The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-05-03
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS
The postoffice department.


 just to be a sketch.
 The post is mentioned in the Bible. Job said: My days are swifter than a post" and reference is also made to it in Jere- miah,
 But this is going back too far. for any missive for Jeremiah is long since hung up in the Old Testament dead letter .of- flee, and even modern Jobs patience would be taxed to take it up with the Israelitish authorities
 The prototype of the modern postal system existed at a very early date among the Persans, Romans, Aztecs, Chinese and other peoples, in the form of an organized establishment of state carriers.
 The first instance I have come across that links up in any way with~our mod ern way of doing things is somewhere about the middle of the thirteenth cen tury, communication was established be- tween Italy and Austria by a connected line of letter posts. I'm sorry war has for the time broken up the arrangement.
 
 In America the first step in the estab- lishment of a postal system was the ap- pointment by the general court of Mass achusetts, in 1639 of an official to take charge of the denvery of letters
  / The decree read as follows: s1t is or- hot Fairbanks, his house in Boston, is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas or are to be sent thither, to be left with nlu, and he is to take care that they be delivered or sent according to directions"
 Lovelace, colonial governor of New York, in pursuance of instructions re- ceiyed from England. organized, in 1872, mail ito zoe monthly" between New York and Boston, advertising, Those that bee disposed to send letters to bring them to the secretary's office, where, in lockt box, they shall be preserved till the mes- sengers call for them"
 This box reminds me of an account of curious postoffice in a barrel, which swings from the outermost rock of the mountains overhanging the streets of Magellan, opposite Terra del Fuego. Every passing ship opens it to place let- ters in or take them out. Every ship undertakes to forward all letters in 1t that it is possible for them to transmit. The barrel hangs by it's iron chain, beaten and battered by the winds and storms. but no locked and barred off, flee on land is more secure
 
 In 1883 Governor William Penn of Penn sylvania. established postoffice at Phil adelphia. and by 1893 a well organized system of posts was established in Penn sylvania.
 The colonial postoffice was consoli- dated with the postoffice of Great Britain and Ireland by statute passed in ITO It may be of some comfort to post masters who have been removed from office to know that Benjamin Franklin was removed as postmaster of Philadel- phia by the British government in 1774. but the Continental Congress, having re- solved to maintain separate postal sys- tenn, elected him as it's chief at a salary of 5000 a year., Benjamin had ''pul'
 
 Under the constitution, a postal service was authorized by Congress in 17S9, and Samuel Osgood became the first postmas- ter general of the new nation.
 The postoffice was at that time subordi- nate to the treasury department. Seven- ty-dve local postoffices were established and the mails were carried on 1875 miles of road
 The public is kicking for 1-cent letter postage. In those days for a shngle sheet carried 30 miles, the charge was cents, and the charge increased with the distance up to 450 miles, for which the rate was 25 cents.
 Even in these days newspapers were carried at lower rates than first-class mall, the charge being 1 cent for the first 100 miles and 11s cents for a greater dis tance.
 Just word about the growth In 1Sl0 the postoffices numbered 2SOO and the receipts were about $500 000 If I'm not mistaken there are now a greater num- Der of postoffices in Alabama than there was in the entire country in 1s1O
 
 Licking stamps came into vogue in 1S47. The prepayment of postage greatly simplified the operation of the postof- flee, and rendered possible its further extension.
 The system of registering letters was adopted in 1S55 and this branch has devel- oped wonderfully In 1864 the money or der system was instituted.
 The beginning of the railway mail serv- ice dates from 1864. It was an advance over the pony riders express just as the airplane will finally leave the railroad tagging behind.
 Rural free delivery, which was esta b. lished in 1895, is growing by leaps and bounds. It's already playing great part in educating the people and relieving the tedium of farm life. The biggest strike made by the post office department was in the introduce tion Of parcel post The city man each ;c