Madison Square Station $ 5,458,705.90
Grand Central Station 4,582,718.87
Wall Street Station 2,815,963.56
Station "D" 2,354,165.33
Times Square Station 2,323,791.88
West 43d Street Station 1,742,125.04
Station "P" 1,688,795.83
Station "G" 1,540,499.66
Station "O" 1,523,785.14
Station "F" 1,432,161.03
Station "S" 1,192,883.02
Station "A" 1,138,459.07
In addition to the actual receipts of the various stations, made up by
the sale of stamps, etc., as described, their financial transactions
incident to the money-order and postal-savings business are tremendous,
as will later be shown in detail under the heading "Division of
Money-Orders" and "Postal Savings"; suffice it to say here that the City
Hall Station issued last year money-orders to the value of $3,183,209,
and the Madison Square Station money-orders to the value of $2,004,273,
while Station "B" had to the credit of its postal-savings depositors
$6,786,622, Tompkins Square Station, $5,580,389, and Station "U,"
$4,595,974.
How greatly the business of the stations has grown is evidenced by
the fact that in 1875 the gross receipts for the year amounted to but
$3,166,946.19, which is less than the receipts for one month at the
present time, the receipts for last July amounting to $3,821,095.94.
To those who are now enjoying the advantage of free delivery service
it seems that it is the natural thing, and it is difficult for them to
realize how a busy community could get along without it, yet as a matter
of fact it was not established until 1863, when it was experimentally
installed in forty-nine cities, with but 449 carriers, which number is
about a seventh of those employed at the present time in New York alone.
The number of stations has also increased rapidly. In 1889 there were
but eighteen classified stations and twenty contract stations in New
York, while to-day, as previously mentioned, there are forty-eight of
the former, two financial, and 271 contract stations authorized, and
also forty-one Warship Branches.
_Foreign Mail for City Delivery_
The receipts of foreign mail from Europe is increasing very rapidly.
During the month of July, 1922, there was received for delivery in New
York City from foreign countries 3,372,767 letters and 2577 sacks of
foreign papers.
[Illustration: _Few people who hasten through the New York General
Post Office building notice its architectural beauty of design and
perspective._]
The task of handling the city mail received from steamers is
particularly trying, since many of the addresses are difficult to
read, insufficient postage is prepaid in many cases, and it comes not
in a steady flow but in quantities at one time; and it is, of course,
always in addition to the regular daily quota of domestic matter. In
exemplification of this it may be said that on August 11, 1922, a single
steamer, the _Mauretania_, brought in 8553 sacks of letters.
_The Division of Mails_
The Division of Mails embraces the Division of Delivery, which has
already been described, the great terminal stations, that is, the Grand
Central Station (including the Foreign Station Annex); also the Division
of Registered Mails and the Motor Vehicle Service. All of these, as
previously mentioned, are under the general supervision of Acting
Assistant Postmaster Randles. The Division of Mails proper, exclusive
of the Division of Delivery and of the Division of Registered Mails,
is under the acting superintendent of mails, Mr. Peter A. McGurty. Mr.
McGurty was formerly assistant superintendent of delivery, and has been
in the postal service in New York since 1897. Mr. McGurty, like other
division heads, served first as a clerk, and rose gradually, grade by
grade, to his present position. In the Mailing Division there are 4942
employees. The duties of the Mailing Division are many and varied. In
the main it is responsible for the distribution and despatch of all
outgoing mail, including the parcel post. It is in itself a complex
organization, employing not only the army of men above mentioned but
an enormous fleet of motor vehicles and complex mechanical equipment
for the conveyance of mail from one part of an office to another, and
the loading of it upon railroad cars, ships, etc. The average daily
transactions of the division are as follows:
Outgoing letters 3,965,023
Circulars 1,917,190
Second-and third-class matter 1,620,250
Parcel-post matter 363,805
Customs due matter 800
Collections on customs due matter $ 2,500
One duty of the Mailing Division is the weighing of second-and
third-class matter to determine the postage required thereon. The daily
average of the matter thus weighed is approximately 343,000 pounds, and
on this postage is collected to the amount of approximately $10,500.
In order to make clear what is involved in the handling of a great
volume of mail such as is disposed of daily in this division of the New
York office, it may be well to describe the course that is followed by
a single letter. Assume that a letter is mailed in a street letterbox,
in the district of a great terminal; it is brought in by a collector,
who deposits it upon a long table surrounded by many employees. The
table is likely to be what is known as a "pick-up table," which is one
equipped with conveyor belts and convenient slide apertures for letters
of different lengths, and into these apertures, with nimble fingers, the
clerks grouped around it separate the mass of letters received, placing
the letters with all the stamps in one direction. As quickly as they do
so, the conveyor belts carry the letters, according to the different
sizes into which they have been separated, to the electrically-driven
canceling machines. These canceling machines are operated by a second
group of employees, who feed in the letters, which are canceled at the
rate of approximately 25,000 letters per hour. The whirling dies by
which are imprinted the postmarks which cancel the stamps revolve at
almost lightning speed. These postmarks are changed each half-hour, and
the aim is to postmark the letters as rapidly as they come to hand, so
that but a few minutes intervene between the time of mailing and time
of postmark. This postmark is, in fact, the pace-maker. Once it is
imprinted upon a letter, it can be determined by the postmark at any
time just how long a time has been required for it to reach a particular
point in the progress toward despatch.
