Year. Mess Mess Cod- Super- Rice, per 100 XII. PRICES OF BEEF, PORK, AND NINE OTHER ARTICLES, FOR FORTY YEARS. Prepared for the American Almanac by DAVID M. BALFOur. [The figures in the subjoined Table indicate the wholesale cash prices in the New York market, on the first day of January in each year. Short price is indicated in all cases where the article is dutiable. Since 1833, Coffee and Tea have been admitted free of duty.] Mus- B. A. N. O. covado Dry- Midl'g barrel. barrel. quint. barrel. St. Do- Young Smyrna Washed Wool, per per pound. pound. 100 per pound. XIII. POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 1. Post-Office Statistics for the Year ending June 30, 1859. Number of mail routes, 8,723; number of contractors, 7,353; length of routes (estimated), 260,052 miles; being by railroad, 26,010 miles; steamboat, 19,209 miles; coach, 63,041 miles; inferior modes, 151,792 miles; amount of annual transportation in miles, 82,308,402; cost of same, $9,468,757; being by coach, 23,448,398 miles, at a cost of $3,134,094, or nearly 13.36 cents a mile; by railroad, 27,268,384 miles, at $3,243,974, or nearly 11.9 cents a mile; by steamboat, 4,569,962 miles, at $1,157,843, or nearly 25.33 cents a mile; by inferior grades, 27,021,658 miles, at $ 1,932,846, or 7.15 cents a mile.* During the year there was a decrease of 551 miles in the length of the mail routes; but the inland mail transportation has increased 3,542,911 miles, or about 4.4 per cent, at an increase of $1,673,339 cost, or about 21.46 per cent, as follows:- Increase of railroad service, 1,504,932 miles, or 5.84 per cent, at a cost of $415,673, or 14.69 per cent; of steamboat service, 392 miles, or 1.10 per cent, at a cost less by $76,073, or 6.16 per cent; of service by coaches, 3,892,664 miles, or 19.9 per cent, at a cost of $1,224,250, or 64.1 per cent; decrease of inferior routes, 1,855,037 miles, or 6.42 per cent, at an increased cost of $ 109,849, or 6 per cent. The aggregate length of railroad routes has been increased 1,579 miles; of steamboat routes, 2,166 miles; of coach routes, 9,341 miles; while the length of inferior routes is diminished 13,637 miles. The cost of transportation alone on railroads varied from $50 to $375 per mile of the length of railroad routes. The length of railroad routes in 1842 was 3,091 miles, and the cost of service, $432,568; and in 1852 the length of routes was 10,146 miles, at a cost of $1,275,520. The number of post-offices, June 30, 1859, was 28,539; of which 417 were of the class to which postmasters are appointed by the President, the yearly commissions exceeding $1,000. Of the whole number of offices, 860 are "draft offices"; 1,339 are "deposit offices"; 21,214 are "collection offices"; and 5,126 are styled "special and mail messenger offices." There were (June 30) 475 route agents, whose pay was $ 368,657 ; 31 express route agents, pay $30,700; 42 local agents, pay $ 29,818; 1,549 mail messengers, pay $196,999. The gross revenue for the contract year ending June 30, 1859, was $8,668,484.07; total expenditures and liabilities, $ 15,754,092.89; making the excess of expenditure, &c., $7,085,508.82.† The details are given, post, p. 201. *There are, besides, the routes of the mail service abroad, of the aggregate length of over 20,000 miles. For this service and its pay, see post, p. 198. For the gross receipts and expenditures of the Department for the contract year ending June 30, 1860, see the Additions and Corrections at the end of the volume. During the year, 1,455 post-offices were established, and 893 were discontinued, net increase, 562. 4,639 postmasters were appointed to fill vacancies by resignations; 867, by removals; 295, by deaths; 292, by change of names and sites; 1,455, by establishment of new offices; — in all, 7,548. 2. Table of Mail Service for the Year ending June 30, 1859.* - By Transpor Cost. tation. Miles. Miles. *The entire service and pay are set down to the State under which the route is numbered, though extending into other States, instead of being divided among the States in which each portion of it lies. This includes the route from San Francisco to Olympia, Washington Territory, and for which $122,500 is paid by the United States Treasury, under act of Congress. This includes steamboat service from Louisville to Cincinnati. This includes the route from New Orleans to Mobile. The Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Railroad is under a Maryland number. 3. Number of Post-Offices, Extent of Post-Routes, and Revenue and Expenditures of the Post-Office Department; with the Amount paid to Postmasters and for Transportation of the Mail, since 1790. Extent of Expenditures Amount paid for The returns for 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, and 1851 are for the six years under the law of March 3, 1845. Those for 1852, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, and 1859 are for the eight years under the new law. 4. FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE. The foreign (transatlantic) mail service of the United States for the year ending June 30, 1859, was performed under the provisions of the Act of June 14, 1858, which limits the compensation therefor to the United States postage, sea and inland, when the conveyance is by American steamers, and to the sea postage, when by foreign steamers. Twenty-six round trips were performed by American steamships for the sum of $ 199,261.09, averaging $ 7,663.88 the round trip; and twenty-six and a half trips by foreign steamships, at $ 125,349.53, averaging $4,730.17 the round trip. Arrangements are made for the continuance of weekly service by American or foreign steamships between New York and Liverpool or Southampton, embracing semi-monthly trips to Havre, and trips once a month to Bremen and back. This, in connection with the Cunard line, secures semi-weekly service between this country and Great Britain, and with the Bremen and Hamburg steamers, a direct mail at least as frequently as three times a month to and from Germany. The amount of letter postages upon mails exchanged during the year with Great Britain was $770,086; with Prussia, $288,642.68; France, $218,770.05; Bremen, $38,368.37; and Hamburg, $22,581.95; being a decrease on British mails of $32,684.80; on Prussian mails of $37,120.92 ; and an increase on French mails of $12,943.63; on Bremen mails of $10,462.45; and on Hamburg mails of $6,704.21; as compared with the preceding year Net decreased letter postages on European mails, $39,695.43. The amount of postages on mails sent to Great Britain was $365,622.13; to Prussia, $167,884.33; to France, $ 106,050.01; to Bremen, $ 18,229.80; and to Hamburg, $ 15,584.58: total sent, $ 673,370.85. On mails received from Great Britain, $404,464.71; from Prussia, $ 120,758.35; from France, $112,720.04; from Bremen, $20,138.57; and from Hamburg, $ 6,997.37 : total received, $ 665,079.04. Total postages collected in the United States, $809,860.73; in Great Britain, Prussia, France, Bremen, and Hamburg, $528,589.16. Excess of postages collected in the United States, $ 281,271.57. The postages on the Charleston and Havana line were $ 11,300.02; by the New York and California lines, $ 292,821.09; by the New Orleans and Vera Cruz line, $2,578.26.* The revenue by the Cunard line was as follows:- Total letter postage, $503,758.06; the United States' portion, five twenty-fourths, being United States inland postage, was $104,949.58; add newspaper postage, $18,590.94; total, $123,540.52. On these postages the United States pays for commissions $124,856.43, making a deficit of $ 1,315.91; and to this should be added for United States inland postage on British mails, $ 104,949.58, which makes the whole deficit to the Department $106,265.49. The amount of postages for the year, on mails received and sent between the United States and British Provinces, under the existing postal arrange For receipts of these lines in former years, see the American Almanac for 1856, pages 183, 184; for 1857, page 180; for 1858, page 181; for 1859, page 176; and for 1860, page 170. |