Gilpin observer., 1913-09-11

just how much the telephone W.
and the typewriter have done toward swelling
the vast postal activity of today but that they
have outranked all other influences In this direc-
uon cannot be gainsaid
What is capable Of being traced is the bulk
Of the first class mail, which has grown since
these two instruments of latter day intercourse
have come into widespread use, and the figures
are astonishing In period of three years the
railways supplied the post Office with an increase
in mileage of nearly ~ per cent. this indepen-
IDENTIFY of the volume Of the postal matter car
ried, and the figures have been mounting stead
lily since these were taken for comparison in
1910 In 1907 the railways furnished the post
office 3S7,557,165 miles of transportation and in
1910 the total reached mileage Of 426,923,109.
This is pretty fair indication of the part the
trunk lines play in getting letters to their dest-
nations and incidentally emphasizes the need of
more rapid means of transportation for letters
and registered parcels going beyond the limits
of the city. Compared with the telephone service
and the letter-producng typewriter, the limited
trains agency Of intercourse trail the
landscape. relatively speaking, as II weighted
with leaden heels.
Before 1t is possible to appreciate what is COM
ing in the future to make postal intercourse
quicker between business centers of the country
1t is necessary to consider the germ Of revolu.
ton as 1t is developing within the urban limits of
big cities. Perhaps you know that there is
mall tube service here in Manhattan which has
been doing effective but restricted duty for some
Years. This is an installation extending from
the main office downtown to Harlem.
This tube is only eight inches in diameter and
mail despatched to the uppermost limits of the
route must be relayed number Of times before
reaching its destination. The eightinch tube is
too small to take pouch of the regulation size
and the letters must be packed in the contaner
and taken out and again packed for forwarding
In passing on from station to station The i'm
pulse Is compressed air and the tube Is utilized
only to supplant the most leisurely transfer by
wagons. etc. The horse-drawn vehicle is the pre-
yalip nnda nf anil ouod fr0p
point to point. Fortunately motor vehicles will
soon supplant these horse-drawn affairs and to
that extent there will be a marked Improvement.
But this change is not the needed most.
Some months ago Postmaster Morgan and a
commission appointed by the federal postal
thorities took up the question of bringing the
postal facilities here up to date, and they pro-
posed the installation OF a double mail tube
ice which should connect the branch post offices
at the two great railway terminals, the Grand
Central and the Pennsylvania stations together
with a supplemental line reaching down to the
main post Office in the heart of the business
ton OF New York The proposed tubes are to be
"a inches in diameter and capable of handling
the regulation mail bags. This would do away
with the present loss of time In repouching and
would immensely increase the hourly mail trans
porting capacity.
Today between the Grand Central and Penn
sylvania stations the wagons nearly the full
twenty-four hours in order to carry the 1000
more pouches Of mail involved 1t is estimated
that these bags have average weight OF 100
pounds and this means that 200 tons OF postal
matter must thus be handled and disposed OF
over this route every day. This OF course does
not represent the total of the city's service by
any means and does not include the Transports
ton OF mail from downtown to and from these
railway centers OF shipment.
The line would do this work speedily,
would not be liable to interference by reason OF
blocked streets or weather conditions. and the
bags would be despatched from point to point at
a rate ranging anywhere from twenty-five to sew.
enty-hve miles an hour, occasion might re-
qure. The problem before the local authorities
is to decide which system OF number submitted
is the one best fitted to meet Manhattan's
needs
Bids have been submitted already and the
schemes are either pneumatic electrical in
their method Of propulsion. All OF them have
been tested either practically experimentay,
and apart from their Individual merits each aims
to do away with existing surface wagons and to