The Washington herald., 1907-12-01

northeast stands large eight-story-a
basement brick building. This structure.
containing about 5000 square feet OF
floor space. Is the largest Of a group oC
buildings formerly used by the Union
Trust and Storage Company for Office
and warehouse purposes.
The POstmaster General in several re-
cent reports, recommended that wherever
possible the workshops and receiving and
distributing points for heavy freight con
nected with the large city post-ofices
be located near the terminal stations in
those cities. So. in line with this recon-
I mendati0n, and with the end in view Of
/ concentrating certain divisions OF the
POst-officc department werk. negotia-
tons were entered into by the govern
ment with the trust company officials. re-
sulung in the lease Of this large ware
house for ten years
Though this building has. as has been
Z said. 5000 feet Of floor space, il soon
proved inadequate for the needs of the
divisions qUartered there. and portion
Of d smaller building in the rear was OBJ
tained. increasing the available spaGs
by about 25t1 square feet Later. az the .
story-and-a-half building 10 the east o.
the one first obtained was raised 70 three
stories in height. and. with its $3.50
square feet Of floor space. is now used
by the government.
And still IL Grows.
These three buildings. with the grand
total Of Tloo0 square feet OF space, are
. already found inadequate for handling
the busia>=s Cor which they are leased.
in the easiest and Qcickest possible man
ner. The largest Of the three buildings
was wen adapted TO its new uses. and.
with the exception Of partitions benches
and racks. and a new heating plant. is
practically unchanged. Between 81 and
- employees occupy these buildings. aHd
just before and after Office hours the
neighbOrhO0d presents "a busy appear
snce.
The large building houses the mail
bag repair shop. the maI-lock division.
tine shipping and receiving departments.
and the supply division, in che three
story building the typographical division.
. clerks and craftsmen. and the stamp re-
dempuon division are located. while the
. smallest group is used 20 store the hcav-
lest supplies
] Three electric elevators carry the en-
plovcs and freight between floors in the
main building. and in the morning and
/ afternoon. during the rush hours. the two
largest Of these carry hTty o. more pas
sengCrs slowly but surely 10 their deSti-
nation The mail bags that have been
damaged are repaired here. and many
men and women can be seen daily work
iDC over the heavy canvas. meldinE
rents and patching holes \ part OF one
bags. and all that are purchased by In
Gle sam for this department are here
received. inspected and allotted 10 the
carriers Three kinds of bags are used
The largest and strongest for the rural
carriers. the next size for the city men.
and the neat small bags for the special
delivery boys Here damaged carrier
bags are repaired. and defective locks are
put into working order
ships Fifteen Tons n Day.
But by far the heaviest amount Of work
y is the sending out Of supplies daily by
the division of supplies TO the eoc00 post
Offices scattered over this land OF ours.
This work IS al done on requisition. and
it is frequently necessary 10 ship fifteen
tons Of supplies il one day-
In the rooms occupied by the division
OF supplies one can find everything need
ed in pOSt-ofice. from the smallest pa
per clip 10 the heavy bundles OF paper.
rubber bands. ink. mUcilage. envelopes.
complaint slips. report blanks. scales
ins fact everything needed 20 supply d
weIl-regulated city post-o1ice OF q coUn-
Try Office in the village grocery store
Each class OF material has It's place on
a stand. or In a rack temporarily erected
for the purpose. with its individual mum
comes IN from some far-away pOSt-Office
il is but the matter OF a few moments
and the items are selected, passed over
10 the packer. then 20 the shipping clerk
and in due course Of time are speeding
away 10 the postmaster who IS a man
Of consequence in his wayback town.
In the building To- the east, the clerks
% the stamp redemption bureau and the
craftsmen OF the typographical division
can be found studying their reports. as
sorting stamps. or drawing in the net
work OF lines and mass OF names that
identify the post routes in The various
States. and IL IS only when train rUshes
by that they hesitate and look ID from
their work.
I There are in course OF construction two
elevated tracks running between The
buildings which viii make IL possible 10
load the freight directly into the cars,
NlL4ltei any lldQ4llS NN wagon. LEeTeDg
saving both time and expense.
Must Improve Facilities.
The time VIII undoubtedly come when
the United States government will make
this point. or some other equally con
venient the place for receiving and dis
patching all mail As Il is now. mail
has 10 be carried 10 the post-office build
ing, sorted. bagged. and carried over 70
the terminal. all this handling and hauling
causing delay. wear and tear and conse-
queatly expense. The constantly increas-
ing bulk Of mail viii Of necessity compel
the department 10 adopt some plan where
by large buildings can be erected near
the railroad terminals in the large cities
50 that mail can be transferred directly
from cars 10 building. distributed 70 the
carriers. and then 10 the people. The
idea Of locating such buildings adjoining
the car tracks would make possible a
great saving in the cost OF the struc-
lures themselves. Cheaper materials
could then be used for constructing A
building in such a location. the architect
seeking strength. durability. and conven-
Iience rather than architectural beauty
Where Practice Didn't Perfect.
Ercm Harper's Weekly.
In certain school OF Washington there
was one lad who would persist in saying