From the postmarking machine the letters are carried, sometimes by
conveyors, sometimes by hand, and sometimes by small trucks, to what
are known as the "primary separating cases." These cases are manned by
employees who separate the letters into groups, according to certain
divisions which facilitate the secondary and further distributions. Thus
at the primary cases the letters are likely to be broken up into lots
for the city delivery, for many different States, for foreign countries,
and for certain large cities. Each separation on the primary case will
likely be followed by a secondary separation almost immediately. A
sufficient number of men is kept on the facing or pick-up tables, on
the primary cases, and on the secondary cases and pouching racks, to
maintain a continuous movement of the mails. The aim is to keep the mail
moving not only continuously from the point of posting to the point of
delivery, as nearly in a direct line as practicable, but rapidly also,
and with only an arresting of the movement when this is made necessary
by awaiting the departure of the next train.
From the secondary cases the letters are carried to the pouching rack.
By the time they reach the pouching rack they are made up into bundles,
various letters for the same localities having been segregated and
tied together. In some instances the packages of letters are tagged or
labeled for States, in others for cities, and still others for railroad
lines or for sections of such lines.
The handling of papers and circulars is much the same, so far as
distribution is concerned, as the handling of letters, though there is
considerable variation as to the details of segregation.
[Illustration: _Carriers sorting mail in the General Post Office._]
With this distribution of the mails there goes a system of despatches.
In respect to these it may be said that it is essential that various
clerks engaged in the process as described shall know the time of
departure of the many trains leaving New York for different points. They
must know how much time in advance of departure is essential between
"tying out" the packages of letters and the actual departure of the
train from the station, and thereby allow sufficient time, but no more
time than is absolutely necessary, to make the connection. Every detail
of the work is plotted; nothing is left to chance. At a certain hour and
at a certain minute every clerk engaged in the same distribution at the
same station ties out for the same office or route, and likewise at the
pouching rack the pouches are closed, locked, and despatched according
to a fixed schedule. If the pouch has to be carried from the rack to the
truck a given number of feet, a time allowance is made. At a set time
the truck that conveys the pouches to the station whence the train is to
depart must leave. The time for the vehicle to traverse the prescribed
route is fixed; sufficient time for this _and not more_ is allowed.
Also the time for unloading the truck and loading the train is fixed.
When it is understood that this course has to be followed by every one
of the millions of letters handled, and that there are 50,000 offices
in the United States to which mail is forwarded, and that in addition
to this it is being distributed for practically every city, town, and
hamlet in the world, the complexity of the task becomes apparent. From
the General Post-office alone there are as many as 457 despatches of
first-class mail daily, and forty-five despatches of second-, third-,
and fourth-class matter.
Within the last few years the burden of the parcel post has been added
to the duties of the post-office. It is estimated that 75,000 pieces of
parcel-post matter are handled at the General Post-office daily, and
that 65,000 additional pieces of this matter are received at the same
point from the stations.
Parcel-post packages are commonly very bulky. Such may now be mailed
for local delivery and for delivery in the first, second, and third
zones, that is, within three hundred miles of the place of mailing,
if they do not exceed seventy pounds in weight, while packages not
in excess of fifty pounds may be mailed to any address in the United
States. The handling of these packages necessitates the use of entirely
different character of equipment. As far as it is practicable to do
so, this matter is segregated from mail of the other classes. Many of
the packages are too large to be inclosed readily in mail sacks, and
are forwarded "outside." In the distribution of parcel-post matter,
sack racks are used into which all parcels which are small enough to be
sacked are separated. The distribution, as in the other classes, is made
at primary and secondary racks.
A feature of the Mailing Division is the handling of such equipment, as
pouches, sacks, etc., intended to be used for the transportation of the
mails. Approximately 69,000 sacks and 18,000 pouches are shipped by the
New York General office daily.
_The Mailing Division--Incoming Foreign Section_
In this section mails are handled which are received from foreign
countries. These arrive chiefly on steamers that make New York their
port of destination. Some of the foreign mails, however, reach New York
via Boston, Philadelphia, Key West, New Orleans, Laredo, San Francisco,
Seattle, and Vancouver. The number of pieces of mail received from
foreign countries weekly by this section approximates 3,639,000 letters
and cards, 2,631,000 pieces of printed matter, 15,000 packages of parcel
post, and 568,500 registered articles. These are forwarded to their
destination after distribution. Many of the letters and cards are not
prepaid, or are prepaid but partly, and the postage charged on such
matter approximates $14,200 each week.
