POSTAL SERVICE. 

 TABLE ll.Fwe-Delu-ery Service of 17. S. Fust- Office. 



237 



preredent to free-delivery ; but although there is little 

 doubt that such an establishment would prove of great 

 convenience to many communities, and would certainly 

 not to an injurious extent affect the postal revenue, 

 both Congress and the Post-Office Department appear 

 to look upon it with disfavor. 



4th. The Special- Delivery System, established by 

 authority of the act of March 3, 1885. This system 

 is intended to secure the immediate delivery of mail- 

 matter, on its arrival at the post-office of destination, 

 by means of special messengers employed for the pur- 

 pose. At first its operations were confined to places 

 having a population of 4000 or more ; but by sub- 

 sequent law it was extended to all post-offices. The 

 charge for making special delivery is ten cents, which 

 IB paid by the sender of the matter affixing to it a 

 large and otherwise distinctive stamp, whicli is addi- 

 tional to the postage. The amount allowed messengers 

 for every delivery is eight cents, the government thus 

 realizing a profit of two cents. The amount of this 

 profit is about $30,000 a year. At large post-offices, 

 where the amount of business will warrant it, perma- 

 nent messengers are employed on special-delivery duty ; 

 at other offices the postmaster effects delivery by any 

 practicable means. The system has met with a reason- 

 able amount of patronage, and may be said to supply 

 a popular want. The following table gives the number 

 of IIJITCS of matter specially delivered since the system 

 was introduced, at offices which are required to make 

 returns : 



Fiscal year Pieces Pieces 



(ending June 30). ord. matter, drop matter. Total. 

 1886 9 moo. only anil at 655 



offices 622,0.54 274,200 896,334 



1887 at frce-ilt-livery offices 725,330 299,237 1 

 1888 at free-delivery offices 899,494 320,782 1,220,276 



5th. TJtf TrnvfJliiirj Pott-office System (generally 

 called the Railway-Mail service). This great system, 

 whose main function is to make minute distribution of 

 the mails on postal-cars, and to make immediate trans- 

 fers to connecting lines so that a letter leaving a given 

 point at the same time as a traveller to the same des- 

 tination accomplishes its journey at the same time 

 was begun in an OBfystematM and tentative way, 

 and not l>y creation of law, in the year 18152. Prior to 

 that the work of distributing the mail was done en- 



tirely in post-offices, _ the scheme of distribution, 

 speaking generally, being comprehended in the mass- 

 ing of the mails at certain prominent offices, called 

 " distributing post-offices" (the number of them 

 varying in different years from about twenty to fifty) 

 where minuter separation was required before further 

 transmission could be made. The result of that svstem 

 was, of course, frequent delays, unnecessary hand- 

 lings, and great expense. The mail-car in those days 

 was simply for freighting mails in bulk : now it is a 

 post-offiee also, by which not only through mails are 

 carried, but in which way mails are taken on and put off 

 separated and pouched for all offices on the line and 

 their connections, and for connecting car-lines while 

 the car is in progress. Much separating work is nec- 

 essarily still done in post-offices, such as through 

 mails, local mails, and mails to go over other than 

 railway routes ; but in general all mails to go over rail- 

 roads where postal clerks are employed are pouched 

 to the postal ear, and there distributed, with accretions 

 made en rmite, according to schemes intended to secure 

 the utmost possible expedition in transmission. The 

 travelling post-office system was not organized until 

 1865: it exists now on nearly every railroad in the 

 United States, employs thousands of officials, who 

 handle the bulk of the entire mail of the country. 



6th. Tlie Detnl- Letter Office. The history of this 

 office, whose business it is to restore to the owners 

 letters and other mail matter that have failed of de- 

 livery, goes back to the early days of the republic, the 

 first " inspector of dead letters" having been appointed 

 under a resolution of the Continental Congress passed 

 Oct. 17, 1777. Prior thereto the subject of undelivered 

 letters had, of course, received some attention so 

 much so that in 1753 such letters began to be adver- 

 tised ; but they were not sufficient in numbers to war- 

 rant the employment of any separate official for their 

 treatment. For many years after the establishment of 

 the office, everything that came into its keeping was, 

 whenever practicable, restored to the owner ; subse- 

 quently, when the business of the office had increased 

 considerably, the rule was changed so as to require 

 restoration of only what was apparently valuable ; but 

 now the original practice is revived, and everything 

 except printed matter of no apparent interest or value, 

 fcuch as advertisements, rhx-ul.irs, etc., is restored. la 



