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diff --git a/44171-0.txt b/44171-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d8991b --- /dev/null +++ b/44171-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2512 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44171 *** + + The Postal System + of The United States + and + The New York + General Post Office + + + [Illustration] + + + _Prepared and Issued by_ + Manufacturers Trust Company + New York Brooklyn Queens + + + + + [Illustration] + + + THE POSTAL SYSTEM + OF THE UNITED STATES + AND + THE NEW YORK + GENERAL POST OFFICE + + BY + + THOMAS C. JEFFERIES + ASSISTANT SECRETARY, + MANUFACTURERS TRUST COMPANY + + + + + Copyright, 1922, by + MANUFACTURERS TRUST COMPANY + + + [Illustration: _Honorable Hubert Work, Postmaster General._] + + + + +HONORABLE HUBERT WORK, Postmaster-General, was a practising physician +for many years in Colorado prior to entering government service, and +was also President of the American Medical Association. He served as +first assistant postmaster-general under Postmaster-General Will H. +Hays, his predecessor, who, upon assuming management of the Post-office +Department, practically dedicated it as an institution for service and +not for politics or profit. Since that time all possible efforts have +been made to humanize it. + +The administration of Mr. Hays was ably assisted by Mr. Work who had +direct supervision of the 52,000 post-offices and more than two-thirds +of all postal workers. By persistent efforts to build up the spirit +of the great army of postal workers and bring the public and the +post-office into closer contact and more intimate relationship, the +postal system has been placed at last on a footing of _service to the +public_. + +Mr. Work is an exponent of a business administration of the postal +service, and representatives of the larger business organizations and +Chambers of Commerce, from time to time, are called into conference, in +order that the benefit of their suggestions and their experience may be +obtained and their fullest co-operation enlisted in the campaign for +postal improvement. + + + _"Messenger of Sympathy and Love + Servant of Parted Friends + Consoler of the Lonely + Bond of the Scattered Family + Enlarger of the Common Life + Carrier of News and Knowledge + Instruments of Trade and Industry + Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance + Of Peace and Good Will + Among Men and Nations."_ + + Inscription on Post Office Building + at Washington, D. C. + + [Illustration] + + + Statement Prepared for the + Manufacturers Trust Company + By HONORABLE HUBERT WORK, POSTMASTER-GENERAL + + +The need for a more general understanding of the purpose of the postal +establishment, its internal workings and the problems of operation, is +paramount if it is to afford the ultimate service which it is prepared +to render. + +The business man, whose success is definitely connected with its smooth +operation, especially should be concerned with the directions for its +use. The post-office functions automatically, so far as he is concerned, +after he drops the letter into the slot; but before this stage is +reached, a certain amount of preparation is necessary. He could scarcely +expect to operate an intricate piece of machinery without first learning +the various controls, and no more is it to be expected that he can +secure the utmost benefit from such a diversified utility as the postal +service without knowing how to use the parts at his disposal. + +Accordingly our efforts have been directed to the circulation of +essential postal information, and with the aid of the public press and +the coöperation of persons and organizations using the service, the +people throughout the country are now better informed on postal affairs +than at any time in its history. + +The recognition of the human element is a recent forward step in +postal administration. Although the post-office has probably been the +most powerful aid to the development of a social consciousness, the +management until recently seems to have overlooked the relative value +of the individual in the postal organism. + +The individual postal worker is now considered to be the unit, and the +effort to maintain the service at a high standard of efficiency is based +upon the betterment of his physical environment and the encouragement +of the spirit of partnership by enlisting his intelligent interest in +the problems of management and recognizing his real value to the postal +organization. Suggestions for improvement are invited and considered +from those within the service as well as those without, and it is +believed that a full measure of usefulness will not be attained until +the American public, which in this sense includes the postal workers +themselves, are convinced that the service belongs to them. + + [Illustration] + + + + + GENERAL OFFICERS OF THE + POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT + + +The postmaster-general is assisted in the administration of the +Post-office Department by four assistant postmasters-general. The first +assistant postmaster-general has supervision over the postmasters, +post-office clerks, and city letter carriers at all post-offices, as +well as the general management of the postal business of those offices, +the collection, delivery, and preparation of mail for despatch. The +second assistant postmaster-general is concerned entirely with the +transportation of mail by rail (both steam and electric), by air, +and by water. He supervises the railway mail, air mail, foreign mail +services, and adjusts the pay for carrying the mail. The third assistant +postmaster-general is the financial official of the department and +has charge of the money-order and registry service, the distribution +of postage-stamps, and the classification of mail matter. The fourth +assistant postmaster-general directs the operation of the rural delivery +service, the distribution of supplies, and the furnishing of equipment +for the post-offices and railway mail service. + +In addition to the four assistants there is a solicitor, or legal +officer; a chief post-office inspector, who has jurisdiction over +the traveling inspectors engaged in inspecting, tracing lost mail, +and investigating mail depredations, or other misuse of the mail; a +purchasing agent; a chief clerk, who supervises the clerical force at +headquarters in Washington; and a controller, who audits the accounts of +the 52,000 postmasters. + +[Illustration: _The Postmaster General and General Administration +Assistants._ 1--HON. HUBERT WORK, _Postmaster General_. 2--HON. JOHN H. +BARTLETT, _First Assistant Postmaster General_. 3--HON. PAUL HENDERSON, +_Second Assistant Postmaster General_. 4--HON. W. IRVING GLOVER, _Third +Assistant Postmaster General_. 5--HON. H. H. BILLANY, _Fourth Assistant +Postmaster General_. ] + + + UNITED STATES POSTAL STATISTICS + + Year Post- Extent of Gross Revenue Gross Expenditure + (Fiscal) offices Post-routes of Department of Department + (Number) (Miles) + + 1800 903 20,817 $ 280,806 $ 213,884 + 1850 18,417 178,672 5,499,985 5,212,953 + 1860 28,498 240,594 8,518,067 19,170,610 + 1870 28,492 231,232 19,772,221 23,998,837 + 1880 42,989 343,888 33,315,479 36,542,804 + 1890 62,401 427,990 60,882,098 66,259,548 + 1900 76,688 500,989 102,354,579 107,740,267 + 1910 59,580 447,998 224,128,658 229,977,224 + 1921 52,050 1,152,000 263,491,274 620,993,673 + + + COMPARISON OF MONEY-ORDERS AND POSTAL NOTES ISSUED, + FISCAL YEARS 1865 to 1921, INCLUSIVE + + No. of Domestic Money-orders Issued + Money- + Fiscal order + Year Offices Number Value + + 1865 419 74,277 $ 1,360,122.52 + 1870 1,694 1,671,253 34,054,184.71 + 1875 3,404 5,006,323 77,431,251.58 + 1880 4,829 7,240,537 100,352,818.83 + 1885 7,056 7,725,893 117,858,921.27 + 1890 9,382 10,624,727 114,362,757.12 + 1895 19,691 22,031,120 156,709,089.77 + 1900 29,649 32,060,983 238,921,009.67 + 1905 36,832 53,722,463 401,916,214.78 + 1910 51,791 77,585,321 558,178,028.35 + 1915 55,670 105,728,032 665,249,087.81 + 1920 54,395 149,091,944 1,342,267,597.43 + 1921 54,183 144,809,855 1,313,092,591.08 + --------------------------------------------------------------- + No. of International Money-orders Postal Notes Issued + Money- Issued in U. S. + Fiscal order + Year Offices Number Value Number Value + + 1865 419 + 1870 1,694 $ 22,189.70 + 1875 3,404 102,250 1,964,574.88 + 1880 4,829 221,372 3,463,862.83 + 1885 7,056 448,921 6,840,358.47 5,058,287 $9,996,274.37 + 1890 9,382 859,054 13,230,135.71 6,927,825 12,160,489.60 + 1895 19,691 909,278 12,906,485.67 + 1900 29,649 1,102,067 16,749,018.31 + 1905 36,832 2,163,098 42,503,246.57 + 1910 51,791 3,832,318 89,558,299.42 + 1915 55,670 2,399,836 51,662,120.65 + 1920 54,395 1,250,890 23,392,287.46 + 1921 54,183 876,541 16,675,752.16 + + +[Illustration] + + + _The Post-office of General Concern_ + +There is no governmental activity that comes so uniformly into intimate +daily contact with different classes of this country's inhabitants, nor +one the functioning of which touches practically the country's entire +population, as does the United States postal system. Mr. Daniel G. +Roper, in a volume highly regarded by postal executives, entitled "The +United States Post-Office," called the postal service "the mightiest +instrument of human democracy." This system, as we know it to-day, +represents the growth, development, and improvement of over a century +and a third. In the last seventy-five years this growth has been +particularly marked; the total number of pieces of all kinds of mail +matter handled in 1847, for instance, was 124,173,480; in 1913 it was +estimated that 18,567,445,160 pieces were handled, and to-day about +1,500,000,000 letters are handled every hour in the postal service. +In 1790 the gross postal revenues were $38,000 in round numbers and +the expenditures $32,000. In 1840 the revenues were $4,543,500 and +expenditures $4,718,200. In 1890 the revenues were $60,880,000 and the +expenditures $66,260,000. In 1912 the revenues were $247,000,000 and the +expenditures $248,500,000. + +The revenue of the postal service for the fiscal year ending June 30, +1921, including fees from money-orders and profits from postal-savings +business, amounted to $463,491,274.70, an increase of $26,341,062.37 +over the receipts for the preceding fiscal year, which were +$437,150,212.33. The rate of increase in receipts for 1921 over 1920 was +6.02 per cent., as compared with an increase in 1920 over 1919 of 19.81 +per cent. + +The audited expenditures for the year were $620,993,673.65, an increase +over the preceding year of $166,671,064.44, the rate of increase being +36.68 per cent. The audited expenditures for the fiscal year were +therefore in excess of the revenues in the sum of $157,502,398.95, to +which should be added losses of postal funds, by fire, burglary, and +other causes, amounting to $15,289.16, making a total audited deficiency +in postal revenues of $157,517,688.11. The material increase in the +deficiency over that for 1920 was due to large increases of expenditures +made necessary by reason of the re-classification act allowing +increased compensation estimated at $41,855,000 to postal employees, +and to increased allowances of more than $30,000,000 for railroad +mail transportation resulting from orders of the Interstate Commerce +Commission under authority of Congress. + +The revenues of this department are accounted for to the Treasury +of the United States and the postmaster-general submits to Congress +itemized estimates of amounts necessary under different classifications; +Congress, in turn, makes appropriations as it deems advisable. + +In 1790 there were a total of 118 officers, postmasters, and employees +of all kinds in the postal service. Postmaster-General Work to-day +directs the activities of nearly 326,000 officers and employees. The +number of post-offices in the United States in 1790 was seventy-five; in +1840 the number had increased to 13,468; in 1890 it was 62,401; and on +January 1, 1922, there were 52,050. The greatest number of post-offices +in existence at one time was 76,945, in 1901, but the extension of +rural delivery since its establishment in 1896 has caused, and will +probably continue to cause, a gradual decrease in the number of smaller +post-offices. + + + _The Post-office in Colonial Times_ + +The first Colonial postmaster, Richard Fairbanks, conducted an office +in a house in Boston in 1639 to receive letters from ships. In 1672 +Governor Lovelace of New York arranged for a monthly post between +New York and Boston, which appears to have been the first post-route +officially established in America. Much of this route was through +wilderness, and the postman blazed the trees on his way so that +travelers might follow his path. This route, however, was soon +abandoned. + +In 1673 the Massachusetts General Court provided for certain payments +to post messengers, although the first successful postal system +established in any of the Colonies was that of William Penn, who, in +1683, appointed Henry Waldy to keep a post, supply passengers with +horses, etc. In the following year Governor Dungan of New York revived +the route that had been established by Governor Lovelace, and, in +addition, he proposed post-offices along the Atlantic coast. In 1687 +a post was started between certain points in Connecticut. The real +beginning of postal service in America seems to date from February 17, +1691, when William and Mary granted to Thomas Neale authority to conduct +offices for the receipt and despatch of letters. From that time until +1721 the postal system seems to have been under the direction of Andrew +Hamilton and his associates. In the latter year John Lloyd was appointed +postmaster-general, to be succeeded in 1730 by Alexander Spotsward. Head +Lynch was postmaster-general from 1739 to 1743, and Elliott Berger from +1743 to 1753. + +In July, 1775, the Continental Congress established its post-office +with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster-general. Mr. Franklin +had been appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737. Samuel Osgood, +of Massachusetts, however, was the first postmaster-general under +the Constitution and Washington's administration. From Samuel Osgood +to Hubert Work there have been forty-five postmasters-general, that +official becoming a member of the President's cabinet in 1829. + + + _Fast Mails of Pioneer Days_ + +Post-riders and stage-coaches were the earliest means of transporting +the mails, to be followed by steamboats, railway trains, and, in time, +by airplanes. + +In considering our modern mailing methods, no feature of the development +of our postal system is more striking than the improvement that has been +made in methods of mail transportation. + +Up to a few decades ago, pony express riders sped across the western +part of our country, and back, carrying the "fast mail" of the days when +Indians and road-agents constituted a continual source of annoyance +and danger to