Case: WILLIAM H. WOOLVERTON v. THE UNITED STATES
Abbreviation: Woolverton v. United States
Decision Date: 1899-01-30
Docket Number: No. 19371
Citation: 34 Ct. Cl. 247
Volume: 34
Reporter: United States Court of Claims Reports
Court: United States Court of Claims
Jurisdiction: United States
Parties: WILLIAM H. WOOLVERTON v. THE UNITED STATES.
Judges: 
Pages: 247–271

Head Matter:
WILLIAM H. WOOLVERTON v. THE UNITED STATES.
[No. 19371.
Decided January 30, 1899.]
On the Proofs.
The claimant contracts for the “ Covered Regulation Mail-Messenger Service,” in New York. He is to collect and forward mail matter from mail stations, then understood to he branch post-offices. Subsequently the postmaster establishes a number of substations, and requires the claimant to collect from them. Suit is brought for the extra service.
I.Under the law governing the Post-Office Department a “substation’’ is distinct from a “branch post-office” or “mail station.” Substations are simply lamp-post boxes, indoors.
II.Where a contract under the “ Covered Regulation Mail Messenger Service” is to collect from “mail stations,” it will not be held to cover carrier service or collection from street boxes or substations.
III. A letter box affixed to a lamp-post and one inside of an apothecary’s shop are identical in character.
IV. Where a contract calls for the delivery of- mail at a railroad station iu Jersey City, and the postmaster compels the contractor to likewise carry local Jersey City mail, it will be deemed extra service.
V.Under a mail contract, the carrying of empty mail bags beyond those made necessary by the preponderance of mail in one direction is extra service.
VI.Under a mail contract, the transport of gold is not included under “ mail-messenger service,” and is entitled to extra compensation.
The Reporters’ statement of the case:
The following are the facts of the case as found by the court:
I. September 15,1888, the Postmaster-General of the United States published the following advertisement:
Proposals for covered regulation wagon mail messenger, transfer, and mail station service.
“Post-Oppice Department,
“ Washington, D. 0., September 15,1888.
“Proposals will be received at the contract office of this Department until 4 p. m. of January 3, 1889 (decisions to be announced January 10, 1889), for carrying the mails of the United States in the covered regulation wagons prescribed by the Department, on the routes herein specified in the States of Massachusetts, Khode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and the District of Columbia, being covered regulation wagon mail messenger, transfer, and mail station service in the cities hereinafter named, between the post-offices, the railroad stations, the station offices, and the steamboat landings, between the several stations and landings and railroad depots, and between the post-offices and railroad stations, between the post-offices and station offices, and be- ■ tween the post offices and steamboat landings and railroad depots, as prescribed herein, for the term below stated, viz:
“Boston, Mass.; Providence, K. I.; New York, N. Y.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Brooklyn, N. Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Pittsburg, Pa.; Baltimore, Md.; Washington, D. C.; Kiehmond, Va. — From July 1, 1889, to June 39, 1893.
“Contracts to be returned to the Department, duly executed, within thirty days from date of acceptance of proposals.”
The following instructions to bidders were published by defendants:
“ 1. The foregoing schedules show the service required September 1,1888, as near as can be stated. Bidders must inform themselves of the amount and character of the service that will be required during the next contract term.
“ 2. The contractors under this advertisement will be required to perform, without additional compensation, any and all new or additional service that may be ordered from July 1, 1889, or at any time thereafter during the contract term, whether between post-offices or mail stations and railway or steamboat landings or between railway stations and mail stations or steamboat landings, or between post-offices and mail stations (including mail stations, railway stations, and steamboat landings) now established or that may hereafter be established, whether caused by changes in stations now established or by the creation of new stations, landings, or offices within said city or any alteration of route rendered necessary by change in the site of post-offices or depots, or from any .other cause. Bids must be made with this distinct understanding, and must name the amount per annum for the whole service, and not by the trip.
“3. There will be no diminution of compensation for partial discontinuance of service, or increase of compensation for new additional or changed service that may be ordered during the contract term; but the Postmaster-General may discontinue the entire service on any route whenever the public interest, in his judgment, shall require such discontinuance, he allowing, as full indemnity to the contractor, one month’s extra pay.
“4. The Postmaster-General may annul a contract for repeated failures; for violating the postal laws; for disobeying the instructions of the Post-Office Department; for refusing to discharge a driver or any other person having charge of the mail, when required by the Department; for transmitting commercial intelligence or matter which should go by mail contrary to the stipulations herein, or for transporting persons so engaged; whenever the contractor shall become a postmaster, assistant postmaster, or Member of Congress, and whenever, in the opinion of the Postmaster-General, the service can not be safely continued, or the laws maintained on the route. Fines will be imposed for neglect of duty.
“5. The Postmaster-General may, in his discretion, continue in force beyond its express terms, for a period not exceeding-six months, any contract made under this advertisement, until a new contract with the same or other contractors shall be made.
.“ 6. The distances given are believed to be substantially correct, but no additional pay will be allowed should they be greater than herein stated. Bidders must inform themselves as to the distances, the running time, the weight of the mails, the condition of hills, streets, toll bridges, ferries, and obstructions of all kinds whereby expense may be incurred, and as to the probable increase, additional service, or changes likely to be rendered necessary. Claims for additional pay based on such grounds, or for alleged mistakes or misapprehension as to the service required, or for bridges destroyed, or ferries discontinued, can not be considered.
“ 7. Foreign mails in transit across the territory of the United States shall, within the meaning of this advertisement, be deemed and taken to be mails of the United States.
“8. The transfer service shall include the conveyance of all cases of post-office supplies arriving for transit through the city.
“9. Contractors will be required to convey on the driver’s seat of each wagon, whenever necessary, one railway post-office clerk, a substitute, or a messenger.
“10. Drivers must be over sixteen years of age, of good moral character, and able to read and write the English language. . They must take the oath prescribed by law, and must wear the prescribed cap or hat.
