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The pneumatic tube mail was a postal system operating in New York City from 1897 to 1953 using pneumatic tubes. Following the creation of the first pneumatic mail system in Philadelphia in 1893, New York City's system was begun, initially only between the old General Post Office on Park Row and the Produce Exchange on Bowling Green, a distance of 3,750 feet. Eventually the network stretched up both sides of Manhattan Island all the way to Manhattanville on the West side and "Triborough" in East Harlem, forming a loop running a few feet below street level. Travel time from the General Post Office to Harlem was 20 minutes. A crosstown line connected the two parallel lines between the new General Post office on the West Side and Grand Central Terminal on the east, and took four minutes for mail to traverse. Using the Brooklyn Bridge, a spur line also ran from Church Street, in lower Manhattan, to the general post office in Brooklyn (now Cadman Plaza), taking four minutes.〔 Operators of the system were called "Rocketeers". == Inauguration == The system was inaugurated on 7 October 1897 and presided over by Senator Chauncey M. Depew who declared, This is the age of speed. Everything that makes for speed contributes to happiness and is a distinct gain to civilization. We are ahead of the old countries in almost every respect, but we have been behind in methods of communication within our cities. In New York this condition of communication has hitherto been barbarous. If the Greater New York is to be a success, quick communication is absolutely necessary. I hope this system we have seen tried here to-day will soon be extended over all the Greater New York."〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2012/12/11/first-pneumatic-mail-delivery-in-new-york-1897/article-pneumatic-tubes-1st-use-nyt-1897-10-8-2/ )〕 The first dispatch was sent by Depew from the General Post Office to the Produce Exchange Post Office and included a bible wrapped in an American flag, a copy of the Constitution, a copy of President William McKinley's inaugural speech and several other papers. The bible was included in order to reference Job 9:25, "Now my days are swifter than a post" (''KJV'').〔 The return delivery contained a bouquet of violets and, as reported the following day in the ''New York Times'', the round trip took less than three minutes, most of which was taken in unloading and reloading the canister at the other end.〔 Subsequent deliveries included a variety of amusing items including a large artificial peach (a reference to Depew's nickname), clothing, a candlestick and a live cat.〔〔 In his autobiography, postal supervisor Howard Wallace Connelly recalled, How it could live after being shot at terrific speed from Station P in the Produce Exchange Building, making several turns before reaching Broadway and Park Row, I cannot conceive, but it did. It seemed to be dazed for a minute or two but started to run and was quickly secured and placed in a basket that had been provided for that purpose. A suit of clothes was the third arrival and then came letters, papers, and other ordinary mail matter. The installation in the Borough of Manhattan was constructed by the Tubular Dispatch Company. This company was purchased by the New York Pneumatic Service Company, who continued to operate the tubes under contract to the postal service. Construction after 1902, starting with the line between the New York and the Brooklyn general post offices, was completed by the New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Company. Stock in these companies was owned entirely by the American Pneumatic Service Company. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pneumatic tube mail in New York City」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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