The Elbert County tribune., 1913-09-12
Ag72M zg9 ss5 az & ASegxSw MzN AUxanass5 czenx1

just how much the telephone oOc ~ ooo
and the typewriter have done toward swelling
the vast postal activity of today, but that they
have outranked all other Influences in this direc-
tion 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 12 per cent. this indepen-
IDENTIFY of the volume of the postal matter
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 3s7.557165 miles OF transportation and in
1910 the total reached mileage of 426923,109
This is pretty fair indication OF the part the
trunk lines play In getting letters to their desti-
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 etter-producing typewriter, the Limited"
trains as agency of intercourse trail over the
landscape, relatively speaking as IL weighted
with leaden heels.
Before It is possible to appreciate what is
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 It 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
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
reaching its destination The eight-inch tube is
too small to take pouch OF the regulation size
and the letters must be packed in the container
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-
vang mode of getting the mail moved from
1fx,t .frf krlxr loI~u
supplant these horse-drawn affairs and to
that extent there will be a marked Improvement
But this change is not the one 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 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 supplemental line reaching down to the
main post Office in the heart of the business sec
ton of New York. The proposed tubes 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
sylvanin stations the wagons run nearly the full
twenty-four hours in order to carry the 1000
more pouches of mail involved 1t is estimated
that these bags have an 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 citys 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 reason of
blocked streets weather conditions. and the
bags would be despatched from point to point at
rate ranging anywhere from twenty five to sew
enty-five miles an hour occasion might
quire. The problem before the local authorities
is to decide which system Of a number submitted
II the best fitted to meet Manhattan's
needs.
schemes either pneumatic electrical in
their method of propulsion All Of them have
been tested either practically experimentally.
and apart from their individual merits each aims
TO do away with existing surface wagons and to