DIVISION THREE — BRAINS. 239 



On April 23 24, 1891, occurred the visit of President Harrison and 

 Postmaster General John Wanamaker to Pasadena. And Mr. Masters being 

 both postmaster and president of the Board of Trade at the time, stood at 

 the forefront of all the reception ceremonies in honor of the distinguished 

 visitors. For full particulars of this event, see Chapter 16: "President 

 Harrison Day." 



Mr. Kernaghan had been appointed postmaster as Masters 's successor, 

 but had not yet taken formal possession of the office, and thus he stood as 

 adjunct host of the Postmaster General. Very soon thereafter Mr. Kernag- 

 han came into his kingdom, and during the year had occasion to make sun- 

 dry changes. The Star of v*^eptember 23, gave the following report : 



' ' The improved postoffice is a wonderful advance over the old one and 

 its neat appearance is a pleasant surprise to those who have not been keep- 

 ing track of the progress of work there. The walls of the whole interior 

 have been rekalsomined, the working room has been entirely partitioned off 

 by glass frames extending from the top of the boxes to the ceiling ; the de- 

 partments have been rearranged, with a neatly enclosed corner for the m oney- 

 order and stamp business ; speaking tubes and call bells have beenrunfrom 

 the postmaster's desk to different parts of the room ; and the woodwork of 

 the outer and inner divisions of the office have been revarnished. These im- 

 provements are made by the owner of the building, Mr. Morgan, under the 

 superintendence of Mr. Staats." 



October 19, the paper again reported thus: 



' ' By reference to the annual report of the postmaster-general for the 

 year ending June 30, 1890, it will be seen that only two offices of the presi- 

 dential class were not self-sustaining — the gross receipts did not pay the ex- 

 penses. Of these two the Pasadena office was one. We are informed that 

 no change for the better has taken place in receipts and expenses for the 

 year ending June 30, 1891" 



It then goes on to mention that the free delivery district had been reduced, 

 two carriers had been dismissed, and clerkhire cut down until the remaining 

 clerks were " overworked and underpaid," in the efforts of the P. O. De- 

 partment at Washington to get itself onto a paying basis. The Star of 

 December 24, contained some statistics furnished by postma.ster Kernaghan 

 which are worth preserving for future reference and comparison, hence I 

 quote them here : 



Receipts from sale of stamps, stamped envelopes, etc., 



for the fiscal year ending June 30, '91 $11,540.83 



Total number of pieces of mail matter handled by the 



carriers during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, 982,968 



Total handled during year ending June 30, 1890 799,824 



Increase 183,144 



Number of letters dispatched from this office during the month of July, 



1891, 29,711. During the month of October, 1891, 35,171. 



The receipts of the office for the months of September and October of 



this year, as compared with the corresponding months of last year, show an 



increase of 33^3 per cent. 



