50 



REPOKT OF THE SECRET AKY. 



In the report on the International Exchange Service for the year 1901 reference was 

 made to the loss of two cases of exchanges by fire and water in the hold of the steam- 

 ship Castano while loading at her pier in Brooklyn, preparatory to sailing for Aus- 

 tralian ports. This loss has now been adjusted, and the contributors of the packages 

 will soon be paid the approximate value of their respective publications. 



No better proof can be desired of the appreciation of the facilities afforded the 

 public by the International Exchange Service than the constant increase in the num- 

 ber of transmissions by old patrons of the service as well as the growing use to which 

 the service is put by taking advantage of its privileges for the first time. 



In order to appreciate the increase in the work of the year over that of the preced- 



Each Column Represents 1,250 packages. 



Fig. 2.— Chart representing the relative number of packages exchanged between the United States 

 and other countries during the fiscal year ending June 30, 190S. 



ing twelve months, it should be observed that, including all classes of exchanges, 

 150,217 packages, weighing 559,718 pounds, were handled in 1902-3, as against 125,796 

 packages, weighing 396,418 pounds, during the year 1901-2, an increase of 19 per 

 cent and 41 per cent, respectively. The average weight of all packages transmitted 

 during 1901-2 was 3 pounds, while the average per package during 1902-3 was nearly 

 4 potmds. 



The total weight of exchange packages of domestic origin received during the year 

 for transmission abroad aggregated 419,191 poimds, while the weight of exchanges 

 from abroad was 140,527 pounds, or 75 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. These 

 figtires apparently do not do justice to foreign contributors, especially those in remote 

 or thinly populated sections, since, being deprived of the advantages of accessible 



