INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.
An interesting advance in the postal system of our country was made recently when the first of the pneumatic tubes which are to carry mail underground from one office to another was declared ready for use.
Some three hundred prominent men were present to see the first package of mail matter sent.
This tube extends from the Produce Exchange to the Post-Office Building, and the trip can be made from one office to the other in one minute and a quarter.
Mr. Chauncey Depew was present at the opening ceremonies, and having made an appropriate speech, sent off the first carrier of mail matter that passed through the tube.
In less time than it takes to tell the story the carrier returned, bringing a receipt for the mail that had been sent, and a pretty little kitten which arrived breathless from its spin through the tube.
The carriers are two feet long and seven inches round, and are made to fit the tube closely.
Other tubes are to be laid throughout the city, and before very long every post-office in the city will be connected with the general post-office by pneumatic tube, and letters will be posted in Harlem and sent flying down the seven miles to the City Hall in a few minutes.