The New York herald., 1876-12-14
SORTING THE MAILS.
EFFICIENCY IN THE POST OFFICE sERvIcs-
HOW LETTERS ARE ASSORTED AND BOXED

EFFICIENCY IN THE POST OFFICE sERvIcS-
HOW LETTERS ARE ASSORTED AND BOXED
FOR DELIVERY.
The essential preliminary TO . prompt delivery OF
letters is their assortment according 70 the
method and locality OF their proposed delivery, and
The accomplishment of this task is among the most
important duties assigned to the clerks OF the New
York Post Otfoe requiring its performance thor
ough knowledge OF the boundaries OF the different de-
livery districts the location only OF every well
known and important street avenue, but Of every
out OF the way .pace." "terracc, row and alley Of
the metropolis, OF all public buildings banks insur-
ance and newspaper ollces, hospitals. asyiums, col
eges aud even Of large proportion OF our private mer
camille houses good asserting clerk Is expected,
ALSO 70 be aDlo TO tell at glance the particular win
dow OF the box delivery ~ which letter addressed to
any box holder is deliverable. and there s, 900
boxes rented, with each OF which he is required
soclate in his memory the uames on an average. OF
ve persons II 10 obvious that Tor the perform
ance OF his work he must be possessed OF mnemonic
power litlle short OF miraculous.
In to the grcatest possible efficiency
this important branch OF the Post James
reduced system OF examination by whIcn tue rela
tive proficiency OF each asserting clerk Is thoroughly
aud accurately tested a. regular quarterly intervals
case or nest OF pigeon holes 10 prepared, each COM
partnient oil when represents box window, With tho
exception oftwo, which are assigned 10 "carrcr de-
lvcry' and general delivery" respectively. Tho
1900 cards. each bearing the name o box holder
ol lrm per whose letters delivered by
called for ut the general delivery he is then
required 10 place each card in It's appropriate
compartment At the conclusion OF his task Ia noto
having been made OF tho time consumed In ITS COM
pctiop) the different compartments OF the
ahmed aud all errors recorded. When all the clerks
have been thus tested a tabular statement IS naae
IRON the notes which have been taken, and cacn clerk
is assigned certain grade for the ensuing quarter
according 10 his standing tho record, and the
higher and lower grades are attached corresponding
salaries each clerk has lively interest IN perfect.
ing himself by careful study aud attention in the
performance OF his duty. The sysrem has worked
admirably and has effected marked improve
ment in tho service. For The quarter ending Sepiem-
Der 80 1876 the average standing Of the twenty
asserting clerks as shown ty The tabular statement OF
the examination for that quarter, was cightyivc per
the maximum being l00), the records OF the dr.
Ierent clerks rangIug from ~. O6 TO 6237.
Alter the assortment OF box letters the different
windows or divisions they taken by the delivery
spectivey belong TO perform this duty with the
requisite care and at the same time with The necessary
rapdty Is no easy task and II would not be surprising
to dnd that occasional occur III
its performances, especially In view Of the
similarity in names Of many dlnerent firms
large number OF letters insuifciently iegibIy
Incorrectly addressed that mistakes often par
donaDc, If not unavoidable; but " carelessness
or indifference they not tolerated, and when dis
covered are apt to entail disagreeabe consequences in
the shape OF penalties order to secure the mini
Of errors OF this kind system has been devised
whereby each clerk is required to report daily MIS-
mis,aKes-shouid ho make any--and these reports
grades and salaricS
THIS plan, whereby the rank and salaries of tho
clerks made TO depend upon their efficiency with
regard to other considerations influences is
practical phase Of "civ service reform" which not
only secures justice to the clerks but is OF mimic
benefit the public whose correspondence is intrusted
to their hands.
uSpELyERABLE LETTERS.
The delivery OF letter according to its address Is
Theoretically a very simple matter; but glance
The superscrptions many Of the letters received
the Post Ofnce tor delivery, or trip made 10 tho
company OF letter carrier on hss route would show
that this apparently easy task is surrounded by
midable diliculiies Letters misdrected IN every
conceivable Misunderstanding wrong numbers streets
and names, addressed in all known and unknown Ian
guagcs in handwriting exhibiting every possible dis
torton in chirography-are daily handed to the car
rers IN the expectation that they will in some manner
tho hands Of tifose Tor whom they intended
aud this expectation IL justified TO an extent
which Is highly creditablo 10 the perseverance
and fidelity Of those hard-worked officials. Tho
following statistics copied from the oical record
Tor last month, showing the number OF letters re-
ccived by carriers in each delivery district the
number actually delivered and the number returned
to tho Office undeliverable II will be soen that the
proportion ofthe latter s but half ono per cent
Letters Received Returned by