[Illustration: _Carriers leaving the General Post Office on an early
morning delivery._]
Owing to the unsettled conditions in Europe the rates of postage
in foreign countries are continually changing. As a result of the
depreciation of Russian currency, letters coming from that country
have recently been prepaid at the rate of 450,000 rubles per ounce or
fraction thereof. Prior to the war a ruble was worth approximately 51.46
cents. The 450,000 rubles are now equivalent to fifty centimes of gold,
or ten cents in United States currency.
[Illustration: _Mail at the Post Office ready to be loaded onto
trucks._]
Many peculiarities are noted in the addresses of incoming foreign
letters. Very frequently a letter will bear upon the envelop a copy of
a business letter-head or bill-head. This is accounted for by the fact
that some one in this country when writing to Europe will direct his
correspondent to address the expected answer according to the address on
the letter-head or bill-head he uses, and the foreigner, not knowing
what to select from whatever is printed, takes what he regards to be the
safe course and copies all. A letter will sometimes be found to bear a
full list of everything sold in a country store, including hardware,
provisions, clothing, shoes, and periodicals and newspapers. In other
cases the senders cut short the addresses and are satisfied if, in
addition to their correspondent's name, they give "America" spelled in
any way that suits them best, and the ways are legion.
_Mailing Division--Motor Vehicle Service_
The Motor Vehicle Service of the New York post-office is in charge
of Mr. William M. Taggart. The fleet consists of 329 vehicles. All
these are owned by the Government. The Government likewise makes its
own repairs, employs its own chauffeurs and mechanics, painters,
upholsterers, and various artisans incidental to the operation, repair,
and maintenance of the vehicles. There are two garages, and in all 727
men are employed. The garages include fully equipped machine-shops, and
stock-rooms in which are constantly kept duplicate parts for all the
machines in use.
The magnitude of the service will be realized when it is known that
during the last fiscal year the vehicles traveled 4,330,102 miles, or
174 times the distance around the world.
During the last fiscal year the motor vehicle service made 646,967
trips, according to predetermined schedules, and 67,053 trips which
were not scheduled but of an emergency character. This gave a total of
713,020 trips. Of this vast number of trips, scheduled and emergency,
there were but 747 which were but partly performed and but 1323 which
failed.
[Illustration: _Mail trucks loaded with parcel post matter to be
transported to different stations in the city._]
These trucks are maintained in a condition for operation at all hours of
the day and night. No matter what weather conditions prevail, the mails
must be moved, and the motor vehicles must be maintained in a condition
of efficient repair to permit of their utilization in this work.
Every detail of expenditure for the fleet is maintained on a strictly
scientific cost accounting basis, the number of gallons of oil, the
service of the tires, the cost of operation per mile, with and without
chauffeur, are all a matter of record. The repairs made on each machine
are carefully recorded, with the cost for the parts and the cost of the
mechanical help figured separately, so that it is ascertainable from
the records what was spent under this heading for each vehicle during
each month and year.
_Mailing Division--Transportation Section_
The Transportation Section, under Assistant Superintendent of Mails John
J. McKelvey, is closely coördinated with the motor vehicle section.
The duty of this section is to effect the loading of the vehicles
and to arrange the schedules so as effectively to move the mails
from the point at which they are made up to their despatch by train,
or delivery to some station or group of stations. How great is the
volume of mail handled will be understood when it is said that from
the General Post-office alone the average number of pouches received
and despatched daily is approximately 16,000, while the average number
of sacks received and despatched is approximately 80,000. The pouches
contain first-class mail and the sacks contain mail of other classes.
The average number of pieces received and despatched daily, too large to
be inserted in either sacks or pouches, is approximately 15,000. At each
of the great terminals there are very extensive platforms; the one at
the City Hall Station is a block long; that at the General Post-office
two blocks long, and these platforms are under the control of the
transportation department. During the hours when the mails are being
despatched they are among the busiest spots in the postal system. As
many as 1200 trucks commonly receive and discharge mail from the General
Post-office platform daily. Other platforms are correspondingly busy.
_The Pneumatic Tubes_
The pneumatic tube service has now been resumed between the General
Post-office, the terminals, and certain of the principal stations of the
New York postal system, which was discontinued June 30, 1918, owing to
the antagonism to this method of transportation on the part of the then
postmaster-general, Mr. Albert Burleson. Legislation has been enacted
and departmental action taken within the last year to bring about the
resumption of operation of this valuable system. The pneumatic tubes
form what is practically a great loop running north in two branches from
the City Hall. One branch goes up the east side of the city, east of
Central Park, and the other up the west side, west of Central Park, the
two lines being joined together at 125th Street by a line running east
and west. This loop and its extensions link the General Post-office and
the following named stations: A, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, N, O, P, U,
V, W, Y, Grand Central, Madison Square, Times Square, Wall Street, City
Hall, and Varick Street. The City Hall Station is also connected with
the Brooklyn General Post-office. The pneumatic tubes are located four
to six feet below the surface of the city's streets, and through these
tubes cylindrical steel containers are forced by compressed air. The
containers are approximately seven inches in diameter and twenty-one
inches long, and the pressure of air is sufficient to impel them at the
rate of about thirty miles per hour. Containers carry from 500 to 700
letters each, and can be despatched as frequently as one every eight or
ten seconds. It will be seen, therefore, that by means of the pneumatic
tubes a practically continuous flow of the mails can be maintained
between stations. The pneumatic tubes are not owned by the Government,
but the service is leased on a yearly rental basis. Under the terms
of the lease the company that owns the tube system operates it, and
the Government delivers to the despatching points within the different
stations and terminals the mail to be transported. Upon arrival at its
destination the mail is again delivered to the postal employees, who are
ready to receive it.
