The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-05
PENCE BLOCK LOTS
Put UNDER OPTION
COMMITTEES PREPARE TO TEN
DER PosToFFICE SITE.
Question of Location Still Open But
indications Are That Block Opposite
Old City Hall Will Be Chosen-New
Building Will Embody Ideas for Flu
ture improvements.

Options on the Pence block are being
! secured today for j. Knox Taylor, SUI
pervising architect in charge of the
postotfice site investigation for the
government. The committee was not
prepared yesterday to give full list
list today.
So far as open expression went yes
terday at the conference in the Com
merclal club between the special COM
mlttees and Mr.. Taylor, the Pence block
was favored. It is understood, how
ever, that several independent tenders
Will be made to the government by citi-
zens who own suitable property and by
real estate men who are interested in
getting site farther south. -~..r.-- .,
No bitterness is expected to result
from the site selection, as the matter
government will make it's choice, it
is presumed, independent of local diff
| ferences, and solely on the merits Of
the site as location, proviring it is
within the appropriation. =
Built for the Future.
Future developments in the system
be amply provided for in tie designing
OF the new Minneapolis postoffice, no
matter where it may be located. Many
of the characteristic features of the
present day postoffice will be missing,
and provision will be made for i'm
provements in system and mechanical
handling which may not be installed
in the next decade.
This was the statement made today
by Mr.. Taylor.
"Great forward steps are being made
in the ha ndling of mails,' said Mr..
Taylor. "Our task in designing a
postofice for Minneapolis will be to
provide for the changes already made
and so to construct it that the improve
ments of the future can be readily in
stalled.
t 1.-THE substation system, belt carriers,
and pneumatic tubes are three of the
big features of the advanced postof-
ice: Minneapolis is ready for the first
and the building will be built accord
ingly. Allowance for the installment
| of the last two will have to be made in
the original plans.
Central Shipping Office.
"Central postoffices in large cities
are becoming. great shipping offices
rather than distributing points. The
and dispatch the outgoing mail and
turn! the incoming mail over to the sub
stations as rapidly as possible. Few
it any boxes or other delovery conven-
fences will be installed in the new Of
"Under the substation system the
city is divided into districts, as equal
as possible IN population, each with it's
substation. The railway clerks sort the
city mail by substations and make it
up i nsacks for them just as they would
Tor delivery to lot of country towns.
These sacks are opened at tn central
office but are sent intact to the sub.
stations, where the carriers distribute
1T. This does away entirely with the
sorting Of incoming mail, reducing the
amount of the central office work al:
most half. OF course all the outgoing
mail is sorted and sacked at the central
office.
,This is the system. Of the future,
and the new Minneapolis office will he
designated to handle mail in this wav,
1t reduces the foorspace, does away
with the delivery feature from the cen
tran office, and greatly increases the
dispatch dispatch with III which the mail is dis
the railway mail clerks, who have to be
thoroly familiar with the city into
which they run and to able to tell at
glance from an address what sub
station should handle that piece.
1.-Two mechanical features are being
| developed to get the most out of this
system. They are the belt carrier from
the depot to the central station and the
pneumatic tube to the substation.
Endless Belt System.
cat St. Louis an endless belt runs
| thru tunnel from the central Office
to the railway station. All mail sacks
are thrown on this belt, which conveys
they quic ky to the postofice and
dumps them into. a hopper. The posi-
bll1ty OF inst alling such a conven-
lence her g is one Of the reasons why
the site selected must be near the rail
way station.
= Pneumatic tubes, heretofore crude
affairs, are now coming into their own.
Those in Chicago are eight inches in
diameter and the mail has to be packed
in special carriers before it can be
transmitted. In .Pittsburg they are ex-
perimenting with tube four feet in
diameter, which is not pneumatic
tube of the accepted type, but which
more effective than the compressed air
system. If this system proves as eff
! cient as it promises to be we can in
! stall two-foot tubes leading to substa-
tions and shoot the mail without remov-
ing it from the sack.
-. New Tube a Marvel.
"In many. respects this new tube is
remarkable. Instead Of forcing the car
rier thru by. COMPRISING the air behind
it., it is drawn thru by exhausting the
air in front and letting in low-pres-
sure current of air behind. Back traps
are arranged in this tube. which make
it necessary to supply power only to
that section of the tube thru which the
carrier is travelling, thus cutting down
the cost. The inventor claims, and his
assertions look reasonable, that he can
send a carrier from New York to Chi
cago at; the rate of 400. miles an hour
thru four-foot tube at less expense
than it. costs in New York to send a
carrier three miles thru an eight-inch
| tube. The absence of pressure makes a
light tube possible, and cuts down the
expense which would attend the con-
struction of a: tube heavy enough to
stand til tremendous pressure of fifteen
or more atmospheres used in the com
pressed air system. .sazs ,.>.:i 81
| "With all these improvements COM
ing in a short time the task of design
| ing the new Minneapolis office will be
| largely oneazof reading the. future. It
| is certain that Minneapolis is "a large
enough. city to need a fully developed
substation system with all the best me-
chanical appliances