Popular Science Monthly 



Catching Mailed Eggs from Swiftly- 

 Moving Trains 

 EGGS may now be deli\'ered from a 

 station platform and caught with 

 ease and safety by the mail car of a fast- 

 speeding express train, by means of an 

 automatic mail exchange system recently 

 adopted by a large western railroad. 



This device works with great speed. 

 When the train nears a station a lever 

 on the truck of the mail car is operated 

 by a track trip, thus setting in motion 

 the system of cams which perform the 

 functions of discharging and recei\ ing 

 the mail from the station. 



A set of arms move out from the side 



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of the car, and as the train passej,_the 

 suspended pouches of mail are caught by 

 the arms and drawn into the car. An- 

 other cam, deriving its power from the 

 car axle, picks up the mail pouches 

 which are to be delivered at the station, 

 and deposits them in a chute, where thev 

 slide into a trough on the station plat- 

 form. This chute extends down until 

 it nearly touches the platform, and the 

 pouches fall but a few inches. They 

 slide on the smooth surface of the trough 

 until their fall is broken. As soon as 

 the train has passed the station, the ap- 

 paratus is automatically drawn inside the 

 car and the doors are locked. 



The much advertised delivery of eggs by parcel post has produced many patented devices 

 for handling mail sacks without breakage. This oae is already carrying eggs 



