Postal Statistics

How many stamps, stampsd envelopes, postal cards aQd newspaper wrappers were sold at the Ann Arbor post office dnring the year 1896? Tbat is a question which the Argus will answer, bnt before readiug fartüer let eaob one make a guess. During the year ending on the night of December 81, 1896, there were sold at the Ann Arbor offioe over a million and a half stamps aud stamped paper, or to be exaot the number was 1,661,566. Nnmbers are hard to coDceive. If a man sells five stamps or envelopes in a minute and works ten hours a day without oessation, Sundays included, in a year he will sell 1,085,000, so that counting each day of teu hours, eigbt stamps, cards, or envelopes went out of the Ann Arbor post office every minute last year. They found their way back in again with interest, for there are more stamps used at the Aun Arbor office than are sold there, mauy starnps from outside being sent in to diöerent patrons of the office. The receipts of the Ann Arbor office during 1896 were $32,203.94, divided as follows: Stamps and stamped paper, $31,684.05; box rents, $515.60; sale of waste paper, $4.29. Af ter defraying all the expenses of the office, the sum of $12,888.30 was turned into the United States treasury. To show the fluotuation in business here and the big deorease in the summer sales, the stamp sales may be divided by quarters as follows: For the three months beginning January t, $8,681.30; beginning April 1, $8,289.26; beginning .Tuly 1, $5,902 04; beginning October 1, $8,811.45. There were over a million two cent stamps sold. This inolndes the two oent stamped envelopes. Tbere were over 200,000 postal cards sold. To be exact, the starnps sold of the different denominations were as follows: One cent, 189,436; two cent, 892,848; tbree cent, 7,241; four cent, 5,235; five cent, 10,922; six cent, 6,500; eight cent, 5,253; ten oent, 6,869; fifteen cent, 200. Ttere were sold 262,991 two cent envelopes ; 23, 250 one cent envelopes ; 237 five cent envelopes; 35,932 oue cent newspaper wrappers and 2,000 two oent wrappers. The postal cards sold were 200,352 one cent cards and 2,295 two cent cards. There were also 2,920 special delivery stamps sold. The postage due stamps used in collecting deficiënt postage numbered, 4,347 one cent stamps; 1,875 two cent stamps and 863 five cent stamps. The newspapers mailed at the Ann Arbor office, by tbe pnblishers during the year weighed 96, 17a pounds, averaging nearly a ton a week. There were 2,182 special delivery letters delivered in tbe city dnring the year. There were 3,412 registered letters and packages sent out and 4,806 reoeived. The morey order department is run as an altogetber separate branch of tbe postal service and none of the. figures above given have any reference to the money order department. Aun Arbor is a paying office rathei than a money order issuing offiue. During the year the money orders paid exceeded the money orders issued by over $100,000. Duriug the year endiug December 31, 1896, tbere were 10,030 money orders issued, of whioh 9,629 were orders payable in the United States and 401 orders payable in foreign countries. The domestio orders were issued for $47,297.61 and the foreign orders for $3,592.14. The fees collected for the orders amouuted to $540 26, of whicb $482.66 was for the domestic orders and $57.60 for the foreign orders. The oiders paid were 20,628, of whicb 20,389 were orders onginating in this country and 239 were foreigu orders. The orders issned here and re paid amounted to 64. Tbe total amonut paid out for money orders duriug the year was $151,817.83, of wbich $147,423.71 was for domestic orders and $4,394.12 for foreign orders. The average doraestic orders issaed was for $4.91 and tbe average order paid was for $7.23. The average foreign order issued was for 8.96 and paid, $18.38.