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Title: The Postal System of the United States and the New York General Post Office
Author: Jefferies, Thomas C.
Language: English
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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_.
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