Show POSTAL facilities it was an am english writer who pointed out that an am excellent method of measuring the civilization of a community wasby no means of the number of letters sent annually by each of its citizens measured by this standard the united states not alone leads the world but it has practically no second so fax far as the other competitors in the race are concerned of the postal business done by the united states that of new york exceeds and excels all the rest the per capita figures are so large as to seem almost incredible the pieces carried are far past the billion mark and the total amount of the money orders exceeds the entire value of many of the smaller powers of the old world the consolidation which went into effect on new years day doubled the size of the postal system of the city before that time it was larger than paris and almost as large as aa london now it is in advance of even the british capital it consists of two magnificent main buildings the one on broadway manhattan and the other on washington street brooklyn each is a vast stone structure fire proofs proof storm proof and almost time proof and each contains within its walls court rooms judges chambers and the other accommodations demanded tn in manhattan by the united states district and circuit courts of the southern district of new york and in brooklyn of the eastern district of new york in each of these main buildings is a financial department where money orders and postal notes are issued and where millions of dollars axe are received and disbursed in each there is an office for the reception of blind letters the place which Is a humo humorous rouls comment upon human infirmities there appears to be some mental law whereby one person out ot of a million in addressing a letter will put on the name of the recipient but not the address there Is another person in a million who will write nothing at all upon the envelope but will drop it nevertheless into the post postoffice office there Is a third person who will put the name and the street but not the city or the state there are two persons in a million who will put the name and the city but not the state there is one person whose writing to is so bad as to require an expert to decipher it there Is another whose spelling to is so extraordinary as to require an expert to make out what is meant these men are always busy the number of betters they receive being just as an constant as the change from WIN day to night in each of these theme headquarters there is ample p pros made for the economy of tim the handling and dispatch of an matter there are swift footed b and youn youna men who deliver letters which there are special dell dertl stamps there are quaint little c chatty opened in the rear with h collectors drive from lamppost bixl lamppost box gathering the ae cettei which have been dropped into them teri the public there are powerful ex wagons drawn by strong horses loaded with mail bags and sacks 51 driven like the wind from main claw to branch from office to steamer ant and railroad depot in brooklyn there are special awk office trolley cars and in new yge post office cable cars fitted up as lature railway offices in which matter is sorted and distributed aw as WOW car rolls uptown or out of town in etaf i country the saving on time which this m may be inferred from the fact 4 fifty years ago the average mal j time for the sender in new york to recipient in brooklyn queens or mond was waa twenty four hours today it is often cut down to hours and four and even this lowa is about to be still further reduced pneumatic tubes running the le lengal manhattan island ar and d e extent through the main thorough thoroughfares hf ares W bronx queens brooklyn and 1 mond down to the very boundary of the huge new city formerly the hours for coll were those of the business day b tott increasing pressure of this demand lengthened this period at both el that the first collector starts out ar dawn and the last may be seen in silent thorough thoroughfares faxes at 11 ina ia 1111 evening Even this is beginning to tb V insufficient and it looks as it if soon there would be collections collect iona lona and letters forwarded in the dark of the night by means of all it branches and pneumatic As indicated by postmaster cot in a recent speech this could coula alja done so thoroughly that the 1 lali 0 would ere many years be a foral formidable rival to the messenger and within eltjo limits to the telegraphic messa message gei under these two great offices JU branch offices in manhattan ana bronx there arp are no less than t of these indicated by letters of l alphabet and others unlettered ik city island hb abri kingan madison square tremont weste 7 1 Williams bridge and university hei deih 6 in brooklyn there axe are nine lettered ahl r one numbered and others at fa bath beach Blythe bourne can canabal Ca 4 0 caney island fort hamilton sh head bay and manhattan beach in addition to this the borough the river has no less than sixty fd sub postoffice stations well distri bomm in every part of its immense the magnitude of the postal b dil may be estimated from the official t turns of the government the gross receipts of the new irm toa office the last fiscal year were tam 7 of brooklyn 1113 F long island city of jaep malca of port richmond wl W of brighton of Capt letaw 2400 of per far rockaway flushing of Tott tottenville enville A of tompkinsville Tomp naville kinsville of wert iff arle aton and of Wood mv 2900 2000 making a total of between a and ten millions of dollars an indue of the largest proportions improvement is still the order of 00 ht day and every weel week sees some iw W suggestion process or labor contrivance A new stamping aa for cancelling stamps is among the ll 11 pst novelties and reduces the t the one operation ration one half or dc doubles effective power of the operator bai chutes in the offlie buildings the ate farst clasa hotels have effected saving in time which amounts minutes on the average lets tar the electric mail trolleys have cut flown time by at least an equal amount the growing practice which to is numy y encouraged by the autuori private citizens and stores of I 1 P njg accessible boxes for the delav bry of letters by the post is also aiding g th increased rapidity of delivery 0 abe z obe next step w will ill as indicated be lb auh connection of the main offices and U the ithe branches with capacious r daae tubes which in the case of dis ta lifts more than a half mile reduce the time from ten minutes to one halt half 1 w minute per mile ile N X Y mall mail and ex |