The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1919-02-20

liticalmaster generals combined tel
egraph, telephone and mail service
forces in doing an errand between
Philadelphia and New York which a
messenger could have done in six
hours, with time for leisurely lun-
cheon in New York before starting
back.
We are not calling attention to this
speed record of the politicalmaster's
co-ordinated telegraphic, telephone,
and mail services because it is unus-
ual. The interest in the case lies sole
ly in the fact that it is an interlock-
ing demonstration of Burlesonian eff
ficiency in all Of his three systems Of
service. To be sure it involved the
sacrifice of human life. But that is
an irrelevant detail.
A woman in Philadelphia was in i'm
minent danger of death. There was a
chance that her life might be saved
by serum in possession of DR.. Silas
P. Beebe, All Park avenue, New York.
Her physician, at 10 o'clock on a
Thursday morning, sent crush" mes
sage to DR.. Beebe. At the latest the
serum should have. been delivered
early the next morning. It did not
come. DR.. Teller, the Philadelphia
physician, then tried the politicalmas-
ter generals telephone service. The ur-
gent nature of the case was explained
at the Philadelphia telephone office
with an earnest plea for speed. After
a long interval the report came back
from the New York telephone office
that there was no such person as DR..
Beebe among the new York telephone
subscribers. DR.. Silas P. Beebe, the
only DR.. Beebe in the telephone book,
has been telephone subscriber for ten
years. His number, plainly printed in
the last telephone directory, is Plaza
9576. DR.. Teller insisted that DR.. Bee
be did have a telephone. The tele
phone office insisted that he did not
have one, and informed DR.. Teller that
he, Teller, had the name wrong. The
deadlock continued from Friday morn
ing until along in the Afternoon of Sat-
urday, when at last the telephone
communication which should have TAX
en- fifteen or twenty minutes was es-.
tablished after an interval of over
twenty-four hours.
In the meantime things had been
moving at breakneck speed in the po-
liticalmaster generals Geographic
service. The crush" telegram which
DR.. Teller had sent at 10 o'clock on
Thursday morning reached DR.. Beebe
at $40 on Friday afternoon. Owing to
the life-and-death nature of the mes
sage, the politicalmaster general un-
doubtedly had put on extra speed. The
telegram was rushed through to it's
New York address in only a little over
thirty hours. AS quickly as he could
prepare the serum DR.. Beebe person.
ally directed the parcel containing it,
marked it urgent, paid the full pos
tage rates, put on a special delivery
stamp, and with his own hands mailed
it at the Grand Central postoffice in
New York.
That was at 9 o'clock on Friday
night. Eighteen hours afterwards,
when telephone connection was at last
established, DIR. Beebe was amazed to
learn that his parcel had not been de-
livered in Philadelphia. He at once
prepared more serum, and put it into
the hands of a messenger with instruc-
lions to get to Philadelphia with all
speed. The messenger reached the
Philadelphia address two hours ahead
Of the special delivery mail package,
marked "urgent,' which arrived about
twenty four hours after DR.. Beebe had
himself mailed it in New York post
office. .-.'
But even the messenger was too late.
The woman died an hour before he got
there with the life-saving serum.
Now, all things considered, we are
disposed to regard this as the political
master generals supreme achievement.
He has been longer in delivering mail
matter. He has been far longer in de-
livering night kilograms by mail. We
do not know that there is anything
surprising in 24-hour time allowance
in establishing a telephone connection
between New York and Philadelphia.
But here we have in one instance, and
that instance case of life and death,
a demonstration of co-ordinated, inter-
locking ineptitude, Of sheer helpless
incapacity of administration, which
we venture to believe not even the
Burleson record can match. And if it
beats Burleson it beats the world.
There was a time when we had the
best telephone and telegraph service
in the world. Now we can challenge