Express

(eks-prěs'.) [Fr. exprès, from L. expre us, a pre ing out.) A courier or special me enger charged to deliver important despatches, or to convey information of high importance; also, any regular mode of conveyance for the speedy transmi ion of news, goods, or pa engers, as an expre train on a railroad-abbreviated into expre simply; as, the 5 o'clock expre . (Com.) The term E. has, in the U. States and some European countries, become the designation of a system of transportation especially organized for the convenience of the commercial community. This system was inaugurated, in 1839, by Mr. W. F. Harnden, of Boston, and, from being in the first place a mere experiment, it has since become, through coöper at i on with railroads and steam-navigation, an organization whose powers are ramified over nearly the whole civilized world. At the present time there are in the U. States some 14 or 15E. companies, the principal of which connect through agencies with the chief of foreign commercial countries. [s. 350]