The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1924-05-20
POSTAL SYSTEM
BIGGEST BUSINESS
IN ENTIRE WORLD
EVERY YEAR U. S. POSToFFICE
EMPLOYEES HANDLE % Bill
LION ARTICLES OF MAIL.
liz LETTERS TO EACH PERSON


Department Has $4,000 Employees.
Besides Delivery in Cities Mail Is
Taken Daily to 6,5O4,592 Rural Fam
lilies by the Carriers.
Every year the United States postal
service handles 23,OOO,OOOOOO articles.
Every year the increase in number of
articles in the mails is more than a
billion. OF the total mail submitted
12,000,000000 pieces are letters.
Every year the postal service, on an
average, delivers 112 letters TO every
man, woman and child in the United
States
Atlas would have had a tough time
indeed lifting the annual load of let
tiers alone that the postal service
moves. 1t is estimated to total 1888
tons
Every second of the twenty-four
hours of every day there are $50 let
tiers dropped into letter boxes; every
minute, 23.334, and every hour l,400,
000
Who Does the Work and
Where Is 1t Done?
Nearly $4,000 postmen, members of
the greatest single business, daily de-
liver mail to millions of homes and
business houses in American cities.
The farmer is not neglected by the
postal service. Today 44,552 rural
routes supply mail to 6,504,592 fami-
lies, or po,821,123 individuals.
Out west the postal serviie has es
tabhshed a veritabe automobile rail
road IFS miles long to the fruitful
Uintah (Utah) Valley to which no
private rail line has penetrated
On February rs, 1924, the postoffce
department had more than 1000 in
its employ Besides the 43,677 letter
carriers there are 62,400 clerks, 44,4z
rural carriers, 51,393 postmasters and
21,316 railway postal clerks.
The 51,393 postmasters run as many
offices. There is one post Office for
every So square miles Of territory.
The $4,000 full and part time pos
tai employees are paid approximately
SAL, 622, 517 annually for their ser
vices.
The Mails Must Move.
Almost every conceivable type OF
is used to move the
mails-railroads, steamboats,, automo-
biles, airplanes, motor boats, wagons,
horses, pneumatic tubes, belt convey
ors, motor cycles, bicycles, the sled
Of the Arctic, and even the dog car.
The dog car" is an Alaskan inven-
AZ
Of Nome to a mining camp. The en-
Arctic Circle mail man
bitches his dog team to hand car
and scoots up the mountain side with
the post
Last year the air mail planes few
100000 miles, carrying 65,295,920
letters.
Although interstellar service has not
yet been established by the postofhce
department it is fact the routes COW
cred by the railway mail cars last
wear reached the planetary proportions
of 21o,171,224 miles. This transporta-
ton cost $85, 1o4,239 The postal ser
vice now uses 5000 postal cars.
Automobiles are running race for
numerical supremacy with the railway
postal cars. There are now 4,o30 in
operation carrying the mails.
And Besides Handling the Mails
The biggest single business operates
postal savings the biggest
savings bank in the world. Its total
deposits in 1928 were $134,458l 05.2o-
The United States government stands
back of this bank.
The American people make good
use Of the money-order system, too.
In 1923 the amount of money sent
by money orders was $1,376000 900.
There were more than l72,00O,OOO or
ders issued.
These figures do not include the
funds sent abroad by international
money orders which totaled $34, 49,
300 At the same time $19,255,000 in
money orders issued abroad were paid
IN the United States
Then there is registered, insured
and c. o. D. mail. People are anxious
hat certain mail be given every pro-
ection. There were 8S741 900 articles
last year.
Insurance against loss was given to