Evening star., 1924-06-01
POSTAL LEAGUE FETE
PLANNED FOR JULY 4
Universal Union Will Observe Its
Fiftieth Anniversary at
Stockholm.
U. S. LAID THE FOUNDATION.
Confederation Is Oldest 0rganiza-
tion of World States.

On July the league of postal ma
tions, the Universal Postal Union. en-
bracing the earth, will hold it's fif-
tieth anniversary at Stockholm, Swe-
den.
TT is significant that the delegates
Of the nations of the earth gather for
this celebration of postal peace on
July 4, American Independence day,
because to the United States goes the
honor of laying the foundation for
the Universal Postal Union." says a
bulletin of the National Geographic
Society from it headquarters here.
This confederation of nations, at
= hfty years. is the oldesOcomprehen
Sive organization of world states 1t
iS naH reduced the world postage bill by
millions, and increased the letters ex-
changed by millions. 1t has made
nelghbors of Kalamazoo and Timbuk
~ and put sewing machines in Turk
ish haremS.
When Letter Cost $3.50.
The difference between $3.50 and a
2-cent postage stamp represents to the
individual the most dramatic feature OF
Inc Postal Unions accomplishments.
Ten years before the Postal Union was
thought of it cost $3.50 to send an
ounce letter to New Zealand; today it
costs cents.
The blow to the high cost of mall
ing illustrated by the United States
New Zealand instance has been re-
pcated to a lesser. degree with all
foreign correspondence. Reduction of
the cost of an ounce letter to England
from II cents to cents, to France
from I2 cents to 5 cents, and to Brazil
from 30 cents to cents. dates back to
a conference called with the approval
Of Abraham Lincoln. Agreements of
TINS conference were built into the
postal convention signed at Bern.
switzerland. in 1873. Although the
mn two
iaSt year, the Universal Postal Union
VIII celebrate it at Stockholm this
year; since 1924 is the year of it's
regular meeting.
Heavy Steamer Mail.
Dispatch of $4,000 sacks of mail
from the New York foreign mail post
ONCE is not uncommon today. On one
trip recently the Mauretania brought
i'll $4,000 sacks.
Last year the United States spent
SloOO0,O0o to send 415.0o0,000 pieces
~ mail. excluding parcel post, abroad,
aud received 362,000,000 pieces. 1t is
a far cry from these thousands of
sacks OF mail to Burns Coffeehouse,
post office for all Manhattan for a
century. In this old tavern, near the
Battery. letters were stuck in rack
TO be called for by the addresses
Even the King of Hedjaz had to give
up recently the old custom Of dump
ing mail in pile. where the pilgrims
letters sent for them.
NO man who sticks a scent stamp
on letter to a missionary in Tibet
can realize the tribulation of his
grandfather sending a letter only to
Canton. First his grandfather had
TO choose one of five ways Of sendinE-
the letter. 1t might go by German
mails through England to- Brindisi
Italy, to the orient, or through Ger
many to Brindisi 1t might pass
thrnnph Pri In, 10 hav
ton or via Brindisi. or might go by
the United States packet. Each way
had different charge, varying from
20 cents to 68 cents. In our grand
fathers time each sender had to pay
the cost of transportation over and
above postage: now nations repre-
Sentatives calculate transportation
costs. cancel off like banks do with
checks and pay the charges.
Nations Not I'm Union.
''The parts of the world not repre-
sented in the Universal Postal Union
agreements today are Afghanistan.
Arabia, Baluchistan, Johore and
Trengganu, in the Malay States; NAL
dive Islands, northern and south
ern Nigeria. Nyassaland, northern
carn Island, Russia, Iraq and Tonga
Islands.
Through the offices of the Univer-
sal Postal Union magazines have be-
come international as well as ma
tional by virtue of the economy In
cost to subscribers. Foreign mails
take the National Geographic Maga-
zine to sixty-one independent countries
and to ninety-two dependencies. The
same material which Is read by men,
hers of the society inthe United States
is read by other members in Gambia,
Monaco, Abyssinia, Gabon, Zanzibar,
the Society Islands and the Sey-
chelles."