Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-01-10

u
and $165,556.66 paid to railroads in
Vermont; $I50,72694 paid to railroads
/ in Massachusetts,: S1To92.49 in Rhode
Island; and s557.01479 in Connecticut.
| OF course the railroads are the all
| important factor in rapid mail trans
portation as there is no other means
Iof getting the mails quickly between
| important points. on some of the
roads there are half a dozen trims
daily, where mail is carried and on all
OF them, with rare exceptions, mail
cars pass at least once or twice a day.
The steamboat service and power
boat service play more important
part in mani distribution in Maine
than in almost any other state. There
are % of these Mater mail routes in
Maine, with an aggregate length of
401.r NJ miles. The distance travelled
last year in distributing ehe mail h.
water routes was 26S.919.S2 niles for
which the government paid the con-
tractors $32,364.56. Some of th>se
routes. especially those on interior
waters, operate only in the open
months OF the year but some of them
along the coast are in operation the
year around. The adjoining state of
New Hampshire, with many lakes
across which communication is had,
is credited with but six water routes
for mail and the amount of money
paid annually Tor this service is
$2S20.15. Massachusetts has three
water routes for mail. and the pay for
the service on those three routes is
$4,000 a year.
nj. has rouf6,
mail, where the service costs the gov
eminent S5o,501.5S; Florida II routes
where the annual cost is $71.5t9; and
\ Alaska 10 water routes where the an
nual cost is $3.50. 6s5. Sc. But IN to
date. of course, every pound of mail
that goes into Alaska, must go by Wa
ter Via Seattle, whence the steamers
sail for the transportation of passen-
gers and freight to that northern ter
ritery. Tie state of Washington has
Sc matt routes by steamboat and
power boat, the only state that has
larger number than Maine.
For a state that is now covered
with electric lines. to the extent that
Maine is, one would expect to find
more than i mail routes. But in
many cases these lines compete with
for obvious reasons, the government
finds it more convenient to carry its
mail pouches The Is mail routes by
electric ear in Maine, however, have
an aggregate length of 1916 miles.
The entire distance Travelled with mail
over those roads last year was III
S2205 miles and the government paid
to these electric roads for this ser
vice last year $76So,76.
In Massachusetts the electric car
lines are used much more generally
for this service. There are g. such
Massachusetts routes of an aggregate
length of Gil miles and the cost Of the
mail service on those electric lines
per year is S70.504 more than in the
state of New York or in any other
state than Illinois, where it is $1,000.
There are 157 mail-messenger routes
in Maine, with total length of 1872 s
miles. upon which the travel amounted
to 239,91976 miles and where the an
nual rate of expenditure is $29,s4i.1S.
On all these routes. of course, let
ters and other mail are carried cut to
other states and cities and from other
states and cities into local points.
Generally speaking the cost of the ser
vice is met out of the prices charged
in stamps for sending the mail. The
Postal service is now nearly self-sus-
tanning. although there is problem
of bookkeeping involved and it de-
ponds very much how You keep the
books and where you place the
charges for a lot of things. How.
ever, the money comes back to people
who perform the service and, as al
ready indicated, it makes quite a tidy
sum for Maine.