The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-04-16
POSTAL
SERVICE BY JUNE
Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend
Has Contract With Government to
Handle Bag Mail Along It's Route
Where Collection and Delivery Can
Be Facilitated.

The problem Of the United States
mails between East Chicago, Indiana
Harbor and Hammond is soon to be
solved. Not later than June it is
expected that there will be railway
mail service established between these
points. the Chicago. Lake Shore &
South Bend interurhan having secured
the contract with the United States
postal department to take care of this
work.
The officials of the company had
intended to begin the collection and
delivery of the mails May 1, but owing
to the fact that the railway will prob
ably not be in operation until June 1,
they will be unable to do so.
The cities above named are not the
only ones which will be included in the
service, the railway company's con-
tract calling for the transportation of
mails between all points tapped hss r. -
interurban, where the service can be
facilitated by the mail being carried
over this route.
The street car company has been
figuring on this proposition for a long
time and correspondence has been in
progress off and on between the off,
cials of the company and the govern
ment for the past few months The
governments representative, through
whom most of the intercourse between
the contracting parties was conducted,
was J. C. Huber. chief clerk of the
railway mail service, with headquar-
ters in Chicago.
Heretofore it has been impossible for
letters to be interchanged between
Hammond and East Chicago and Indi-
ana Harbor without their first going
to Chicago, and this same condition
prevails between Indiana Harbor and
East Chicago, which seems almost more
preposterous, as the two cities are un-
der one municipality. Now, however,
all this will be obviated
There are to be four collections each
way, each day, two in the morning and
two in the afternoon, so it will be
possible for a person to mail letter
in Hammond in the morning in time
for the early mail and have it reach
the recipient before noon, and vice
versa
There will be no mail coaches as
used in the larger cities, and only bag
mail will be handled The bags will
be thrown into the front vestibuIe of
the street cars by postal employees.
There will be postal employees along
the route to meet the cars carrying the
mails to take up the bags.
The system would have been in on
Grafton between East Chicago and the
Harbor, where the road is completed
and in opere.ies, long ere this. but for
the fact that the Indiana Harbor post
office was too far from the car line
Under the laws the postal department
is only responsible for the delivery Of
mail to railroads and such like car
riers. within a distance of 5000 feet
from the postofhce. AS the nearest
point along the route of the Chicago.
Lake Shore and South Bend was more
than this distance from the old IN
diana Harbor postoffce, the RESPONSE
bility for handling the mail between
the cars and the postoffce would de-
volve upon the street car company in
the event of its undertaking the task
of Transporting it. The company was
not willing to shoulder such RESPONSE
bility and as the postoffice was con-
templating a move. it was decided to
wait until the change of location was
made. The Indiana Harbor office is
now right on the right Of way and the
East Chicago office has always been
so located with reference to the street
railway.