The Idaho Republican., 1919-07-22
NEW INVENTION
FOR EVERYONE


meaning far on, and post, meanins /
to start by the mail route, according
to the accepted useage. Therefore:
the use Of the word "telepost," signi-
,fies the mailing of something far OFT.
The service to be known as the
telepost, contemplates having a telc-
graph operator in the post office, de-
livering telegram to that depart
ment, having it telegraphed, to the
post office at destination, and the
telegram mailed to- the adressee. 1t
is a combination of the telegraph and
mail service, and has some advant-
ages not seen at first glance.
Do you ask why it is any diff
ferent than sending q regular tele-
gram and having it mailed by the
telegraph company? Well, they DON t
offer that kind of service under the
present system. They have a mes
senger to make special trip for
delivery. In many cases it would
be more trouble for the telegraph
company to take the message to the
post office than to take it to the
person addressed, but by having an
operator in the post office every
message is promptly connected with
the next leg of its journey.
Suppose there are dozen persons
at Blackfoot who want to send quick
messages to Chicago, and the mail
Is hardly quick enough and yet the
expense of kilograms is too great.
When the telepost is in operation.
they will write out the messages and
each OF this dozen is dropped into
the Blackfoot post office. The sender
allows 2 cents for postage and 40
cents for the telegraphic message,
The cents pays for handling a let
ter into the Blackfoot office and out
OF the Chicago office to the person
addressed in that city. The 40 cents
pays for the wire service and the
letter is mailed out of the Chicago
post office within an hour or two.
reaching it's destination the same
day. The cost of the same message
by the present service by wire would
be perhaps $1.25 or three days'
time by mail. The person in Chicago
gets reply into the mail within the
hour and it is mailed out of the
Blackfoot office in an hour or two
and with an expense Of $1.0O or less,
they do what we now pay $3.50 for
or save a weeks time by mail.
The telegraph people will probably
tell you this can't be done at any.
such prices, and they have had ex-
perience. But there is another
angle to the case for the government
Many citizens in many states, each
sending budgets of letters as at
make carloads of letters
moving both ways across the
country. When the telepost trans
mits a part of them by wire it re-
lieves the government of the ex-
pense Of this long haul, yet it gets
Its postage for taking one letter into
The starting office and starting it
out of the office at destination. The
volume of business by mail will
shrink except the local business, and
It will increase. Uncle Sam wants
TO thin out the congested places in
The service and keep the work scat
tered among all the people. In this
new service the wires will take off
JdTL VI the tOaQ.
A few years ago we introduced the
special delivery Of letters at a cost
of 10 cents for delivery at destina-
ion, and it worked handsomely, but
t saved only few minutes For a
'ew hours on delivery, for thebhet-
.er had to make the long journey
across the country. This new SER
vice cuts out the delay and labor
II the long journey instead of merely
off a small fraction of II
It destination. '.t ='s.s z
The telepost letters must be
marked Electric mail" and must ]
'ear stamps as usual for drop let
ers, and must also bear stamps to
he amount of 25 cents for the first
fifty words and cents for each ad.
litional ten words.
The telepost is a corporation that
'ffers to take up this new service in
connection with the postal service,
md it awaits only the government
approval and permission to institute
t. 1t is one Of the many things
which the government has not taken
ime for in the press Of war, and the
way to get it is to get action In con-,
,ress.
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