In the early days of big-city post offices, a great deal of time was spent in getting mail from the main station the substations and from statins to trains. Then compressed air came into use as a means of speeding up the movement of mail from place to place. Long tudes were built under the ground to connect different mail-handing sites, and hollow containers were made to fit the tudes. Mail was put into the containers, the continers were put into tudes, and compressed air was used to propel the containers to their destinations. Some cities still have many miles of mail tudes. Smaller tudes are sued in many libraries, stores, and factories.