stage-coach passengers and drivers, and made the +transportation of valuables extremely hazardous. The coaches carried +baggage, express, and "slow mail," as well as passengers, while the +"fast mail" was handled exclusively by pony riders. + +The inimitable Mark Twain has given us a great word-picture of these +pony express riders, from which we quote the following: + + In a little while all interest + was taken up in stretching our necks and watching for + the "pony rider"--the fleet messenger who sped across + the continent from St. Joe to Sacramento, carrying + letters nineteen hundred miles in eight days! Think of + that for perishable horse and human flesh and blood to + do! The pony rider was usually a little bit of a man, + brimful of spirit and endurance. No matter what time + of the day or night his watch came on, and no matter + whether it was winter or summer, raining, snowing, + hailing, or sleeting, or whether his "beat" was a level + straight road or a crazy trail over mountain crags and + precipices, or whether it led through peaceful regions + or regions that swarmed with hostile Indians, he must + be always ready to leap into the saddle and be off + like the wind! There was no idling time for a pony + rider on duty. He rode fifty miles without stopping, + by daylight, moonlight, starlight, or through the + blackness of darkness--just as it happened. He rode a + splendid horse that was born for a racer and fed and + lodged like a gentleman; kept him at his utmost speed + for ten miles, and then, as he came crashing up to + the station where stood two men holding fast a fresh, + impatient steed, the transfer of rider and mail-bag + was made in the twinkling of an eye, and away flew + the eager pair and they were out of sight before the + spectator could get hardly the ghost of a look. The + postage on his literary freight was worth five dollars + a letter. He got but little frivolous correspondence + to carry--his bag had business letters in it, mostly. + His horse was stripped of all unnecessary weight, too. + He wore a little wafer of a racing-saddle, and no + visible blanket. He wore light shoes, or none at all. + The little flat mail-pockets strapped under the rider's + thighs would each hold about the bulk of a child's + primer. They held many and many an important business + chapter and newspaper letter, but these were written + on paper as airy and thin as gold-leaf, nearly, and + thus bulk and weight were economized. The stage-coach + travelled about a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five + miles a day (twenty-four hours), and the pony rider + about two hundred and fifty. There were about eighty + pony riders in the saddle all the time, night and + day, stretching in a long scattering procession from + Missouri to California, forty flying eastward, and + forty toward the west, and among them making four + hundred gallant horses earn a stirring livelihood and + see a deal of scenery every single day in the year. + + + [Illustration: _The Pony Express Rider._ + Photo by Courtesy of American + Telephone & Telegraph Company ] + + We had had a consuming desire, + from the beginning, to see a pony rider, but somehow or + other all that passed us and all that we met managed + to streak by in the night, and so we heard only a whiz + and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was + gone before we could get our heads out of the windows. + But now we were expecting one along every moment, and + would see him in broad daylight. Presently the driver + exclaims: + + "HERE HE COMES!" + + Every neck is stretched further, + and every eye strained wider. Away across the endless + dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against + the sky, and it is plain that it moves. Well, I should + think so. In a second or two it becomes a horse and + rider, rising and falling, rising and falling--sweeping + toward us, nearer and nearer--growing more and more + distinct, more and more sharply defined, nearer and + still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes + faintly to the ear--another instant and a whoop and a + hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, + but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited + faces, and go winging away like a belated fragment of a + storm! + + So sudden is it all, and so like a flash of + unreal fancy, that but for the flake of white foam left + quivering and perishing on a mail-sack after the vision + had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted + whether we had seen anything at all, maybe. + + + + + _Mail Transportation To-day_ + + +Mails are now carried over about 235,000 miles of railroads. Service +on the railroads is authorized and paid for under a space basis +system authorized by Congress and approved by the Interstate Commerce +Commission. + +The present post-office organization dates from about 1836, as the +period that followed that year was one of transition from stage-coach to +rail car for the transportation of mails. As railway mail service was +increased and extended, sometimes railroad companies made arrangements +with contractors to handle it. Occasionally contracts were transferred +to the contractors at the same rates received by the railroads. +Frequently the compensation was divided pro rata as far as the railroad +covered the route. It was not uncommon for postmasters in large cities +to make the arrangements for the department. Naturally such a lack of +uniformity of procedure and control invited irregularities of one kind +or another, although they were for the most part not serious ones, and +were eventually corrected and a system of standards and of unified +control put into effect. + + + _Origin of Mail Classes_ + +In 1845 any letter that weighed one half ounce or less was classified +as a single letter without regard to the number of sheets it contained; +a five-cent rate was charged for distances under three miles and ten +cents for greater distances. In 1847 the postage-stamp was officially +adopted and placed on sale July 1 of that year at New York. In the year +1848, 860,380 postage-stamps were sold; in 1890, 2,219,737,060 stamps +were sold, and in 1921 there were issued to postmasters 14,000,000,000 +adhesive stamps, 1,100,000,000 postal cards, 2,668,000,000 stamped +envelopes, and 80,800,000 newspaper wrappers. + +In 1850 the rates were reduced to three cents for any distance less than +three hundred miles, if prepaid, and five cents if not prepaid, and, for +a greater distance, six cents if prepaid and ten cents if not prepaid. +The prepayment of postage was finally made compulsory in 1855. In 1863 +a uniform rate of three cents for single letters not exceeding one half +ounce in weight was adopted for all distances, and twenty years later, +in 1883, the two-cent letter was adopted. In 1917 the rates of three +cents on letters and two cents for postal cards were adopted, the extra +cent in each case being for war revenue. On June 30, 1919, however, the +three-cent letter rate and the two-cent postal-card rate expired by +limitation, and the two-cent letter rate and one-cent postal-card rate +returned. + +When the parcel post was established in 1913, and the air mail service +was inaugurated in 1918, special stamps were issued, although they +were soon discontinued. Our friends who collect stamps may be glad +to know that a philatelic stamp agency has been established under +the third assistant postmaster-general at Washington, which sells to +stamp-collectors at the face-value all stamps desired which are in stock +and which may have special philatelic value to stamp-collectors. + + + _Emergency Measures During the War_ + +As a war measure, on July 31, 1918, by executive order issued in +accordance with a Joint Resolution of the House and Senate, the +telegraph and telephone systems of the United States were placed under +the control of the postmaster-general, and on November 2, 1918, the +marine cables were also placed under his control. These utilities were +conducted by a wire control board, of which the postmaster-general was +the head. The marine cables were returned to their owners May 2, 1919, +and the telephone and telegraph lines were returned to their owners in +accordance with an act of Congress on August 1, 1919, having been under +government control just one year. + +When the telegraph was invented, in 1847, the first line between +Washington and Baltimore was built through an appropriation authorized +by Congress. Then, as now, there were public men who advocated +government ownership of the wire systems as a means of communication, +the same as the postal service. It was placed in private control, +however, one year after its inauguration, and has grown up under that +control. The Government's operation during the war of both the wire +and railroad systems seems to have cooled the ardor of even the most +enthusiastic advocates of government ownership of such utilities. + +Early in 1919 the Post-office Department used the wireless telegraph in +connection with air mail service. A central station is located in the +Post-office Department Building at Washington, and other stations are +located in cities near the transcontinental air mail route from New York +City to San Francisco. Experiments are being made with the wireless as +a means of directing airplanes in flight, especially during foggy and +stormy weather, and it is expected planes will ultimately be equipped +with either wireless telegraph or telephone outfits. On April 22, 1921, +the Post-office Department adopted the use of the wireless telephone +in addition to the wireless telegraph service, and is now using both +in the air mail service, and also for the purpose of broadcasting to +farming communities governmental information such as market reports +from the Agricultural Department and the big market centers. It is not +contemplated, however, that the Post-office Department will maintain the +wireless telegraph and telephone except as an aid in the development +of the air mail service; only when not in use for this purpose is it +utilized to broadcast the governmental information referred to for the +benefit of farming communities and without expense to them. + + + _The Post-office in the War_ + +As may be imagined, the work of the Post-office Department consequent +upon the war was enormous; it participated in and did war work for +practically all other departments of the Government. Besides the great +increase of ordinary mail as a result of the war, it assisted in the +work of the draft, the Liberty Loans, the Red Cross service, food, fuel, +and labor conservation, the enforcement of the Alien Enemy and Espionage +laws, and nearly every war activity placed upon it some share of the +burden. The Post-office Department, whose function is purely civil, with +responsibility for a business service that must not be interrupted, kept +open channels of communication upon which the vital activities of the +Nation depended, and unquestionably made material contributions toward +the successful prosecution of the war. + +The department was of assistance to the Department of Justice, the +Bureau of Intelligence of both the Army and the Navy; the Department +of Labor, in collecting data relative to firms and classes of labor in +the country; the Department of Agriculture, the Shipping Board, and +various independent bureaus of the Government. Under proclamation of the +President, postmasters of towns having populations of 5000 or less had +the duty of registering enemy aliens. The department collected all the +statistics and lists of aliens for the Department of Justice. A similar +work was performed with respect to the duties of the Alien Property +Custodian. Nine million questionnaires were distributed for the War +Department, each being handled three times during the first draft; about +thirteen million questionnaires were distributed in the second draft. +The department distributed literature for the Liberty Loans and the +Red Cross, and assisted in the sale of War Savings Stamps and Internal +Revenue Stamps. New postal service was established for the soldiers at +nearly a hundred cantonments in this country. When the American forces +went abroad an independent postal service was established in France by +the Post-office Department which was later turned over to the military +authorities. That the United States postal service was the only one in +the world that did not break down during the war might well be cause for +pardonable pride. + + + _Beginning of Registered Mail, Postal Money-orders, + Savings, Free Delivery, Special Delivery, + Parcel Post, and Air Mail_ + +The registry service was established in 1855 and the money-order +service was established in 1864. About $1,500,000,000 is transmitted by +money-orders annually. Postal-savings service was established January +3, 1911, and during the first year the deposits reached a total of +$677,145. The increase in this department has been continuous each year, +and in a recent year the amount was over $150,000,000. The parcel-post +system was established January 1, 1913, and now nearly three billion +parcels are handled annually. + +In 1863 the innovation of free delivery of mail in forty-nine cities +was undertaken, for which 449 carriers were employed. In 1890, 454 +cities enjoyed free delivery of mail and 9066 carriers did the work. In +1921 there were about 3000 city delivery post-offices and about 36,000 +carriers. The Post-office Department owns and operates almost 4000 +automobiles in the collection and delivery of mail in cities, but this +is a small part of the number operating under contract. The regular use +of the automobile in the postal service dates back only to 1907. The +feature of special delivery of mail was inaugurated in 1885. + +The first regular air mail route was inaugurated May 15, 1918, between +Washington and New York, a distance of about 200 miles, the schedule +being two hours, compared with about five hours for steam trains. + + [Illustration: _Airplane mail equipment._] + +An air route between Cleveland and Chicago was inaugurated May +15, 1919, and between New York and Cleveland July 1, 1919. The +Transcontinental Air Mail Route from New York to San Francisco, +inaugurated September 8, 1920, is the only route at present in +operation. This coast-to-coast route is 2629 miles in length, passing +through Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, and Reno. +Relays of planes are used, but, contrary to the general impression, mail +is not carried all the way by air; instead, planes pick up mail which +has missed trains and advance it to points where it will catch through +trains. + +Three rural routes, the first ones, were established in 1896 in West +Virginia. By 1900 there were 1259; in 1906, 32,110; 1912, 42,199; on +January 1, 1922, there were 44,007. Rural routes now in operation cover +a total of 1,152,000 miles and the number of patrons served is about +30,000,000. The Rural Free Delivery Service brings in but about one +fourth of its cost. There are also