“11. All service shall be performed in regulation wagons, unless otherwise mentioned in statement of route. Full particulars as to style and construction of wagons required may be obtained on application to the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Washington, D. C. Wagons constructed according to the style adopted by the Post-Office Department, of a size about midway between the large two-horse and the large one-horse wagon, preserving the plan of the former, will be permitted; but for these at least two horses shall be used. The wagons shall be kept painted and varnished in a thorough manner, and ornamented according to specifications. They must also be frequently washed and kept clean and in good condition. New wagons are not required by tlie specifications, but only wagons of the prescribed pattern, in first-class condition, and to be as substantially constructed as new wagons. First-class-horses shall be used.
“12. When mails are delayed in arrival, wagons must be kept at the depots or landings until the arrival of such mails, and the same be conveyed to the post-office without detention. Except in cases of accident, wagons containing mails must not be opened, or the mails therein contained changed while in transit. The mails must be carried inside of the wagons, and not on the outside or on the seat with the driver, and in no case shall any person be allowed to ride inside of the wagon containing mail.
“13. The equipment of the contractor shall be subject to monthly inspections, and the refusal or failure of any contractor to keep his wagons, horses, and harness in good order and appearance, or to furnish proper drivers, so as to perform the service in a style creditable to the Department, shall be sufficient cause for the annulment of his contract and the reletting of the service at his expense.
“14. Specifications for cap and hat. Cap — to be of all-wool blue flannel of good quality, three and one-fourth (3j) inches high, solid leather fronts one and three-fourths (If) inches deep, with one (1) small regulation P. O. D. button on each side, a silver wreath in front inclosing the words U. S. Mail,’ and to have one oiled linen cover. Hat — from June 1C to September 15 of each year, in lieu of the cap,'a straw hat with rim not to exceed three and one-lialf (31,) inches in width and a crown not to exceed four (4) inches in height may be worn. A silver wreath inclosing the words ‘U. S. Mail’ shall be placed on the front of the hat.
“15. The wagons, horses, harness, and drivers are to be at all times subject to the approval and control of the postmaster; and the mails are to be taken from and delivered into the post-offices, mail stations, steamboats, and cars at such points, and at such hours, under liis direction, approved by the Postmaster-G-eneral, as will secure proper dispatches and connections, and at the contractor’s expense for tolls and ferriage.
“16. The number of wagons required must be sufficient, in the opinion of the postmaster, for the prompt and proper performance of the service.
“17. The contractor will be required to provide and keep on hand a sufficient number of extra wagons to take the place of those which may be temporarily disabled, delayed, waiting for trains, or withdrawn from service for repairs or required by the increase of service, so that the service shall always be promptly performed in regulation wagons.
“18. Every proposal must be accompanied by a bond, with two or more sureties, approved by a postmaster, and, in cases where tbe amount of the bond exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000) by a postmaster of the first, second, or third class. Bids for service, the pay of which .at the time of the advertisement exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000), must be accompanied by a certified check or draft, payable to the order of the Postmaster-General, on some solvent national bank, of not less than 5 per centum on the amount of the annual pay on such route; and in case of new or modified service, not less than 5 per centum of the amount of the bond accompanying the bid, if the amount of said bond exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000).
“19. Sureties on the bond of a bidder must take an oath, before an officer qualified to administer oaths, that they are the owners of real estate worth, in the aggregate, a sum double the amount of said bond, over and above all debts due and owing by them, and all judgments, mortgages, and executions against them, after allowing all exemptions of every character whatever. A married woman will not be accepted as a surety, either on the bond of a bidder or upon a contract. Accompanying the bond of a bidder, and as a part thereof, shall be a statement of the sureties, under oath, showing the amount of real estate owned by them, brief descriptions thereof, and its probable value, where it is situated, and in what county and State the record evidence of their titles exists. Any surety who swears falsely to this statement is deemed- by the law guilty of perjury, and is punishable as is prescribed by law for that crime.
“20. All checks deposited with bids will be held until contracts aré executed and the service commenced, to the satisfaction of the Postmaster-General, by the accepted bidder. Checks indorsed payable to their order will then be returned by mail to the bidders at the addresses stated in their proposals, unless otherwise requested by bidders.
“21. There should be but one route bid for. in a proposal. Consolidated or combination bids (‘proposing one sum for two or more routes’) can not be considered.
“22. Bidders are cautioned to forward their proposals in time to reach the Department, or to file them by the day and hour named in this advertisement, as bids received after that time will not be considered. If sent by mail or express ample time should be allowed for their transit, as they can not be deemed to be received at the Department until actually delivered at the contract office; neither can bids be considered which are without the bond, oath, or certificate required by section 245, act of June 23,1874, and section 24C, act of August 11,1876. No withdrawal of a bid will be allowed unless the withdrawal is received twenty-four hours previous to the time fixed for opening the proposals.
“23. No bidder for carrying the mail shall be released from his obligation under his bill or proposal, notwithstanding an award made to a lower bidder, until a contract for tbe designated service shall have been duly executed by such lower bidder and his sureties, and accepted, and the service entered upon by the contractor to the satisfaction of the Postmaster-General.
“24. No contract for carrying the mail shall be made with any person who has entered, or proposed to enter, into any combination to prevent the making of any bid for carrying the mail, or who has made any agreement, or given or performed, or promised to give or perform, any consideration whatever to induce any other person not to bid for any such contract.
“25. In case of failure of the accepted bidder to execute a contract within the prescribed time, or of the abandonment of service during the contract term, the service will be relet at the expense of the failing bidder or contractor, and any accepted bidder who shall wrongfully refuse or fail to enter into contract in due form, and to perform the service described in his proposal, may be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof be fined and imprisoned therefor.
“ 26. The Postmaster-General reserves the right to suspend the award of contract on any route for a period not exceeding-thirty days after the date fixed in this advertisement, with a corresponding allowance of time for the execution of "the contract, and to reject all bids on any route whenever in his judgment the interests of the service require it; and also to disregard the bids of failing contractors and bidders.
“ 27. Postmasters are cautioned, under penalty of removal, not to approve the bond of any bidder before the proposal is completed and the bond is signed by the bidder and his sureties, and not until entirely satisfied of the sufficiency of the sureties.
