Mr. Hubbard’s proposition to put telegrams into street-boxes is simply
absurd. Telegrams are always of an important nature, and need despatch.
Imagine a message announcing sickness, death, or any other circumstance,
being dropped in the street box, to be taken out when the carrier
happens round! As for post-offices, how many are there in any of the
large cities even? Few have more than one, and this is closed when a
mail arrives,—a circumstance that seems to have rendered the closed
condition the normal one with many post-offices.
To give an idea of the extent of present facilities in the principal
cities, the following statement, showing the number of telegraph offices
now open, is submitted:—
New York, 100 offices.
Philadelphia, 35 „
Baltimore, 19 „
Washington, 16 „
Boston, 24 „
Chicago, 22 „
Cincinnati, 21 „