TFIE OMAnA ILLUSTRATED DEE.
July ft, IflfW.
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MATL FROM STATION A
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M I.. all matter Is the dally stunt of
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nine tons Is furnished by the
newspapers. The rest of the vast
weight Is made up of letters, circulars,
postal cards, packages and other articles distributing tables, where they are deftly provided at the east corridor adjoining the "is next adjoining nisincis. mree in wie department stores and In sending out registered pouches are provided with blue ent upon them. T,here are nlncty-slx lel
maliable and sent through Uncle Sam s and rapidly handled by the distributing places where all letters are deposited for nt adjoining districts, two In the reel- nt mrr.hRndlse from the whole- enamelled locks, which are kept track of In ter carri.-rs. thirteen substitute carriers.
hands for delivery. The gathering of this
mall, its proper sorting and bundling and
its final transportation through the streets
to the depots, where it goes aboard the
trains, is the daily activity of a small
army of men and horses. The letter car
rier, on his rounds of delivery and collec
tion, is a familiar figure, but less Is known
of the men who work at the postoffice
and those who merely handle the big
pouches and bags betweeji postoffice and
trains.
An average of 60,000 pounds of mall comes
into Omaha dally and an average of 4i,000
pounds is sent out. This means about 120
locked pouches and 600 tied sacks of in
coming mall, and nearly that many going
out. Eight big wagons of the most ap
proved type ply between the railroad sta
tions and the postoffice, making about
eight trips each per day and hauling an
average of about 1,800 pounds per trip.
Twelve teams are used In this branch of
the service, for the work Is hard and the
horses cannot stand the strain of the rush,
so extra teams have to be kept on hand
to allow the needed rest. On six of the
trips mado each day the wagons carry loads
averaging 3,500 pounds. In addition to the
wagon service the street cars carry a
great deal of mall back and forth between
the postoffice and the railway stations and
all of the mall between the main office
and the several branches of the city Is
handled on the street cars. Three trans
fer clerks are employed at the Burlington
station, five at the Union Pacific station
and only one at the Webster street sta
tion, where the work Is light. These men
have, to hustle the mall matter from the
wagons to the cars and back, and keep
track of the various shipments at the de
pots. Their hours are broken, by reason
of the fact that the mall trains run at all
sorts of times, and they must be on hand
when the train Is there. Up town the work
Is more regularly done, for It Is all sched
uled and the collections and deliveiVs are
made at stated periods, unless the arrival
of the malls from out of town Is greatly
deranged by Interruptions of the train
schedule.
Catherine tho Malls.
One of the large wagons Is exclusively de
voted to gathering bulky quantities of mall
from the big office Jbutldlngs, wholesale and
Jobbing houses of the city, making Ave after with extreme care during the distrl
trlps dally, or oftener if there should hap- button process. These changes are first
iron in m iriepimne can lor ins wagon
from establishments sending out large
quantities of circulars, catalogues or pack
ages. j
All mails are received at the Seventeenth
street front of the postoffice building. They
are quickly unloaded from the wagons,
weighed, if necessary, and then hurried
into the main distributing room In the cen-
tar of the main floor ot the building and
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GOING . TO MAIN OFFICE.
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uiBinuuiru. 11 iriirr mail is ursi run
through the automatic cancelling machines
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Cess of distribution employs -wenty-one
clerks. The pouches a. id the sacks are
ooened and the contents thrown upon the
clerks. There are ten letter cases, and five
newspaper and package cases. The corn-
partments of these cases are numbered for
the convenience of the letter carriers, and
the carriers collect the mall from these
compartments and re-throw the mall into
other cases for the convenience in city de-
livery. Between 47,000 and 60,000 pieces of
letter mail are thrown dally. Eighteen of
the distributing clerks throw the mall for
tne carriers' boxes. Three others are em-
pioyea in oiner aepnrimenis oi mo uisin- cent stamp on it, is rorwaraea to lis aes
bitlon. All packages of mall coming from tlnatlon and the deficient postage collected
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the mail pouches are tagged, indicating the
lines and offices from which they come.
Three cancelling machines and one back
cancelling machine are used, working auto
matically and driven by electric power fur
nished by the dynamos In the basement of
the big building.