“ They are also cautioned not to divulge to anyone the amount of any proposal certified by them.
“Doing so will be sufficient cause for their removal.
“28. No postmaster, assistant postmaster, or clerk employed in any post-office shall be a contractor or concerned in a contract for carrying the mail.
“ 29. Bidders are requested to use the printed forms of proposals furnished by the Department, which may be obtained at the post-office on each route herein advertised, and to apply at that office for information in regard to the service arid its requirements.
“ 30. Proposals should be sealed, superscribed Proposals for Covered Eegulation Wagon Mail Messenger, Transfer, and Mail Station Service, city of-,’ and addressed to the Sec-
ond Assistant Postmaster-General, Post-Office Department, Washington, D. 0.
“Don M. Dickinson,
“ Postmaster- General.”
II, Plaintiff bad been for some years either the contractor for service similar to that advertised or. had been otherwise connected with this service. Before mating his bid, and pursuant to the notice in the advertisement, he called upon Henry G. Pearson, esq., postmaster of the city of New York, and inquired whether any change in the policy of the Department was contemplated in the new service. The postmaster informed plaintiff that none was contemplated; that the service for the ensuing year was to be carried on under the policy pursued by the Post-Office Department in the transportation of mails in New York City during the preceding contract term. After obtaining this information plaintiff made his proposal to perform the service embraced in the advertisement hereinbe-fore set forth.
III. Plaintiff bid December 27,1888, and was in due course accepted by the defendants as contractor on said route, and (the 10th day of January, 1889) signed the following contract, which the defendants made through the Second Assistant Postmaster-General :
“New Yoke, N. Y.
“United States oe America.
11 Covered regulation wagon mail messenger, transfer, and mail station service in the city of New Yorlc, N. Y.
“No. 7584. $182,500 per annum.
“ This article of contract, made the tenth day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, between the United States of America (acting in this behalf by the Postmaster-General) and Wm. II. Wolverton, contractor, and-of-and -of-as his sureties, —.
“ Witnesseth, that whereas Wm. H. Wolverton has been accepted as contractor for transporting the mails on route No. 7584, being the covered regulation wagon mail messenger, transfer, and mail station service at the city of New York, under an advertisement issued by the Postmaster-General on the-15th day of September, 1888, for such service, and which advertisement is herewith referred to and made by such reference a part of this contract, and all new or additional service of said kinds which may at any time during the term of this contract be required in said city, at one hundred and eighty-two thousand five hundred dollars per year, for and during the term beginning the first day of July, 1889, and ending June 30,1893:
“Now, therefore, the said contractor and his sureties do, jointly and severally, undertake, covenant, and agree with the United States of America and do bind themselves—
u First. To carry said mail, using therefor wagons of the kind hereinafter described in sufficient number to transport the whole of said mail, whatever may be its size, weight, or increase during the term of this contract, and within the time fixed in the pamphlet advertisement of the Postmaster-General dated September, 1888, and so to carry until said schedule is altered by the authority of the Postmaster-General, as herein provided, and then to carry according to such altered schedule; to carry said mails in a sate and secure manuer, free from wet and other injury, in substantial one or two horse wagons of sufficient capacity for the entire mail; the wagons to be employed in the performance of the service to be built with closed bodies, paneled from bed or sill to the height of an ordinary wagon-body; above to be built of plain wood, panel set off with molding, lined with canvas, with curved roof; the rear shall open below by gate, to drop to a level with the floor of the wagon, to fasten by means of a catch when shut; above by door-hinges or spring-hinges, so arranged that it shall shut tight against the gate and lock. The double wagons in all cases, and the single wagons whenever the proper performance of the service requires it, shall have double doors in the side, extending from the paneled frame of the body to the drip of the. roof; these doors shall be hung on spring-hinges; the locks and hinges to be used on the doors of all wagons shall be of the same make and pattern as is on exhibition on the sample door in the office of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, at Washington, D. 0. On the front shall be a seat for the driver, with foot board, trimmed and finished in leather. The wagons shall be kept painted and varnished in a thorough manner, and ornamented according to specifications, and shall be frequently washed and kept clean, and at all times be kept in good order and appearance. The painting, as to colors, ornaments, and designs, both on running-gear and body, shall conform to the painting and ornamenting shown in the colored drawings on exhibition at the office of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, at Washington, 13. 0. The bodies of such wagons shall be made to conform to the lithographic drawings of the side, and rear elevations of both single and double wagons hereto appended and made part of this contract, giving scale of dimensions. In case it is desired to increase or decrease the size of said wagons, such increase or decrease shall be made in exact proportion as to height and length, the Postmaster-General reserving the right to vary, at any time, when in his judgment the service may require it, the plan or form of wagon to be used in the service.
“ Second. To take the mail from, and deliver it into, the post-offices, mail stations, and cars at such points, and at such hours, under the direction of the postmaster at New York, approved by the Postmaster-General, as will secure dispatches and connections and facilitate distribution, and at the contractor’s expense for tolls and ferriage.
“ Third. To furnish the number of regulation wagons that, in the opinion of the postmaster at New York, will be sufficient for the prompt and proper performance of the service, including extra wagons to take the place of those that may be temporarily unserviceable, delayed waiting for trains, or withdrawn from service for repairs.
'■'■Fourth. Tobe accountable and answerable in damages to the United States, or any person aggrieved, for the faithful performance by the said contractor of all the duties and obligations herein assumed, or which are now or may hereafter be imposed upon him by law in this behalf; and, further, to be so answerable and accountable in damages for the careful and faithful conduct of the person or persons who may be employed by said contractor and to whom the said contractor shall commit the care and transportation of the mails, and for the faithful performance of the duties which are or may be by law imposed upon such person or persons in the care and transportation of said mails; and, further, that said contractor shall not commit the care and transportation of the mail to any person under sixteen years of age, nor to any person not of good moral character, or who has not taken the oath prescribed by law, or who can not read and write the English language. Each driver shall wear when on duty the prescribed cap or hat described in the pamphlet advertisement of September 15,1888.
