Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1903-12-21
General Activity Noticeable at
Every Hand-- --Merchants Are Kept
Busy, Opening Early and Closing
Late--Postoffice Force More 0c-
Cupied Than Anyone EIse---Ex
press Offices and Railroads Other
Centers of Activity.

| Christmas gifts are to be found in the
furniture and household goods line
Last but not least comes Colds old
curiosity shop, where Indian and Mexi
can blankets, pottery. baskets, drawn
work and curios can be purchased by
holiday shoppers at less than cost, or
account of the closing out sale in pro
gress.
At the Postoffice.
In making the rounds of the plaza
one must not overlook the postoffice
and the .wo express offices, which
during the holiday season are the
mecca for the multitudes. Nearly all
Of the residents, both old and young,
visit the postoffice during Christmas
week, one or more times daily, while
the majority of the residents of Santa
Fe have occasion to pay their respects
to the express agents during the per-
iod.
During the Christmas season, the
postoffice force is probably little bit
buster than any one else in Santa Fe.
1t suffers no competition in it's line of
business and there are but few resi-
dents OF Santa Fe and surroundings
who do not visit the postoffice from
one to ten times day to get mail, de-
posit mail. buy postage stamps, to reg
lister pa.hages, buy or cash money or
ders or go ask questions.
aQuarser Million Pieces Of Mail.
In the, onth of December about 100,-
900 samls are sold, and as second
class matter goes through without
stamps and the Santa Fe postoffice
handles an extraordinary large
amount of official mail matter, some
thing like quarter OF million pieces
of mail matter are handled during the
Christmas season and with the incom
ing mail matter something like half a
million pieces during the present
month. 1t must be remembered that
the stamp on each piece of mail matter
must be Cancelled, the mail sorted by
states and the larger cities, by its diff
ferent classes, tied up according to
destination and trains, placed in the
pIOpcI odCho pOuSlC0 anu q ACSoiu
made of all missent matter, letters and
packages short of postage or deficient
in address. Yet, the mistakes made
are far fewer than happen in any
business house in this city at this sea-
son.
is about ] 800 and as each register
must be entered five times, numbered
consecutively, re-enveloped and tag
ged and sorted according to destina-
ton, this work alone keeps one clerk
more than busy now that the Christ
mas rush has started. The number of
money orders sent and cashed exceeds
1000 and represents the handling at
this season of about $25,OO0. The Incl
dental work of weighing packages and
letters, answering innumerable ques-
tions and quite number of unfound-
ed complaints, distributing the mails,
and making out the required reports
and answering the voluminous office
mail ranging from forwarding orders
and applications for positions to ques-
tions about New MeXico's climate and
how many bushels of wheat can be
raised on an acre at Santa Fe, are no
light part of the burden which fall to
the lot of every postoffice.
Business Twenty Per Cent Greater
This Year.
The business at the Santa Fe post
Office this month, thus far is about 20
per cent greater than during the same
period last year, and yet, the post
office is so we'll organized that no de-
lays are occasioned and the clerks
work only from ten to twelve hours
daily where last year they worked
from fifteen to eighteen hours. The
placing of new fixtures, the rearrang-
ing and relabeling of postOffice boxes,
the placing of new furniture, the issu-
ing of 1900 new postoffice box keys,
for civil service ex-
animation and for the install
lation of the letter carrier
service, added to the holiday pressure
this year. The chronic lateness of
trains, too, as well as the fact, that the
postoffice force had to work in cold
room during the days that the old
postoffice furniture was being replaced
by the new, make it remarkable that
no delay occurred in the dispatch or
of the mails.
In quite number of the larger Of
fees of the United States mail mat
ter is delayed from one to six days at
this time of the year and second third
and fourth class matter at times even
longer. Not so long ago the Denver
Continued on Page Six.)