Evening journal., 1923-01-15

I duct a postal system and his repor;
was adopted. Franklin, himself, be-
ing named 10 the Office A line OF
posts was established by him from
Massachusetts 10 Georgia. with many
cross posts, and postmssters were
selected for the principal communi-
ties.
Thus was the foundation laid
for the present Post once Depart
ment OF the United States, which
has survived the vicissitudes OF
peace. war and political upheavaL
Franklin served as colonial post
master general until the election OF
George Washington as President of
the Republic under the new con-
stitution. when Samuel Osgood, OF
Massachusetts, became Postmaster
General OF the United States.
From this time on the rapid de-
velopment OF the postal system
paralleled the amazing advance
msnt OF the nation commercially
and industrially. The big problem
that confronted the postmasters
general in the early days OF the
United States was the transports-
ton Of the mails. The roads were
poor and impossible during the
winter seasons. In many instances
only narrow trails through dense
forests formed the connecting links
between the villages and hamlets
where postofices were located.
Couriers travelling by foot and riding
horseback caNied the mails during
the early part OF the nineteenth
century as they did in Franklin's
postal regime. Then II was discov-
cred that the stage coaches that
made regular trips between Boston.
New York. Philadelphia and other
points could be utilized for this pur-
pose and the first leather neil
pouches sufficient to hold large
quantities OF letters came into exist
ence.
There Is a glaring contrast be-
tween the stage coach numbering
heavily over the public highways IN
those days and the swift airplane
darting above the mountains and
prairies az the present time. Yet
transporting the mails through the
air was not a wild flight OF the ina
ginat!on 10 the early citizens OF the
republic. As a matter OF
fact the American public then was
intensely interested in the speedy
dispatch OF the malls between post
Offices and offered frequent sugges-
tons 10 the postmasters general
serving as heads Of the Postofice
Department.
One OF these. astonlshingly pro-
phetic OF the future. was made in
1922 when the editor Of the Free
mans Journal, published at Norris
town. Pennsylvania. advised Post
master General Mclean that It
might be possible 10 carry the mails |
by the use OF flying ships" The |
editor Of this publication wrote as
We would advise the Postmes- !
Ter General to avail himself OF the |
novel and very ingenious flying ma
chime invented by James Bennett. I
n Philadelphia, by which we con-
'eive the mails would be transport /
I'd with more CELEBRITY and their ar
'ival al the places of destination be
much more certain than Is the case
It the present"
While thu Postofice Department
evidently could not avail itself OF
uch friendly advice at that time,
his does not mean that Il was en-
irely wasted. for in less than one
hundred years later the mails are
ctually being transported by fly
ng machines with more celebrity"
nd with arrival al their places of
estimation much more certain"
ust as was originally predicted by
he editor OF the Freeman's Jour
al. In this connection, too. Il
hould be noted that in the haste
4 the first days operation OF the
tage coach loaded with mail, one
nan was killed. while the mails last
ear were carried two million miles
rithout a single fatality.
Illustrative OF the mode OF the
election OF the postmasters in these
avs Is an ancient commission is
ued by Postmaster General Nc
can 10 Thomas Lindsey. ESQUIRE,
he first postmaster 10 serve at
herry Ridge. Pennsylvania. that
'as recently unearthed. Printed IN
uaint italics on age-eaten paper.
his document is dated July 10.
s24, and shows the old seal OF the
ostofilce Department long since
with the design OF the
.od, Mercury. with wings on his
eet. The commission reads like
his:
Know ye; that confdlng in the
ltegrity, ability and punctuality Of
homas Lindsey, Esquire. do ap-
oint him as postmaster and au-