“Fifth. To discharge any driver or other person employed in performing mail service whenever required by the Postmaster-General so to do; not to transmit by themselves, or any of them, or any of their agents, or be concerned in transmitting commercial intelligence more rapidly than by mail; not to carry, otherwise than in the mail, letters, packets, or newspapers which should go by mail.
“ Sixth. To account for and pay over any money belonging to the United States which may come into the possession of the contractor, .his sureties, or employees.
“ Seventh. That foreign mails in transit across the territory of the United States shall, within tbemeaning of this contract, be deemed and taken to be mails of the United States.
“ Eighth. To carry post-office blanks, mail-locks, and mailbags, and all other postal supplies.
“ Ninth. To convey, whenever requested so to do, one railway post-office clerk, a substitute, or a messenger, on the driver’s seat of each wagon.
a Tenth. To perform all new or additional or changed covered regulation wagon mail messenger, transfer, and mail station service that the Postmaster-General may order at the city of New York during the contract term without additional compensation, whether caused by change of location of post-office, stations, landing, or the establishment of others than those existing at the date hereof, or rendered necessary, in the judgment of the Postmaster-General, for any cause, and to furnish such advance wagons or extra wagons from time to time for special or advance trips as the Postmaster-General may require, as a part of such new or additional service.
“ For which service, when properly performed, and the evidence thereof shall have been filed in the office of the Second Assistant Postmaster-Gen eral, the said Wm. H. Woolverton, contractor, is to be paid by the United States the sum of one hundred and eighty-two thousand five hundred dollars a year, to wit: Quarterly in the months of November, February, May, and August, through the postmaster at the city of New York, or otherwise, at the option of the Postmaster-General; said pay to be subject, however, to be reduced or discontinued by the Postmaster-General, as hereinafter stipulated, or to be suspended and withheld in case of delinquency.
“ It is hereby stipulated and agreed by the said contractor and his sureties that the Postmaster-General may change the schedule and termini of the route, vary the routes, increase, decrease, or extend the service thereon, without change of pay; and that the Postmaster-General may discontinue the entire service whenever the public interest, in his judgment, shall require such discontinuance; but for a total discontinuance of service the contractor shall be allowed one month’s extra pay as full indemnity.
“And it is further stipulated and agreed that for a failure to deliver not beyond the control of the contractor, or for any delay or interference with the prompt delivery of the mail at the post-office, mail stations, depots, and landings, or for carrying the mail in a manner different or inferior to that hereinbe-fore specified; for suffering the mail to be wet, injured, lost, or destroyed, or for any other delinquency or omission of duty under this contract; for all or any of which the contractor shall forfeit, and there may be withheld from his pay, such sum as the Postmaster-General may impose as fines or deductions, according to the nature and frequency of the failure or delinquency.
“And it is further stipulated and agreed that the Postmaster-General may annul this contract for repeated failures; for violating the postal laws; for disobeying the instructions of the Post-Office Department; for refusing to discharge a carrier or any other person employed in the performance of service when required by the Department; for transmitting commercial intelligence or matter that should go by mail contrary to the stipulations herein; for transporting persons so engaged as aforesaid; whenever the contractor shall become a postmaster, assistant postmaster, or member of Congress, and whenever, in the opinion of the Postmaster-General, the service can not be safely performed, the revenues collected, or the laws maintained.
. “ And it is further stipulated and agreed that such annulment shall not impair the right of the United States to claim damages from said contractor and his sureties under this contract; but such damages may, for the purpose of set-off or counterclaim, in the settlement of any claim of said contractor or his sureties against the United States, whether arising under this contract or otherwise, be assessed and liquidated by the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post-Office Department.
“And it is hereby further stipulated and agreed by the said contractor and his sureties that this contract may, in the discretion of the Postmaster-General, be continued in force beyond its expressed terms for a period not exceeding six months, until a new contract with the same or another contractor shall be made by the Postmaster-General.
“And it is further stipulated that no member of, or delegate to, Congress shall be admitted to any share or part of this contract, or to any benefit to arise therefrom.
“And this contract is further to be subject to all the conditions imposed by law and the several acts of Congress relating to post-offices and post roads.
“ In witness whereof, the said Postmaster-General has caused the seal of the Post-Office Department to be hereto affixed, and has caused the same to be attested by the signature of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, in accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3,1877 (sec. 3, ID Stats., p. 335), and the said contractor and his sureties have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year set opposite their names respectively.
IY. During the contract term plaintiff satisfactorily performed all the service described in the advertisement; also all service that arose from the increased tonnage of the mails through the natural growth of the service, through the changes of situation of the post-offices, post-office stations, and post-office landings, and through the establishment of other stations than those existing at the date of the contract, which new or additional or changed service required more trips and more horses, wagons, and drivers. He also performed, as required by the defendant, the service hereinafter set forth, which plaintiff claims was not required by the terms of his contract, but (he urges) was extra and additional thereto.
Y. At the time of the advertisement and for some years' before it had been the policy and custom of the post-office authorities in New York City to bring all mail to the branch post-offices and the general post-office by letter carriers or special messengers, paid out of the appropriation for the “ free-delivery system;” the contractors for the service classified (as hereinbefore set forth) as the “covered regulation wagon mail messenger * * * service” carried the mails between the branch post-offices and the main post-office and the railroad stations or other points of shipment. The mails collected under this system were collected either by foot messengers or letter carriers; this service was not treated as part of the “covered regulation wagon mail messenger service.” There was then much service by these messengers or carriers in the city of Brooklyn from places called substations to the branch post offices. In the conversation between plaintiff and the postmaster in New York City, prior to the bid, plaintiff called the postmaster’s attention to this class of service in Brooklyn, and asked whether service of the same character was contemplated in New York City by the advertisement upon which he was about to bid. He was told by the postmaster that no such service was contemplated in New York City; that it could not be advantageously performed under the proposed contract and would not be embraced in the service advertised for; that if substations were established in New York City the mails would be carried from them by the post-office subordinates, as in Brooklyn. Trusting this information, plaintiff omitted from his bid any calculation for this class of service.
