The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-06-03
IS LARGEST OF ALL
BUSINESS CONCERNS
Postofice is Biggest Employer
in the Country
RECEIPTS ARE PRODlGIOUS
Receipts of New York Office Alone Ex-
ceeds the Total Receipts of
Twenty-eight of the
United States.
RECEIPTS ARE PRODIGIOUS


Is the largest business concern in the
country.
Just how vast are its operations may
be seen in the development of the New
York postoffce since the first year of
Washington's Presidency. Tho average
receipts of the New York office for just
a little more than half day during 1905
exceeded the entire receipts of the ma
tional postoffioe during the year 1883.
The gross revenue of this metropolitan
office for the fiscal year ending June 80
last exceeded by good margin the COM
bined receipts of Alabama, Mississippi.
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado,
Delaware. Florida, Idaho, Indian Terri
tory, Maine, Louisiana, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Mexico North Carolina,
North Dakota, Oklahoma. Oregon, Rhode
Island South Carolina, South Dakota,
Utah, Vermont Virginia, West Virginia,
Washington and Wyoming. 1t exceeded
by more than one and a half millions of
dollars the combined postal revenues of
Boston, San Francisco, st. Louis, Buffalo,
Milwaukee and Cincinnati
New York did a larger postal business
in that year than the whole state OF Illi-
nois, including Chicago; than Pennsyl
vania. including Philadelphia and Pitts
burg; than Massachusetts, including Bos-
ton
The territory covered by the New York
postofflce embraces only the boroughs
of Manhattan and The Bronx. The postal
needs of other parts of the greater city
are served by independent postofhces.
ranging in Importance from Brooklyn,
with its annual revenue of two millions.
to Bayside n. Y, with O. revenue of a
little more than two thousand. The gross
revenues of the postofaces in the greater
city aggregate $1S,537 1853.
The New York postofflce not only coll
leuts and distributes mail matter written
by or addressed to its own citizens 1t is
also the gateway through which foreign
mail enters the country and the funnel
through which almost all letters. papers
and packages must pass to the rest of tho
world.
During the last year. the New York City
delivery department collected and deliv-
cred, in round numbers, q billion and a
half pieces Of mall matter. More than
So, 0O00 600 worth of stamps and post cards
were sold. The entire revenue of the office
was $16,000,000 Four and half million
The New York postoffice has $500 en-
poyes. II has 81 branch stations for
which mail Is bagged on incoming ships
and trains as If each was separate town.
In addition there are 210 solicitations
chiefly In drug stores, where stamp and
money order business is done. Thirty-flve
per cent of the matter mailed in New
York is for local delivery
In one very important phase of it's work
the metropolitan postoffice excels the SER
vices In any other city of the world. In
the inquiry and dead letter department at
the general office a most interesting and
varied task Is accomplished.
All the undirected misdirected, INSULT
GENTLY stamped, unclaimed and unmail-
able pieces of mail pass through this de-
partment Last year there were received
more than 1900 inquiries for missing
mail. Fifty-fve per cent OF these were
recovered or accounted for. Nearly 1000,
900 pieces were sent to the dead letter Of
fee at Washington.
More than a million and a quarter OF
letters misdrected by the senders were
forwarded, the correct addresses having
been supplied by the alert experienced
clerks in this department. Often consid-
cradle ingenuity, as well as linguistic and
geographical knowledge, is required to
guess what the sender meant to write
Another interesting phase of this depart
ment's work is the locating of owners or
consignees of money found loose In the
mails. Last year more than $500 diff
ferent sums were found. in amounts rang
ing from a cent to $1,000.
New York is the main gateway of the
United States, and the New York post
office Is the national mail funnel. The
bulk of the Canadian foreign mail--incom-
ing and outgoing-passes through New
York and Is handled-in< bags-by the
New York office.
When Europeans write to Australasian
points almost all their letters pass, in
bulk, through New York and are dis
patched, via our trans-continental rail-
roads through San Francisco to their des-
tinations. Much of the European mail for
the Far East. for Mexico and for South
America finds that the American me-
tropolis marks one stage of its jour
ney.
A careful examination Of the equipment
and operation in the three great capitals
of the Old World--London, Paris and
Berlin-is encouraging to the New Yorker
in many respects, and somewhat dlscour-
aging in others. BY the development OF
the pneumatic tube in the two continen-
tai cities 1T is possible to send a card
(known as petite blelre in Paris and as a
postlxarte in Ber1in) from almost any por-
ton of the city to any other portion in
less than an hour. That this Is not pos
slDle IN new 1DTk uOt5 NOT Deeu oLdLe-
ment
OF course, tho London postman has du-
ties which are unknown to his American
brother The postoffice OF the British
capital in addition to its purely postal
functions does telegraph. parcels post,
savings bank and insurance business. The
London collector and carrier also has his
salary graded more scientifically than that
of the New York carrier, and when every
thing Is considered, he Is better paid
Tho London postoffce is, all things con-
sidered, probably the most admirably
managed and efficient postal institution
in the world The London postal dis
trict which takes in all the territory
within a. circle extending In all directions
eight or nine miles from st. Martins LIE
Grand (the general postoffice at Cheap
side near Ludgate HID, is inhabited by
nearly 100000 people.
This area is divided first into postal
districts and again into sub-districts. OF
these sub-distTicts. which correspond
nearly to our branch postoffices. there
are 100 In these, the collections and
deliveries range according to the
density of popuIation) from five collec-
tons and three deliveries a day to TWEEN
ty-one collections and twelve deliveries
every twenty-four hours.
In the business districts of New York
there are now nine deliveries day and
from fifteen to thirty-two collections The
postoffice Is literally forced to make such
frequent collections because of the i'm
mense congestion OF matter. both for