XEW-YORK DAILY TRIBUXE. SUNDAY! JANUARY 12, 1908. " sj f^B^^^^^^ > •eiP' >j f Worn Out in TenYear«=|: j| Inventor* Are Invited |i jTo £bnd In Improvements A?^*^**^ .^a^^, J sS^^ _^^^n____^->> \ • IFrom Th* —.bun* Bureau ) Washington. Jan. 11. "The Life and Advent- bbm of a Hail Bag by Uncle Sam," would be a. good title for a book much more interesting than many that find their way into print. No on» but Uncle Sam could do justice to the nar- rative, for no one but that dear, übiquitous old relative of ours could follow one of the busy pouches as it whirls across the continent, skims eve- the ocean or flies through space to bear its precious load of messages to the army of men, women and children anxiously awaiting its ne. Briefly, and to begin at the beginning, the par- ents of the young mail bag are Cotton and Leather. There is a—little iron and a little brass In its composition a strain -of strength you might say and it* birthplace is Lyons, X Y. That Is. ail the common pouches are born at Lyons. William Taylor, the man who has the government contract, might properly be called the rnai! bag's godfather. The registry- pouches hail from Trenton. N. J.. and at that place F. Coit Johnson stands sponsor for their careers. The cotton duck of which the bags are made comes from a mill in North Carolina, and It is woven so tightly as to be practically waterproof. In the weave there are thirteen stripes of blue. Ifyou don't find the thirteen stripes in a mail bag, you may know that It doesn't belong to Uncle Sam. Even if you do find th* thirteen stripes, how- ever, it isn't absolute proof that Uncle Sam cwns the bag. as the postoffice officials recently discovered to their surprise. A few days ago there landed in the big repair shop at Wash- ington a pouch with the name "Bucharest" in large black type across Its side. The bag was built like ours, and. what is more remarkable, gripes of blue woven tad the familiar thirteen TAYLOR IN LYONS, DISTRIBUTING MAIL FROM BAGS IN THE NEW YORK GENERAL POSTOFFICS. „ — into the white duck. After due investigation GIRLS SEWING MAIL BAGS AT THE FACTORY OF WILLIAM Th» Wodd'i Wot*. N. Y. it was discovered that the stranger hailed from Rumania, but how it came to be mixed up with summons oa the telephone out o! the service, shipped with all po««tbl» the pouches of the United State? Postoffice De- office Department and is taken in charge by the be kept supplied or the postal business of the "Before we adopted the bee bag the bees there was a loud not speed to the repair shop at Washington and Is partment the clerks could determine. Just equipment division. If there is no immediate country will go to smash. In the course of a shipped from abroad or to foreign countries bell. the future our d^ad," Graham, as he placed the there put in shape again for farther use. to prevent ouch occurrences in use for him he is sent to one of the "deposi- year more than eight million domestic raall from the United States generally arrived "Hello:" cried Mr. will address note to the his ear. No fewer than, sixty thousand mail sack*— Postmaster General a tories." where he may be found when wanted. bairs are received and shipped from Xew said Thomas P. Graham, chief of the bureau receiver to postal protesting '"This is New came a voice over the newspaper and letter, foreign and domestic- international authorities There are «=even of these mail bags depositories York. As there are fewer than two million in of equipment: "but since ras adoption there has York." adoption of the stripe bag — wire. "Send 1,000 No. 1bags at or.cc. Were pass in and out of the New York General Post- aeainst the thirteen ie the country at Xew York. Boston. Cincin- actual use. yon may imagine that they are kept not been a complaint. The bag- is large enough us Rumania or any other foreign power. The nearly out and want 'em bad." office each week, and in the holiday season th» by nati. St. Louie, St. Paul. Chicago and San Fran- busily moving in order to meet the requirements to hold an ordinary hive. It is so arranged number of stripes probably does not have any — of "All right; you"llget them this afternoon." number rises to more than one hundred thou- cisco and as soon as a mail bag in any part of the service. that the bees are given an