YI. Towards the end of November, 1889, tho Post-Office Department, to provide for the growth and necessities of the postal service, changed the system of collection and transportation of mails in Eew York City, which had been in operation for more than twenty years, by establishing in various parts of the city places for the reception of mail matter called “Substations;” at these stations mail is accumulated, and thence carried to the branch post-offices. Aiding this policy, the Department established four circuits in each of which twenty or more substations were placed; these substation circuits are subservient to other mail stations or branch post-offices or to the main post office, as the case may be. These substations are not branch post-offices, but substations to the branch post-offices. These substations receive but do not deliver mail; they are in cigar shops, apothecary shops, or other similar places of business and are not to be confounded with the regular mail stations or branch post-offices.
YII. Pursuant to this proposed change of policy, the Post-Office Department in Washington, through the Superintendent of the Free-Delivery System, directed the postmaster in New York to request plaintiff to “ propose” for performing the new “substation service’ according to a suggested schedule of trips. Plaintiff thereupon submitted a proposal to the Department for this new substation service; but the Postmaster-General, January 22,1890, having established in the city of New York twenty substations and a schedule of daily trips to be made to and from said substations to the various mail stations and the post-office, ordered plaintiff to transport all the second, third, and fourth class mail matter between these points under the contract hereinbefore recited.
Till. Plantiff immediately protested against the performance of said service under his contract, asserting that the service was not embraced, in the contract, and he informed the Postmaster-General that he would perform the service only under protest, and that he would demand compensation for the performance. •
IX. Thereupon, by direction of the Postmaster-General (but under protest) plaintiff did perform the service for the substation circuits as set forth in the following schedule; this service was of the value placed opposite each item in this schedule:
Substation circuit No. t, 4,857 trips, at $1.25 per trip. $6,071.25
Substation circuit No. 2, 5,056 trips, at $1.50 per trip. 7,584.00
Substation circuit No. 3, 4,226 trips, at $1 per trip. 4,226. 00
Substation circuit No. 4, 458 trips, at 50 cents. 229.00
18,110.25
X. There had existed for some years, and did exist at the time of this advertisement and the making of this contract a postal route known as “Mail messenger route No. 209071,” between the post-office at Jersey Oi,ty and the post-office in the city of New York; the mail from the city of Jersey City to the city of New York, and from the city of New York to the city of Jersey City was carried by the “mail messenger” on that route, in wagons, between these termini; this transportation was paid for out of other appropriations for the postal service than the one to which the plantiff’s compensation for the service hereinbefore described was charged and out of which it was paid.
In this Jersey City service there were three trips a day. The United States had immediately before the events hereinafter set forth paid one John Templeton (a mail messenger) $2,750 per annum for this service.
XI. November 23, 1891, the Post-Office Department made an order discontinuing this route between the New York City and the Jersey City post-offices for which the defendants had been paying $2,750 per annum, and required plaintiff to carry the mail destined for Jersey City from the city post-office in the city of New York across the ferry, at expense for ferriage, in covered regulation mail wagons, and to deliver said mail, not into the cars of any railroad company for transportation, or to any steamship, but to a post-office servant or to a contractor met at the railroad station in Jersey City, to be thence carried by wagon to the Jersey City post-office.
The service so performed did not increase the number of wagons employed by the plaintiff, nor did it increase the ferry tolls paid by him to and from Jersey City and New York, nor did the service seriously increase the bulk or weight of mail carried by him, and this mail was carried by him at the same time and in the same wagons in which the regular mail was carried by him between the New York post-office and stations and the railroad stations at Jersey City, the schedule which existed during the Templeton’s contract having been rearranged by defendants so that the Jersey City mails might be thus carried with the other mails to the railroad station in Jersey City, whence they were carried to the Jersey City post-office by another person than plaintiff. Plaintiff was not required to carry any mail from the railroad station in Jersey City to the Jersey City post-office. The daily, weekly, semiweekly, and monthly periodicals of New York were not sent to Jersey City by plaintiff’s wagons.
XII. Pursuant to said order, and against plaintiff’s protest, he carried the local Jersey City mail from the New York City post-office to the Pennsylvania Bailroad station in Jersey City, a distance of 1.45 miles, paying the cost of ferriage upon each trip during said contract period-, numbering 33,136 trips, and, returning, carried the local Jersey City mail, turned over to him by the Jersey City mail messenger (a servant of the United States) at the Jersey City railroad station, during a part of said period, to wit, from the 23d of November, 1891, the date when said local route was discontinued, amounting to 2,970 trips, aggregating in all 36,106 trips, upon each of wbicb trips he paid to the ferry company the sum of 13 cents ferriage. The reasonable value of said service was 50 cents a trip in addition to ferriage, making 63 cents per trip, and aggregating for the service $22,746.78, less, however, the sum of $1,871.10 ferriage for which the claimant has already been compensated, leaving due them on this service the sum of $20,873.68, which represents an increased mileage of 52,352.25 miles.
XIII. At the time of the advertisement for this contract (and before) it had been the practice of the Post-Office Department to pay slight attention to the repair of mail bags injured in the service; it was deemed wiser to supply the places of damaged bags with new ones rather than to pay for repair. Under this policy mail bags were repaired in small shops in some of the city post-offices, including that in New York City. The new bags purchased were delivered by contractors to the post-offices in the larger cities and were not carried between the post-offices and the railroad stations by any of the contractors for the covered regulation mail-wagon service. All empty mail sacks then carried by the covered regulation mail-wagon service were incidental to the mail carriage and they were carried with the mail. After the advertisement hereinbefore set forth, under which plaintiff bid, a general repair shop was established in Washington to which mail bags needing repair were shipped for repair, and these, after being repaired, were distributed to the various post-offices. Because of this change plaintiff was compelled to perform the service set out in the following schedule; this was of the value set opposite each item thereof:
Pennsylvania Railroad depot to New York post-office, 3,640 trips, at $1.25 per trip.$6,370.00
Pennsylvania Railroad depot to Grand Central depot, 966 trips, at $2.25 per trip... 2,173.50
Pennsylvania Railroad depot to Station O, 135 trips, at $2 per trip..•. 270.00
New York City post-office to Pennsylvania Railroad depot, 1,228 trips, at $1.75 per trip. 2,149.00
10,962.50
The repaired bags and damaged bags were shipped in most (but not all) instances in freight cars, entirely disconnected from and unaccompanied by any mail matter, and in many instances they arrived in carloads at a time. Plaintiff protested against fclie performance of this service under his contract. He advised the Postmaster-General that he would only perform it under protest, and would demand reasonable compensation therefor.
