The Washington herald., 1918-07-12
new DEVICES
EXPAND MAIL
Holland Foresees Growth
From Use Of Airplanes
and Wireless.

II Lee De Forest perfects. as he
expects to do within the next three or
four years, the wireless telephone ap-
paratus so that 1t will be practicable
to carry the human voice across the
ocean intelligibly and without the use
OF wires. then there undoubtedly will
be an increase in the delivery of dis
patches or business communications
between the United States and Great
Britain or the continent Of Europe
The wireless telegraph seems not to
have decreased ordinary mail service,
but instead has supplemented II. That
is also true of the method devised by
Theodore n. Vail, whereby telegraphic
messages, or, as they are sometimes
called. business letters. containing not
more than fifty words, are sent over
the wires at night at a. charge not
exceeding the rates for ten-word day
messages.
Many business houses make use OF
the night letter and yet. at least until
the increase Of postal rates was made.
this service has not cut into the or
binary mails. They have in fact in
creased. Therefore there seems to be
established the, soundness OF the
philosophy first expounded by Row
land Hill in London and afterwards
accepted by Thomas L. James when
he was postmaster Of New York, and
later when postmaster general in the
administrations of Presidents Garfield
and Arthur, which was that the
greater the facilities and the more
speedy the Transmission Of mails II
supplemented by reduced postal
charges, the greater the mail service.
ForetoId Air Service.
Three or four years before the death
of former Postmaster General James,
in 1916. he said that he had not the
slightest doubt that within the course
Of a few years aerial mail service
would be almost as common as rail-
way mail service. He based that
opinion upon the improvements n
aircraft, which came as rapidly
after the European war began.
At least a year ago some of the
postal authorities believed it inevi-
table that the government would with
in few months make use of air
craft in the carrying Of mails. And
il a thorough test OF an aerial mail
service proved to be satisfactory, then
il would be but a step further to-
wards the establishment of aerial
service in the parcel post, and ulti-
mately in business activities of all
( kinds excepting those involving the
moving OF very heavy merchandise.
The experiments which have been
for some two months under way tend
to justify the belief that ultimately
satisfactory aerial post service be-
tween the larger cities OF the coun-
try supplemented by relaying meth
DDS. will be adopted.
Growth of Postal Service.
The growth of the mail service,
especially in the past fifty years, has
been one Of the characteristic deysI-
opments OF industrial and commercial
life in the United States. Afr the
railways made it possible convenient
" and rapidly to carry the mails,
and especially after Theodore n.
Vail, who is now living. perfected
the railway postal service, its use
OF the mails for private communica-
tton increased in a remarkable man.
ncr. This increase has been of edu-
cational. political and commercial i'm
portance to the United States which
IT is impossible to set forth by any
statistics.
A few figures. however. may con-
tain an object lesson respecting the
increase of mail service which will
be at least interesting. Not until
1850 was there considerable railway
operation in the United States. The
POstOffiCe Department reported that
in the year 1850 about 1,5OO. 900
stamps were issued by the depart
ment and used for mailing purposes.
StNty-six years later the Postofice
Department was able to report that
in a single year twelve billions Of
stamps were sold. Indicating that
that number of letters had passed
through the mails. and in addition
to that there were sold in that year
billion one-cent postal cards.
Beginning Was slight.
OF such slight Importance was the
postal service in the first year of
George Washington administration
as President that the proposition
was earnestly advocated that the
Postmaster General should no long
er occupy the little room where the
mails were received and sent out.
In the first year of the nineteenth
century, the postal revenues were
nearly $4,000 In the year 1917
the postal revenues exceeded $780,
100000 1t has never been the
policy of the government so to
maintain the Postofice Department
as to secure a surplus revenue.
The desire has been to make the
revenue and the expenditures sub
stantially alike. But IL airplanas, and
in addition automobiles, are hereaf-
ter to be employed to supplement the
mail service, the probabilities are that
the yearly revenue will increase, or
the postal charges will be diminished.
So successful has been the recent
aerial mail service between New
York and Washington that other cit
les have communicated concerning it
with the Post ONCE Department, pot
ably Cleveland and Pittsburg. Bos-
ton speedily sent a request to the
government for the extension Of the
aerial mail service to that city, and
the first experimental and on the
whole satisfactory tests Of service of
that kind between New York and
Boston have been made within a few
iays. The chances are that before
summer Is ended there will be regu-
Tar aerial mail service between Wash
Ington, Philadelphia. New York and
Boston. and very likely between
Washington and Pittsburg, whence,
by relays, the service may be extend
I'd to Cincinnati.
HOLLAND.
COTTON MADRCTc