There are approximately twenty-eight miles of double tubes, so that
mail can be despatched in both directions at the same time. During
the period the system was in operation before the tubes conveyed the
mails with remarkable efficiency, and it is said that as to stoppages
and breakdowns, etc., their operation was 99.79 per cent. perfect. In
one day 27,243 containers were despatched through the tubes, with a
total capacity of more than 10,000,000 letters. They averaged for a
year, though not used to maximum capacity, 5,000,000 letters a day. One
advantage of the pneumatic tubes is their freedom from interruption by
inclement weather. As the tubes are below the surface of the street,
conditions of ice, snow, and sleet, which are embarrassing to motor
vehicles, do not interrupt operation. At different times in several of
our cities vehicles conveying the mails have been "held up," but with
the tubes, robbery is practically impossible. It is anticipated that
with the tube system resumed a large percentage of the letter mail
intended both for city delivery and for despatch to other points will be
materially advanced in delivery.
The Foreign Station of the New York post-office stands out among the
postal activities of the country for it is the station at which
are made up all the mails intended for foreign countries, with few
exceptions, such as Canada. The superintendent of the station is Mr.
Thomas J. Walters, who has been connected with it for many years. It is
a busy place, particularly just before the departure of a steamer, when
every effort is exerted to despatch all mail that can be crowded in,
up to the very last minute. This station has grown in a comparatively
short time and from a very small beginning. In 1885 the average weekly
number of sacks made up for all parts of the world was only 1200; by
1890 the number had grown to 1900; by 1900 it had reached about 4500;
in 1910 the figures were 10,000, and at the present time the average
is approximately 18,000 sacks weekly. Mail is forwarded to the Foreign
Station from all parts of the United States, and is here distributed for
the various foreign countries and cities for which it is intended. In
this distribution expert knowledge of foreign geography and political
divisions is required, for a large percentage of the mail received is
indefinitely directed, and only an expert could determine for what
points much of it is intended. The shifting map of Europe has added
greatly to the difficulties, for many correspondents in this country are
still ignorant of the new boundaries.
In the equipment of this station are hundreds of distribution cases, and
many of the letters which the experts at these cases rapidly sort are
actually so poorly written that the average man would not be able to
decipher them without much study.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: _Exhibits used for educational work in postal improvement
campaign._]
One interesting feature of the Foreign Station is the parcel-post
section. The United States now has parcel-post conventions with many
foreign countries, and the volume of this business is growing very
rapidly. The rate of postage is but twelve cents a pound, and for this
small fee a package will be accepted, even in distant California or
Oregon, transmitted across the continent, over the ocean, and to a
destination in South America, Europe, or elsewhere. In the early days
of the parcel-post it was used chiefly by the person who had friends or
relatives in Europe and wished to send a present to them, but it is now
being used very extensively in commercial transactions. By this means
goods ordered from abroad are forwarded by the great mail-order houses,
and the total volume of this business is large.
Much difficulty is experienced in inducing senders of mail matter to
wrap it securely. A long campaign of education has been conducted, but
there is still room for improvement, as evidenced by the fact that four
clerks are engaged repacking, rewrapping, and repairing packages not
properly and safely wrapped, and supplying addresses in the case of
indefinite directions, etc.
With the increase in the volume of the mail there has been an increase
in the number of ships carrying the mails, and so, while in August,
1873, there were but thirty-four vessels carrying mail that sailed from
New York, during July, 1922, 180 such vessels sailed; on a single day
twenty ships left this port carrying a total of 11,299 sacks. During the
month of July, 1922, 97,000 sacks of mail were shipped, a quantity that
would tax the capacity of a large warehouse.
A special feature of the service is the operation of post-offices on U.
S. naval vessels. There are more than fifty such post-offices, serving
the convenience of the boys in blue. Whether the naval vessels are
equipped with post-offices or not, the Foreign Station is kept posted as
to their movements by the Navy Department, and special efforts are made
to so forward all mail received as to reach the addressee at the first
port of call.
During the war the Foreign Station experienced many trying times in its
efforts to get American mail to destination. The sailing time of ships
was seldom known much in advance of actual sailing, and the utmost
secrecy was maintained as to vessel movements. The Navy Department
advised the Foreign Station of the intended sailing of vessels by
cipher, though such information was most jealously guarded. The utmost
caution was taken in the making out of address tags, etc., to conceal
the identity of the various units, the mail for which had to go out by
the different ships, and throughout the war there was not a single leak.
