Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-10
TWO-CENT MAIL HERE
Lusitania Brought First Batch
of Letters From England.
ONE WRITTEN BY HEATON
Incoming Matter Shows a Big In
crease Since Reduction.
MISSIVE FOR FIRST MAN MET
Father of Penny Postage Will Now
Direct His Energies to Lower
Cable Rates.
MISSIvE FOR FIRST MAN MET

NEW YORK, October 1O.-The first mail
to reach New York from Great Britain
since the establishment of the two-cent
postage rate arrived on the steamship
Lusitania yesterday.
The consignment was much heavier than
the local postal officials had anticipated,
and the first promises of growing reve-
nue., for which John Henniker Heaton, NJ.
p, known in England as 1.-The father of
penny postage has been striving for
about twenty years. were realized.
Heaton was one of the first Englshrnen
to send a letter bearing a British penny
stamp across the sea. It congratulated
the press for its fight for the letter re-
duction.
Congratulates the Press.
Heaton's letter was written on Carlton
Club notepaper. The envelope was COM
memorative of the occasion. The mis-
sive read:
My Dear Sirs: 1 desire to extend to you
my heartiest congratulations on the unit
ing of the Engish-speaking races of the
world by Anglo-American penny postage.
Yours most faithfully,
The Lusitania brought r628 sacks OF
matter, an increase of eighty-three bags
over the Lucania's consignment. brought
in last Saturday under the old rate. When
comparison is made with the mails from
Great Britain during the first week OF
October, 1907. according to Postmaster
Morgan, the deliveries In this city were
increased yesterday about 100 per cent.
There is a mechanical reason for the
small apparent increase in the Lusitania' S
consignment over that of the Lucania.
That is the limitation by the English
post office of the amount Of mail carried
on any single vessel. This imposed limit
is about as much as they would give to
any one ship. A great increase would
mean the consumption Of so much time
easier to split it among different vessels.
Lusitania First to Arrive.
The Lusitania was not the first ship to
leave England since the 2-cent tariff went
into effect. The Kaiserin Auguste Vic
toria took the initial lead, but, being a
slower traveller. she is not due to arrive
until today. She is expected to discharge
the biggest transatlantic mail the post
office authorities have ever been called
upon to handle in October.
The record for foreign mail arriving
was established a few days before Christ
mas last year in the receipt Of 4.968 bags.
This may be increased 100 per cent this
year. The post Office sharps say that
yesterdays receipts were about 200 bags
above the ordinary amount at this season.
but the opening Of the sacks doubled the
usual city deliveries.
Among the letters was the following
addressed to Postmaster Morgan:
Sorting Office, Leeds. England.
1901 am, October I, 1903.
Dear Sir: The first letter from Leeds
under the penny postage rate. 1 hope
the postage will do much to unite the
common interests of two great peoples.
Respectfully yours,
CHARLES D. HOWARD,
Sorting Clerk and Telegraphist.
He Congratulates America.
Still another communication, in an
envelope, directing that the letter con-
tanned therein be given to the first Amer
lean the postman chances to meet in New
York city, runs as follows:
MARLBOROUGH, October 1, 1903.
Dear Sir: beg to congratulate you on
the broad minded way in which your gov
eminent and ours have come together on
such a great question as the postal sys-
tenn. l am sure you will agree with me
when I say the institution of the penny
postage will fill a lOng-felt want. and /
hope that as long as 1t continues the more
we will be convinced that 1t has not come
before it's time, and to show their APP
probation (both Americans and British).
l hope they will take full advantage of it.
and SO make it a huge success, so that
our postal authorities will see that they
have not labored in vain. Yours truly,
WE'LL WISHER.
About twenty years ago John Henniker
Heaton while on a visit to New York
said:
1.-The adoption of the penny G cents
postage between America and the British
Isles is moral certainty. 1t may take
a little time to obtain this much needed
reform, but in the end it is bound to
come"
The members of parliament said the
revenue resulting from the increased num-
Der OF letters that would be sent across
the Atlantic would go far in counterbal-
ancing any loss that might result from
the reduction in the cost of transmission
Heaton, successful in this fight, will de-
vote the remainder Of his life, If neces-
sary. to the attainment of cheaper cable
rates.