Special wagons were not usually required for this service. The empty repaired and damaged bags were usually carried with the other mail.
The repair shop in New York was discontinued October 10, 1888, and the repair shop in Washington was opened the following December.
XIV. About the 15th of May, 1890, the Postmaster-General established what he called a branch post-office — “ Station O,” New York City. No mail was there received for city delivery. This station received only mail to be sent out of the city; from this Station O a portion of the mail there received was carried directly to the railway stations and to the general post-office, instead of being first carried to a mail station. The other portion of the mail was carried to mail stations. Station O was established close to the large publishing houses of New York City, and was so placed to enable them to mail their publications without carrying them to the principal post-office. All classes of mail were received at this office. The sale of stamps there from May 1,1890, to June 30, 1893, was 8723,174.12; the number of money orders issued during said period was 70,966; the amount of general business transacted was $457,750.55; receipts on second-class mail matter, not including the sale of stamps, was $309,738.72. No mail was delivered at this office “ O ” or from it. But for the existence of this office second-class matter there deposited must have been mailed at the general post-office. The distance from this station to the Pennsylvania Railroad station is 2.34 miles; the distance from the general post-office to the Pennsylvania Railroad station is 1.45 miles; the distance from Station “O” to the Grand Central station is 1.81 miles; the distance from the general post-office to the Grand Central station is 3.45 miles. The second-class matter carried from this station to the Grand Central station is in excess of that carried to the Pennsylvania station.
Because of the establishment of this Station “O” plaintiff hauled the mails as shown in the following schedule. This service if outside tbe contract was of the value set opposite thereof:
Substation (Station 0) No. 9, 36,419 trips, at $1. per trip.$36,419.00
Substation (Station 0) No. 10, 28,596 trips, at 50 cents per trip. 14,478.00 Station O to Pennsylvania Railroad, depot, 4,082 trips, at $2 per
trip.....7.. 8,164.00
Station O to Grand Central depot, 6,570 trips, at $1:50 per trip. 9,855.00
68,916.00
XY. About the 26th of March, 1890, the Postmaster-General made an order as to the mails for Long Island City, N. Y., similar to that made as to the mails for Jersey City. Plaintiff was then delivering railroad mail into the cars in the station of the Long Island Railroad Company in Long Island City. Plaintiff, because of said order, carried the local mail for Long Island City from New York City and delivered it to the post-office in Long Island City; this service plaintiff protested against as not being embraced in his contract. Plaintiff performed this service, carrying the Long Island City local mails from the New York City post-office, by way of the James Slip Ferry (paying therefor the sum of 40 cents per trip ferriage), a distance of 3.85 miles, for 1,021 trips; an aggregate additional mileage of 3,930.85 miles, which service was worth, including ferriage, $1.90 per trip, or an aggregate of $1,939.90. This service, like the Jersey City service, had previously been performed by “ designated mail messengers.”
XYI. The 9th day of August, 1892, there arrived on a train at the Grand Central station, New York City, $20,000,000 gold coin, which had been shipped from the San Francisco, United States mint, to be delivered at the subtreasury building, in Wall street, in the city of New York; this coin was packed in large wooden boxes, and had been carried as mail matter from San Francisco. Plaintiff was required by the Post-Office Department to transport this coin from the railroad station to the subtreasury in Wall street. Plaintiff protested that this service was not embraced within his contract. Plaintiff’s service in carrying said coin, which weighed 36.857 tons (of 2,000 pounds each), was reasonably worth $200.
XYII. August 9,1890, a strike occurred on the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company; hence the company were unable to run their trains into the station at Forty-second street, New York City, known as the Grand Central station, but were compelled to stop them at One hundred and thirty-eighth street; this plaintiff was then compelled to carry the mails the additional distance between the Grand Central station and One hundred and thirty-eighth street on the 8th and 9th days of August, 1890, which service if extra was of the value of $67.
XVIII. The service hereinbefore described and claimed as extra is thus summarized:
Substation circuit No. 1,4,857 trips, at$1.25pertrip. $6,071.25
Substation circuit No. 2,5,066 trips, at $1.50 per trip. 7,584.00
Substation circuit No. 3,4,226 trips, at $1 per trip. .. 4,226.00
Substation circuit No. 4, 458 trips, at 50 cents. 229.00
Substation (Station O) No. 9, 36,419 trips, at $1 per trip.. 36,419.00
Substation (Station O) No. 10,28,956 trips, at 50 cents per trip. 14,478.00
Station O to Pennsylvania Railroad depot, 4,082 trips, at $2 per trip. 8,164. 00
Station O to Grand Central depot, 6,570 trips, at $1.50 per trip. 9,855. 00
-68,916.00
To conveyance at New York City of United States mails destined for Jersey City and Long Island City, viz:
Jersey City to New York City post-office, 2,970 trips, at 63 cents per trip. $1,871.10
New York City post-office to Jersey City, 33,136 trips, at 63 cents per trip. 20,875.68
New York City post-office to Long Island City, 1,021 trips, at $l.90 per trip. 1,939.90
- 24,686.68
Pennsylvania Railroad depot to New York post-office, 3,640 trips, at $1.75 per trip. 6, 370. 00
PennsylvaniaRailroad depot to Grand Central Depot, 966 trips, at $2.25 per trip. 2,173.50
Pennsylvania Railroad depot to Station 0,135 trips, at $2 per trip. 270.00
New York City post-office to Pennsylvania Railroad depot, 1,228 trips, at $1.75 per trip. 2,149.00
- 10,962.50
Extra transportation of mails from Grand Central depot to One hundred and thirty-eigbtb street. 67.00
Cartage as common carrier of $20,000,000 gold coin to sub-treasury . 2,000.00
Total. 124,742.43
Upon the foregoing facts the court find, as a conclusion of law, that the claimant recover the sum of $52,088.33, made up of the following items:
Allow for substations. $18,110.25
Allow for Jersey City mails. 20,875.68
Allow for damaged mail bags.... 10,962.50
Allow for Long Island City mail. 1,939.90
Allow for carting gold. 200.00
52,0.88.33
Mr. John G. Fay for the claimant:
It is a new doctrine that the subject-matter of a contract can not be explained by parole; it is a new doctrine, where a party about to contract with the Government to perform a certain class of service is instructed to inquire of a Government officer as to the requirements of that particular service, that the information he receives from that officer is not competent in elucidating the subject-matter of the contract or that it impinges upon the rule that prior verbal, negotiations are merged in the written contract. The paragraphs cited from Parsons on Contracts have no relation to the legal question involved in the construction of this contract. The doctrine that we invoke is that laid down by this court in Otis’s Case (19 O. Cls. R., 472) ■ reaffirmed in Knox’s Case (30 O. Ols. R., 76); Woolverton's Case (27 0. Ols. R., 313); Merriam’s Case (107 TJ. S. R., 441); Gibbons’s Gase (109 U. S. R., 200). The law defines what a branch post-office or so-called mail station is — i. e., a place for the receipt and delivery of mail matter.