Keeping; Track of Addresses.
Between sixty and seventy local changes
of address are daily turned in by the car
riers, and carefully tabulated, to be looked
written on sups, tne roriner ana new ad
dress, and are turned over to the directory
clerk, who Is provided with sections of
specially bound city directories, which are
lnterbound with blank leaves, and the new
address there recorded. These sectional di
rectories also Include all new addresses.
If a letter cannot be delivered by the letter
carrier it is brought back to the offlce and
an effort is made to find the correct ad-
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th btrbet car.
Mail Daily in and
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dross In the npctlonn! directory. If the ad
drps cannot b found there, the letter or
paper Is sent to the general delivery win
dow, where Inquiry should be made for all
expected and undelivered letters. letters'
are held one week before being advertised,
and are hold two weeks after advertising,
and are then sent either to the dead letter
office or returned to writer If such request
Is made on the envelope. Newspapers are
held four weeks, and If not called for In
that time the publisher Is notified.
Nine special delivery boys are employed
at the Omaha office. Special delivery let
ters or packages are delivered to any point
In the city covered by the postal service,
for 10 cents, between the hours of 7 a. m.
abroad. All special deliveries are made
a readily of drop letters and drop pack-
ages as of regularly received malls from
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within flvf minutes from the time the letter
or package Is received In tbe office. With
drop letters a special box or receptacle is
mailing, below the box windows, and above
It is an electric button that should be
pressed when a special delivery letter or
package is placed therein.
Carina; for tbe Letters.
first-class matter, letters.
All
Is for-
warded as long as there Is a place on the
letter to write an address. Even should
first-class matter lack the sufficient post-
age, though -it muBt have at least one 2-
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TRUCKING THE SACKS AT STATION.
from the destination end. It is the cus
tom of some merchants when sending out
traveling men to have them forward their
letters with deficient postage, rather than
have them . carry a quantity of postage
stamps, thus enabling them to keep a bet
ter record of their postage accounts through
"postage due" payments.
Second and third-class matter Is not for
warded unless prepaid in full. This ap
plies to package mail particularly. The
party to whom the deficiently stamped
package or paper is addressed Is notified
from the sending office that the package
or paper Is held and the amount of postage
required to have it forwarded. In the
vault room wh?re these deficiently stamped
packages and papers are held several hun
dreds were piled up awaiting an answer
from the addressee. These ure held a
reasonable length of time and if no reply
Is received they are sent to the dead letter
office, or if papers and magaslnes are de
stroyed. No second, third or fourth-class
matter will be forwarded unless the postage
la prepaid In full.
An accurate record Is also kept of all
notifications for forwarding mall in the
forwarding department. About 150 pieces
of mall are forwarded from this department
dally. This department also looks after
the "return to writer" mall.
All mall not delivered by the city letter
carriers or placed in lock boxes goes to
the general delivery. All advertised letters
are also to be obtained from the general
delivery windows which are open from I
a. m. to 11 p. m. on all days except Sun-
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I.OADTNO THE FAST MAIL FOR THE WEST.
days and holidays. On Sundays the gen-
eral delivery windows are open from 11:80
a. m. to 12:30 p. m. The public Is advised
to always Inquire at the general delivery
window for lost mall. Between 1,400 and
1.600 calls for mail are made at the gen
eral delivery each day. The highest num
ber for any one day recently was 1,510.
Vhen no channe of address Is given to the
directory clerk, and the mall. Is not de-
llverable at the old address, the mall will
go to the general delivery, where It may
be secured upon Inquiry.
When the Mails Come.
The principal malls arrive In the morn
ing, and the greater amount of mall busi
ness Is done In the fall than at anybther
period of the year. During the holidays
for a few days comes the greatest rush
In malls.
Five main deliveries In the business por-
tlon of the city are made dally, four In
dence districts and one In the suburban or
extreme districts. The earliest delivery by
carrier Is at 7:30 a. m. and the next at
8 a. m.
There are thirty-two persons employed
in the receiving department and twenty
persons in the outgoing department.
Sending; Out Mail.
