POSTAL FACILITIES, RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN. 



687 



regular delivery. On Oct. 1, 1886, the privi- 

 leges of the system were extended to all post- 

 offices in the United States, and covered all 

 classes of mail- matter. Postmasters open all 

 mails at once upon their arrival, and immedi- 

 ately separate the matter bearing special-deliv- 

 ery stamps, and stamp or write on the envel- 

 ope or wrapper the name of the office, and the 

 day and hour when the matter arrived. Next, 

 the matter is numbered, and entered according 

 to number in a record, after which it must be 

 delivered without loss of time. The same at- 

 tention is given to drop or local matter bearing 

 special-delivery stamps, from the time it is de- 

 posited in the post-office. 



Matter held for Postage. An important change 

 in the mode of treating held-f or- postage mat- 

 ter was made on May 11, 1882, by which, in- 

 stead of its being sent to the Dead-Letter Office, 

 the postmaster at the office where received at 

 once notifies the writer by a card delivered 

 through the mail, of the existence of the letter 

 and the deficiency, in order that the proper 

 amount may bo forwarded and the letter sent 

 on its way. The system has resulted in a ma- 

 terial reduction of letters and parcels sent to 

 the Dead-Letter office. The plan was at first 

 confined to the larger offices, but on May 19, 

 1883, an order was issued, going into effect on 

 July 1 of that year, whereby it was put into 

 operation throughout the United States. 



Money-Orders. The postal money-order sys- 

 tem is older than is generally supposed, having 

 existed in one form or another since 1792. In 

 its present form in England it dates from 1859, 

 and there have been constant extensions and 

 improvements since that time. As to certain- 

 ty of payment in transmission, there seems to 

 be no question. The applicant for a money- 

 order fills up a small blank form, gives it, with 

 the proper amount of money plus the fee, to 

 the clerk, receives his order, and mails it to 

 his correspondent. The post-office sends to 

 the postmaster at the paying station an " ad- 

 vice note " or " advice letter," which contains 

 a few words of information known only to 

 the immediate persons interested, to wit, the 

 name of the sender and his address. The payee 

 receives his letter, containing the required 

 order in which the amount is named, from his 

 correspondent, and presents it at the money- 

 order department of the post-office. One or 

 two questions are asked, and if they are an- 

 swered according to the tenor of the u advice 

 letter," and the applicant is properly identified, 

 the money is paid. In 1859 when the system 

 was established in Great Britain, Mr. Robert 

 B. Minturn, of New York, was in Europe and 

 observed its workings. He satisfied himself 

 that it would bo a great boon to the United 

 States, and securing the necessary blank forms, 

 visited the Postmaster-General on his return. 

 After a consultation on the subject, the Post- 

 master-General admitted the value of the sys- 

 tem, but said " it was not feasible on account 

 of the want of ability of postmasters." 



Postal Notes. One of the outgrowths of the 

 money-order system, as well as a substitute for 

 fractional currency produced by the exigencies 

 of the civil war, is the postal note. Its aim is 

 the utmost convenience in the payment of 

 sums of less than $5 through the agency of the 

 mails. The law by which the postal note was 

 authorized was signed by the President March 

 3, 1883, and the issue was begun simultaneous- 

 ly at all money-order officers on Sept. 8, 1883. 

 The postal note was not designed to take the 

 place of the money-order. In the money-order 

 the Government is responsible for the payment 

 to the true payee, while in the case of the pos- 

 tal note it assumes no responsibility whatever, 

 but pays the money to the holder, who by his 

 possession of it is prima facia owner. A note 

 is issued for any sum from one cent to $4.99 

 inclusive, and the uniform fee is three cents. 

 The postmaster who is called upon to issue a 

 postal note enters in the body of the note the 

 name of the office drawn upon, and the amount. 

 In every instance he is required to write out 

 the full number of dollars, but may insert 

 figures for the number of cents; and his signa- 

 ture must be written, not stamped. "With a 

 plyer-punch the requisite figures are canceled, 

 and the note is ready for the sender. The 

 postmaster must also enter in the stub of his 

 book the amount in figures, the date of issue, 

 and the name of the money-cider office drawn 

 upon. On April 25, 1884, a circular was sent 

 out by the post-office department, giving notice 

 of a new design known as the coupon order, 

 which was issued to supersede the note of 1883. 

 The popularity of the postal note is shown by 

 the following statement of its growth up to 

 the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 1886. 



Post-Office Savings-Bank. This institution has 

 been greatly developed of late years in Great 

 Britain and her colonies, and in Italy, but has 

 not as yet been established in the United States. 

 In Great Britain deposits are received of any 

 sum not less than a shill'ng (25 cents), nor 

 more than 30 ($150), in one year. Where 

 the deposits amount to one pound ($5), inter- 

 est is allowed at the rate of 2 per cent, per 

 annum. The late Postmaster-General of Great 

 Britain, the Right Hon. Henry Fawcett, intro- 

 duced in September, 1880, nn improvement 

 that consisted in giving to every applicant at 

 any post-office in the United Kingdom, free of 

 charge, blank forms upon which twelve penny- 

 postage stamps could bo affixed. Any person 

 desiring to invest in a stamp, made his pur- 

 chase, and when the card was full, it was re- 

 receivable at any post-office savings-bank as a 

 deposit of one shilling. The system of post- 

 office savings depositories has been agitated 

 for some years in the United States, but lias 

 taken no practical form. 



