10. NUMBER AND CLASS OF VESSELS BUILT, AND THE TONNAGE THEREOF, IN THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1815 TO 1854, inclusive. The amount of Tonnage sold to foreigners during the year ending June 30, 1854, is stated to be 60,033.24 tons; being 58 ships or barques, 11 brigs, 23 schooners, 3 sloops, and 8 steamers. Amount condemned as unseaworthy, 9,513.12 tons; being 16 ships or barques, 10 brigs, 18 schooners, and 6 steamers. Amount lost at sea, 63,073.30 tons; being 63 ships or barques, 39 brigs, 75 schooners, 4 sloops, and 12 steamers. XII. POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 1. Post-Office Statistics for the Year ending June 30, 1854. Number of mail routes, July 1, 1854, Length of mail routes, July 1, 1854, miles, Cost of same for year ending June 30, 1854, *For nine months. 6,697 219,935 63,387,005 $ 4,919,897.80 21,151 Length of routes, eight in number, connecting this with foreign countries, covered by regular United States mail conveyance, Amount of annual transportation in miles, Annual cost of same, nearly, t Number of contractors, Route agents, local agents, and mail messengers, . Number of post-offices supplied, 2,192 Increase in length of mail routes, since July 1, 1853, in miles, $423,929.80 Increase of railroad service, 2,446,684 miles, or near 19 per cent, at an in creased cost of $157,281. Do. of service in modes not specified, 377,157 miles, or near 1 per cent, at an increased cost of $ 37,520, or near 3.55 per cent. Decrease of steamboat service, 889,582 miles, or near 15.37 per cent; at a reduced cost of $143,230, or near 29.7 per cent. This was caused by discontinuing the service between Wilmington, Charleston and Savannah, Detroit and Buffalo, &c., &c. Do. of coach service, 439,796 miles, or near 2 per cent, but at an increased cost of $83,137, or near 6.88 per cent. Gross revenue for the year, Total expenditures for the year, Excess of expenditures over gross revenue, (For details, see post, page 185.) $6,955,586.22 $ 8,577,424.12 $1,621,837.90 During the year, 1,842 new post-offices were established, and 614 were discontinued. 4,185 postmasters were appointed in consequence of resigna * September 30, 1854, there were in operation 239 railroad routes; aggregate length 16,621 miles; cost of mail transportation thereon, $1,923,747.89, or at the rate of $115.74 per mile of road: adding pay of mail passengers, route and local agents, the whole expense was $2,196,249.89, or $132.13 per mile of road. At the same time the average cost of steamboat service was $40.23 per mile of route; coach service, $ 24.39 per mile of road; and modes not specified, $8.82 per mile. This service is paid partly by the Post-Office Department and partly by the Navy Department. See page 183. tions; 320 in consequence of deaths; 294 for changes of sites of the offices; 1,842 to new offices; 1,977 by removals; in all, 8,618. 2. Table of Mail Service for the Year ending June 30, 1854.* *The entire service and pay are set down to the State under which the route is numbered, though extending into other States, instead of being divided among the States in which each portion of it lies. †The Baltimore, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Railroad is under a Maryland number. This embraces the steamboat service from St. Louis to New Orleans. § This embraces the steamboat service from Louisville to Cincinnati and from Louisville to New Orleans. This includes the route from New Orleans to Mobile. ¶ This is for service from Panama to Aspinwall, performed by the Panama Railroad Com. pany, at a stipulated price per trip, according to the weight of the mail, and which varies from year to year. Year. No. of Extent of Offices. in Miles. 3. Number of Post-Offices, Extent of Post-Routes, and Revenue and Expenditures of the Post-Office Department; with the Amount paid to Postmasters and for Transportation of the Mail, since 1790. Revenue Expenditures Amount paid for of the of the Compen. of Transport'n Department.Department. Postmast'rs. of the Mail. *The returns for 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, and 1851 are for the six years under the law of March 3, 1845. Those for 1852, 1853, and 1854 are for the three years under the new law. 4. FOREIGN MAIL SERVICE. The conveyance of mail matter between this and foreign countries, and between the Atlantic and Pacific portions of the United States, is a large and important branch of the mail service. The following table exhibits this service. Foreign Mail Service of the United States in Operation October 1, 1854.* 5. New York to Liverpool, 3,100 26 a year E. K. Collins, 858,000 Cont. with Sec. of N. J.&S.Brown. Acts Mar. 3, 1847, and July 21, 1852. 6. New York, by Cowes, 3,270 la month Ocean Steam 150,000 Contract with P. M. G., Act of March 3, 1847. to Havre, 22 cents per pound. Act March, 3, 1851. Contract with P. M. G., Act of Aug. 30,| 1852.† The gross amount received from the mail service to Bremen, via Southampton, from June 1, 1847, to Oct. 4, 1848, was $20,082.51; for the year ending Oct. 4, 1849, it was $61,114.20; from Oct. 5, 1849, to Sept. 30, 1850, it was $56,865.60; during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1851, it was $94,598.03; during the year ending June 30, 1852, it was $77,219.87; during the year ending June 30, 1853, it was $100,297.79, and during the year ending June 30, 1854, it was $138,037. The net revenue (i. e. deducting commission and United States inland postages) by this line for the year ending June 30, 1853, was $ 69,951.45, and for the last fiscal year it was $37,907. The postages on the Charleston and Havana line, from Oct. 8, 1848, to Sept. 30, 1850, were $22,406.37; for the year ending June 30, 1852, $11,958.99; for the year ending June 30, 1853, $7,945.63, and for the year ending June 30, 1854, $10,157. The postages by the New York, Chagres, and California line for the year ending June 30, 1853, were $263,137.58; and for the last year, $324,006; and by the New Orleans and Vera Cruz line, for the last year, $4,676. *The service is substantially the same at the present time, October, 1855. †The service in No. 8 is as yet semi-monthly, omitting Tampico, and for this a portion of the pay is deducted. |