Mr. George JI. Gorman (with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney-General Pradt) for the defendants:
In the construction of contracts the question not infrequently arises whether the words shall be taken in a comprehensive or restricted sense; in the popular and common or in some unusual and peculiar sense. In all these cases the court will endeavor to give the contract a rational and just construction; but the presumption is always in favor of the comprehensive over the restricted, the general over the particular, the common over the unusual sense. (2 Parsons Cont., 8th ed., star p. 501; Robertson v. French, 4 Bast., 135.)
There is nothing in this record to show, and nothing in the facts of the case which require that the language used in this contract should be understood other than its natural, plain, ordinary acceptation, and the words thereof should .be held to mean what they naturally and ordinarily mean. The words “mail stations,” as used in this contract, mean any place at which it was necessary for the good of the postal service to carry the mails, either permanently or in transit, for purposes of dispatch or of delivery or of accumulation; and to and from such mail stations the claimant has contracted to carry the mails without extra or additional compensation.
Courts can not adopt a construction of any legal instrument which, shall do violence to the rules of language or the rules of law in order to do substantial justice. It can not be the duty of a court that sits to administer law, and for no other purpose, to be curious and subtle and astute, or to invent reasons and make excuses to escape from the rules of law.
There is nothing in the language of this contract which requires construction, for it is perfectly plain and unambiguous upon its face, and it is one of the fundamental principles of interpretation that that which is plain and unambiguous is not to be interpreted, but is to be enforced according to its plain signification. (Ifaiggles v. Illinois, 108 U. S. E., 534.)
The case of Otis v. United States (20 O. Cls. E., 315, and 120 U. S. E., 115) is not an authority in favor of the claimant’s contention here. In the first place, that case is wholly unlike the case at bar in that in the Otis Case there were two wholly different classes of service provided for in two entirely separate contracts, the one for mail-messenger service in the city of New York, which prohibited additional compensation for additional service, and the other for mail-station service outside of New York in part, which allowed additional compensation for new service. New or additional service beyond the limits of New York, such as carrying the mails to Jersey City, Hoboken, etc., was required of tlie contractor, and the question arose whether such additional service fell within the operation of the one contract or the other; and it was held, both in this court and in the Supreme Court, that though a city transfer contract provides for new or additional mail-messenger or transfer service in said city, the post-office can not compel the contractor to take mails to another city, over the line of another contractor, for delivery there to him, unless there be a specific provision therefor in the contract, which in the case at bar has been done. The facts of the case did not admit of any other or further decision, and none was made either in this court or in the Supreme Court.
The court will observe how totally different the facts in the Otis Case were from the facts under the item now being considered in the case at bar. In this contract is included both the transfer and messenger service, and the service which was required of him in the substations does not in any wise differ in kind from the general service under the contract, nor was it outside the city of New York, and is a legitimate increase under that contract. The other element of the Otis Case — and the most persuasive element in it, to wit, the fact that the extra service there required was at the time of the making of the contract being performed by other contractors and being paid for out of other appropriations — is also entirely wanting in the case at bar. Prior to the claimant’s entering into this contract this service was not being perform ed by any other contractor, nor being paid for out of any other contractual appropriation. It will.not do to say it was being performed on foot by letter carriers, and that therefore the claimant could not be required to perform the work, for the whole purpose, intent, and effect of this contract is to provide for an increase in the volume of business in the city of New York, and the contract considered as a whole manifestly contemplates that if at any time during this contractual period the handling of the mails on these mail-station circuits became too great to be done by letter carriers on foot, then it should be performed by the contractor for this wagon service. It is nothing more than a legitimate increase of the mail business, fully contemplated by the contract and reasonably to have been expected by the contractor. It is an entirely different thing from the Otis Case, where work which had been hitherto performed by other contractors was taken away from them and placed upon another contractor.
Nor does the case of Woolverton v. United States (27 C. Cls. B., 392) in any wise militate against these views. It is unnecessary to review at any length this case, as it is practically a suit for the very identical service performed by Otis, and the decision is nothing more than a reaffirmance of the doctrine laid down in the Otis Case. (See opinion, p. 312.)
It is submitted, therefore, that the hauling of the mails to and from these substations was nothing more than a legitimate increase in kind of the service which the claimant had contracted to perform without additional compensation, and that no recovery should be allowed for this item.

Opinion:
I)AVIS, J.,
delivered the opinion of the court:
This action arises from a post-office contract for transferring mail within the city limits of New York, as to which plaintiff (the contractor) feels that duty imposed upon him has caused him expense, and this duty he was under no legal obligation to perform. Therefore he asks judgment against defendants for service thought to be extra.
The facts are many, but simple. They present in one case several different causes of action.
