Mail carrier

“ Patrons who repeatedly fail to respond promptly to the carrier’s ring must be reported to the postmaster. Carriers must not enter any house while on their trips, except in the discharge of their official duties. Mail matter must not be delivered by carriers which has not passed through the post office or station with which they are connected. Mail matter intrusted to carriers must not be exhibited to persons other than those addressed, except on the order of the postmaster or some one authorized to act for him. Letters for delivery must not be carried by carriers in their pockets. ”

“ But let it be remembered that our opinion does not protect travellers in the stage coach, or the carrier of the mail in driving about any town to discharge or to receive passengers; and much less in blowing his horn to the disturbance of serious people either at public worship or in their own houses. The carrier may proceed with the mail on the Lord’s day to the post-office; he may go to any public house to refresh himself and his horses; and he may take the mail from the post-office and proceed on his route. Any other liberties on the Lord’s day our opinion does not warrant. ”

“ Formerly, people went to the nearest postoffice for their mail; now, in all cities, the mail is delivered by postmen, just as the letter from Uncle Charles was delivered to-day.
“In almost all parts of the country there is a rural free delivery. By the roadside in front of each farmer’s house is a mail-box, having the name of the owner upon it.
“A letter carrier drives through the neighborhood with the mail. When he leaves mail in a box he raises a little signal which is attached to it in such a way that it can be seen from the farmhouse. ”

“ Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the Postal Service may contract for the transportation of mail by aircraft between any of the points in foreign air transportation only with certificated air carriers. A contract may be awarded to a certificated air carrier to transport mail by air between any of the points in foreign air transportation that the Secretary of Transportation has authorized the carrier to serve either directly or through a code-share relationship with one or more foreign air carriers. ”

“ This system, which was suggested by the celebrated Rowland Hill, originated at a period in English postal history when the requirements of trade and commerce demanded a revisal of the code. Perhaps no man was better qualified for the purpose than was Mr. Hill. In 1839 railroad post-offices were in use for mail-bags. Each railway company provided a car, when desired to do so by the postmaster-general, for the exclusive use of the mails. These cars were fitted up with boxes to facilitate the distribution and reception of the mails. ”

“ Today’s merchandising methods, the plethora of mass mailings subsidized by low postal rates, and the growth of the sale of large mailing lists as an industry in itself have changed the mailman from a carrier of primarily private communications, as he was in a more leisurely day, and have made him an adjunct of the mass mailer who sends unsolicited and often unwanted mail into every home. ”

“ The classified [Pg 47] or carrier stations are practically complete post-offices, so far as the public is concerned, affording full facilities for the sale of stamps, money-orders, postal savings, registration of mail, acceptance of parcel post, the distribution of mail, etc., and for the delivery and collection of mail by carriers. The financial stations afford all the conveniences mentioned for the benefit of the public, except that they do not make delivery of mail nor effect its distribution. ”

“ Deliveries shall be made as frequently as the public interest may require. No carrier’s fee or extra postage shall be charged on letters delivered or collected by carriers. Separate accounts must be kept of the expenses of the carrier-service and of the receipts from local mail-matter; and all such expenses must be paid from the income of the office employing the carriers. Letter-carriers may be employed, under contract between postmaster and publishers, to deliver newspapers, periodicals, circulars, &c., but such contracts must be first approved by the postmaster-general ”

“ Well, a bit of news has come saying that, among the Himalaya Mountains, the men who carry the mails on horseback are sealed to their saddles, in such a way that while they can ride easily enough they cannot get down from their seats; and, what is more, the mail-packages are sealed to the men! Once started on the route, the seals are not allowed to be broken, except by the postmaster at the next station, and, if they happen to get broken otherwise than by accident, the carrier is severely punished. ”

“ Or, if there was no particular agreement, this case is such that between the defendant and a private owner of horses and carriages employed in transporting the mail I incline to think it could not legally be presumed a lien was ever intended or contemplated. A carrier of the mail is bound not to delay its delivery, under severe penalties ”

“ The following evening the movements of the suspected person were again watched, the Agent having a better knowledge respecting the exact nature and value of a portion of the [Pg 128] contents of the mail bags which were to be forwarded at that time.
Upon this occasion, the train was "on time," and the carrier a little later than usual, so the mails were placed directly upon the barrow, and wheeled by the baggage-master to an obscure part of the depot, more remote from observation, and less in the way of passers, than that where they were carried the previous night. ”

“ The introduction of the parcel post as a great common carrier is an added feature in connection with this subject. The fourth-class postmaster receives much more mail than he sends out. This inequality which affects his pay can be largely corrected if the postmasters in cities would adopt some practical measures towards stimulating orders from city patrons for farm produce which could be shipped by mail. ”

“ The reception of mail consists of one damaged street letter-box set upon a box in front of the building and guarded by a carrier, who has also to see that there is no crowding in the long lines of people waiting to get their turn at the two windows where letters and stamps are served out. ”

“ In some of the large cities private express companies have undertaken to outstrip the Government mail carriers by affording for the prompt transmission of letters better facilities than have hitherto been at the command of the Post-Office. ”

“ Until 1827 newspapers could be carried privately, but by the act of this year an express exception hitherto existing was omitted. At the present time, of course, they may be carried outside of the mail. See Postal Laws and Regulations of 1913, p. 605.
114 4 Opinions of the Attorneys General, 349 (1844) . If a passenger takes the letters without the knowledge of the carrier, the latter is not liable and no penalty is incurred by the person sending the letters; but if the practice is known by public advertisement the carrier will be liable and also the person employing agents to carry his mail. ”