The mall dispatching process Is equally
Interesting with the receiving of malls,
but Is much heavier work. Very much
more mall is sent out from Omaha than
Is received. All outgoing malls-are thrown
at the office up to as lata a moment as
the departure of the trains will allow.
The mall that cannot be made up for the
route packages is pouched and sent to
the railway postal cars and there thrown
by the railway postal clerks. The same
system, only far more Intricate, prevails
In the postoffice as in the postal railway
cars in the matter of throwing mall. The
main point always to be held In view is
to get the letter to its destination in the
quickest time possible. Hence a letter may
be routed half way across the state of
Iowa to reach MUsourl Valley or Sioux
City, preferable to waiting for the par
ticular train to that point, should the let
ter be deposited for mailing to late to
catch the first direct train. The letter may
have to be switched through half a doxen
postal railway cars ever as many different
lines to reach Its destination by connect
ing lines, before It could have reached
there by the regular train. It is Just such
little cases that are constantly coming up
in the big postofflces and require the ut
most care to meet the emergency. The
postal distributing clerk in the postoffice
must be equally as accurate as the postal
railway clerk In throwing his mall. In
the big offices like the Omaha office he
has (ess time and more mall to throw,
and asldj from that he must keep a host
of railway systems In his head, as well
as the locations of a thousand postoffices,
and must decide which train and what
line that office Is on, and what combina
tion of trains will dispatch the mall most
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tTAGONS LINED VP AT POSTOrriCE.
Out of the Omaha
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expeditiously. All this must be thought
out on the Instant.
Mounts Into Millions,
Th number of loiters sent out from the
Omaha postoffice as Indicated by the
cancelling machines from October 8, 1904,
to May 23, 1905. was 10.S66.900. This amount
does not Include third-class matter, which
Is composed largely of circulars. The num-
ber of pouches sent out from the Omaha
postoffice per day is about 150, and of tie
sacks 450. All of the second and third-class
matter, like the first-class matter. Is made
up In the office. But this does not Include
the. publishers' malls, which amounts to
500 sacks of mall per day. The approxi
mate amount of newspaper and magazine
mall handled by the Omaha postoffice Is
nine tons each day, or over 1,123,240 pounds
In the last two months. The third-class
null xironiara mtnlniriies etc .. sent' out
)g 'go enormoug Omaha also does a very
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ga)e ftn(1 jODDng houses. All malls out-
going are weighed at the postoffice, And
they are conveyed to the depots by Identic-
ally the same meuns as they are brought
from the depots.
$
Valuable, in the Mails.
iUl L 1 1 C 1 t'tl M I unci ucpat uiiruiB vi
the postoffice at Omaha are the money
order and registry divisions. The public is
beginning to learn that the money order
system is about the only absolutely safe
way of transmitting money. The govern-
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UNLOADING AT THE STATION.
ment Is responsible for every dollar It re- registered packages. Carriers are author-
celves for transmission. The little stub re- deliver registered packages or let-
celpt that the trasmltter receives when te- 0"' car recovered from the
sending away money by the money order government for the loss of a registered
system is good evidence in law of a pay- package. If the loss can be laid to the gov-
ment made on the date the order was eminent. A wife cannot receipt for a reg-
bough't. even though Uhe order should be 'tercd package addressed to her husband
stolen or lost. If lost, a new order can be
obtained; if subsequently .forged before be
ing received by the party to whom it was
sent, the forgery can be traced with almost
unerring accuracy to its perpetrator, and
then the government knows Just what to do
with him.
Next to the money order system, the reg
istry system is the safest way for the trans
mission ot money, although the Postofllce
department tries to discourage the trans
mission of msncy by registered mall. A
registered letter, whatever its contents, or
a registered package. Is pretty sure to reach
Its destination, and if it is trifled with en
route, the trlfler can be easllv detected. Alt
registered matter made up In any one post- superintendent of carriers, Al Lacey; ruper
office for another postoffice Is in
cluded in a separate package for
each offlce, and can be only opened by the
postmaster of the receiving office. All reg
istered through pouches are red-striped
sacks, securely locked with a rotary lock.
