United labor bulletin., 1913-09-13
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Just how much the telephone
and the typewriter have done toward swelling
the postal activity Of today. but that they
have outranked all other influences in this direc-
tion cannot be gainsad.
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
astonishing. In period of three years the
railways supplied the post office with an Increase
in mileage OF nearly l2 per cent this indepen-
IDENTIFY OF the volume OF the postal matter car
red, and the figures have been mounting stead
ly since these were taken for comparison in
1910. In 1907 the railways furnished the post
office 3S7.557.ls5 miles OF transportation and in
1910 the total reached mileage of 426.s22 1903.
This IS pretty fair Indication OF the-pAr1 the
trunk lines play in getting letters their desti
nations and incidentally emphasizes the need OF
rapid OF transportation for letters
and registered parcels going beyond the limits
OF the city Compared with the telephone service
and the letterproduclug typewriter. the limited
trains as an agency Of intercourse trail over the
landscape. relatively speaking. as II weighted
with leaden heels.
Before It is possible to appreciate what is com
ing In the future TO make postal Intercourse
quicker between business centers of the country
II is necessary to consider the germ OF reyolu-
iion II is developing within the urban limits of
big cities. Perhaps you know that there is a
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 It's destination. The eight-inch tibe is
too small to take pouch of the regulation size
and the letters must be packed In the contsiner
and taken out and again packed for forwarding
in passing on from station to station. The ins-
pulse is compressed air. and the tube is utilized
only TO supplant the most leisurely transfer by
The hOrse-drawn vehicle Is tha al,ra-
vsng mode OF getting the mail moved from
point TO point. Fortunately motor vehicles will
soon supplant these horse-drawn affairs and TO
that extent there will be n marked Improvement.
But this change Is not the needed most
Some months ago Postmaster Morgan and a
commission appointed by the federal postal au-
thorfties took up the question of bringing the
postal facilities here up to date. and they pro-
posed the installation OF double mail tube sery-
ice which should connect the branch post Offices
at the two great railway terminals. the Grand
Central and the Pennsylvania stations. together
with supplemental line reaching down to the
main post ofhce in the heart of the business sec
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 or
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 transporta-
tion OF mail from downtown to and from these
railway centers of shipment
The new line would do this work speedily,
would not be liable to Interference by OF
blocked streets weather conditions and the
bags would be despatched from point to point at
a rate ranging anywhere from twenty five to sew
cnty-nve miles an hour occasion might re
Qure The problem before the local authorities
is to decide which system of n number submitted
is the one best fitted to meet Manhattans
needs
Bids have been submitted already and tho
schemes are either pneumatic or electrical in
their method of propulsion. All OF them have
been tested either practically or experimentally,
and apart from their Individual merits each aims
to do away nth existing surface wagons and to