The service performed during this trying time by the employees of the
Foreign Station were so conspicuously efficient as repeatedly to win
approbation.
A recapitulation of the several classes of mail despatched from this
station to foreign countries is shown below and indicates the rapidity
of its growth:
1914 1921
Letters 110,121,846 140,654,326
Printed Matter, etc. 53,940,035 101,905,335
Circulars 12,170,937 15,477,570
Registered Articles 4,372,889 10,238,298
Parcel Post 571,997 1,920,580
----------- -----------
Total number of articles
despatched. 181,177,704 270,196,109
_The Registry Department_
One of the most important departments of the New York post-office is the
Registry Division, which is under the supervision of Mr. Joseph Willon.
Mr. Willon has been long in the postal service, and for many years prior
to his present assignment was superintendent of some of the larger
stations of the city, including the one at Times Square.
In the Registry Division at the General Post-office 550 persons are
employed; at the City Hall Station, 130; and at the Foreign Station
there is a large force, assigned exclusively to the handling of the
foreign registered mails.
The registered mails are the most important and the most valuable. Just
how valuable they are no one knows, but millions of dollars in cash and
securities are handled daily, and the banks as well as other financial
and commercial interests of the country would be seriously affected if
the registry system ceased to operate, even for a brief period. Some
idea as to the enormous values handled by the registry department may
be gained from the fact that during the last fiscal year 7546 packages
containing diamonds only were received from abroad, the dutiable value
of which approximated $150,000,000. In all, 73,000 packages were
received that were regarded as dutiable. Notwithstanding the enormous
values handled, the percentage of losses is exceedingly small.
According to the last report of the postmaster-general, throughout the
United States the number of registered pieces amounted to 78,205,014.
The New York post-office handled 41,592,423, or more than half of the
total. As stated, the percentage of losses is small, and in the case of
first-class registered matter of domestic origin there is an indemnity
up to fifty dollars, and for the matter of the third class an indemnity
up to twenty-five dollars. Under the agreements that prevail with
certain foreign countries provision is also made for indemnifying the
owners under certain circumstances where foreign losses occur.
The handling of registered mail differs chiefly from the handling of
ordinary mail in the extra care which is taken to safe-guard it. The
aim is to record it at the time of receipt, and to thereafter require
all persons handling it to account for it as it passes through their
hands along its route. Receipts are required at all points, and the
letters are forwarded in pouches secured by "rotary locks," provided
with certain numbers running in sequence, controlled mechanically, the
mechanism being such that the lock cannot be opened without raising
the number at which the lock was set. If the lock is tampered with in
transit, since record is made of the number set when it was despatched,
the circumstance is apparent.
REGISTERED ARTICLES HANDLED AT
NEW YORK, N. Y., YEAR ENDING
DECEMBER 31, 1921
Total No.
Station N. Y. City Distribution Foreign of Pieces
Handled
G. P. O. 10,927,723 12,144,069 2,331,683 25,403,475
City Hall 2,848,002 2,832,993 230,124 5,911,119
Foreign 132,250 10,143,579 10,277,829
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total 13,775,725 15,109,312 12,705,386 41,592,423
_The Division of Money-orders and the Postal Savings_
The financial transactions of the New York post-office are of enormous
volume. Through its Division of Money-orders it issues and pays
money-orders of a value comparable with the business of the large banks
of the city. The Postal Savings System also has on deposit a sum which
is exceeded by the deposits of only nine savings-banks in Manhattan, and
is operated as part of the organization of the Division of Money-orders.
This division is under the supervision of Mr. Albert Firmin, who has
been connected with the postal system within a few months of forty
years, and in point of service is dean among the division heads. It has
been through Mr. Firmin's especial assistance that we have been able to
obtain so complete a story of the New York post-office, although every
office and every executive has coöperated in every possible way, for
which extended courtesies we hereby make grateful acknowledgment.
The New York post-office issues more money-orders than any office in
the United States. The volume of money-order business, domestic and
international, for the last five years, is shown below:
DOMESTIC MONEY-ORDERS ISSUED
Year Number Amount
1918 2,504,473 $ 25,014,403.41
1919 2,762,021 32,206,933.02
1920 3,306,613 43,457,921.55
1921 3,549,742 46,699,314.76
1922 3,846,676 45,339,319.17
----------- ----------------
Total 15,969,525 $ 192,717,891.91
INTERNATIONAL MONEY-ORDERS ISSUED
Year Number Amount
1918 194,349 $ 2,807,166.44
1919 192,655 2,839,846.28
1920 122,088 1,824,007.11
1921 76,292 1,161,793.74
1922 92,303 1,344,494.51
---------- ---------------
Total 677,687 $ 9,977,308.08
DOMESTIC MONEY-ORDERS PAID
Year Number Amount
1918 16,869,819 $ 115,059,322.85
1919 16,544,345 132,692,080.13
1920 18,321,840 174,530,250.50
1921 16,379,250 155,812,988.47
1922 17,345,209 134,217,183.37
---------- ---------------
Total 85,460,463 $ 712,311,825.32
INTERNATIONAL MONEY-ORDERS PAID
Year Number Amount
1918 51,443 $ 962,232.03
1919 65,605 1,349,771.29
1920 73,660 2,560,337.36
1921 47,493 803,782.14
1922 50,553 605,932.87
--------- ---------------
Total 288,754 $ 6,282,055.69
During the fiscal year last past, 722,321 international money-orders,
amounting to $9,583,425.62, were certified to foreign countries, and
112,292 such orders were certified from foreign countries to the United
States, the total amount of these being $1,802,902.66.