about 11,000 contract mail routes +(star routes) serving communities not reached by rail or rural routes. + + + _Postal Business Increases_ + +In the five years from 1912 to 1917, the increase in the volume of +business as reflected by the annual gross receipts of the post-office +was 33.64 per cent., and in the ten-year period from 1912 to 1921, +inclusive, it was 87.84 per cent. During this decade there was a +decrease in postal receipts in but one year as compared with the +previous year, and that was in 1915, when the percentage of decrease was +0.23 per cent. For the ten years mentioned the percentage of increase +in receipts for each year over the previous year was as follows: + + + Percentage + + 1912 3.72 + 1913 8.65 + 1914 7.59 + 1915 .23[1] + 1916 8.63 + 1917 5.66[2] + 1918 4.47[3] + 1919 5.91[4] + 1920 19.81 + 1921 6.02 + +[1] Decrease. + +[2] Additional revenue on account of increased postage rates incident to + the war not included. + +[3] see Footnote 2. + +[4] see Footnote 2. + + + _The Post-office and Good Roads_ + +The pony express riders, to whom reference has already been made, rode +over trails and cow-paths made by herds of buffaloes, deer, or cattle. +To-day, however, as part of our post-office appropriations, large sums +are included for construction and keeping in repair public roads and +routes used by different branches of our mail service. For the present +year there was appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the +Federal Highway Act the sum of $75,000,000 for what is known as Federal +aid to the States in road construction, and $10,000,000 for forest +roads for 1923. A comprehensive program has been adopted and, in order +that the States may make adequate provisions to meet their share for +the Federal appropriations, they know in advance just what Federal +appropriation they can depend upon. + +The total Federal aid funds which have been apportioned to the States +from 1916 to 1921 amount to $339,875,000. On February 1, 1922, +$213,947,790 had been paid on actual construction, leaving a balance for +new construction of $125,927,214. Between February 1 and July 1 of this +year about $40,927,000 more was put into construction. + + + _Washington Headquarters_ + +The main Post-office Department Building is located at 11th Street and +Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. What is known as the City +Post-Office Building is at North Capitol Street and Massachusetts Avenue +in that city, and the mail equipment shops are located at 5th and W +Streets, N.E. The total number of employees in the General Department is +2025. + +The clerks throughout the department, in character, intelligence, and +dependability, are above the average. Not only must postal clerks be +familiar with the location of several thousand post-offices, but they +must know on what railroad each post-office is located, through what +junction points a letter despatched to that office must pass, and many +other important details. The schedules of railroads affect the method +of despatching mail, and these are constantly changing so that postal +clerks must be up to the minute on all schedules, etc. + + + _Red Corpuscles for Our Postal Arteries_ + +A new post-office policy that is well expressed by the words "humanized +service" has been inaugurated. The postal educational exhibits which +have been conducted in many of the larger offices for the purposes of +teaching the public how to mail and how not to mail letters, parcels, +and valuables were but single manifestations of this new spirit. Some +persons may think--and with good reason--that only recently have postal +authorities indicated concern in what the public did; but that the +present interest is genuine is evident to any one. The department is +likewise interested in its workers and makes an effort to understand +them. Says the head of the department in his latest report: "We are +dependent on the nerve and the sense of loyalty of human beings for the +punctual delivery of our mail regardless of the weather and everything +else. To treat a postal employee as a mere commodity in the labor market +is not only wicked from a humanitarian standpoint, but is foolish and +short-sighted even from the standpoint of business. The postal employee +who is regarded as a human being whose welfare is important to his +fellows, high and low, in the national postal organization, is bound to +do his work with a courage, a zest, and a thoroughness which no money +value can ever buy. The security which he feels he passes on to the +men and women he serves. Instead of a distrust of his Government, he +radiates confidence in it. I want to make every man and woman in the +postal service feel that he or she is a partner in this greatest of all +business undertakings, whose individual judgment is valued, and whose +welfare is of the utmost importance to the successful operation of the +whole organization. We want every postal co-worker to feel that he has +more than a job. A letter-carrier does a good deal more than bring a +letter into a home when he calls. He ought to know the interest which +his daily travels bring to the home. We have 326,000 men and women with +the same objective, with the same hopes and aspirations, all working +together for the same purpose, a mutual appreciation one for the other, +serving an appreciative public. If we can improve the spirit and actual +working conditions of these 326,000 men and women who do this job, that +in itself is an accomplishment, and it is just as certain to bring a +consequent improvement in the service as the coming of tomorrow's sun." + + + _Welfare Work_ + +Few people know that to-day a welfare department is in operation +throughout the postal system which is directly interested in improving +the working conditions of all the postal workers. The department was +organized in June, 1921, by the appointment of a welfare director. +Councils of employees meet regularly to consider matters affecting +their welfare and to discuss plans for improving the postal service. +The National Welfare Council has been formed of the following postal +employee organizations: + + National Federation of Post-office Clerks + The Railway Mail Association + United National Association of Post-office Clerks + National Rural Letter-Carriers Association + National Association of Letter-Carriers + National Federation of Rural Carriers + National Association of Supervisory Employees + National Federation of Federal Employees + National Association of Post-office Laborers + +Mutual aid and benefit societies with insurance features are conducted, +athletics are encouraged, sick benefits are provided, retirement +pensions are in effect, and postal employees to-day can well believe +that somebody cares about their comfort and welfare. Incidentally, +savings aggregating many thousands of dollars annually have been +effected through the suggestions and inventions of employees in the +service. + +One of the important divisions in the postal service is that which +pertains to the inspection work, much of which does not attract outside +attention and only comes to public notice when some one has gotten into +trouble with the postal authorities. In a large measure, inspection +work pertains to the apprehension of criminals and the investigation +of depredations, but that is only a comparatively small part of the +division's activities. + +Post-office inspectors investigate and report upon matters affecting +every branch of the postal service; they are traveling auditors and +check up accounts and collect shortages; they decide where an office +should be located, how it should be fitted up, and how many clerks or +carriers may be needed. + +The rural carriers, for instance, must be familiar with the regulations +that cover the delivery of mail, registration of letters, taking +applications for money-orders, sale of stamps, supplies, etc., but the +inspector must also know all of these and also be able to determine +when the establishment of a route is warranted, to lay out and fix the +schedules and prepare a map and description of the route, also measure +the routes if the length is in dispute, inspect the service, ascertain +whether it is properly performed, and give necessary instructions to the +carriers and postmasters. + +Carriers must know their districts, understand regulations covering +the delivery of mail, handling of registry, insurance and collection +on delivery matter, collection of mail and handling of change of +address and forwarding orders. The inspector, however, determines +when conditions are such at an office that city delivery service may +be installed, the number of carriers necessary, and the number of +deliveries to be made. He lays out the routes, locates the collection +boxes, and fixes the schedules. He is also called on to investigate +the service when extensions are desired or when carriers are deemed +necessary, and is concerned with clerks, supervisory officers, +postmasters, new post-offices, railway mail service, contracts for +transportation of mail and furnishing of supplies, as well as the +enforcement of criminal statutes covering train robberies, post-office +burglaries, money-order forgeries, lottery men, the transmission of +obscene literature, mail-bag thieves, embezzlers, etc. + + [Illustration] + +The following regular employees were in the Post-office Department and +Postal Service on July 1, 1922: + + + Post-office Department proper 1,917 + Post-office inspectors 485 + Clerks at headquarters, post-office inspectors 115 + Employees at United States Envelope Agency 10 + + First Assistant Postmasters: + First class 834 + Second class 2,808 + Third class 10,407 + Fourth class 37,899 + ------ + 51,948 + + Assistant postmasters 2,730 + Clerks, first and second class offices 56,003 + City letter carriers 39,480 + Village carriers 1,111 + Watchmen, messengers, laborers, printers, etc., in + post offices 3,063 + Substitute clerks, first and second class offices 11,283 + Substitute letter carriers 10,765 + Special delivery messengers (estimated) 3,500 + Second Assistant: + Officers in Railway Mail Service 149 + Railway postal clerks 19,659 + Substitute railway postal clerks 2,419 + Air mail employees 345 + Fourth Assistant: + Rural carriers 44,086 + Motor-vehicle employees 3,177 + Substitute motor-vehicle employees 447 + Government-operated star-route employees 64 + -------- + Total 252,756 + + +The following classes or groups are indirectly connected with the Postal +Service in most instances through contractual relationship, and take the +oath of office, but are not employees of the Post-office Department or +the Postal Service: + + Clerks at third-class offices (estimated) 13,000 + Clerks at fourth-class offices (estimated) 37,899 + Mail messengers 13,128 + Screen-wagon contractors 201 + Carriers for offices having special supply 349 + Clerks in charge of contract stations 4,869 + Star-route contractors 10,766 + Steamboat contractors 273 + ------ + Total 80,485 + + + + + THE POST-OFFICE IN NEW YORK + + + _List of New York City postmasters from 1687 to date_: + + + WILLIAM BOGARDUS + April 4, 1687 + HENRY SHARPAS + April 4, 1692 + RICHARD NICHOL + (Postmaster in 1732) + ALEXANDER COLDEN + (Postmaster in 1753-75) + EBENEZER HAZARD + October 5, 1775 + WILLIAM BEDLOE + (Postmaster in 1785, appointed + after close of Revolutionary War) + SEBASTIAN BAUMAN + February 16, 1796 + JOSIAS TEN EYCK + January 1, 1804 + THEODORUS BAILEY + April 2, 1804 + SAMUEL L. GOUVERNEUR + November 19, 1828 + JONATHAN I. CODDINGTON + July 5, 1836 + JOHN L. GRAHAM + March 14, 1842 + ROBERT H. MORRIS + May 3, 1845 + WILLIAM V. BRADY + May 14, 1849 + ISAAC V. FOWLER + April 1, 1853 + JOHN A. DIX + May 17, 1860 + WILLIAM B. TAYLOR + January 16, 1861 + ABRAM WAKEMAN + March 21, 1862 + JAMES KELLY + September 19, 1864 + PATRICK H. JONES + April 27, 1869 + THOMAS L. JAMES + March 17, 1873 + HENRY G. PEARSON + April 1, 1881 + THOMAS L. JAMES (acting) + April 21, 1889 + CORNELIUS VAN COTT + May 1, 1889 + CHARLES W. DAYTON + July 1, 1893 + CORNELIUS VAN COTT + May 23, 1897 + EDWARD M. MORGAN (acting) + October 26, 1904 + WILLIAM R. WILLCOX + January 1, 1905 + EDWARD M. MORGAN (acting) + July 1, 1907 + EDWARD M. MORGAN + September 1, 1907 + EDWARD M. MORGAN + (reappointed) + December 14, 1911 + ROBERT F. WAGNER + April 22, 1916. Declined + THOMAS G. PATTEN + March 16, 1917 + EDWARD M. MORGAN + (reappointed) + July 1, 1921 + + [Illustration: _Some of the Early Postmasters of New York City._ ] + + + _Early New York_ + +The first ships which arrived after the settlement of New York as New +Amsterdam brought letters, and the first post-office, such as it was, +began to function about the time the city was founded. + +When vessels arrived, those letters relating to the cargoes were +delivered to merchants; persons who welcomed the ships received +their letters by hand. If a letter was unclaimed, it was left with a +responsible private citizen until called for. + +In time a system of voluntary distribution was developed, which became +known as the "Coffee House Delivery." It was naturally popular and +continued for over a century. At first this method of delivery was used +by vessels and by people from distant points who left their mail for +delivery at some well-known tavern. Here it reposed in a box accessible +to all, or it was tacked to the surface of a smooth board with tape or +brass-headed nails and placed in a conspicuous part of the tavern. + +In the year 1710 the postmaster-general of Great Britain designated a +"chief letter office" in the City of New York, Philadelphia having been +the headquarters of the Colonial organization up to that time. In the +following year arrangements were completed for the delivery of Boston +mail twice a month, and a foot-post to Albany was proposed. + +In 1740 a complete road was blazed from Paulus Hook, Jersey City, to +Philadelphia, over which the mail was carried on horseback between +Philadelphia and New York. + +Alexander Colden was postmaster here at the time of the Revolution, +but when the British troops took possession of New York, the office +was abolished by the provost-marshal and for seven years little +correspondence not connected with the movement of troops was handled. + +William Bedloe, after whom Bedloe's Island was named, was the first +postmaster after the war, but in 1786 Sebastian Bauman succeeded him. + + + _The New York General Post-office To-day_ + +The world's greatest post-office to-day is the New York General +Post-office, located at Eighth Avenue and West 33d Street, but a short +block from the West Side Office of the Manufacturers Trust Company, +and we are glad to be able to include in this booklet a message to our +readers from Hon. E. M. Morgan, Postmaster, who directs the activities +of that great organization. + + [Illustration] + + + + + THE NEW YORK GENERAL POST-OFFICE OF + THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND + THE FUTURE + + + BY E. M. MORGAN, POSTMASTER + +The growth of business transacted by the New York post-office is +illustrated by the following statement showing the postal revenues for +the years mentioned. It appears that the first account of revenues of +the New York post-office was published in the year 1786, and the first +city directory was also published in that year, and contained 926 names. + + Year Amount + + 1786 . