The New York herald., 1921-06-18

PNEUMATIC TUBES
FAVORED FOR MAILS
Congressional Commission
Told They Are Necessary
to Post Office.
ARGUE ABOUT SITES
Expansion at Thirty-third
Street West Advocated
for General Plant.
SOLUTIONS ARE OFFERED
Second Glass Facilities Are
Described as Inadequate to
Care for Business.

SctA . 1Vl
Two post Office problems vital to
New York interests were considered
at the hearing held yesterday in the
Hotel Pennsylvania before the joint
Congressional Postal Commission un-
der the craftsmanship of Senator
Charles e. Townsend of Michigan.
The expansion of the general post
office at Thirty-third street westward
toward the river was advocated strong
ly by representatives Of large COM
mercial and industrial interests. the
Merchants Association and the Penn
sylvania Railroad as far preferable to
an alternative proposition for the es-
tablishment of post Office for the
handling of second class mail matter
near the Sunnyside yard of the Long
Island Railroad, in Queens Borough.
Much time also was devoted to testi-
mony contemplating the possible res
toration of the city's pneumatic mail
tube service, which was discontinued
by Mr.. Burleson.
Asked for Extension.
Among those who are extensive users
of the mail and who spoke for the ex-
tension of the present main post office
site We're Frederic w. Hume. execu-
tive secretary Of the National Publish
ers Associations; Howard Fuller of the
New York Chamber of Commerce;
James E. Sheehan, attorney for the
Butterick Publishing Company, the De-
signer Publishing Company and the
Ridgway Publishing Company; William
Neisal Of the Literary Digest, George II.
Follmer for the Merchants Associa-
ton; Victor j. Bradley, chief OF the
mail service, and c. J. Leiper. general
superintendent of the Pennsylvania
Railroad; NJ A. Walsh, traffic man
ager of the Cloak, Suit and Garment
Manufacturers Association. extensive
users of the parcels post, and s. G.
Rosenbaum. president of the National
Cloak and Suit Company, doing large
mail order business
Speaking against the Queens site, Mr..
Sheehan said the truck haul across the
Greensboro Bridge would add thou
sands of dollars month to the mall
ing costs of the companies he repre-
sents. Police Inspector John O'Brien.
in charge of traffic regulation, spoke
Oh Lne auueu DTluSe congestion tHlS
would involve. He advocated not only
the reopening of the pneumatic tubes.
but also the building Of marrow gagged
rail- tunnels to connect the various i'm
portant postal centres in the city as
O relief to traffic.
Mr.. Follmer who spoke for the Mer-
chants Association. and who for many
years was New Yorks assistant super
1ntendent of mails, now has charge of
~ tto C,,a ,,<x, rrv-,-
Company. So far as first class mail mat
ter is concerned, he said. the postal SER
vice was better twenty-five years ago
than to-day. In his opinion the restora-
tion and extension of the pneumatic tube
systems afford the sole solution Of New
York's problem of mail distribution.
Sets Price for Strip of Land.
Speaking for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, Mr.. Bradley told of correspondence
ne had conducted with the Second Assist
ant Postmaster General regarding the
possible sale by the railroad of the site
in the rear of the present General Post
Office. He said the railroad was willing
to sell to the Government the land be-
tween Thirty-f1rst and Thirtythird
streets and running back to Ninth ave-
nue. for s2,500.000.
Mr.. Leiper said the railroad at present
handles $50 tons of mail day, necessi-
tating the use of forty cars. The in
crease in mail, as estimated by the mail
service and traffic division, Is expected
TO be $40 tons per day in 1880, neces-
sitating thirty-one cars and 1900 tons
in 1910, necessitating eighty-nine cars.
This estimated increase could be handled
by the railroad with the increased facil-
tiles the extension would afford.
Trx- H.
tion statement filed by Mr.. Hume de-
scribed the present second class mailing
facilities as wholly inadequate and
showed that 20 per cent. of the total
weight of all magazines and newspapers
mailed In the United States goes from
this city. The publishers advocated a
Manhattan site below Forty-fifth street
with accessory post office buildings In
lower Manhattan and one each In close
proximity to the Pennsylvania and Grand
Central Terminals. all buildings to be
connected by system of underground
tracks.
J. N. Crocker. supervisor of traffic
for the New York Central Railroad,
spoke in favor of site from Ninth to
Tenth avenue and between Twenty ninth
and Thirtieth streets. which he said
could be acquired for s595.000. Another
possible site mentioned by other wit
nesses was that of the old Asylum for
the Blind at Ninth avenue and Thirty
fourth street
Merton l.. Emerson. president Of the
New York Pneumatic Service Company
and of the New York Mail and News
paper Transportation Company. which
Installed and operated the pneumatic
mail tubes. now discontinued. said that
If the Government wished to resume the
tube service the plant should be taken
ever and operated by Government em-
ployees.
The committee returns to Washington
to-day.