Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-09-12
Nll2M W ~ R1cHHHEw NzzH AVE1Regs<5 cAeezER
800 TO 500 ZlZESS AN-ROLzS j.

and the typewriter have done toward swelling
the vast postal activity of today. but that they
have outranked all other influences in this diree-
ton 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 a period of three years the
railways supplied the post office with an increase
in mileage Of nearly IL per cent. this indepep-
IDENTIFY of the volume of the postal matter
ried and the figures have been mounting stead
fly since these were taken for comparison in
1910. In 1907 the railways furnished the post
office SS7,557165 miles of transportation and in
1910 the total reached mileage OF 426,923 100.
This is pretty fair indication of the part the
trunk lines play in getting letters to their dest
nations and Incidentally Emphasizes the need o.
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-producing typewriter, the limited"
trains as an agency Of intercourse trail over the
landscape, relatively speaking, IL 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 revou.
ton as 1t is developing within the urban limits of
big cities, Perhaps you know that there is
mail tube service here in Manhattan which has
been doing effective but restricted duty for some
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 eghtinch 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 from station to station The i'm
pulse Is compressed air, and the tube is utilized
only to suppant the most leisurely transfer by
ota Tbo hor ,,aIfn 1o 10 tb.,
vaillng mode of getting the mail moved from
point to point Fortunately motor vehicles will
soon suppant these horsedrawn affairs and to
that extent there will be marked Improvement.
But this change is not the one needed most.
Some months ago Postmaster Morgan and
commission appointed by the federal postal au-
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 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 office in the heart Of the business sec
top of New York. The proposed tubes are to be
"a inches in diameter and capable of handling
the regulation mall 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
sylvana stations the wagons run nearly the full
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 transporta
ton 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 reason O
blocked streets or weather conditions and tn,
bags would be despatched from point to point a
rate ranging anywhere from twenty-five to sew
enty-ive miles hour. occasion might re
qure The problem before the local authorities
is TO decide which system Of number submtte
is the one best fitted to meet Manhattan
needs
Bids have been submitted already and III
schemes either pneumatic electrical 1
their method of propulsion All of them hav
been tested either practically experimental,
and apart from their individual merits each aim
10 do away with existing surface wagons and /