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,789.84 + 1873 (estimated) . . . . . 2,500,000.00 + 1922 . . . . . . . . . . . 54,109,050.61 + +According to a recent statement by Hon. Hubert Work, Postmaster-General, +the postal business now done in New York City alone is equivalent to +that of the United States twenty-five years ago, and is double that of +the Dominion of Canada. + +During my personal experience with the postal affairs of this great +city, the service has been expanded from a post-office with eleven +stations and 973 employees to an enormous establishment having a total +of 362 stations, including fifty carrier and financial stations, 271 +contract stations, and forty-one United States Warship Branches; +requiring a total force of 15,600 post-office employees. The postmaster +at New York is also the Central Accounting Postmaster for 1375 district +post-offices (365 third-class and 1010 fourth-class post-offices) +located in thirty-five counties of New York State. + +The transactions of this important office are constantly increasing +in volume as a result of the great expansion and growth of New York +City, which is greatly influenced by the progress and growth of the +entire country. New York City, as the metropolis of the United States, +is taking her place at the head of the large cities of the world in +population, finance, and commercial affairs. + +If the progress made in the past fifty years by the United States and +its possessions in the conduct of national and international business +continues, the postal business here will, no doubt, make tremendous +strides. + +At the end of another fifty years, or in the year 1972, the postmaster +at New York will be the head of a much greater establishment than +the present office, which will be comparable to that organization of +the future as the first post-office in New York City, located in the +"Coffee House," Coenties Slip, in 1642, is comparable to the present +post-office. The future postmaster of New York, in 1972, will probably +be the head of a number of consolidated post-offices in the metropolitan +area, and, no doubt, other public services will be placed under his +supervision. + +The further development and improvement of the aëroplane mail service +will no doubt result in a greater use of that facility for the +transportation of mails. The transportation of the mails through the +streets of New York is a great problem. At present motor trucks are +principally used for that purpose. It is anticipated that even with +this service augmented by the re-establishment of the pneumatic tubes, +future extensions to the underground method of transportation will be +necessary. It is likely that before many years are passed a system of +tunnels for the transportation of mails in pouches and sacks will be +built and placed in operation. + +Congress and the Post-office Department are now looking into the +matter of providing the post-office at New York with a large amount of +additional room in new buildings specially constructed for post-office +purposes and it is the constant aim and purpose of all concerned in the +operation of the New York post-office to furnish its patrons the best +postal service. + + E. M. MORGAN, + POSTMASTER. + + +_The New York Post-office_ + +Conceive, if you can, an organization that is incessantly and +perpetually going at top speed; that knows not a moment of rest the year +round, or generation after generation; which never sleeps, nor pauses, +nor hesitates; that disposes each day of a mountain of 14,300,000 +pieces of ordinary mail, or more than any other office in the world; +that does a parcel-post business that makes the business of the express +companies seem small in comparison; that handles in excess of 41,500,000 +pieces of registered mail each year; that issues nearly four million +money-orders annually, and pays over seventeen million more; that, as a +mere side issue does a banking business which is exceeded by but a few +banks in the whole State; that has in its safe custody the savings of +approximately 140,000 depositors, amounting to more than $44,000,000; +that employs an army of 15,000 men and women; that occupies one of the +largest buildings in the city, two blocks in length, and then overflows +into approximately fifty annexes, called "Classified Stations," and +nearly 200 sub-annexes, called "Contract Stations"; that has receipts in +excess of $52,000,000 per annum; that has doubled its business in ten +years. Having conceived this, you will begin to get some idea of the New +York post-office, the biggest thing of its kind in the world and still +growing. + +The average man's conception of a post-office includes little more +than an impression of a letter-carrier in a gray uniform; a mail wagon +recently dodged by a narrow margin; a post-office station somewhere +in his neighborhood, and a hazy picture of a dingy place in which +men sometimes post letters. Of the details of the organization aside +from these things, the extent and complexities of the service, or how +it accomplishes what it does, or of the executive experts operating +the system, he knows practically nothing. He is aware, it is true, +that letters are collected and that letters are delivered, and that +continents and oceans may divide the sender and addressee; but by what +mystic methods delivery is accomplished he has never stopped to think. +Yet the organization that lies behind the words "New York post-office" +is one of the most complex, efficient, and interesting in the world, and +yet it operates with a simplicity and a smoothness that betoken master +design and perfection of detail. + + +_The Postmaster_ + +At the head of this great organization and directing its every movement, +watching its development, adjusting its activities, is one of the most +experienced and efficient postal experts in America, in the person of +Postmaster Edward M. Morgan, whose interesting statement is included at +the head of this section. + +Mr. Morgan entered the postal service in 1873 as a letter-carrier, at +the foot of the ladder, and by an industry that was tireless and force +of character he worked his way up, round after round, to the very +top. In the course of his long public service he transferred from the +carrier force to the clerical force, and then graduated from this to the +supervisory ranks, discharging each successive grade with conspicuous +ability. His several titles in the course of this career were: carrier, +clerk, chief clerk, superintendent of stations, superintendant of +delivery, assistant postmaster, acting postmaster, postmaster. He was +first appointed postmaster by President Roosevelt, and reappointed by +President Taft. For an interval during President Wilson's administration +he was out of office, but was reappointed by President Harding. With +such a record of progress and experience it is very evident that he must +"know the game," but if one knows nothing of his history, and meets him +for a few minutes, his grasp of detail and vision of opportunity for +future development become at once apparent. + +Postmaster Morgan has gathered around him as his heads of divisions a +corps of enthusiastic aides who have grown up in the service under his +tutelage, and each of whom has advanced step by step under the keenest +competition, demonstrating his competency for the position he fills +by the satisfactory manner in which he has discharged the duties of +the position of lower rank. Among his aides there are no amateurs; all +have been tried for a generation or more in positions of varying and +increasing importance, and they have stood the test; they are recognized +the country over as postal experts, and the work they are doing and the +efficiency they are showing are proof that their reputations are well +merited. + + +_The Organisation of the New York Post-office_ + +Next in rank to the postmaster are the assistant postmaster and the +acting assistant postmaster, the first at the head of the financial +divisions and miscellaneous executive departments, and the second at the +head of various divisions engaged in handling the mails proper. + +[Illustration: _Postmaster, New York, N.Y., and Staff._ + +_Upper row (left to right)--Edward P. Russell, Postal Cashier; Arthur H. +Harbinson, Secretary to the Postmaster; Joseph Willon, Superintendent of +Registry; Albert B. Firmin, Superintendent of Money Orders; Justus W. +Salzman, Auditor. Lower row (left to right)--Peter A. McGurty, Acting +Superintendent of Mails; Thomas B. Randies, Acting Assistant Postmaster +(Mails); Hon. Edward M. Morgan, Postmaster; John J. Kiely, Assistant +Postmaster (Finance): Charles Lubin, Superintendent of Delivery._ ] + + +_The Assistant Postmaster_ + +The assistant postmaster is Mr. John J. Kiely, who has been in the +service thirty-seven years, and, like the postmaster, has worked up from +the ranks, advancing through the various grades as foreman, assistant +superintendent, superintendent, division head, etc., to the title he now +holds. For a number of years he was in charge first of one and then of +another of the great terminal stations of the city, where the greatest +volumes of mail are handled of any of the stations in this country, +and later was made superintendent of mails, from which position he was +recently promoted to the title he now holds. + +[Illustration: + Post Office, New York, N.Y. + THIS POST OFFICE IS A BUSINESS INSTITUTION + + _Patrons are entitled to and must receive prompt, + efficient and courteous service._ + + =If you think our methods or conduct can be improved, the + Postmaster wants to hear about it, personally.= + + _EDWARD M. MORGAN, Postmaster_ + + _A new kind of sign in Government offices._ + + _The Acting Assistant Postmaster_ ] + +The acting assistant postmaster is Mr. Thomas B. Randles, who is +responsible for the movement of the mails, and who, for several years +prior to his attaining his present rank, was assistant superintendent of +mails; prior to that, he was superintendent of different stations in +various parts of the city. He has seen twenty-eight years' service in +various ranks. + + +_The Division Heads_ + +Next in rank to the officials mentioned there is a group of division +heads, corresponding with the various major activities of the office, +including the Division of Delivery, the Division of Mails, the Division +of Registered Mails, and the Division of Money-Orders, followed by the +cashier, the auditor, the classification division, etc. + +The duties of each of these heads are very clearly defined by Postmaster +Morgan, and each head is held to strict responsibility for the faithful +and efficient conduct of his division or department. The postmaster +himself is ever ready to give advice and counsel, and is the most +accessible of executives, not only to his staff, but to employees of all +rank and to the public. He in turn requires of all of his aides not only +a thorough knowledge of every detail of their work, but also that they +shall be as accessible to those under them and to the public as he is +himself. + + +_The Postmaster's Weekly Conference_ + +Once each week the postmaster meets his division heads and department +chiefs in formal council, when the problems of the service are freely +discussed and plans are formulated for such undertakings as may +require unity of action and coöperative effort. These conferences keep +the various heads apprised of what is of importance in the various +departments, and promote an esprit de corps and coöperative attitude +that explain the exceptional unity of effort that is characteristic +of the entire organization. One has only to study the organization +for a short time to discover that one of its strongest features is +the manifest team-work, the one animating and controlling influence +throughout it all being "the interest of the service." + + +_The Delivery Division_ + +Closest to the heart of the public of all the postal employees--probably +because they see so many of them and know so much of their faithful +work as they plod along day in and day out, in all kinds of weather, +with their heavy loads weighing down their shoulders and twisting their +spines--are the letter-carriers. These are all under the Division of +Delivery, the superintendent of which is Mr. Charles Lubin. Mr. Lubin +entered the service in 1890, as a substitute clerk, and is another +example of the executive who has risen, step by step, through all the +various clerical grades to supervisory rank, and then through the +various supervisory ranks to his present title. The Delivery Division +includes in its personnel, in addition to 2954 letter-carriers, 3621 +clerks, 282 laborers, and 1800 substitute employees, so that it +constitutes a small army in itself. + +The New York post-office covers both Manhattan and the Bronx, with +a postal population which greatly exceeds the population as shown +by the census. To New York gravitate daily hundreds of thousands of +people who are employed in Manhattan and the Bronx but who reside in +Brooklyn, New Jersey, Long Island, or elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands +of others reside at one address in Manhattan or the Bronx, but do +business at another, receiving mail at both addresses. Including these, +the transients, and the commuters mentioned, it is estimated that +the Delivery Division is receiving mail for approximately 8,000,000 +addressees in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. + +Adequately to meet the requirements of this vast number there are +scheduled, for the business section of the city, six carrier deliveries +daily, and four for the residential sections. Just what this means will +be better appreciated if one will pause and try to visualize what it +means to traverse every street and alley of the great area covered by +Manhattan and the Bronx from four to six times daily, stopping at every +door for which there is mail, and effecting delivery in apartments, in +tenements, in office buildings, and in factories. + +Of the 2954 carriers mentioned above, 384 are employed in collecting +mail from the street boxes, both package and letter, and from the chutes +in office buildings, etc. From the boxes in remote suburban districts +three to five collections are made daily, from boxes in the residential +sections from seven to fifteen collections daily, while in the business +sections the collections run from fifteen to twenty-seven. + +Even with the frequency of collection that takes place in the +intensively developed business sections, the boxes fill up as quickly as +they are emptied. + +To appreciate how quickly, and to make clear the volume of mail +collected by the carriers, it may be stated that among the