“ The law authorizing the free delivery of mail-letters and all other mail-matter by carriers took effect on the364 first day of July, 1863. We much question if the change has benefited the treasury of the department.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF LETTERS IN EUROPE.
Although we have expressed a doubt in relation to this system with us, it may not apply to other countries. Here it is expected that the income of an office will sustain its own expenses, and hence every postmaster is anxious to make his report to the department favorably to this system. Carriers now receive a regular salary ”

“ The things that postmen and country mail-carriers have in their mail-bags are funny to see: flower seeds, bits of fancy work, photographs, pictures, any thing and every thing!
“They all look forward to mail-time through the night and through the day. ”

“ Both the West India and American Mails were ready yesterday by about noon, but what with the passengers in different and distant inns, the Packets in different places, the cartage of the mails, the purchasing of their anchors in very deep water—pilotage not one man-of-war ever goes to sea without, so dangerous is the passage—that I see very clearly we shall not gain anything in getting to sea, though the mail arrives here in the morning.... ”

“ Many letters are received without direction, and others, again, so imperfectly given that it requires the exercise of a little of Job’s patience, assisted by an imperfect directory, to find out where they actually belong. The carriers, however, to whom these letters are submitted, being familiar with the names of persons on their routes, select from this débris of letters those that they think belong to the parties to whom they are so carelessly directed. A good carrier never brings back a letter to253 the office until he is fully satisfied that it is not on his route. ”

“ As contrasted with the last year of dear postage, the number of letters show an eightfold increase. The distance over which the mails travel with this enormous amount of correspondence, in the United Kingdom alone, is nearly 160,000 miles per day. Of the mails conveyed by railway, a distance of 50,000 miles is accomplished every working-day; 72,000 miles per diem are traversed on foot; and the rest are carried by mail-coaches, mail-carts, and steamboats. ”

“ In selecting modes of transportation, the Postal Service shall give highest consideration to the prompt and economical delivery of all mail. Modern methods of transporting mail by containerization and programs designed to achieve overnight transportation to the destination of important letter mail to all parts of the Nation shall be a primary goal of postal operations. ”

“ It had been folded and carried about in the traveller's pocket, to be finished and sealed at Pau, in all probability, and there entrusted to the carriers who, at that time, conducted the mail service, with more or less despatch, between places of importance. ”

“ It is estimated that the delivery division effects the delivery daily through the carriers assigned to the general office and to the various stations of approximately 5,000,000 letters, cards, and circulars, 800,000 papers, periodicals, and pieces of printed matter and small parcel-post packages, and 65,000 bulky parcel-post packages, or, in all, close to 6,000,000 pieces of mail of all classes. ”

“ The carriers are light enough to be easily handled; they are not so large in capacity as to make it necessary to wait for an accumulation of mail to fill them; they can be delivered from the tube on to tables at any point in the building where the mail is wanted, for cancelling, distribution, or pouching, thus rendering a very rapid service; the mail is kept moving in an almost constant stream, keeping the postal employees more uniformly employed ”

“ Not a steamer had crossed the Atlantic by steam alone when the queen came to the throne, and her accession was in the year previous to that during which Wheatstone in this country, and Morse in America, introduced electric telegraphy. We, who enjoy express trains, six-penny telegrams, half-penny post-cards, and the parcel post, can scarcely realize that we are so near the time when mail-coaches and sailing-packets were almost the only means of conveyance, and when postage was a serious burden. ”

“ The services to the Continent, although the distance is on the short side for the merits of air transport to be properly demonstrated, effect a considerable saving in time, and it is certain that the amount of mail, especially parcels, carried on these routes will continue to increase and lead to the eventual adoption of normal rates for air postage. An extension of the use of aircraft as the regular means of carrying mails will be of great assistance in the development of air transport. ”

“ The rural carriers, for instance, must be familiar with the regulations that cover the delivery of mail, registration of letters, taking applications for money-orders, sale of stamps, supplies, etc., but the inspector must also know all of these and also be able to determine when the establishment of a route is warranted, to lay out and fix the schedules and prepare a map and description of the route, also measure the routes if the length is in dispute, inspect the service, ascertain whether it is properly performed, and give necessary instructions to the carriers and postmasters. ”

“ In all mail communications, such as those which are about to be considered, the point to be kept steadily in view, and one which is absolutely indispensable, is to connect and to bring the return mails and the outward together, in such a manner as that every intermediate place shall have the full benefit of both, without trenching upon the general interests, or occasioning any unnecessary detention or delay. This great and essential point is more particularly necessary to be attended to in the conveyance of mails by sea to distant parts, especially if conveyed by steam. ”

“ When the first statutes limiting private carriage of letters on post roads were enacted in 1792, the Post Office offered no pickup or delivery services. See C. Scheele, A Short History of the Mail Service 66, 91 (1970) . Statutory authority to employ letter carriers was not enacted until two years later and was largely ignored until the late 1820's. ”

“ In nothing perhaps will the advantages now offered by the Post-office, in connection with the packet service, be more appreciated by the public than in the reduced rates of postage. The following table shows the initial rates for letters to several places abroad in 1829 and in 1884: [81] —
If we were asked to point out a mail-packet of the present day as fulfilling all modern requirements in regard to the packet service, and showing a model of equipment in the vessels as well as order in their management, we would not hesitate to name the mail-steamers plying between Holyhead and Kingstown. ”