The Detroit times., 1910-10-15

tai clerks who handle the mail carried
In the railway mail service. These
men constitute the backbone of the
American postal systein. They must
be familiar with the location OF from
5000 to 10000 postofaces. Each clerk
must be able to tell instantly on what
road q given postofice IN the state he
works IL located. must know through
what junction points . letter dispatch.
ed by him to that once may pass. ana
q multitude OF other details that can
be mastered only by. very retentiye
minds. A letter addressed to the VII
lage Of Mt. Crawford. Virginia, mailed
In Washington any evening will reach
Its destination quickest by one route.
Mailed on Saturday evening II will
reach its destination quickest by an.
other route. Even such small details
as this must be perfectly familiar to
the men who constitute the working
force OF the railway mail service.
There are thirteen divisions In the
railway mail service, each presided
over by superintendent. II has been
said by postal authorities that the
railway mail service Is the only prop
erly- organized division Of the postal
service. Every postmaster in the
country must transact his business
with the department at Wash.
ington. This involves long delays In
the passing OF correspondence be.
tween the department and the remote
postmasters. 1t Is probable that In
the near future the postmasters Of the
principle cities Of the country will be
given oversight OF the smaller ofices
In contiguous territory, thus overcom-
Ing the disadvantages of managing the
entire service directly from Washing.
ton.
There IL q division Of foreign mail,
which has oversight OF all mail bust.
ness between the United States and
other countries. The sea postofices
are presided over by foreign clerks
ON ships coming to the United States,
and by American clerks on ships go
Ing from the United States. The Unit.
ed States pays out q quarter of q mil.
Hon dollars In freight charges for the
transportation of empty mail bags, pos
tai cards. stamped envelopes, and
newspaper wrappers. Although II 70
generally recognized that the express
business OF the country IL greater In
volume than the mail business, II costs
Uncle Sam several million dollars
more to transport the mail than II
costs the express companies to handle
their business over the railroads.
There are more than $4,000 star routes
In operation In the United States.
They carry the mail to points not
reached by the railroads. The num-
Der OF such routes has been greatly
cut down by the rise Of rural free de-
livery.
1t costs the United States half
million dollars . year to keep It's mail
bag equipment In proper condition.
There are nearly 100000 locks re-
Quired In the service, $4,000 Of them
being rotary register locks. The
pouches carrying the latter are filed
by two clerks, who keep a record OF
the number Of registered letters placed
In them. The locks have q register
Ing equipment like that OF q cyclone
ter, which registers each time 1t Is
locked. When filed. the pouch is
locked, a record made Of the register
number, and the pouch dispatched to
Its destination. II. when II arrives at
its destination, the number CORE
spends with the records, the clerks
know that II has come through safely.
II 1t does not correspond with the reg
istered number. they know that the
pouch has been opened by an unau-
thorized person.
The assistant attorney-g general OF
the postofice department looks after
lottery schemes, fraud orders, and
such other matters as require legal
attention. Since the first fraud or.
ders we're issued there have been 81
100 persons and firms denied the use
OF the mails. There have been only
about thirty appals from the decisions
Of the department and not single de-
cision has been reversed on the merits
OF the case. The department has
purchasing agent who buys supplies
valued at s3,500.000 year. More
than 100000 cases are considered by
the postofhce inspectors during the
course of year. There are moro.
than $4,000 cases under process OF
investigation on any given day. and
$4,000 cases being considered by the
department. The dead letter once
receives about 10000 900 pieces OF un-'
deliverable mail and 100000 post
cards and postals every year. Ten
million letters and parcels are opened
and sixty-two percent Of the dead mail
10 returned or forwarded The postals
and post cards are always destroyed.