office +buildings equipped with chute letter-boxes are the Equitable Life, +thirty-nine stories, and the Woolworth, fifty-five stories, from each +of which fifty-five to sixty full sacks of mail are collected by the +carriers daily between 3 and 7.30 P.M. These sacks are conveyed by +wagons to the Varick Street Station for postmarking and despatch, four +carriers being engaged on the task. + +The volume of mail collected at the close of business in the lower part +of the city, and largely from buildings equipped with chutes and boxes, +exceeds that handled by many first-class post-offices for an entire +twenty-four-hour period. + +[Illustration: _Rear view of New York General Post Office and +Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. Manufacturers Trust Company, West Side +offices, nearby (in semi-circle)._] + + +_The Stations_ + +For greater efficiency in handling the mails, to shorten the trips of +carriers and collectors and to serve the public convenience, as the city +has grown, various classified or carrier stations have been established, +and of these there are now no fewer than forty-eight in operation and +also two financial stations. The classified or carrier stations are +practically complete post-offices, so far as the public is concerned, +affording full facilities for the sale of stamps, money-orders, +postal savings, registration of mail, acceptance of parcel post, the +distribution of mail, etc., and for the delivery and collection of +mail by carriers. The financial stations afford all the conveniences +mentioned for the benefit of the public, except that they do not make +delivery of mail nor effect its distribution. + +It is estimated that the delivery division effects the delivery daily +through the carriers assigned to the general office and to the various +stations of approximately 5,000,000 letters, cards, and circulars, +800,000 papers, periodicals, and pieces of printed matter and small +parcel-post packages, and 65,000 bulky parcel-post packages, or, in all, +close to 6,000,000 pieces of mail of all classes. + +But the delivery of mail is only part of the story, for it is estimated +that the public mail daily in the various chutes, classified station +"drops," and street letter boxes, etc., approximate 5,000,000 pieces of +first-class mail and several million circulars, all of which have to be +gathered together and put through the various processes of cancellation, +sorting, etc., before the actual work of delivery or despatch begins. + +The tremendous magnitude of the business of the various stations is +shown not only in the volume of mail received and delivered, but in the +sale of stamps, the collection of postage on second-class matter, etc., +constituting the receipts. + +The receipts at the City Hall Station, for instance, are greater than +the receipts of any post-office in the United States except Chicago, +Ill., Philadelphia, Pa., and Boston, Mass., as shown by the table +below, giving figures for the fiscal year 1921. In the case of all the +offices named, the figures include not only the main office but all the +stations of the offices. In the case of the City Hall Station alone, the +figures are for this unit exclusively, and no other point. + + RECEIPTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1921 + + Chicago, Ill. $ 42,711,561 + Philadelphia, Pa. 15,588,738 + Boston, Mass. 11,597,061 + City Hall Station 9,749,018 + Saint Louis, Mo. 8,722,633 + Kansas City, Mo. 6,490,018 + Cleveland, Ohio 6,218,695 + Detroit, Mich. 5,742,835 + Brooklyn, N. Y. 5,695,037 + San Francisco, Cal. 5,623,409 + Pittsburgh, Pa. 5,298,504 + Cincinnati, Ohio 4,663,323 + Minneapolis, Minn. 4,606,689 + Los Angeles, Cal. 4,580,969 + Baltimore, Md. 4,323,525 + Washington, D. C. 3,661,760 + Buffalo, N. Y. 3,438,497 + Milwaukee, Wis. 3,311,922 + +From these figures it will also be seen that the receipts of the City +Hall Station are greater than the receipts of the entire city of Saint +Louis, as great as the receipts of Cleveland, Ohio, and Buffalo, N. Y., +combined, as great as the receipts of Detroit, Mich., and Washington, +D. C., combined, as great as those of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Milwaukee, +Wis., combined, or those of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minn., +combined. + +The rapid increase in the volume of business at the City Hall Station is +shown by the following figures of receipts: + + Calendar + Year + + 1915 $ 6,587,228.98 + 1916 7,124,138.76 + 1917 7,544,849.70 + 1918 8,162,774.76 + 1919 9,188,449.66 + 1920 10,253,435.42 + +Increase in five years--55.65 per cent. + +City Hall is not the only station of great receipts, as the following +statistics show: + + RECEIPTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1921-2 + + Madison Square Station $ 5,458,705.90 + Grand Central Station 4,582,718.87 + Wall Street Station 2,815,963.56 + Station "D" 2,354,165.33 + Times Square Station 2,323,791.88 + West 43d Street Station 1,742,125.04 + Station "P" 1,688,795.83 + Station "G" 1,540,499.66 + Station "O" 1,523,785.14 + Station "F" 1,432,161.03 + Station "S" 1,192,883.02 + Station "A" 1,138,459.07 + +In addition to the actual receipts of the various stations, made up by +the sale of stamps, etc., as described, their financial transactions +incident to the money-order and postal-savings business are tremendous, +as will later be shown in detail under the heading "Division of +Money-Orders" and "Postal Savings"; suffice it to say here that the City +Hall Station issued last year money-orders to the value of $3,183,209, +and the Madison Square Station money-orders to the value of $2,004,273, +while Station "B" had to the credit of its postal-savings depositors +$6,786,622, Tompkins Square Station, $5,580,389, and Station "U," +$4,595,974. + +How greatly the business of the stations has grown is evidenced by +the fact that in 1875 the gross receipts for the year amounted to but +$3,166,946.19, which is less than the receipts for one month at the +present time, the receipts for last July amounting to $3,821,095.94. + +To those who are now enjoying the advantage of free delivery service +it seems that it is the natural thing, and it is difficult for them to +realize how a busy community could get along without it, yet as a matter +of fact it was not established until 1863, when it was experimentally +installed in forty-nine cities, with but 449 carriers, which number is +about a seventh of those employed at the present time in New York alone. + +The number of stations has also increased rapidly. In 1889 there were +but eighteen classified stations and twenty contract stations in New +York, while to-day, as previously mentioned, there are forty-eight of +the former, two financial, and 271 contract stations authorized, and +also forty-one Warship Branches. + + +_Foreign Mail for City Delivery_ + +The receipts of foreign mail from Europe is increasing very rapidly. +During the month of July, 1922, there was received for delivery in New +York City from foreign countries 3,372,767 letters and 2577 sacks of +foreign papers. + +[Illustration: _Few people who hasten through the New York General +Post Office building notice its architectural beauty of design and +perspective._] + +The task of handling the city mail received from steamers is +particularly trying, since many of the addresses are difficult to +read, insufficient postage is prepaid in many cases, and it comes not +in a steady flow but in quantities at one time; and it is, of course, +always in addition to the regular daily quota of domestic matter. In +exemplification of this it may be said that on August 11, 1922, a single +steamer, the _Mauretania_, brought in 8553 sacks of letters. + + +_The Division of Mails_ + +The Division of Mails embraces the Division of Delivery, which has +already been described, the great terminal stations, that is, the Grand +Central Station (including the Foreign Station Annex); also the Division +of Registered Mails and the Motor Vehicle Service. All of these, as +previously mentioned, are under the general supervision of Acting +Assistant Postmaster Randles. The Division of Mails proper, exclusive +of the Division of Delivery and of the Division of Registered Mails, +is under the acting superintendent of mails, Mr. Peter A. McGurty. Mr. +McGurty was formerly assistant superintendent of delivery, and has been +in the postal service in New York since 1897. Mr. McGurty, like other +division heads, served first as a clerk, and rose gradually, grade by +grade, to his present position. In the Mailing Division there are 4942 +employees. The duties of the Mailing Division are many and varied. In +the main it is responsible for the distribution and despatch of all +outgoing mail, including the parcel post. It is in itself a complex +organization, employing not only the army of men above mentioned but +an enormous fleet of motor vehicles and complex mechanical equipment +for the conveyance of mail from one part of an office to another, and +the loading of it upon railroad cars, ships, etc. The average daily +transactions of the division are as follows: + + Outgoing letters 3,965,023 + Circulars 1,917,190 + Second-and third-class matter 1,620,250 + Parcel-post matter 363,805 + Customs due matter 800 + Collections on customs due matter $ 2,500 + +One duty of the Mailing Division is the weighing of second-and +third-class matter to determine the postage required thereon. The daily +average of the matter thus weighed is approximately 343,000 pounds, and +on this postage is collected to the amount of approximately $10,500. + +In order to make clear what is involved in the handling of a great +volume of mail such as is disposed of daily in this division of the New +York office, it may be well to describe the course that is followed by +a single letter. Assume that a letter is mailed in a street letterbox, +in the district of a great terminal; it is brought in by a collector, +who deposits it upon a long table surrounded by many employees. The +table is likely to be what is known as a "pick-up table," which is one +equipped with conveyor belts and convenient slide apertures for letters +of different lengths, and into these apertures, with nimble fingers, the +clerks grouped around it separate the mass of letters received, placing +the letters with all the stamps in one direction. As quickly as they do +so, the conveyor belts carry the letters, according to the different +sizes into which they have been separated, to the electrically-driven +canceling machines. These canceling machines are operated by a second +group of employees, who feed in the letters, which are canceled at the +rate of approximately 25,000 letters per hour. The whirling dies by +which are imprinted the postmarks which cancel the stamps revolve at +almost lightning speed. These postmarks are changed each half-hour, and +the aim is to postmark the letters as rapidly as they come to hand, so +that but a few minutes intervene between the time of mailing and time +of postmark. This postmark is, in fact, the pace-maker. Once it is +imprinted upon a letter, it can be determined by the postmark at any +time just how long a time has been required for it to reach a particular +point in the progress toward despatch. + +From the postmarking machine the letters are carried, sometimes by +conveyors, sometimes by hand, and sometimes by small trucks, to what +are known as the "primary separating cases." These cases are manned by +employees who separate the letters into groups, according to certain +divisions which facilitate the secondary and further distributions. Thus +at the primary cases the letters are likely to be broken up into lots +for the city delivery, for many different States, for foreign countries, +and for certain large cities. Each separation on the primary case will +likely be followed by a secondary separation almost immediately. A +sufficient number of men is kept on the facing or pick-up tables, on +the primary cases, and on the secondary cases and pouching racks, to +maintain a continuous movement of the mails. The aim is to keep the mail +moving not only continuously from the point of posting to the point of +delivery, as nearly in a direct line as practicable, but rapidly also, +and with only an arresting of the movement when this is made necessary +by awaiting the departure of the next train. + +From the secondary cases the letters are carried to the pouching rack. +By the time they reach the pouching rack they are made up into bundles, +various letters for the same localities having been segregated and +tied together. In some instances the packages of letters are tagged or +labeled for States, in others for cities, and still others for railroad +lines or for sections of such lines. + +The handling of papers and circulars is much the same, so far as +distribution is concerned, as the handling of letters, though there is +considerable variation as to the details of segregation. + +[Illustration: _Carriers sorting mail in the General Post Office._] + +With this distribution of the mails there goes a system of despatches. +In respect to these it may be said that it is essential that various +clerks engaged in the process as described shall know the time of +departure of the many trains leaving New York for different points. They +must know how much time in advance of departure is essential between +"tying out" the packages of letters and the actual departure of the +train from the station, and thereby allow sufficient time, but no more +time than is absolutely necessary, to make the connection. Every detail +of the work is plotted; nothing is left to chance. At a certain hour and +at a certain minute every clerk engaged in the same distribution at the +same station ties out for the same office or route, and likewise at the +pouching rack the pouches are closed, locked, and despatched according +to a fixed schedule. If the pouch has to be carried from the rack to the +truck a given number of feet, a time allowance is made. At a set time +the truck that conveys the pouches to the station whence the train is to +depart must leave. The time for the vehicle to traverse the prescribed +route is fixed; sufficient time for this _and not more_ is allowed. +Also the time for unloading the truck and loading the train is fixed. +When it is understood that this course has to be followed by every one +of the millions of letters handled, and that there are 50,000 offices +in the United States to which mail is forwarded, and that in addition +to this it is being distributed for practically every city, town, and +hamlet in the world, the complexity of the task becomes apparent. From +the General Post-office alone there are as many as 457 despatches of +first-class mail daily, and forty-five despatches of second-, third-, +and fourth-class matter. + +Within the last few years the burden of the parcel post has been added +to the duties of the post-office. It is estimated that 75,000 pieces of +parcel-post matter are handled at the General Post-office daily, and +that 65,000 