The Worcester of eighteen hundred and ninety-eightFifty years a city . on to NewYork in four days in the summer; in winter the trip required sevendays. With the improvement of roads and vehicles the rate of travelwas steadily increased, tmtil in 1831, it is said, the journey from Worces-ter to Boston could be made by stage in six hours. In 1836 twentylines of stages made in all 122 arrivals and departures weeklv atWorcester. Up to this time the business of the post office steadily increased,though with little change in character or methods, except that thenumber of mails received and dispatche
The Worcester of eighteen hundred and ninety-eightFifty years a city . on to NewYork in four days in the summer; in winter the trip required sevendays. With the improvement of roads and vehicles the rate of travelwas steadily increased, tmtil in 1831, it is said, the journey from Worces-ter to Boston could be made by stage in six hours. In 1836 twentylines of stages made in all 122 arrivals and departures weeklv atWorcester. Up to this time the business of the post office steadily increased,though with little change in character or methods, except that thenumber of mails received and dispatched was much greater. Thereceipts of the office for its earlier vears are not readilv obtainable. Forthe year 1825 they were $713, scarcely more than the average dailvreceipts now. For the year 1836 they were $2,827. The receipts ofone day during the past year have been more than half that sum. The Boston & Worcester Railroad was opened for business in 1835,and mails as well as passengers were carried on its trains. At iirst* See sketch in Biographical THE POST OFFICE. The Worcester of 1898. 311 tliree trains departed from eaeh terminus daily in summer, and twodaily in the winter season. The time of each run was between two andthree hours. This frequency and speed of course greatly increased thebusiness of the post ofifice, and it was further increased when the Nor-wich & Worcester and the western roads were opened a few years yet no marked change in the character or methods of postal businesswas made. The postmasters business was only to receive, assort anddeliver at the post office the letters which arrived, and to dispatch totheir destination those which were deposited at the post office for mail-ing. And so it continued until Worcester became a city, in 1848. Twonovelties, however, came into use about this time. One was the postagestamp, which was first supplied to postmasters by the Post Office De-partment in 1847; the other was the envelope, which the
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