This class of contract has been so often examined in the Supreme Court and in this court that it is unnecessary to describe it in detail. The instrument is set out in full in the findings.
The first subject of coutention to consider is the collection of mail from substations.
A "substation"is not to be confounded with a "branch post- . office." These " substations" are found in cigar shops, apothecary shops, and other similar places of usual public resort, and only receive mail. They distribute none. In effect they differ not at all from the ordinary lamp-post box — the box is put "indoors" instead of remaining "out of doors;" that is all the difference. The collection from the lamp-post boxes (the street boxes) had always been made by letter carriers, and had not been made by the " covered regulation mail-messenger service," which plaintiff contracted to perform. At the time this contract was made "mail stations" were understood to be "branch post-offices." No other mail stations were then known. This court has said (Knox v. United States, 30 C. Gis. R., 77): "Branch offices have come to be called in departmental language 'mail stations' and to be designated by letters of the alphabet." In fact, "branch post-office" and "mail station" meant the same thing when this contract was made.
Plaintiff contracted to perform "covered regulation wagon mail-messenger service" — that is, a "mail-messenger" service which required "covered regulation wagons;" not one to be performed either on foot or upon street or elevated railroads.
Section 743 of the Postal Eegulations says of "covered reg- ' ulation mail-messenger transfer and mail-station service:"
"This service is required to be performed in regulation wagons, built in accordance with plans and specifications by the Department. It is let for a stated period, after a formal advertisement, and a contract and bond are required."
Plaintiff's contract forced him, among other things, "to take the mail from and deliver it into the post-offices, mail stations, and cars at such points and at such hours, under the directions of the postmaster at New York, approved by the Postmaster- General, as will secure dispatches and connections and facilitate distribution, and at the contractor's expense for tolls and ferriage;" to furnish sufficient wagons "for the service;" to perform "all new or additional or changed covered regulation wagon mail-messenger, transfer, and mail-station service that the Postmaster-General may order," without additional compensation, "whether caused by change of location of post-office, stations, landings, or the establishment of others than those existing at the date hereof, or rendered necessary, in the judgment of the Postmaster-General) for any cause, and to furnish such advance wagons or extra wagons from time to time for special or advance trips as the Postmaster-General may require, as a part of such new or additional service."
Other stipulations are found in the contract favorable to defendants and giving to the Postmaster-General broad discretion and much power.
The subject-matter of this contract must be distinctly remembered: It is not for carrier service, or for collection from street boxes, or for delivery in small amounts; but for service of large quantities of the mail which were to undergo some process of sorting or arrangement — some intermediate process — before delivery.
This plaintiff conducted a wholesale business (we may say, for illustration), while the general post-office of New York, through the branch offices and carriers, conducted a retail business. There is no similarity in kind between this plaintiff's duties and those of a branch post-office, a substation, or a carrier. Woolverton contracted to take the mail in bulk between the shipping points and the places where it was sorted for delivery or where it was received (through the carriers) to be made up for the railroads or steamships. His contract was, in essence, a link in the " through " or " long-distance " service, and was distinct from the local or city service.
The purpose of the " substations " is set forth in the findings. It will be seen that they differed in no respect from the ordinary street letter boxes. It is the duty of the letter carriers to collect from these boxes. The fact that the boxes are inside an inn, an apothecary shop, or a telegraph office, or fastened to a telegraph pole instead of fastened to a lamp-post, does not change their character. Plaintiff was under no obligation, through his contract, to perform this service, and should recover the reasonable value of the service as extra.
In reaching this result we do not consider his conversation with the New York postmaster upon the subject — a conversation which occurred prior to the contract.
Plaintiff under this same contract carried to Jersey City mail intended to be shipped by the Pennsylvania Eailroad, but (at first) did not carry mail intended for the post-office in Jersey City. This Jersey City mail was carried three trips a day by another contractor until November, 1891; this Jersey City route was known as " mail messenger route No. 209071;" it was a different route from plaintiff's, contracted for with a different person.
November 23,1891, the Post-Office Department discontinued this route (which was) from the New York post-office to tlie Jersey City post-office and required plaintiff to carry the Jersey City mail across the Hudson Eiver to the Pennsylvania Eailway station in Jersey City, where it was delivered to a post-office agent, to be carried, by wagon to the post-office in that city.
This is not a railway mail and is not a mail properly falling within the service contracted for by plaintiff. The fact that in the performance of one service he visited a point in Jersey City is not a reason for imposing upon him an entirely different kind of service, theretofore performed under a different contract by another contractor. This work we regard as extra to the contract for " Covered regulation wagon mail messenger, transfer, and mail station service in the city of New York, N. Y.," and for performing it plaintiff should have reasonable compensation.
VI. The carriage of empty and damaged mail bags was not an incident of the regular postal service. The return of empty bags, made necessary by a preponderance of mail in one direction, is not the service here sued for; but the forwarding to New York in large quantities of empty sacks, damaged and sent on only for repair, and the return of the repaired sacks to the points where they were to be used. This service was extra.
Station O did not substantially differ from other branch post offices. Plaintiff must have carried this mail in any event. If this branch had not been established the mail would have been sent to the general post-office or a substation, whence (under his contract) he must have transported it to the railway stations or the post-office or the wharves. In fact, it seems (in so far as distance is concerned) that he gained by the measure. Instead of carrying New York Central mail down to the central post-office, thence back to the railway station, he carried it direct to the station. So also with the Pennsylvania railway mail. Station O appears to have been an advantage to the contractor.'
The Long Island City mail falls within the same principle as the Jersey City mail, already considered, and the service we hold to be "extra."
VII. As to the transport of gold: This is clearly not "mail-messenger service," and plaintiff should recover a reasonable sum for its performance.
A small sum is claimed because of expense caused contractor through a strike on the New York. Central Bailway. This was an event for which neither party was responsible, and under the very broad terms of the contract the loss seems to be one of those which falls upon the contractor.
The construction given to the agreement between the parties is not agreed to in all particulars by all of the members of the court. It is thought by some that the plaintiff should recover more than has been awarded, and by others that he should recover less; but a majority concur in directing that the judgment be rendered for $52,088.33.