The Yale expositor., 1913-09-11


and the typewriter have done toward swelling
the vast postal activity of today, but that they
have outranked all other influences in this direc-
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 hgures
are astonishing. In period OF three years the
railways supplied the post office with an Increase
in mileage of nearly IL per cent, this indepen
IDENTIFY of the volume of the postal matter car
ried and the figures have been mounting stead
ily since these were taken for comparison IN
1910. In 1907 the railways furnished the post
ONCE 3S7,557165 miles OF transportation and In
1910 the total reached mileage Of 426923,lO9
This is pretty fair indication OF the part the
trunk lines play In getting letters to their destl
nations and incidentally emphasizes the need or
more rapid means of transportation for letters
and registered parcels going beyond the limits
u 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 as If weighted
with leaden heels.
Beflye it is possible to appreciate what is COM
ing in the future 10 make postal intercourse
quicker between business Centers OF the country
IL Is necessary 10 consider the germ of reyou-
ton it is developing within the urban limits Of
big cities Perhaps you know that there is
nail 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 uppermcst limits OF the
route must be reayed a number of times before
sel1hing it's destination. The eightinch tube Is
too small TO take q pouch Of the regulation size
ana the letters must be packed in the container
and taken out and again packed for forwarding
in passing on from station 10 station. The i'm
pulse is compressed air, and the tube is utilized
only 10 supplant the most lesurely transfer by
f,;r1, &c II,
vaiiing mode OF getting the mail moved from
point TO point. Fortunately motor vehicles Will
soon supplaut 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
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 double mail tube serv-
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 sec
tiOn 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
syvania stations the wagons run nearly the full
more pouches of mail involved II 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
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 Shese
railway centers OF shipment.
The new line would do this work speSiily
would not be liable TO interference by reason OF
blocked streets weather conditions. and tfC
bags would be despatched from point to point a
a rate ranging anywhere from twenty-five to sew
enty-fve miles hour, as occasion might re
aulre The problem before the local authorities
r. 90 decide which system of number submitted
is the one best fitted to meet Manhattant
needs
BIDS have been submitted already and thu
schemes are either pneumatic or electrical II
their method of propulsion. All OF them hav
been tested either practically or experimentally
and apart from their individual merits each aim
TO do away with existing surface wagons and t.