The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-09-07
STREET MAIL BOX
TO Be ELIMINATED
Postmaster General Hitch.
cock Expected to Change
the System.
(National News Associations

| (National News Associations
| WASHINGTON. Sept. Owing to
the institution OF scientific manage
ment in the post office department by
Postmaster General Hitchcock, it is
now probable that the scandal tainted
letter box in use in all the cities of
the country for the past 10 or II
years will have to go. Mr.. Hitchcock
made wise by simple device he
found in use in Norway, has detected
an expensive defect in the scandal
box. 1t takes the mail carriers too
long to abstract it's contents. Under
scientific management, seconds and
minutes saved are SO much money
saved. Therefore the scandal box, now
familiar sight on almost every street
lcorner, will give way to one drawn af-
ter the Norwegian idea if one can be
found.
In Norway, Mr.. Hitchcock has learn
ed, the collector walks up to a letter
box, hooks his open bag right under it
by means of ''thingamajigs" placed
there for that purpose, inserts his key
and turns it, and presto! The bottom
Iof the box drops on it's hinges and all
the letters and other stuff in it fall in
to the bag. The collector grabs his
bag, kicks the bottom of the box into
Iplace and is off, with scarcely the
loss of any time at all, to the next
box.
Compares Two Systems.
The postmaster general during his
flying thips to Europe, facetiously des-
lignated by him as rests" has stood
lon a corner in Christiania, or Bergen,
Tor Trondhjem, or Stavenger, stop
watch in hand, and has timed the lus-
ty gent with the collection bag and
has satisfied himself that his average
time in emptying a box was not over
three-quarters of a second. Also he
has cOnjectured that the more nimble
fingered American collector probably
cOuld cut this to half a second, with
practice. Then when he has returned
home he has timed his own collectors
as they opened the door of the scan
dial box and slowly took out the mail,
a handful at time, using seldom less
than half minute and often whole
, minute in the operation of emptying
1.-THE box.
A brief calculation with a pad of
coarse paper costing cent and three
Iquarters, when bought in quantities
and pencil costing l 3759-7953 cents.
when bought the same way, has con-
WINGED the postmaster general that by
the use of an automobile bumper in
stead of the pigeon cote type of the
scandal box he could cause one collec-
tor to serve 40 per cent more boxes a
day than is now the case. Mr.. Hitch
cock therefore is out for this time
saver. OF course, the strictly bust
ness way to do it would be to adopt
the Norwegian box, or at least the
idea, and get the boxes and have them
placed without delay.
But this, Mr.. Hitchcock cannot do.
He is hampered by the fact that he is
at the head of a public institution.
He has to see to it that somebody in
this country has a chance to make
something out of whatever the post
office department has to buy. Taking
the next best course, he has appointed
a committee of his subordinates to ex-
anime into and report on all designs
of self dumping mail boxes any Ameri-
can may choose to submit for that pur-
, pose. If he gets as good box as the
Norway box he will be pleased. But
at any rate he will take the best one
9 American inventors offer, provided
, they offer one that is workable and eff
ficient.
Box Must Go.
q 1t has been customary for the post
, office department to change the style
q of the mail box at periodic intervals,
! but heretofore the excuse for doing sc
: has not been as good as that of Mr..
Hitchcock. Before the present box
] came into use the government had
a contract with William c. Maybury,
of Detroit, and some associates for a
q cast iron box which was good box.
Suddenly, under the Machen regime
! in the post office department, a
change was ordered. But the time was
= so limited that the patent on the pre-.
. sent box had to be log rolled through
the patent office in less than six
weeks. This box was no better than
the Maybury box. Some think no SO
i good. But Maybury's influence with
' the government had departed, the
o Democrats being out, and the new
box was installed. With it and other
e things came a scandal that sent some
l. people over the road. Now the scan
II dial box, in it's turn, will have to go
+ provided Mr.. Hitchcock can find an
automatic bumper that suits him.
A Massachusetts school girl touring