additional pieces of this matter are received at the same +point from the stations. + +Parcel-post packages are commonly very bulky. Such may now be mailed +for local delivery and for delivery in the first, second, and third +zones, that is, within three hundred miles of the place of mailing, +if they do not exceed seventy pounds in weight, while packages not +in excess of fifty pounds may be mailed to any address in the United +States. The handling of these packages necessitates the use of entirely +different character of equipment. As far as it is practicable to do +so, this matter is segregated from mail of the other classes. Many of +the packages are too large to be inclosed readily in mail sacks, and +are forwarded "outside." In the distribution of parcel-post matter, +sack racks are used into which all parcels which are small enough to be +sacked are separated. The distribution, as in the other classes, is made +at primary and secondary racks. + +A feature of the Mailing Division is the handling of such equipment, as +pouches, sacks, etc., intended to be used for the transportation of the +mails. Approximately 69,000 sacks and 18,000 pouches are shipped by the +New York General office daily. + + +_The Mailing Division--Incoming Foreign Section_ + +In this section mails are handled which are received from foreign +countries. These arrive chiefly on steamers that make New York their +port of destination. Some of the foreign mails, however, reach New York +via Boston, Philadelphia, Key West, New Orleans, Laredo, San Francisco, +Seattle, and Vancouver. The number of pieces of mail received from +foreign countries weekly by this section approximates 3,639,000 letters +and cards, 2,631,000 pieces of printed matter, 15,000 packages of parcel +post, and 568,500 registered articles. These are forwarded to their +destination after distribution. Many of the letters and cards are not +prepaid, or are prepaid but partly, and the postage charged on such +matter approximates $14,200 each week. + +[Illustration: _Carriers leaving the General Post Office on an early +morning delivery._] + +Owing to the unsettled conditions in Europe the rates of postage +in foreign countries are continually changing. As a result of the +depreciation of Russian currency, letters coming from that country +have recently been prepaid at the rate of 450,000 rubles per ounce or +fraction thereof. Prior to the war a ruble was worth approximately 51.46 +cents. The 450,000 rubles are now equivalent to fifty centimes of gold, +or ten cents in United States currency. + +[Illustration: _Mail at the Post Office ready to be loaded onto +trucks._] + +Many peculiarities are noted in the addresses of incoming foreign +letters. Very frequently a letter will bear upon the envelop a copy of +a business letter-head or bill-head. This is accounted for by the fact +that some one in this country when writing to Europe will direct his +correspondent to address the expected answer according to the address on +the letter-head or bill-head he uses, and the foreigner, not knowing +what to select from whatever is printed, takes what he regards to be the +safe course and copies all. A letter will sometimes be found to bear a +full list of everything sold in a country store, including hardware, +provisions, clothing, shoes, and periodicals and newspapers. In other +cases the senders cut short the addresses and are satisfied if, in +addition to their correspondent's name, they give "America" spelled in +any way that suits them best, and the ways are legion. + + +_Mailing Division--Motor Vehicle Service_ + +The Motor Vehicle Service of the New York post-office is in charge +of Mr. William M. Taggart. The fleet consists of 329 vehicles. All +these are owned by the Government. The Government likewise makes its +own repairs, employs its own chauffeurs and mechanics, painters, +upholsterers, and various artisans incidental to the operation, repair, +and maintenance of the vehicles. There are two garages, and in all 727 +men are employed. The garages include fully equipped machine-shops, and +stock-rooms in which are constantly kept duplicate parts for all the +machines in use. + +The magnitude of the service will be realized when it is known that +during the last fiscal year the vehicles traveled 4,330,102 miles, or +174 times the distance around the world. + +During the last fiscal year the motor vehicle service made 646,967 +trips, according to predetermined schedules, and 67,053 trips which +were not scheduled but of an emergency character. This gave a total of +713,020 trips. Of this vast number of trips, scheduled and emergency, +there were but 747 which were but partly performed and but 1323 which +failed. + +[Illustration: _Mail trucks loaded with parcel post matter to be +transported to different stations in the city._] + +These trucks are maintained in a condition for operation at all hours of +the day and night. No matter what weather conditions prevail, the mails +must be moved, and the motor vehicles must be maintained in a condition +of efficient repair to permit of their utilization in this work. +Every detail of expenditure for the fleet is maintained on a strictly +scientific cost accounting basis, the number of gallons of oil, the +service of the tires, the cost of operation per mile, with and without +chauffeur, are all a matter of record. The repairs made on each machine +are carefully recorded, with the cost for the parts and the cost of the +mechanical help figured separately, so that it is ascertainable from +the records what was spent under this heading for each vehicle during +each month and year. + + +_Mailing Division--Transportation Section_ + +The Transportation Section, under Assistant Superintendent of Mails John +J. McKelvey, is closely coördinated with the motor vehicle section. +The duty of this section is to effect the loading of the vehicles +and to arrange the schedules so as effectively to move the mails +from the point at which they are made up to their despatch by train, +or delivery to some station or group of stations. How great is the +volume of mail handled will be understood when it is said that from +the General Post-office alone the average number of pouches received +and despatched daily is approximately 16,000, while the average number +of sacks received and despatched is approximately 80,000. The pouches +contain first-class mail and the sacks contain mail of other classes. +The average number of pieces received and despatched daily, too large to +be inserted in either sacks or pouches, is approximately 15,000. At each +of the great terminals there are very extensive platforms; the one at +the City Hall Station is a block long; that at the General Post-office +two blocks long, and these platforms are under the control of the +transportation department. During the hours when the mails are being +despatched they are among the busiest spots in the postal system. As +many as 1200 trucks commonly receive and discharge mail from the General +Post-office platform daily. Other platforms are correspondingly busy. + + +_The Pneumatic Tubes_ + +The pneumatic tube service has now been resumed between the General +Post-office, the terminals, and certain of the principal stations of the +New York postal system, which was discontinued June 30, 1918, owing to +the antagonism to this method of transportation on the part of the then +postmaster-general, Mr. Albert Burleson. Legislation has been enacted +and departmental action taken within the last year to bring about the +resumption of operation of this valuable system. The pneumatic tubes +form what is practically a great loop running north in two branches from +the City Hall. One branch goes up the east side of the city, east of +Central Park, and the other up the west side, west of Central Park, the +two lines being joined together at 125th Street by a line running east +and west. This loop and its extensions link the General Post-office and +the following named stations: A, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, N, O, P, U, +V, W, Y, Grand Central, Madison Square, Times Square, Wall Street, City +Hall, and Varick Street. The City Hall Station is also connected with +the Brooklyn General Post-office. The pneumatic tubes are located four +to six feet below the surface of the city's streets, and through these +tubes cylindrical steel containers are forced by compressed air. The +containers are approximately seven inches in diameter and twenty-one +inches long, and the pressure of air is sufficient to impel them at the +rate of about thirty miles per hour. Containers carry from 500 to 700 +letters each, and can be despatched as frequently as one every eight or +ten seconds. It will be seen, therefore, that by means of the pneumatic +tubes a practically continuous flow of the mails can be maintained +between stations. The pneumatic tubes are not owned by the Government, +but the service is leased on a yearly rental basis. Under the terms +of the lease the company that owns the tube system operates it, and +the Government delivers to the despatching points within the different +stations and terminals the mail to be transported. Upon arrival at its +destination the mail is again delivered to the postal employees, who are +ready to receive it. + +There are approximately twenty-eight miles of double tubes, so that +mail can be despatched in both directions at the same time. During +the period the system was in operation before the tubes conveyed the +mails with remarkable efficiency, and it is said that as to stoppages +and breakdowns, etc., their operation was 99.79 per cent. perfect. In +one day 27,243 containers were despatched through the tubes, with a +total capacity of more than 10,000,000 letters. They averaged for a +year, though not used to maximum capacity, 5,000,000 letters a day. One +advantage of the pneumatic tubes is their freedom from interruption by +inclement weather. As the tubes are below the surface of the street, +conditions of ice, snow, and sleet, which are embarrassing to motor +vehicles, do not interrupt operation. At different times in several of +our cities vehicles conveying the mails have been "held up," but with +the tubes, robbery is practically impossible. It is anticipated that +with the tube system resumed a large percentage of the letter mail +intended both for city delivery and for despatch to other points will be +materially advanced in delivery. + +The Foreign Station of the New York post-office stands out among the +postal activities of the country for it is the station at which +are made up all the mails intended for foreign countries, with few +exceptions, such as Canada. The superintendent of the station is Mr. +Thomas J. Walters, who has been connected with it for many years. It is +a busy place, particularly just before the departure of a steamer, when +every effort is exerted to despatch all mail that can be crowded in, +up to the very last minute. This station has grown in a comparatively +short time and from a very small beginning. In 1885 the average weekly +number of sacks made up for all parts of the world was only 1200; by +1890 the number had grown to 1900; by 1900 it had reached about 4500; +in 1910 the figures were 10,000, and at the present time the average +is approximately 18,000 sacks weekly. Mail is forwarded to the Foreign +Station from all parts of the United States, and is here distributed for +the various foreign countries and cities for which it is intended. In +this distribution expert knowledge of foreign geography and political +divisions is required, for a large percentage of the mail received is +indefinitely directed, and only an expert could determine for what +points much of it is intended. The shifting map of Europe has added +greatly to the difficulties, for many correspondents in this country are +still ignorant of the new boundaries. + +In the equipment of this station are hundreds of distribution cases, and +many of the letters which the experts at these cases rapidly sort are +actually so poorly written that the average man would not be able to +decipher them without much study. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: _Exhibits used for educational work in postal improvement +campaign._] + +One interesting feature of the Foreign Station is the parcel-post +section. The United States now has parcel-post conventions with many +foreign countries, and the volume of this business is growing very +rapidly. The rate of postage is but twelve cents a pound, and for this +small fee a package will be accepted, even in distant California or +Oregon, transmitted across the continent, over the ocean, and to a +destination in South America, Europe, or elsewhere. In the early days +of the parcel-post it was used chiefly by the person who had friends or +relatives in Europe and wished to send a present to them, but it is now +being used very extensively in commercial transactions. By this means +goods ordered from abroad are forwarded by the great mail-order houses, +and the total volume of this business is large. + +Much difficulty is experienced in inducing senders of mail matter to +wrap it securely. A long campaign of education has been conducted, but +there is still room for improvement, as evidenced by the fact that four +clerks are engaged repacking, rewrapping, and repairing packages not +properly and safely wrapped, and supplying addresses in the case of +indefinite directions, etc. + +With the increase in the volume of the mail there has been an increase +in the number of ships carrying the mails, and so, while in August, +1873, there were but thirty-four vessels carrying mail that sailed from +New York, during July, 1922, 180 such vessels sailed; on a single day +twenty ships left this port carrying a total of 11,299 sacks. During the +month of July, 1922, 97,000 sacks of mail were shipped, a quantity that +would tax the capacity of a large warehouse. + +A special feature of the service is the operation of post-offices on U. +S. naval vessels. There are more than fifty such post-offices, serving +the convenience of the boys in blue. Whether the naval vessels are +equipped with post-offices or not, the Foreign Station is kept posted as +to their movements by the Navy Department, and special efforts are made +to so forward all mail received as to reach the addressee at the first +port of call. + +During the war the Foreign Station experienced many trying times in its +efforts to get American mail to destination. The sailing time of ships +was seldom known much in advance of actual sailing, and the utmost +secrecy was maintained as to vessel movements. The Navy Department +advised the Foreign Station of the intended sailing of vessels by +cipher, though such information was most jealously guarded. The utmost +caution was taken in the making out of address tags, etc., to conceal +the identity of the various units, the mail for which had to go out by +the different ships, and throughout the war there was not a single leak. +The service performed during this trying time by the employees of the +Foreign Station were so conspicuously efficient as repeatedly to win +approbation. + +A recapitulation of the several classes of mail despatched from this +station to foreign countries is shown below and indicates the rapidity +of its growth: + + 1914 1921 + + Letters 110,121,846 140,654,326 + Printed Matter, etc. 53,940,035 101,905,335 + Circulars 12,170,937 15,477,570 + Registered Articles 4,372,889 10,238,298 + Parcel Post 571,997 1,920,580 + ----------- ----------- + Total number of articles + despatched. 