Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 March 1875 — Parcels by Mail—How the New Law Operates. [ARTICLE]

Parcels by Mail—How the New Law Operates.

A few months ago a law became operative by which the Postoffice Department was empowered to carry in the mails, as mail matter of the third class, in addition to pamphlets, cards, engravings, seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions, and a long list of articles of a similar nature enumerated, all other articles not above four pounds in weight which are not from their form or nature liable to destroy, deface, or otherwise injure the mail-bag or the person of anyone engaged in the postal service. All liquids, poisons, glass, explosive material,” and obscene books were excluded. This opened the mails to the reception of the vast quantity of small packages which were to be conveyed from one part of the country to another, and insured for such parcels prompt dispatch to the remotest part of the United States, at a charge of but one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof. The regulations governing the class of matter referred to are few and simple. All packages must be so wrapped, with open sides or ends, that their contents may be readily and thoroughly examined by the postal clerks without despoiling their wrappers. No writing is permitted except the address of destination, and to inclose or conceal a letter, or write or print anything upon a newspaper or other matter inclosed as a merchandise package, subjects the sender to prosecution and fine. If it is necessary to break or tear a wrapper, letter rates are to be collected on packages so wrapped when they are delivered.

Some idea of the extent of the business done under this law may be gathered from the returns made for fifty of the leading cities in the United States for the month of December, 1874. In tour weeks $25,733 packages of merchandise, weighing 110,473 pounds, were sent through the mails. In the same time, in the New York office alone, the number of pieces was 89,054, weighing 36,905 pounds. This may be taken as a good average month's work, so that in the course of the year nearly 500,000 pounds of this class of matter will be sent from the office in this city. The advantages of the new law have been very great to retail dealers, who have hitherto been compelled, in order to accommodate out-of town customers, to send packages of samples and small orders of goods by express companies at great expense. They are now enabled to send such parcels at comparatively light cost. A few of the larger houses send the bulk of the matter dispatched, but a great deal of it is also mailed by persons out of business. The variety of matter thus sent is astonishing. At the general Postoffice in this city the examinations of these parcels is carried on under the eye of Mr. John W. Brady, who has under him a force employed during a part of each day in this business alone. They sit at a long counter upon which the contents of the pouches are poured, and each is carefully inspected before it is allowedjto pass. Although time enough has elapsed since the law became effective to permit everybody to become acquainted with the regulations under which its privileges may be enjoyed, a few minutes’ observation will suffice to show that there is much ignorance yet upon the subject, and not a little defiance of the law. Here you see a pile of stuff two or three feet deep. The firstpackage taken from it contains a sample pipe, carefully inclosed, which is so securely packed that the postal clerk would be entitled to assess letter rates because he cannot readily examine it. The PostmasterGeneral has recently issued instructions “ that third-class mail matter must be wrapped so as to admit of examination without destroying the wrapper. When Postmasters cannot make an examination of the contents of a package of thirdclass maiter without destroying the wrapper, such,package must be rated with letter postage, to be collected on delivery, and under no circumstances can a Postmaster tear, cut, or destroy the wrapper of any package wha ever which may be in transit through his office.” Next a thin package is drawn out, its wrapper is slipped off, and in two or three folds of paper a photograph 'is inclosed. On the back of the photograph is a tender line with the signature of the sender. The wrappings are returned, and for this infringement of the law the recipient of the package will have to pay doable letter-rates. Another package is a box tied up, and open at one end. and through the opening are seen folds of white paper. They are unrolled, and a cracker is finally discovered as the kernel of this nut, w hich is to be cracked by somebody who will understand the joke better than the postal clerks. Again, a smnll box is opened which contains, besides a set of gold and Rubber earrings, a letter from a young lady, •ending them to her friend, neither of whom will learn perhaps that they have exposed themselves to the danger of notoriety by breaking the laws and to the loss of five dollars for doing sp into the

bargain. Mr. Brady says that a majority of the cases of infringement of the regulations are made by women, who do not seem to understand what a law means, and many of those from whom additional rates have been collected for their negligence have complained bitterly of the hardships they have been compelled to undergo. If a package is so stamped that the clerk finds it necessary to destroy the stamp in order to examine the contents, letter rates are charged. As an instance of the cheapness of the rate at which goods can be sent by mail, it is related that an officer of the United States army at Fort Scott had an entire outfit, including a suit of clothes and many small articles, done up in packages of four pounds each, the whole filling a mail-pouch, sent to his post at an expense of about five dollars, whereas the expense by express would have been twenty dollars. A bonnet upon which the express companies would charge a dollar and a half for transportation to Chicago was sent through the mail for eight cents. The Government is not responsible for damage done to goods carried. The retail trade do not generally label their packages for transmission in this way, but it is known at the Postoffice that A. T. Stewart & Co., Lord & Taylor and Arnold, Constable & Co. make use of the facilities offered and also that R. H. Macy & Co. and Ridley & Co. intrust great numbers of packages daily to the mails. The result of this patronage to the mails has been a corresponding loss to the express companies, who are now said to be endeavoring to secure the repeal of the law. Such a movement is likely to be met with warm opposition, as the success of it would secure to the express companies a monopoly of the business. As the articles conveyed are usually of such a nature as to withstand ordinary usage it is argued by the dealers that they can be as satisfactorily carried by that method as by the express companies. The mails go to out-of-the-way places to which it would be exceedingly expensive to express packages, and with no more delay than attends the transmission of a letter.-— IT. Y. Evening Poet.

The attention of many chemists and physicians of late has been called to the action of prussic (hydrocyanic) acid. It lias been asserted that the person who died from the action of this powerful poison did so from paralysis of important nerves that control the action of the heart. It was also asserted that atropine was an antidote for the poison. Careful experiments lately made show that these conclusions are probably incorrect. The animals experimented upon after a large dose cohld not be affected by the administration of atropine but became asphyxiated. The heart continued to beat for twenty minutes after the animal was seemingly dead; when moderate doses were given, though they were large enough to destroy life, yet -they did not seem to have utterly' paralyzed the motor nerves. ..This was shown by the fact that if artificial respiration was employed until the lungs began to recover their power the animal always recovered. Death by hydrocyanic acid seems to be rather from asphyxia than by action upon the nerves controlling the muscular action of the heart. A man in Dakota writes to a friend that the thermometer has been ranging from 28 to 30 degs. below zero; that going to bed is a serious matter, and getting up ; is still more so; that he sleeps under six pairs of blankets, with two pairs of socks and two woolen nightgowns on. and has to consume large quantities of pork grease in order to keep up internal combustion.