The Washington herald., 1912-07-10

ming train by throwing or kicking the
sacks from the door. Sometimes they
light in a safe place; sometimes they
strike the mail man or an innocent by
stander: not infrequently the sack falls
under the wheels and is ground TO pulp.
How many thousands OF valuable letters
have been lost in this manner will never
be known.
To prepare for the reception of dozen
or more sacks and TO insure absolute pro-
lection. no matter how fast the train is
running. the Hupp System provides a
wooden trough with Slated sides. curved
so as to eliminate friction and reduce
the momentum Of the sacks as quickly
as possible. 1t is surprising how few
feet the sacks slide, no matter how
rapidly the train is going.
Hold Against Suction.
The mail having been thus delivered
the train proceeds to the cranes erected
some distance further on. These are OF
gas pipe, with arms pivoted to the post
SO that two clamp the top and two the
bottom of the mail bags. holding them
firmly against the suction of the train.
The crane arms are loaded from a plat
form in the rear and swung outward, and
by simple device swing back when the
bag has been conducted into the car so
as to be entirely out OF the way, In
fact. even when loaded awaiting the train
the crane arms are thirty inches from
the train and when empty are back five
feet. Thus 1t is impossible for an en-
gineer or fireman to stick his head out
of the cab window far enough 10 be
struck. What this means in the way Of
safety may be appreciated better by rail-
road employees than by the public. but
accidents from such a cause are by no
means infrequent at present.
No matter how perfectly a device may
operate. however. perfection by no means
insures its success. Especially is this
true when dealing with Uncle Sam. The
United States government Is the last
customer IN the world TO accept any
thing new. which IS one Of the reasons
why Mr.. Hupp IS demonstrating this
automatic exchange under the noses Of
the government officials It must make
good under any and all circumstances
and withstand any tests proposed. More
over. there must be demand for it.
Where does that demand come from. il
at all? First, from the railway mail
clerks. said before; second. from the
engineers and fremen who object to
having their heads caved In by striking
the present cranes; third. perhaps, from
the railroad officials who are always
seeking improvements that will expedite
the passage OF trains. apd see IN this
system the poss bility OF cutting out
stops now necessary. particularly at
junction points.
Boon to Newspapers.
Fourth. from the newspapers. which.
by reason OF the safe dumping OF their
mail. and more especially by its transfer
from one fast train TO another at juno
tion points, will be able to reach towns
hundreds Of miles away with early edi-
tons. where now dependence. must be
placed on the local trains
Finally. from the people Of the inte-
rior towns and cities. II il Is considered
that there are between 1000 and I5.O0)
stations where the crane system is now
in operation, with many more post-offices
off the main line. but dependent on this
system IN part for expeditions handling
OF mail: that under present conditions
but few pounds is the maximum limit.
while under the Hupp system L is pos
sible 10 take in or put out as many as
ten. twenty. or even fifty full-sized mail
sacks weighing as much as fifty pounds
each. the possibilities Of the system be-
come apparent.
That is what makes il fasc. mating TO
all who have witnessed the demonstga-
tions-the possibility that a mail car can
even be attached to the Congressional
Limited for instance. and take on and
deliver mail at every town between
Washington and New York. regardless
OF the amount handled and without a
stop except as at present. What this
means to the towns now receiving only
one o. two mails a day from the local
trains can be imagined.