Evening journal., 1909-03-10
MAIL BY TROLLEY
HERE NEXT WEEK
continued From First Page.

Continued From First Page.
need be told that the connection Of
his Letter in the mails is the one vital
factor of speed in the operation Of its
carriage over the particular routes by
which 1t viii travel 10 its destination
That the practical postoffice man 20
day is most concerned about is some
method TO minimize the loss OF time
which consists In the interval after the
posting OF the letter and before the
next mail carrier departure from the
city postoffice or the next departura
OF the mail train from the railway sta
tion, to which loss of time in the latter
case is possibly to be added, also.
other intervals between similar car
rier and mail train departures else
where.
''rhe subject is not too technical for
the public readily TO at least grasp
some OK the important practical con-
siderations which It involves. It MAJ
or may not be known to business men,
for instance. that possibly 75 per cent.
and certainly onc-half Of letters, de-
spite the best efforts of postal officials,
with such means and apparatus as are
now available TO them IN transporting
mail. suHcr a loss of IS TO f6 hours
whatever their delivery point locally.
chat is to say in this or any other
city0 BY an almost universal missing
of the last" local afternoon carrier
deliveries OF course some out-of-
town letters travelling a short distance
have fewer chances for missing the
best local connections. but distance
docs not govern as respects strictly city
letters. because letters generally not
being usually written until the morn
ing is we'll advanced, our postofiice day,
so to speak. Is too short to admit Of
their collection. distribution and out
ward dispatch in the city on the same
day A conspicuous organic defect p
possibly the greatest organic defect
in our postal system has undoubtedly
been the lack Of some method for giv-
ing the quickest possible connection for
a letter just as soon as II is written.
lowing to the lack, heretofore. OF some
feasible remedy for this. I think I may
venture 10 state that not more than one
tlettcr in afty, POSSIBLY one hundred, has
AN assured. /fhat is a certain chance OF
connection Nhen it is dropped in a letter
box, srutf This. not because OF the want Of
the utmost efficiency on the part OF the
men in the service. but because the point
Of such connection is really the city post
office. and unless the letter In some man.
nerlis brought there at once. this uncer-
tainty must necessarily exist
"Certaiuly the street car collection plan
furnished a good remedy for this situa-
tion. When a letter may be posted on a
passing street car and thus sent both di-
rectly and Immediately 20 the city post
office the only time which can intervene
between its writing and its reception there
win be the few minutes consumed by the
swiftly travelling electric car.
Il certainly look forward to the trial Of
the present plan Of postal collections with
genuine official interest on the part Of
the business men Of the city. in particular.
] should hope for something more than a
merely passive interest in this trial /
would recommend. and indeed earnestly
recommend. that they will see that their
letters when written are hereafter posted
more or less i-amediately on the street
cars tsay. by any trustworthy employe OF
other person who may be going out OF
doors from the office or business house al
the time) and that II may become an es-
tabhshed custom In their offices "a
70 do this. There is no reason why
with car mailing system OF this kin,
tn vogue, the letters should accumulat,
IN bulk In the Offices as at present, 1,
be posted only at the close OF the day
Should the practice OF posting letter.
on thes treet cars. as soon as they ar
written. be at once begun by the peo
Die of this city-and now refer 10 IL
resident generally as we'll as the busi
ness men--I feel satisfied that a yer,
few weeks win have elapsed after tn
inauguration OF the rapid transit
method Of mail collections in vii
mington before It will be seen that
radical change has been wrought in IN
celebrity with which letters viii be bot
sent and received. And I NAV sa
that / have reference here not merel
TO purely local letters but to those !
out-of-town points as we'll"