Occasionally in excess of 100,000 money-orders are paid in a single day,
and it is the rule that this volume of business must be balanced to a
cent daily.
[Illustration: Photo by Courtesy of Powers Accounting Machine Company
_Money order accounting machines in use at the New York General Post
Office._ ]
The employees engaged in handling these millions of orders are held
strictly accountable for the accuracy of their work, and if error occurs
resulting in loss, it must be borne by the person at fault.
The most modern methods of accounting are in use, mechanical
labor-aiding equipment being utilized wherever it is practicable. The
method followed is to perforate a card by means of a small electric
machine, so that the perforations show the various data upon the paid
money-order that are required to record the payment, the amount, etc.
These machines are operated by skilled women employees, trained in
methods of accuracy and speed, and whose rating and advancement depend
on their efficiency.
The cards are then fed into electrically-driven adding- and
printing-machines, known as tabulators, which automatically print upon
sheets, in columns, all the data shown by the perforations in the card.
From this machine the cards are transferred to sorting machines, which
operate at great speed and automatically set the cards up numerically
according to the numbers of the offices which issued them. Thereupon
other sheets are printed by the tabulators showing the orders in
their new and correct numerical sequence, these sheets being used
for searching purposes in the event of applications being made for
duplicates, etc.
Various other mechanical devices are employed in other branches of the
work, and the equipment is in all respects up to date, and minimizes
clerical work to the greatest extent.
_The Country's Foreign Exchange Clearing-House_
In addition to the work which is usually done in a post-office in the
issue and payment of money-orders, the New York post-office is the
International Exchange Office for the United States, handling all
money-orders passing between this country and Europe, South America,
Africa, etc. The volume of this business has been materially reduced
since the war, and is affected by the unsettled condition of the old
world finances, but it is nevertheless large, as shown by the figures
given below for the last fiscal year.
Number Amount
International money-orders certified to
foreign countries 722,321 $ 9,583,425.62
International money-orders certified
from foreign countries 112,292 1,802,902.66
The duty of purchasing foreign exchange also falls upon the New York
post-office, and the transactions in this are at times very heavy. The
total financial transactions of the Division of Money-orders, exclusive
of the postal savings, amounted last year to $235,133,669.03.
_The Postal Savings_
At practically all the stations of the New York office there are
postal-savings depositories which are open to the public from 8 A.M.
to 8 P.M. The rate of interest on postal savings is but two per cent.,
but the advantage of absolute safety which the system affords appeals
to those who utilize it. Not more than $2500 is accepted from one
depositor, but a deposit as small as one dollar is accepted, and this
may even be accumulated by the purchase of ten-cent postal-savings
stamps, which are obtainable at all stations.
New York has on deposit close to one third of all the postal-savings
deposits in the United States. There are approximately 140,000
depositors in Manhattan and the Bronx, and they have to their credit in
excess of $44,000,000. Thus it will be seen that the New York office
is not only a colossus among post-offices, viewed from the standpoint
of postal facilities and postal business, but that as a financial
institution as well it is a giant.
_Office of the Cashier_
The cashier is the disbursing officer of the New York office, and he
likewise receives all money derived from the sale of postage-stamps,
stamped envelops, postal cards, and internal revenue stamps which
are disposed of at the different stations and in all the third-and
fourth-class post-offices in thirty-five counties in the State
of New York. The cashier is Mr. E. P. Russell, and his financial
responsibilities are great. The New York post-office is the depository
for surplus postal funds from all first-and second-class post-offices
in New York State, and it likewise provides hundreds of offices with
treasury savings stamps and certificates, and accounts for the revenue
received therefrom. How great is the volume of business of the cashier's
office will be seen from the statistics given below, which are for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1922.
STAMPS
Kind Number
Ordinary 1,317,465,292
Postage due 8,584,300
Parcel post 150,750
Proprietary (revenue) 1,768,763
Documentary (revenue) 7,240,444
Stamps in coils 337,852,500
-------------
1,673,062,049
Books of stamps 1,403,100
International reply coupons 30,000
POSTAL CARDS
Denomination Number
Postal cards--1c. 147,515,077
Postal cards--2c. 29,242,551
Postal cards--4c. 1,163,209
-----------
177,920,837
STAMPED ENVELOPS
Kind Number
Low-back 95,826,243
High-back 29,411,708
Open-window 4,671,750
Extra-quality 466,000
Special-request 95,371,000
-----------
225,746,701
TREASURY STAMPS AND CERTIFICATES
SINCE DECEMBER 15, 1921
$ 1.00 stamps 43,017
25.00 certificates 12,471
100.00 certificates 11,403
1000.00 certificates 1,195
If the postage and revenue stamps shown above could be placed
lengthwise, in one single line, it would reach a distance of 26,876
miles, more than enough to encircle the earth.