181,177,704 270,196,109 + + +_The Registry Department_ + +One of the most important departments of the New York post-office is the +Registry Division, which is under the supervision of Mr. Joseph Willon. +Mr. Willon has been long in the postal service, and for many years prior +to his present assignment was superintendent of some of the larger +stations of the city, including the one at Times Square. + +In the Registry Division at the General Post-office 550 persons are +employed; at the City Hall Station, 130; and at the Foreign Station +there is a large force, assigned exclusively to the handling of the +foreign registered mails. + +The registered mails are the most important and the most valuable. Just +how valuable they are no one knows, but millions of dollars in cash and +securities are handled daily, and the banks as well as other financial +and commercial interests of the country would be seriously affected if +the registry system ceased to operate, even for a brief period. Some +idea as to the enormous values handled by the registry department may +be gained from the fact that during the last fiscal year 7546 packages +containing diamonds only were received from abroad, the dutiable value +of which approximated $150,000,000. In all, 73,000 packages were +received that were regarded as dutiable. Notwithstanding the enormous +values handled, the percentage of losses is exceedingly small. + +According to the last report of the postmaster-general, throughout the +United States the number of registered pieces amounted to 78,205,014. +The New York post-office handled 41,592,423, or more than half of the +total. As stated, the percentage of losses is small, and in the case of +first-class registered matter of domestic origin there is an indemnity +up to fifty dollars, and for the matter of the third class an indemnity +up to twenty-five dollars. Under the agreements that prevail with +certain foreign countries provision is also made for indemnifying the +owners under certain circumstances where foreign losses occur. + +The handling of registered mail differs chiefly from the handling of +ordinary mail in the extra care which is taken to safe-guard it. The +aim is to record it at the time of receipt, and to thereafter require +all persons handling it to account for it as it passes through their +hands along its route. Receipts are required at all points, and the +letters are forwarded in pouches secured by "rotary locks," provided +with certain numbers running in sequence, controlled mechanically, the +mechanism being such that the lock cannot be opened without raising +the number at which the lock was set. If the lock is tampered with in +transit, since record is made of the number set when it was despatched, +the circumstance is apparent. + + REGISTERED ARTICLES HANDLED AT + NEW YORK, N. Y., YEAR ENDING + DECEMBER 31, 1921 + Total No. + Station N. Y. City Distribution Foreign of Pieces + Handled + + G. P. O. 10,927,723 12,144,069 2,331,683 25,403,475 + City Hall 2,848,002 2,832,993 230,124 5,911,119 + Foreign 132,250 10,143,579 10,277,829 + ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- + Total 13,775,725 15,109,312 12,705,386 41,592,423 + + +_The Division of Money-orders and the Postal Savings_ + +The financial transactions of the New York post-office are of enormous +volume. Through its Division of Money-orders it issues and pays +money-orders of a value comparable with the business of the large banks +of the city. The Postal Savings System also has on deposit a sum which +is exceeded by the deposits of only nine savings-banks in Manhattan, and +is operated as part of the organization of the Division of Money-orders. + +This division is under the supervision of Mr. Albert Firmin, who has +been connected with the postal system within a few months of forty +years, and in point of service is dean among the division heads. It has +been through Mr. Firmin's especial assistance that we have been able to +obtain so complete a story of the New York post-office, although every +office and every executive has coöperated in every possible way, for +which extended courtesies we hereby make grateful acknowledgment. + +The New York post-office issues more money-orders than any office in +the United States. The volume of money-order business, domestic and +international, for the last five years, is shown below: + + DOMESTIC MONEY-ORDERS ISSUED + Year Number Amount + + 1918 2,504,473 $ 25,014,403.41 + 1919 2,762,021 32,206,933.02 + 1920 3,306,613 43,457,921.55 + 1921 3,549,742 46,699,314.76 + 1922 3,846,676 45,339,319.17 + ----------- ---------------- + Total 15,969,525 $ 192,717,891.91 + + INTERNATIONAL MONEY-ORDERS ISSUED + Year Number Amount + + 1918 194,349 $ 2,807,166.44 + 1919 192,655 2,839,846.28 + 1920 122,088 1,824,007.11 + 1921 76,292 1,161,793.74 + 1922 92,303 1,344,494.51 + ---------- --------------- + Total 677,687 $ 9,977,308.08 + + DOMESTIC MONEY-ORDERS PAID + Year Number Amount + + 1918 16,869,819 $ 115,059,322.85 + 1919 16,544,345 132,692,080.13 + 1920 18,321,840 174,530,250.50 + 1921 16,379,250 155,812,988.47 + 1922 17,345,209 134,217,183.37 + ---------- --------------- + Total 85,460,463 $ 712,311,825.32 + + INTERNATIONAL MONEY-ORDERS PAID + Year Number Amount + + 1918 51,443 $ 962,232.03 + 1919 65,605 1,349,771.29 + 1920 73,660 2,560,337.36 + 1921 47,493 803,782.14 + 1922 50,553 605,932.87 + --------- --------------- + Total 288,754 $ 6,282,055.69 + +During the fiscal year last past, 722,321 international money-orders, +amounting to $9,583,425.62, were certified to foreign countries, and +112,292 such orders were certified from foreign countries to the United +States, the total amount of these being $1,802,902.66. + +Occasionally in excess of 100,000 money-orders are paid in a single day, +and it is the rule that this volume of business must be balanced to a +cent daily. + +[Illustration: Photo by Courtesy of Powers Accounting Machine Company + +_Money order accounting machines in use at the New York General Post +Office._ ] + +The employees engaged in handling these millions of orders are held +strictly accountable for the accuracy of their work, and if error occurs +resulting in loss, it must be borne by the person at fault. + +The most modern methods of accounting are in use, mechanical +labor-aiding equipment being utilized wherever it is practicable. The +method followed is to perforate a card by means of a small electric +machine, so that the perforations show the various data upon the paid +money-order that are required to record the payment, the amount, etc. +These machines are operated by skilled women employees, trained in +methods of accuracy and speed, and whose rating and advancement depend +on their efficiency. + +The cards are then fed into electrically-driven adding- and +printing-machines, known as tabulators, which automatically print upon +sheets, in columns, all the data shown by the perforations in the card. +From this machine the cards are transferred to sorting machines, which +operate at great speed and automatically set the cards up numerically +according to the numbers of the offices which issued them. Thereupon +other sheets are printed by the tabulators showing the orders in +their new and correct numerical sequence, these sheets being used +for searching purposes in the event of applications being made for +duplicates, etc. + +Various other mechanical devices are employed in other branches of the +work, and the equipment is in all respects up to date, and minimizes +clerical work to the greatest extent. + + +_The Country's Foreign Exchange Clearing-House_ + +In addition to the work which is usually done in a post-office in the +issue and payment of money-orders, the New York post-office is the +International Exchange Office for the United States, handling all +money-orders passing between this country and Europe, South America, +Africa, etc. The volume of this business has been materially reduced +since the war, and is affected by the unsettled condition of the old +world finances, but it is nevertheless large, as shown by the figures +given below for the last fiscal year. + + Number Amount + International money-orders certified to + foreign countries 722,321 $ 9,583,425.62 + International money-orders certified + from foreign countries 112,292 1,802,902.66 + +The duty of purchasing foreign exchange also falls upon the New York +post-office, and the transactions in this are at times very heavy. The +total financial transactions of the Division of Money-orders, exclusive +of the postal savings, amounted last year to $235,133,669.03. + + +_The Postal Savings_ + +At practically all the stations of the New York office there are +postal-savings depositories which are open to the public from 8 A.M. +to 8 P.M. The rate of interest on postal savings is but two per cent., +but the advantage of absolute safety which the system affords appeals +to those who utilize it. Not more than $2500 is accepted from one +depositor, but a deposit as small as one dollar is accepted, and this +may even be accumulated by the purchase of ten-cent postal-savings +stamps, which are obtainable at all stations. + +New York has on deposit close to one third of all the postal-savings +deposits in the United States. There are approximately 140,000 +depositors in Manhattan and the Bronx, and they have to their credit in +excess of $44,000,000. Thus it will be seen that the New York office +is not only a colossus among post-offices, viewed from the standpoint +of postal facilities and postal business, but that as a financial +institution as well it is a giant. + + +_Office of the Cashier_ + +The cashier is the disbursing officer of the New York office, and he +likewise receives all money derived from the sale of postage-stamps, +stamped envelops, postal cards, and internal revenue stamps which +are disposed of at the different stations and in all the third-and +fourth-class post-offices in thirty-five counties in the State +of New York. The cashier is Mr. E. P. Russell, and his financial +responsibilities are great. The New York post-office is the depository +for surplus postal funds from all first-and second-class post-offices +in New York State, and it likewise provides hundreds of offices with +treasury savings stamps and certificates, and accounts for the revenue +received therefrom. How great is the volume of business of the cashier's +office will be seen from the statistics given below, which are for the +fiscal year ended June 30, 1922. + + STAMPS + Kind Number + + Ordinary 1,317,465,292 + Postage due 8,584,300 + Parcel post 150,750 + Proprietary (revenue) 1,768,763 + Documentary (revenue) 7,240,444 + Stamps in coils 337,852,500 + ------------- + 1,673,062,049 + + Books of stamps 1,403,100 + International reply coupons 30,000 + + + POSTAL CARDS + Denomination Number + + Postal cards--1c. 147,515,077 + Postal cards--2c. 29,242,551 + Postal cards--4c. 1,163,209 + ----------- + 177,920,837 + + + STAMPED ENVELOPS + Kind Number + + Low-back 95,826,243 + High-back 29,411,708 + Open-window 4,671,750 + Extra-quality 466,000 + Special-request 95,371,000 + ----------- + 225,746,701 + + TREASURY STAMPS AND CERTIFICATES + SINCE DECEMBER 15, 1921 + $ 1.00 stamps 43,017 + 25.00 certificates 12,471 + 100.00 certificates 11,403 + 1000.00 certificates 1,195 + +If the postage and revenue stamps shown above could be placed +lengthwise, in one single line, it would reach a distance of 26,876 +miles, more than enough to encircle the earth. + + +_Pay-roll Worries of Magnitude_ + +The cashier's office pays the salaries of the 15,000 employees of +the New York office, which in the last fiscal year amounted to +$23,594,824.60. It also pays many of the employees of the Railway Mail +Service, this salary list for the year totaling $5,103,717.11; also all +the rural delivery carriers in New York State, their earnings being +$3,394,540.56 for the year. + +A feature of the parcel-post system is the indemnity which is paid in +the case of damage or loss to insured parcels. When applications for +indemnities are received from the public they are investigated by the +Inquiry Section, and when it is determined that payment should be made, +the cashier's office makes the disbursement. Approximately 200 drafts +are drawn daily to cover these cases. + +Mention has been made of treasury savings certificates handled by the +New York office, which in the month of July were sold to the value of +about $600,000. These certificates, as the name indicates, while issued +by the Treasury Department are handled largely by the Post-office +Department as a convenience to the public and in the interest of the +government to better promote the sales. + +The large amount of one month's sales indicates the measure of service +thus provided and the extent to which it is used. + + +_Office of the Auditor_ + +The auditor is the checking officer of all receipts and disbursements +of the New York post-office. The position is held by Mr. Justus W. +Salzmann, another postal veteran, and his corps audits the postal, +money-order, and postal-savings accounts, prepares statements of +these accounts for transmission to the comptroller of the Post-office +Department, and verifies the money-order and postal accounts of mail +clerks in charge of post-offices on naval vessels. He also audits the +accounts of approximately 1400 post-offices in the State of New York +known as "district offices," of which New York City is the Central +Accounting office, and he corresponds with the postmasters of these +offices in connection with the conduct of their offices. + +The auditor also supervises the examination of financial accounts at the +main office and at all stations, made by station examiners, corresponds +with and prepares statements for the Commissioner of Pensions in +connection with refunds under the Retirement Act, and with the United +States Employees' Compensation Commission in connection with injuries +sustained by employees while on duty. He has charge of contracts +requiring expenditures, as well as correspondence relating to leases of +post-office stations and to repairs and additional equipment required at +these stations. + +The organization of the auditor's office is divided into two sections, +each under the supervision of a bookkeeper; one has charge of the +general accounts of the New York office and the accounts of district +post-offices; the other has charge of the auditing of the money-order +and postal-savings accounts, the preparation and verification of +pay-rolls, and