Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1916-08-11
bags PURCHASED At
half FORMER COST

CONS of the government, or see then
thrown off at the station in Americas
[ can form no idea of the immensely O
this branch Of the public service. Sta
tistics and tables of figures may hav,
little interest for the ordinary reader
but when it is stated that the tota
number of mail bags used for trans
porting the mails amount to about five
millions, and if placed end to enc
would stretch from Boston to Sar
Francisco and extend into the Pacific
ocean, some estimate may be formed
OF the tremendous mass of such equip.
ment needed in tbs dispatch of public
business.
At the beginning of this administra.
ton an inventory was taken to learn
what equipment for railway postal
transportation the government had on
hand. 1t was discovered that the
grand total of such property was g.
549,4S9 pieces, of which 46S, S46 were
mail pouches, 2,592,47 were sacks. and
ASS, 164 were mail locks. Since this in
yentory was made the growth of the
service required the purchase of over
one million and half mail bags to
meet the steadily increasing demand.
This business of the government is so
enormous that a tabulation made in
as he stabbed himself last fall in an
the Railway Mail Service two years
ago, showed that the eight mail bag
repositories of the United States re-
ceiyed and sent out again during the
year just preceding nearly 10000 900
sacks and pounches. AS the real
e'AoohC VI StOCh IHeu was ABOUT
100000, it will be seen that this equip
ment was handled ten times by the
system of distribution devised to re.
lieye congestion at one point and meet
pressing demands at another, without
which arrangement the peculiar exac-
lions of the service could not be met.
The amount thus handled is now very
much larger, sacks and pouches pass
ing to and fro through these depositor-
les and the mail bag storehouse al
Washington aggregating 100000
pieces.
The money required from time to
time for the purchase of this great sur
LILY and the price to be paid, so as to
come within the appropriation, were
matters of grave concern to those in
charge. Congress supplied the funds,
but where the supply could be bought
at the lowest government srancx
al DIS maintained--was the problem.
Ii the summer of 1913, the department
was paying $1.44 for its ordinary mail
pouches. This price was deemed too
high, and experts were set to work to
Gevise something that would be of
equal capacity, equal durability, at a
less cost. The result was that a pouch
vas designed which the department
contracted for and purchased for less
than so cents each, and this pouch
has been produced in large quantities
ard is replacing those formerly under
contract Experts were also placed
on the proposition of designing a
cheaper but equally effective pouch for
the exchange of mails by moving
trains. The department was then pay
ing $170 for these catcher pouches
Within short time a pouch was
evolved, designed on scientific princi-
pies, which is giving far better service
and at greatly reduced cost, wis.,, 80
cents each
The saving in this production OF
equipment will amount to very large
sum, for there have been over $50, OOe
of these new style bags placed in the
service within the last two years at a
reduction of fifty per centum, and this
economy will, of course, continue and
grow in amount as the further demanG
for supply is met. While the old style
of equipment required expert attention
to keep them in repair, this newer
product requires but little, and is kept
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