ample supply p«r.t:mental for Rumania, and in all The chief put up the receiver, bur took it sand. It is hard to comprehend the vaatness of interest of the country is emptied and is not immediately fresh air, and there is a receptacle for sugar or the adoption of the number came There are twenty-eight different kinds of the rang sharply once these figures, even after seeing the countless likelihood needed by the office which holds it at the time. other* food that they may need in transit. We down again as bell Possibly Rumanian gov- mail bags in use. and they range in cost from piles of sacks which are sorted out each night about by mistake. the It Is sent to the nearest one of these cities. have mail bags for pneumatic tubes, made of more. cents to $2,156 each. The ordinary cotton their way as dally supply ernment ordered a mail bag- similar to that used 22 bags 'This is Boston. We need 500 No. 3a right and sent on the •? any a composition called 'leatheroid'; mail for by the United States, and the manufacturer. Xew York needs more mall bags than and leather bags, with ordinary use. will last away. How soon can we have them?" letters and newspapers sifts through the office. is the aae of horsemen, and mail bags for use in can issue a pmbably a German to whom "orders is orders," half dozen other cities in the country: and ten years, but the "catcher .pouch" that "They're on the way now." replied Mr. Gra- Any reputable publishing house the i&lan.l d- pendencies. We are Just now bags copied the pouch from clasp to bottom, even to all the year round, on an average, there are thrown on and off fast flying mail cars goes to ham. "You get them by to-morrow requisition for as many of these canvas getting out a special bag for u^e in the islands. shouid the in the duck. in transit two carloads of pouches from the pieces within eighteen months. TVre are mail the latest." as it needs. Ithas become the custom for Bach number at threads It has darker stripes than used in the morning at Pt Louis depository to Gotham. Sometimes pouches fnr almost every conceivable use. but those concerns to pouch their own mail for larg« cities ITS TRAVELS. bag," "States.' so that there will be less likelihood of THE labor at STABTING OK when St. Louis cannot supply the bags as fast the oddest one made is probably the "bee BAGS KEPT ON JUMP. and for states. It saves endless the tra. one going astray." it hastens the dispatch As soon as young Mail Bag is declared ready as they are needed other depositories are called which was built for the Internationa! "You've no idea," said the chief, as he turned General PostofSce. and Just as Mr. Graiia-u ended the last sentence the publication. When the bags, died with, for his travels he is turned over to the Post- upon: for great, big, hungry Now York must of honey bees. from the telephone, "how fast our supply of of mail, in the publisher gets a receipt. bags must be kept moving to supply the de- are turned sacks receipted for most tally mand. If they are not on the jump every The number of end the month with the number taken minute that they're not in actual use some of at the of If there is any difference in the account the big offices will get out and there'll be a out. publisher must pay for all missing bag*. terrible New Tbrk demands from the NAME. how-de-do. many years the was 60 cents a bag. IN For rate KING'S RESIDENCE ONLY week. The coun- us about 75.000 bags a whole the price canvas has gone up. and lost try uses 64,000,000 bags a year. and. as there but of — now cost |107. At that price few bag» will be considered d" bore, and that Is we!], PANELS FROM THE RUBENS CEILING. RECENTLY RESTORED, IN WHITEHALL are only 1,992,000 bags in use and as a certain bags "Our Palace of Whitehall" — axe lost or destroyed. corn-thing too dreadful for you at your tender PALACE. :.;ust.-a:ed Lundon >.>w». proportion of them are in the hospital for re- " would be impossible to estimate the dis- years to conceive pairs all of the time, the busiest pouches must It Really Government by a United States mail bag Is make a good many trips to keep up the average. tance travelled To-day Whitehall is the main thoroughfara of the ten or twelve years of lt» We repair about 4.fi<M> bags a day here, and in the course Headquarters.