second-class and permit-matter accounts. + +The auditor has immediate charge of six station examiners who report on +the financial accounts of all stations; they also investigate and report +on the need for establishing and maintaining contract stations and +attend to complaints received concerning the operation of such stations. + +The auditor, as the checking officer of the New York post-office, +audits receipts and disbursements totaling over $700,000,000 annually. +The postal receipts for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1922, were +$54,089,023.99, as compared with $52,292,433.91 for the previous fiscal +year, a gain of $1,796,590.08. + + +_The Appointment Section_ + +The Appointment Section corresponds to a well-organized personnel +bureau of a modern business establishment. This section is under the +superintendency of Mr. Peter Putz. All appointees from the Civil Service +list report to this section, and from here they are assigned to the +various divisions and departments, according to the requirements. In a +force of 15,000 men there are, of course, many changes daily, caused +by deaths, resignations, promotions, and demotions. Whatever action +is involved in the changes is taken by the Appointment Section. The +efficiency records of all employees are filed here, and likewise the +bonds covering their financial responsibility. From the day a person +enters the service to the time he or she leaves it, a record is kept of +all ratings, of qualifications as determined by his superior officers, +and of all delinquencies. + + +_The Drafting Section_ + +How diversified the requirements of the postal service are is +illustrated by the work of the Drafting Section, under the direction of +Mr. John T. Rathbun, whose corps of draftsmen are constantly engaged +in laying out new stations, replotting equipment in different units as +various changes incident to the growth of the city necessitate, or as +changes in the regulations affect the volume of business at different +points. This section includes also a corps of mechanics engaged in the +repair and maintenance of mail-handling apparatus and equipment. + + +_The Supply Department_ + +The Supply Department of the New York post-office corresponds to +a well-equipped store and printing establishment. It is under the +superintendency of Mr. William Gibson. By this division supplies are +furnished not only to the New York office and its stations, including +those on naval vessels, but to post-offices throughout New York State, +as many as 2200 points in all being cared for. Among the items supplied +are 5,000,000 penalty envelops and 1700 different varieties of forms +and books, of which approximately 60,000,000 copies are used annually. +This department furnishes 250 different items of stationery and of +janitors' supplies, and innumerable repair parts for a great variety +of mechanical contrivances used in the postal system. The aim of the +official in charge of the department is to keep in touch with the +latest labor-aiding mechanical devices that can be utilized in the +service, and among the various bureaus and sections will be found more +than 300 type-writers, eighty adding-machines, cancelling machines, +check-writing, check-protecting, accounting, and duplicating machines. +For these numerous repairs are required and parts have to be secured, +all of which is attended to by this department. + +A feature of this department is a well-equipped printing section, which +prints a daily paper or bulletin containing instructions, orders, and +information for the employees, as well as numerous forms, posters, +placards, etc., utilizing in this work a monotype type-setting machine, +two cylinder and five job presses. A detail in its workshop is the +precancellation of postage-stamps, to meet the requirements of large +mailers who desire to purchase them, of which the yearly output is +approximately 250,000,000. + + +_The Classification Section_ + +In the Division of Classification all questions involving rates and +conditions of mailing are passed upon. At the head of this section is +Mr. Frederick G. Mulker, whose experience with these matters is probably +unequaled. + +All applications for the entry of publications as "second-class" matter +are handled here, and to this bureau publishers come to arrange for +the acceptance of their magazines and papers. After a publication +is admitted to the mails at the second-class rate its columns are +scrutinized to detect anything that infringes upon the regulations, and +if anything is found, action is taken by this section. The law defines +various classes of mail matter, and innumerable questions arise as to +the class in which certain articles belong, many of the questions being +difficult of determination and involving numerous technicalities, but +here, sooner or later, all questions are settled. + +It is to this point, also, that the public comes for information as +to the preparation of matter for the mails, how it should be wrapped, +addressed, and posted; this section passes upon the mailability of +matter under the lottery laws, which cover everything relating to prize +schemes, contests, competitions, drawings, endless-chain schemes, etc. +Many are the plans submitted, and while the law is rigid in respect +to these matters, the field is alluring, and each day some novel +proposition is submitted with the hope that it will not infringe the +law, yet be attractive to the public through some subtle appeal to its +gambling proclivity. + + +_The Inquiry Department_ + +This is one of the most interesting departments of any post-office. The +one at New York is under the supervision of Mr. William T. Gutgsell, +and its functions are many. It handles all inquiries for missing mail, +and during the year ended June 30, 1922, this amounted to 243,457. The +number of inquiries, however, by no means equals the number of letters +and packages which are found to be undeliverable. Undeliverable mail +is disposed of by the Inquiry Section, and the magnitude of its work +may be appreciated from the fact that no fewer than 150,000 letters +were mailed without postage during the year. Among the other items that +loom large in the report of the Inquiry Department is the number of +letters directed to hotels which were not claimed by the addressees. +Of these there were 1,200,000; 18,000 parcels of fourth-class matter +were found without address, the delivery of which could not be effected, +and 56,000 pieces of unaddressed matter were restored to the owners. In +former years all letters and packages of value found to be undeliverable +throughout the country and not provided with the cards of the senders +were forwarded to the Division of Dead Letters at Washington, but on +January 1, 1917, branch dead-letter offices were established at New +York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The branch at New York is conducted +by the Inquiry Section, and its work concerns Maine, New Hampshire, +Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, 5074 +offices being included. From this area last year there were received +3,518,604 pieces of undeliverable matter of domestic origin. A very +large part of this mail had to be opened in order that restoration to +the owners could be effected. Many of the letters, etc., were found to +contain valuable enclosures, as indicated by this tabulation: + + OPENED DEAD MAIL WITH VALUABLE + ENCLOSURES + Number Amount + + Money 10,352 $ 27,559.93 + Drafts, checks, money-orders, etc. 35,178 2,528,844.19 + Postage-stamps 98,413 4,641.67 + +Many letters found to contain drafts, checks, money-orders, etc., are +restored to the owners, for if the contents do not themselves disclose +the address of the owners, the banks upon which the checks are drawn are +communicated with to secure the information desired. + +The Inquiry Department includes the Indemnity Bureau, which reviews, +adjusts, and pays claims involving loss or damage to insured or C. O. D. +parcels. Of these claims 112,432 were filed during the last fiscal year, +and the amount paid on the claims was $544,314.46. + +Another bureau of this department is charged with the duty of examining +all misdirected letters and parcels which cannot be distributed or +delivered by the employees regularly engaged in sorting the mails. The +carelessness of the public in the matter of addressing mail is apparent +from the statistics of this bureau for the year just passed, which +show that it handled 1,576,366 letters with the very creditable result +that of this number it succeeded in correcting and forwarding 686,233, +from which it is evident that the post-office took more pains than did +the senders. Of the number handled it also restored to the senders +approximately 424,000. + + +_Order and Instruction Section_ + +This department is under the supervision of Mr. Edward R. McAlarney and +is maintained for the issuance of various bulletins of information, +public announcements, news items, and the circulation through official +publications of instructions, orders, and intelligence regarding postal +matters. It is "the office of publication" to the post-office; it issues +posters, bulletins, news of the service, notices announcing the change +in rates and conditions, the sailing and arriving of ships, changes in +time of despatch and routing of the mail, etc. It is a busy department +and the magnitude of its service corresponds to the great volume of work +that it performs. + + + + +_The Examination Section_ + + +HOW THE EMPLOYEES ARE TRAINED + +A survey of the post-office quickly illustrates the fact that it could +only be successfully conducted by the agency of skilled employees, +especially trained for the work. The distribution of the mail is +dependent upon employees who certainly must closely apply themselves to +the mastery of the schemes of separation, and we should imagine that +these are rather tedious to study, for it seems to be largely a matter +of "grind" and memory taxation regarding absolutely unrelated names +and places, times of train departures, etc. It is a work to which men +must devote a good part of their lives and must have constant practice +in order to maintain speed, and the duty of standing eight hours a day +in front of a case and boxing letters by the thousand, year in and +year out, must sometimes be closely akin to drudgery. To add to the +difficulties of these men there are constant changes in the list of +post-offices, in the timetables, etc., so that a scheme of separation is +no sooner mastered than it is necessary to memorize new changes. + +A department devoted to the training of the employees engaged in this +work is known as the "Examination Section," and is under the supervision +of Mr. H. S. McLean. As soon as a substitute is appointed he is sent to +this section, where he is drilled in the fundamentals, in the rules and +regulations, and in proper methods of performing the duties ordinarily +performed by new employees. Later the employees are graduated to +practical work, and are assigned certain schemes to study on which they +are examined from time to time and required to attain a certain standard +of proficiency to justify their retention and advancement in the +service. In the examinations, which continue as long as the employees +are engaged in the distribution of mail, they are tested not only as +to accuracy but as to speed, and if an employee fails to maintain the +required efficiency, demotion follows. + +A feature of the work is the endeavor to impress upon the employee the +importance of his employment, the necessity for devoting to it his best +efforts and of not only maintaining but improving the standard. + +The following statistics in a way show the extent of this work: + + Number of regular clerks subject to examination 5,956 + Approximate number of substitute clerks + subject to examinations 2,000 + -------- + Total 7,956 + + + Number of examination schemes issued to regular + clerks subject to examination 10,051 + Approximate number of examination schemes issued to + substitute clerks subject to examinations 2,000 + ------- + Total 12,051 + + + Number of examinations conducted + July 1, 1921, to June 30, 1922 15,140 + Number of cards handled in conducting + case examinations 12,334,812 + Average case examinations, daily 50 + Number of clerks instructed in post-office duties + July 1, 1921, to June 30, 1922 4,636 + Average instructions, daily 16 + + Number of study schemes in use in Examination Section 119 + which are divided into examination sections 140 + + Mail schedule 4 + divided into examination sections 26 + + Number of schemes examined + July 1, 1921, to June 30, 1922 564 + + +_Welfare Work in New York_ + +In the New York post-office there is a Welfare Council, which consists +of representatives elected by the clerks, carriers, laborers, +motor-vehicle employees, and supervisors. This council considers +all matters pertaining to the welfare of the employees and makes +recommendations in regard to them to the postmaster. + +At the General Post-office there has been established a clinic of the +Government Health Service. This clinic is equipped with an operating +table, surgical instruments and supplies, two cots, and the other +appurtenances of a first-class dispensary. Three doctors and three +nurses are in attendance. The clinic is open throughout the twenty-four +hours with the exception of a short interval at night. Approximately +fifty patients are treated each day and without charge. + +The employees also own and operate a coöperative store and cafeteria +in the general office, and among the terminals and stations there are +numerous other similar undertakings. + +The employees also maintain numerous associations formed to better their +conditions. Several of these include sick benefits, insurance features, +etc. Some of these organizations are of national extent, others +are local; every station and department has its own association or +associations in addition to the major organizations of large membership. + +At the newer stations well-equipped and well-lighted "swing rooms" are +provided. These are utilized by the men during their lunch periods and +by the employees who are awaiting the time to go on duty. + +The Manufacturers Trust Company + +Cordially invites the officials and employees of the United States +Postal System, wherever located, to make use of its facilities and +services, whenever their interests may thus be advanced. + +This Company conducts eight banking offices, at convenient locations +throughout the City of New York, and at each of these offices it cares +for the needs of its customers in every department of commercial, +investment, and thrift banking. + +Our officers welcome opportunities to be of service, or to advise with +you regarding your banking needs. + + NATHAN S. JONAS, + _President_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Postal System of the United States +and the New York General Post Office, by Thomas C. Jefferies + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44171 *** |