Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-10-30
the Government printing office a land
mark recognizable for miles.
Uniuue in Mechanical Appliances

While the system In all great Amer
lean postoffices is practically the same,
the new Washington office is unique
in the completeness of it's mechani-
cal equipment, notably in conveyors
and other appliances for the speedy
transmission of packages. The endless
belt and carrier system here has been
given a chance to show it's uttermost
possibilities, with the result that, ac-
cording to Superintendent of Mails
Haycock, if a thousand men should be
employed simultaneously on the great
floor not one of them need stir out of
his tracks to perform all the work he
would be called upon to do. For ex-
ample, the parcel post packages come
into the office over an endless belt
made of rubber and fibre much like an
automobile tire and so wide and strong
that on the opening night several small
boys jumped on it and were carried
safely to the distributing section.
How Letter Travels
Dozens of mechanical carriers are in
perpetual motion over the heads of
the clerks. The working of the whole
system may be illustrated by the ex-
perience, say, of a special delivery let
ter from Boston destined for some
person in Washington. Let the great
Pennsylvania train No. II roll into
the Union Station: Within five min
utes, by means of electric and hand
trucks. the sacks of mail it bears have
been carried through the bridge be-
tween the station and the postoffice at
grade and the letters have been
poured out on the sorting table. They
are first faced i. e., turned all one
way, so that the stamps are all on one
side and in their proper corners and
thus fed into travelling groove which
carries them to the cancelling machine
i'm the course of the brief Journey
separating the large from the small
envelopes.
But should special delivery letter
be sighted by the first clerk who
touches the maitland his practised
eye would detect it instantly-it would
not go to the cancelling machine. He
would pick the letter out and lay it on
a metal tray above his head. In
moment q steel basket with drop bot
tom would come sliding along and a
little brush would sweep the letter
down into the conveyor little farth-
the doors which constitute the bottom
of the conveyor and the letter would
drop down wire chute upon the desk
of a special delivery clerk. This Of
fetal would cancel the stamp, post
mark the letter and give it a number
and then would place it on another met
al shelf over his head. Another convey
or would then come along, the letter
would be swept into 1t as before and
after another short journey it would
fiutter down another chute to a desk
set in the middle of the room where
the special delivery boys are waiting
In flash the letter would be again re-
corded and handed out: and thus in
less than ten minutes from leaving the
train or five minutes from being shak-
en- from it's sack. this special delivery
letter would be flying through the
streets of Washington to its destina-
ton.
Promoting Messenger Boys.
The new postmaster of Washington
is now promoting special delivery
messengers to the regular clerical SER
vice. The boys receive eight cents of
the ten you pay for the special deliv-
cry stamp. they work eight hours
day and make something over forty
dollars a month-one boy made forty
nine dollars in September. The city
is divided into special delivery zones
and the boys, who use bicycles and in
some cases motorcycles, are told when
they are sent out just the moment
when they Should be back. If they arc
late without a reasonable excuse thev
are demerited.
The handling of this special deliv-
cry letter is a sample of the whole
system. Parcel post and other pack
ages are conveyed on endless belts;
and either over these belts or by means
of the sweep off conveyor any piece of
mail coming into the post office may
be sent to any spot in the workroom
without the sender doing more than
lift his hand to place it on belt or a
shelf. Most of the apparatus is over
head, thus leaving the floor free for
tables and cabinets.
Guarding Registered Mail.
The exquisite care with which Uncle
Sam guards registered mail is en-
phasized in the Washington post Office
Letters coming from or going to the
registry division are carried in con-
veyors, like the others, but a locked
steel box is used instead of the open
basket. The letter is exposed only
long enough for the address to be read
and then goes into the red and blue
sack which distinguishes registered
mail.
One Mile of Sentry Boxes.
To convey some idea of the mag
nitude of the intricate machinery
which moves the hundreds of thou
sands of articles in this great work.
shop, it may be said that one mile of
lookout stations surround the workers
on the floor of the Washington Post
Office There are enclosed galleries
extending about the four sides of every
section or division, where post office
spectors look down through Sits cut
work of the clerks below. The in
spectors look down through Sits cut
in the steel sides which look like shut
tiers but cannot be seen themselves, as
the galleries are dark. The Post Of
flee clerks are not necessarily under
continual eSnionage hut whenever SuS-