Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-12-15
THOUGHT
Coost-to- Coast Mail in Minutes
Is Made Possible by EIectronics

tenn produces the bottlenecks
which slow service throughout the
country.
Today, the mail is slower than
Il was Is years ago, even when the
holiday rush is not on. Since
1850. a one-a-day home delivery
schedule has been in effect. Bus
mess deliveries have been cur
tailed. too. If a letter misses
connection anywhere along the
line. it has to wait until the next
day for delivery.
Mail volume has doubled in the
last 20 years with the staggering
sum of Gil billion pieces expected
in 1858. The Post Office has had
a desperate fight to keep pace
Even air mail. special delivery
ana special handling now have
little meaning when a letter is
buried in a load of sacks on the
Post ONCE floor waiting to be
sorted.
From the days of the pony ex-
press. the Post Office has sought
a fast and reliable means Of trans
porting mail \ 1t has used train,
bus. plane and mail truck. IN
fortunately, trains are late; planes
are FUNDED in inclement
weather; buses and mail trucks
get caught in big-city traff1c Jams
Transport Costs High
The cost of all this transporta-
ton was more than $63l million
in 1856. Rates for transporting
mail by train have been raised
twice in the last seven years-and
the railroads still feel that they
make so little profit that they view
post Office business as a headache
Because it is a little cheaper, more
than a billion Scent letters a year
move by air between important
cities. This Is in addition to the
domestic air mail load which cost
more than $35 million. But, mail
service transportation is still
largely unsolved problem.
In other branches Of the Gov
eminent, facsimile is a reality
From Suitland, Nd. the Weather
Bureau sends weather maps all
over the country. Since World
War II. fac-simile equipment has
been available in the armed forces.
Both Army and Air Force have
experimental with the trans
mission Of completed forms and
letters as means of getting Of
fetal communication through
channels. From the Pentagon.
the Air Force transmits to Denver.
In private business, facsimile
has been a workaday wonder for
about IS years. In industry. it
transmits formulae. blueprints and
inter-office memoS. Banks like it
for transfer Of funds and verifying
signatures from one branch to
another. Air lines employ fac
smile to transfer reservations be-
tween cities.
Several Types Used
Several different companies
manufacture the equipment
needed. There are wet process
machines. which require a special
Inundated paper. and dry process
types which use ordinary paper.
Times Facsimile, owned by the
New York Times Co.. manufac-
lures Facts Writer for the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph CO.
II in turn rents to customers the
equipment. and use of telephone
lines at $3.50 per mile, for a fixed
monthly rate.
Western Unions Intrafax trans
mits by telegraph wire at the rate
Of $3.50 per air line mile per
month for the first $50 miles and
graduated scale which goes as
low as SIPS per mile for greater
distances. Equipment rents for
$3.50 monthly. Western Union
numbers among its customers.
the Federal Reserve Bank. Mays.
Pan American Airlines and Rey-
nold'S Metals.
If adopted by the Post Once.
would facsimile be popular for per-
Sonal mail? Certainly, it would
appeal to anyone who wanted to
get message through quickly.
However. the leiSurely letter writ
ten TO family or friends. enclosed
in its sealed envelope, will prob
ably always be with us.
Whether facsimile mail ever will
become q reality is still a question.
But Postmaster General Summer
field has expressed as one Of his
goals the next-day delivery Of
letter between any two cities in
the United States. He considers
his greatest problem the more
rapid moving Of mail in and out
Of big city post offices.
To many persons, facsimile
seems key to faster and more
reliable delivery of mail. They
say It could help our Anticipated
Post ONCE Department develop
the modern mail system Of to-
,aorrnta