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Description: Post Office Section2 Page 8
Newspaper published in: Washington, D. C., USA
Washington Times June 23, 1907 Post Office Section2 Page 8
Warehouse Leased and Renovated
With a flag raising and brief informal exercises on July 1, at which the Postmaster General and the principal officials of the Postoffice Department are expected to be present, the Postoffice Department Annex will be formally commissioned.
The establishment of the annex marks a great stride in the matter of postal administration, as it serves to bring together a number of the bureaus and divisions that have been widely scattered over the city and badly quartered. Under the new arrangement the workshops of the postal service and the supply divisions are brought together under one roof, with allied clerical divisions in close proximity.
Leased Warehouse for Ten Years.
The department leased from the Terminal Storage Company the large eight-story warehouses at the intersection of K street and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, containing about 80,000 square feet of floor space, for a term of ten years. Workmen have been busy for weeks putting the building in proper shape for the purposes of the department.
Forty-five additional windows have been cut to afford additional light and air; improved lavatory service has been installed on every floor, following strictly the regulations for same as made by the District Commissioners. Partitions have been erected to supply offices for the clerical divisions, improved elevator service, fire-escapes, and all modern appliances that could possibly be required in a combination office and work building, have been installed.
New Building Beside It.
Alongside the large building has been erected what is probably one of the best lighted and best ventilated office buildings in Washington. It is three stories in height, and is designed to furnish quarters for the division of topography, heretofore quartered in the Bush building, corner Eighth and E streets northwest; division of stamps, from Bush building, and the division of redemption, from the department building.
The stamp division has already been moved to the new quarters, while the remaining divisions are being rapidly transferred.
Private sidings are to be run to both the first and second stories of the main building, which will admit of freight and supplies being received and dispatched without the cost of drayage. All supplies used by the entire postal service will be received and dispatched from this building, amounting to about 100 tons daily. The department calculates that the saving on drayage alone will be an immense item, which can only be approximated after the contractors begin to figure on supplies minus the drayage, as will be the case after this year.
Only Two Structures Here.
The annex will be the only building maintained in Washington by the department outside of the main building. The Bush building on E street, the old rink at 613 E street, the building occupied by the mail bag repair shop on C street, and the quarters occupied by the lock shop at 1423 First street northeast, will all be surrendered by the department.
The buildings and the disposition of the floor space is thought to be ideal for the purpose intended. The sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the large building are to be used by the mail bag repair and lock shops. The fifth floor, following the plan of the department, is given over to the administrative divisions. The superintendent of supplies will have his office on this floor, as will also the superintendent of railway mail equipment for the third district.
Three Floors for Shipping.
The second, third, and fourth floors are to be used for the purpose of storing and shipping supplies. A private branch telephone exchange will be located in the shipping room in the southwest corner on the first floor. A public telephone booth will also be installed.
The machinery used in the mail bag repair shop and the lock repair shop will all hereafter be propelled by individual electric motors, thus doing away with all shafting and pulleys. Individual steel lockers have also been provided for every employe.
The freight elevators are large enough to admit of an entire wagon with its load being hoisted to any floor without unloading. It is calculated that the supplies will only be handled once as compared to three times heretofore, resulting in a great saving of time and also in the number of employes required to handle the work. By the use also of large platform scales it will be possible hereafter to weigh twine in the bulk instead of in lots of three or four bundles.
Record-Breaking Moving.
It will be necessary to move about 800 loads before the work of transfer will be complete. A record has been made in moving the lock repair shop, the task having been handled in six days, as compared to thirty-eight days the last time the shop was moved. About 325 people, including clerks, heads of divisions, and mechanics, will be quartered in the two buildings that are hereafter to be known as the Postoffice Department Annex.
The remodeling, space arrangements, and moving, have been under the supervision of a committee appointed by the Postmaster General for the purpose, consisting of G. G. THOMSON, assistant chief clerk of the department; W. H. GETTY, special agent of the division of classification, and G. F. SHAW, assistant superintendent of the Postoffice building.