Each lock Is numbered, on the outside and
inside. The outside number Is permanently
stumped on the lock, which In through
pouches Is enamelled In red, while the In
side or rotary number Is variable, and
changes every time the key Is Inserted in
the lock or the lock opened. A record must
be made of the opening number by who
ever opens It When the pouch is started
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LOADING REGISTERED
from Omaha with Us registered package a
record Is made of the number of the lock
and Its Inside starting number, and this bill
of record Is sent to the office of destination,
Hence. If the lock has been trifled with the
fault ran be detected and located. The way
Identically the same way. The time was
when no registered mall was sent at night
through the postal railway offices, because
ot the temptation offered to susceptible
clerks. This rotary lock system has been
tne mean" ot reducing the temptation to
rifle the registered pouches to a minimum
inu mv luv iuuunra nig ottiii " muii;
night now as in the day runs.
A registered letter can be delivered only
to the party to whom it is addressed or
upon his written order. Identification is
also required of all persons Inquiring for
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without his written order, neither can
husband receipt for a registered package
registered to his wife, except upon her, wilt
ten order. v
Force of Ihe Local Office.
The operating department of the Omaha
postoffice is. conducted by the following
chiefs of divisions: Superintendent of
malls, J. E. Cramer; chief clerk mailing
division, W. W. C'onnoran; chief of city
division, J. W. Brown; chief of general de
livery division, Mrs. Ida Brown; chief of
stamp department. C. C. Westerduhl; chief
of money order division, C. E. Burmester;
chief of registry division, William KelU-y;
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WZIGHING THE OUTGOING UAXU
Postoffice
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MAIL AT POSTOFFICE.
lntendent of wagon deliveries, M.
Men-
negen.
Two hundred and twenty-flve persons are
emploved In ami about the Dostoffico In
the handling and delivery of the city malls,
These i-ni..,sent ahmit 1 000 noonln ilnnnnd.
ne lpeclal delivery clerks, 103 office cleiks
ana four substitute clerks. In addition to
thesa dei-i 147 postal railway clerks
nave thelr headquarters In Omaha. Oie
hundred and seventy railway postal cl&fks
ar9 from th(J Qmaha offlce
rurB. fpB rtollv.rv rarrl,u .hieh make
the total monthly pay roll of moneys paid
out at the office over 30,0C0.
The Postoffice department Is disposed to
discourage the use of postoffice boxes, as
It is the desire of the government to make
the delivery of malls to tho public as free
as possible.
Sale of Stamps.
The standing and classification of a post
office is graded according to the number
of stamps sold by the offlce. The heaviest
postage stamp patron of the Omaha offlce
Is tho Woodmen of the World office, which
last year purchased $30,000 worth of stamps.
The next heaviest patrons are the Union
Pacific and Burlington railways. One
Omaha firm recently sent to Des Moines
and bought 1,000 worth of stamps that
could have ai well been bought here. An
other firm sends to New York and has at
Intervals 150,000 circulars printed there, has
them stamped there and directed 'there, and
then they are Bent to Omaha for delivery
through tho Omaha offlce. , It would take
one man over a week to handle these cir
culars in the offlce, and they come here
in wagonloads. A number of the local
department Btores that recently received
remittances In stamps bought elsewhere
have instructed their customers that they
will not take more than 25 cents in stamps
on any one remittance.' Were all these
stamps bought hero In Omaha, the stand
ing of the office would bo enhanced and
tho wages of the employes Increased ac
cordingly, j.
Convenience and Comfort.
Every possible convenience Is provided in
the Omaha postoffice for the comfort of Its
employes. Rest rooms are provided for the
clerks, carriers and all attaches of tho
office. Each hos a locker in the rest and
"swing" rooms, and toilet and bath rooms
are also provided. A special series of rooms
are arranged fur the women clerks, with
lunchroom attachment, all of which are
nicely and comfortably furnished. In the
basement are storage rooms for money
order blanks, and stubs which are kept for
five years before being destroyed.
There are three or four watch rooms In the
building for the convenience of postoffice
Inspectors who may have occasion to over
see the transactions In any of the work
rooms that need Inspection without the
knowledge ot the occupants. In the main
work room Is a circular watch tower for a
like purpose. No one knows when an In
spector may be In these watch rooms or
tower, as they alone, with the postmaster,
have the keys to the rooms.
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