The Columbia evening Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-01
1920 POSTAL
REVENUE HAS
BIG INCREASE
2ostmaster-Cenerals Report
Shows a S72,303,086 Gain
in Operation of the
Department.
EXTENDS PARCEL POST
Aerial Mail Service Now Is
Conducted Between Seven
of the Big Cities of
the Country.

~ Auhea FNaa-
WASHINGTON, D. C. Feb. 1.-The
report Of Postmaster General BurlesOn
.or the fiscal year ending June 80, 1920,
shows that the revenues of the Posia'
Department amounted to S437, ,l5O,2l2.S5-
an increase of s72.3O3.O86.l3 over the
preceding wear. the rate of increase being
1871 per cent The audited expendi-
lures for the year were S454,322,6O9-2l,
an increase over the preceding year OF
S9I.824973.52. or 2S-33 per cent.
Various improvements and extensions
rave been made in the postal service
The air mail service, which has been op-
Grated successfully since its beginning
in MAY, 1918, has been extended across
he continent. Parcel post service. both
domestic and international, has beer
greatly extended and facilities for hand
ling parcels improved. Foreign countries
and colonies that are reached by this
service, number 260.
The aforementioned motor-vehicle
service. begun in 1914. has been establish
ed in l63 cities. The railway mail ser
vice has been operated with increased
efficiency under the space system, facil-
ities for the handling Of mail improved
and the service firmly established upOI
a scientific basis.
The rural mail service was eXtende
during the fiscal year TO more than soc
600 additional persons. Parcel post rates
have been reduced and an increase of th
weight and size Of parcels has been per
mitted.
PARCEL POST PROFITABLE
The total number Of pieces Of parcel
post mail handled during the fiscal yeal
is estimated 10 have exceeded 2,250,O00,
600. Il is estimated that the revenue
from parcel-post mail is now about $50,
100000, indicating a profit Of abOu'
SlOOO0OO0 a year.
The mailings of newspapers and per
icdicals as second-class matter at Tho
pound rates of postage during the hsca
year 1920 exceeded all previous record
with an increase of 1877 per cent over
the mailings Of the previous year.
There was a decrease of 3.629,l92 le,
tiers and sealed packages sent to III,
deadletier Office Such mail, instead
being held in the general delivery 70,
from two weeks to thirty days, may nov
be promptly returned to the senders O.
transmitted to the division Of dead let
tiers.
The grand total Of all registrations
paid, free, domestic and foreign, amount
cd to 76.9l3,779. while the figures Of the
year before were 65,373, 1874, a gain
ll,5iO,385.
Six new federal buildings were oc
cupied during the last fiscal year. Ne
goiiaiions are now pending with view
to provide on a rental basis more ade
quate postal Accommodations in mos
cities and il is believed that the existing
congestion, especially in New York anc
Chicago. will be alleviated to some ex
tent at an early date.
During the last fiscal year city deliver,
service was installed in seventy addition
al post Offices. extending the benefits Of
this service TO approximately l,S00,00
additional people.
The efficiency Of the government-owned
motor-vehicle service was demonstrated
during the last winter and spring wher
unusual conditions developed in a mum
Der Of the larger cities as the result o.
severe storms, strikes Of express and rail
road employees and the action Of the ex
press companies in placing embargoes on
the acceptance Of packages below a Ger.
tain weight. which brought into the mails
an enormous quantity of materials and
supplies formerly shipped in bulk by ex
press or freight
There were three extensions Of the air
mail service last year. The one from New
York to Cleveland was completed from
New York to Chicago. The second ex
tension was from Chicago to Omaha
which was begun on May IS, 1920. The
distance Of this route is 40 miles air
line. The third extension was the open
ingof the route between Chicago and St.
Louis, or August 10, 1920.
The New York-San Francisco transcon.
linental air route was begun September
B, 1920, by the extension of the route
from Omaha to San Francisco. A fourth
extension Of the air mail from Chicago
10 St Paul and Minneapolis is being put
into operation.
260 COUNTRIES SERVED
The outstanding features Of the year in
the administration Of foreign mails were
the remarkable extension of the list Of
foreign countries and colonies reached by
parcel post to include 260 instead Of IS
countries and colonies. The increase over
1919 in the total weights Of the mails dis
patched TO transatlantic destinations was
82ll per cent. The increase over 1919
in the weights of the transpacific mails
was l8.05 per cent. There was an in.
crease Of l08 per cent in the interna-
iional parcel-post transaction. practically
every part Of the world now being reach.
ed by parcel-post service.
The number and amount of domestic
money orders issued and paid during the
year showed an increase over the pre-