Saturday, March 22, 2008

For CJ

The New York James Farley Post Office Motto comes from Ancient Persia?
The building prominently bears the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, which is frequently mistaken as an official motto of the United States Postal Service. It was actually supplied by William Mitchell Kendall of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, the architects who designed the Farley Building and the original Pennsylvania Station in the same Beaux-Arts style. The sentence is taken from Herodotus' Histories (Book 8, Ch. 98) and describes the faithful service of the Persian system of mounted postal messengers under Xerxes I of Persia. The USPS does not actually have an official motto or creed, but nonetheless the inscription on the building is universally recognized as such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Farley_Post_Office

1 comment:

Rita Loca said...

WOW! I never knew that!