Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-09-02
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business ana professional men, and
citizens in general, know little about
the closing of mails at the Harrisburg
post office. They make numerous in
quiries daily as to how late a letter
may be posted to reach a certain des-
tination. Post Office attaches are al
ways ready to give any information
asked Tor. The only way to get 1t is to
ask. There is no printed schedule for
dlstrlputlon. The postal department
at Washington, D. C., makes no ap-
preparation for printing this informa-
ton. A printed schedule giving the
ARRIVAL and departure of mails at the
harrisburg post Office has not been
puoIished for several years. -
INQUIRIES to-day brought the inter-
estlng information that most trains [
carry mail. All pouches are closed be-
tween 40 and so minutes before train
tlme. III you have a letter that must
get away with a rush the safest plan
is 10 get 1t in the post office one hour
before train time. A schedule of time
mail leaves local office for import
ant cities follow:
Baltimore, and Washington, D. c.
400. $40, 1920 and 900 a. M; 1890,
200, $3.50, $50 and 1900 D. m.
Philsadelphia-12:3o, 100, S:4o.
1920 2;5o, $40, S:45 and 1O:A5 p.
New York-1:oO. 400. 1920. 500
ana M $50 a. m; 1920, $40, 1O:4o, and
Pittsburgh-12:4O, 200, $40 and
da;4o a; M; 2:5O, 6:15, $50. $3.50
Williamsport and the North-4:Oo,
1;l0 1l:OO a. m; 1850, 1000 and
10:45 p. IN.
Buffalo, y. Y.-4:Oo, 7:1O, 1900 a.
M; 2:50, 10000 and 11:45 d. m.
Scranton
40 800. 1900 a. m; 2:5O, $40,
Chambersburg-4:3o, 700, 100 a.
M; 2:30, 1915 p. m. Carlisle same as
above except the last mail leaves at
800 p. m.
Harrisburg has always been an i'm
portant mail distributing center Away
back in the days of John Harris there
was a post service which reached
Harrisburg and it is believed that
some of the early carriers of postal
matter that reached the Scotch Irish
settlements of the Cumberland VAL
ley went by way of the ferry Men
tion is made in early letters written
by people in this section, which was
then Lancaster county, of the receipt
of official papers by post from Phila-
delphia and the stage coaches which
came into general use Just before the
Revolution all carried mail. There
are many tales of these old mail
coaches and when Harrisburg was
put on the map it became the place
for changing horses. AS towns came
into being up the Susquehanna, Jun
iata and other valleys mail brought
here in stages from Philadelphia and
Lancaster was sorted for carrying up
to Sunbury, to Alexandria, to Carlisle,
to Lebanon and other places and Har-
risburg before the nineteenth CEN
tury began was an important mail
distributing point.
The coming of the first railroad
train in 1896 was the cause of still
greater expansion of the business of
Harrisburg as a mail center and there
followed a big increase in the amount
of mail matter which went in and out
of this town. 1t became the most inn
portant mail town between Philadel-
phia and the rapidly developing iron
and steel metropolis of Western Penn
sylvania. Cars were brought here fill
ed with mail bags and sorted out for
the places on the railroads and high
ways radiating from Harrisburg. Then
came the mail car, but still Harris
burg maintained its important place
as distributing point and 1t is now
the central office for a large terri
tory.
1t might be added that this city's
importance as a center of distribution
was recognized by the United States
Railway Mail service forty years ago.
Soon after the Civil war the mail
service began developing by leaps and
bounds and this city which had be-
come a prominent concentration point
for troops and supplies during the
war was looked over. In the seventies
Harrisburg was made the headquar-
ters of division and w. Jones Hugh
es was the first chief clerk. He had a
big territory and men under him
travelled on long runs He was sue
Fisher, who died a year or so ago at
Sunbury. Then came Fred. c. Gore,
who held the place for many years
and was succeeded by ]. C. Burkhol-
der, the present chief clerk. There
have been thousands of men in the
railway mail service running out of
Harrisburg under these men, some of
whom are now in other occupations
and whose reeollections of the SER
vice are most interesting.
The Harrisburg division is the Sec
ond and comprises the central and
northern parts of the State, as far west
as Erie, Indiana and Somerset; parts
of Western New York, the Northern
Central system clear down to Wash
ington and the Cumberland and other
valleys. There are 220 men in the
division service, all running out of
Harrisburg. The Main Line division
on the Pennsylvania is known as di-
vision No. Is. 1t is separate organi-
Zation.