_Pay-roll Worries of Magnitude_
The cashier's office pays the salaries of the 15,000 employees of
the New York office, which in the last fiscal year amounted to
$23,594,824.60. It also pays many of the employees of the Railway Mail
Service, this salary list for the year totaling $5,103,717.11; also all
the rural delivery carriers in New York State, their earnings being
$3,394,540.56 for the year.
A feature of the parcel-post system is the indemnity which is paid in
the case of damage or loss to insured parcels. When applications for
indemnities are received from the public they are investigated by the
Inquiry Section, and when it is determined that payment should be made,
the cashier's office makes the disbursement. Approximately 200 drafts
are drawn daily to cover these cases.
Mention has been made of treasury savings certificates handled by the
New York office, which in the month of July were sold to the value of
about $600,000. These certificates, as the name indicates, while issued
by the Treasury Department are handled largely by the Post-office
Department as a convenience to the public and in the interest of the
government to better promote the sales.
The large amount of one month's sales indicates the measure of service
thus provided and the extent to which it is used.
_Office of the Auditor_
The auditor is the checking officer of all receipts and disbursements
of the New York post-office. The position is held by Mr. Justus W.
Salzmann, another postal veteran, and his corps audits the postal,
money-order, and postal-savings accounts, prepares statements of
these accounts for transmission to the comptroller of the Post-office
Department, and verifies the money-order and postal accounts of mail
clerks in charge of post-offices on naval vessels. He also audits the
accounts of approximately 1400 post-offices in the State of New York
known as "district offices," of which New York City is the Central
Accounting office, and he corresponds with the postmasters of these
offices in connection with the conduct of their offices.
The auditor also supervises the examination of financial accounts at the
main office and at all stations, made by station examiners, corresponds
with and prepares statements for the Commissioner of Pensions in
connection with refunds under the Retirement Act, and with the United
States Employees' Compensation Commission in connection with injuries
sustained by employees while on duty. He has charge of contracts
requiring expenditures, as well as correspondence relating to leases of
post-office stations and to repairs and additional equipment required at
these stations.
The organization of the auditor's office is divided into two sections,
each under the supervision of a bookkeeper; one has charge of the
general accounts of the New York office and the accounts of district
post-offices; the other has charge of the auditing of the money-order
and postal-savings accounts, the preparation and verification of
pay-rolls, and second-class and permit-matter accounts.
The auditor has immediate charge of six station examiners who report on
the financial accounts of all stations; they also investigate and report
on the need for establishing and maintaining contract stations and
attend to complaints received concerning the operation of such stations.
The auditor, as the checking officer of the New York post-office,
audits receipts and disbursements totaling over $700,000,000 annually.
The postal receipts for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1922, were
$54,089,023.99, as compared with $52,292,433.91 for the previous fiscal
year, a gain of $1,796,590.08.
_The Appointment Section_
The Appointment Section corresponds to a well-organized personnel
bureau of a modern business establishment. This section is under the
superintendency of Mr. Peter Putz. All appointees from the Civil Service
list report to this section, and from here they are assigned to the
various divisions and departments, according to the requirements. In a
force of 15,000 men there are, of course, many changes daily, caused
by deaths, resignations, promotions, and demotions. Whatever action
is involved in the changes is taken by the Appointment Section. The
efficiency records of all employees are filed here, and likewise the
bonds covering their financial responsibility. From the day a person
enters the service to the time he or she leaves it, a record is kept of
all ratings, of qualifications as determined by his superior officers,
and of all delinquencies.
_The Drafting Section_
How diversified the requirements of the postal service are is
illustrated by the work of the Drafting Section, under the direction of
Mr. John T. Rathbun, whose corps of draftsmen are constantly engaged
in laying out new stations, replotting equipment in different units as
various changes incident to the growth of the city necessitate, or as
changes in the regulations affect the volume of business at different
points. This section includes also a corps of mechanics engaged in the
repair and maintenance of mail-handling apparatus and equipment.
_The Supply Department_
The Supply Department of the New York post-office corresponds to
a well-equipped store and printing establishment. It is under the
superintendency of Mr. William Gibson. By this division supplies are
furnished not only to the New York office and its stations, including
those on naval vessels, but to post-offices throughout New York State,
as many as 2200 points in all being cared for. Among the items supplied
are 5,000,000 penalty envelops and 1700 different varieties of forms
and books, of which approximately 60,000,000 copies are used annually.
This department furnishes 250 different items of stationery and of
janitors' supplies, and innumerable repair parts for a great variety
of mechanical contrivances used in the postal system. The aim of the
official in charge of the department is to keep in touch with the
latest labor-aiding mechanical devices that can be utilized in the
service, and among the various bureaus and sections will be found more
than 300 type-writers, eighty adding-machines, cancelling machines,
check-writing, check-protecting, accounting, and duplicating machines.
