Express

Express, in the United States, is specifically a system organised for the speedy transmission of parcels or merchandise of any kind, and their safe delivery in good condition. It originated in the trip made from Boston to New York by William Frederick Harnden (1813-45), the first 'express-package carrier,' on 4th March 1839. The project recommending itself to business men, competing companies sprang up rapidly, and express lines were established in all directions. Adams & Co.'s California express was started in 1849; Wells, Fargo, & Co.'s in 1852; the American-European company was created in 1855. As railways extended, the early 'pony express' disappeared, and individual companies now have contracts with the several railway companies, their business over these routes being held to be entitled to the protection of the courts against any efforts to dispossess them. Many of the rival companies were amalgamated, and most of the successful concerns are now joint-stock institutions, the industry employing capital aggregating more than £10,000,000. A feature of the American express system is the 'collect on delivery' business, goods when sent to strange firms at a distance being marked C.O.D., with the amount to be collected on the outside of the package, and the payment being collected by the express company, which receives a slight compensation for this extra trouble. Also, the American Express Company issues, and has for sale at its 5500 offices throughout large sections of the East and West, money orders, which are payable at any of their offices, are received like cheques at all large banks (if handed in by depositors), and are generally preferred, as cheaper and safer than cheques or postal orders, for small remittances by mail. See A. L. Stimson's History of the Express Business (1883).