91G SO. OF this amount
the public paid in over the glass ledges
OF the stamp window $13,2T4.45S II. The pub
Ashers contributed $1.271, $50 81 for the dis
ui5Ution Of the thousands Of tons of newspapers
are. in round numbers. nine hundred of these
publications.. Those persons or firms who pre-
ferred TO call for their mail or send messenger
contributed $50. .757 06 in box rent
IT cost the United States So 5O25, ,231 o. to oper-
ate the postohice last year. OF this amount the
clerks secured S2,772 1901 and the carriers
SlS13,542 IS. Nearly 100000 is spent on the
special delivery service. For rental of cancelling
machines $500 is paid. Uncle Sans net re-
ceipts from the New York Office last year were
S9.G66,CS5 -. Under the direction of Postmaster
Wilcox are more than 3 100 officials and clerks
and 1900 regular carriers. making a total Of
about five thousand persons. OF these about
lG00 are employed in the General Postofice.
AMOUNT OF MAIL HANDLED.
The amount Of mail handled is beyond any
ones comprehension. a short time ago Post
master Wilcox urged business firms to deposit
as much Of their mail in the middle of the day
as possible. 1t was said that as many as 100000
letters intended for delivery outside of New
York were mailed between the hours OF and
?. II. The average amount Of mail sorted and
forwarded every day at the General Postofice
IS I2S0000 letters. 5220 circulars and 2,527
sacks Of other matter. Besides this 1905 sacks
Of mail, including periodicals. for dispatch to
various parts of the United States are shipped
from the branch near the Grand Central Station.
The contents Of these sacks alone weigh 1882
tons. If person should undertake to count the
letters alone and counted ten hours each day at
the rate OF 1900 an hour he would require
eight days, five hours and eighteen minutes to
count what the postal clerks cancel sort. tie up
and dispatch in sacks every twenty hours.
It would be impossible, however for the clerks
to do this were it not for the cancelLng ma
chimes. There are about fifty of these. Each
OF them can cancel $4,000 letters in an hour the
work Of eight men stamping in the old way.
Memory, in the cases of the successful clerks,
is developed IL one direction to high degree.
They also develop great accuracy in throwing
the letters into the different boxes A lack OF
exact knowledge of the location Of a town or a
miscalculation in throwing might delay the de-
livery Of a piece OF mail several hours, or even
several days The clerks who sort the mail are
required 10 pass examinations TO their pro-
fciency with a high percentage in order to Sc
cure an appointment. None are accepted who
do not secure % per cent. The average per cent
secured by those who sort the mail for New
York, Pennsylvania and New-Jersey is SO.
Pennsylvania contains 5374 postofiices-more
Than are TO be found in any other State These
are located on Z3l different routes. The clerk
VINO sorts the mail for this State must be able