For these numerous repairs are required and parts have to be secured,
all of which is attended to by this department.
A feature of this department is a well-equipped printing section, which
prints a daily paper or bulletin containing instructions, orders, and
information for the employees, as well as numerous forms, posters,
placards, etc., utilizing in this work a monotype type-setting machine,
two cylinder and five job presses. A detail in its workshop is the
precancellation of postage-stamps, to meet the requirements of large
mailers who desire to purchase them, of which the yearly output is
approximately 250,000,000.
_The Classification Section_
In the Division of Classification all questions involving rates and
conditions of mailing are passed upon. At the head of this section is
Mr. Frederick G. Mulker, whose experience with these matters is probably
unequaled.
All applications for the entry of publications as "second-class" matter
are handled here, and to this bureau publishers come to arrange for
the acceptance of their magazines and papers. After a publication
is admitted to the mails at the second-class rate its columns are
scrutinized to detect anything that infringes upon the regulations, and
if anything is found, action is taken by this section. The law defines
various classes of mail matter, and innumerable questions arise as to
the class in which certain articles belong, many of the questions being
difficult of determination and involving numerous technicalities, but
here, sooner or later, all questions are settled.
It is to this point, also, that the public comes for information as
to the preparation of matter for the mails, how it should be wrapped,
addressed, and posted; this section passes upon the mailability of
matter under the lottery laws, which cover everything relating to prize
schemes, contests, competitions, drawings, endless-chain schemes, etc.
Many are the plans submitted, and while the law is rigid in respect
to these matters, the field is alluring, and each day some novel
proposition is submitted with the hope that it will not infringe the
law, yet be attractive to the public through some subtle appeal to its
gambling proclivity.
_The Inquiry Department_
This is one of the most interesting departments of any post-office. The
one at New York is under the supervision of Mr. William T. Gutgsell,
and its functions are many. It handles all inquiries for missing mail,
and during the year ended June 30, 1922, this amounted to 243,457. The
number of inquiries, however, by no means equals the number of letters
and packages which are found to be undeliverable. Undeliverable mail
is disposed of by the Inquiry Section, and the magnitude of its work
may be appreciated from the fact that no fewer than 150,000 letters
were mailed without postage during the year. Among the other items that
loom large in the report of the Inquiry Department is the number of
letters directed to hotels which were not claimed by the addressees.
Of these there were 1,200,000; 18,000 parcels of fourth-class matter
were found without address, the delivery of which could not be effected,
and 56,000 pieces of unaddressed matter were restored to the owners. In
former years all letters and packages of value found to be undeliverable
throughout the country and not provided with the cards of the senders
were forwarded to the Division of Dead Letters at Washington, but on
January 1, 1917, branch dead-letter offices were established at New
York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The branch at New York is conducted
by the Inquiry Section, and its work concerns Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, 5074
offices being included. From this area last year there were received
3,518,604 pieces of undeliverable matter of domestic origin. A very
large part of this mail had to be opened in order that restoration to
the owners could be effected. Many of the letters, etc., were found to
contain valuable enclosures, as indicated by this tabulation:
OPENED DEAD MAIL WITH VALUABLE
ENCLOSURES
Number Amount
Money 10,352 $ 27,559.93
Drafts, checks, money-orders, etc. 35,178 2,528,844.19
Postage-stamps 98,413 4,641.67
Many letters found to contain drafts, checks, money-orders, etc., are
restored to the owners, for if the contents do not themselves disclose
the address of the owners, the banks upon which the checks are drawn are
communicated with to secure the information desired.
The Inquiry Department includes the Indemnity Bureau, which reviews,
adjusts, and pays claims involving loss or damage to insured or C. O. D.
parcels. Of these claims 112,432 were filed during the last fiscal year,
and the amount paid on the claims was $544,314.46.
Another bureau of this department is charged with the duty of examining
all misdirected letters and parcels which cannot be distributed or
delivered by the employees regularly engaged in sorting the mails. The
carelessness of the public in the matter of addressing mail is apparent
from the statistics of this bureau for the year just passed, which
show that it handled 1,576,366 letters with the very creditable result
that of this number it succeeded in correcting and forwarding 686,233,
from which it is evident that the post-office took more pains than did
the senders. Of the number handled it also restored to the senders
approximately 424,000.
_Order and Instruction Section_
This department is under the supervision of Mr. Edward R. McAlarney and
is maintained for the issuance of various bulletins of information,
public announcements, news items, and the circulation through official
publications of instructions, orders, and intelligence regarding postal
matters. It is "the office of publication" to the post-office; it issues
posters, bulletins, news of the service, notices announcing the change
in rates and conditions, the sailing and arriving of ships, changes in
time of despatch and routing of the mail, etc. It is a busy department
and the magnitude of its service corresponds to the great volume of work
that it performs.
_The Examination Section_