The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-18
INCREASED FORCE
AT POSTOFFICE
ADDITIONAL MEN TO GO ON,
EXTRA MEN REQUIRED To AID IN
HANDLING BUSINESS.

Number Allowed Postmaster Blum i'm
Addition TO Regular Force Is
SmalI-Best Use of Time win
BE Made-Rush of Business In
creases Daily in the Registdy De-
pnrtment-The Money Order De-
partment BuSy-Some General
Rules.
There could be no more certain APP
preach of the Christmas season than
the increased volume of business that
is being carried on by the postoffice.
Especially noticeable is this in the
money-order and registry departments.
Postmaster Harry Blum will put the
additional men to work this week.
He is allowed five additional carriers,
with a total of thirty-five days, and
three additional clerks. All of these
men will not be required at once, but
they will be put on as they are need
ed. By following out this plan all
the work can be handled to the best
advantage, ard the best use made of
the time of the additional men.
Several of the men will go on duty
tomorrow morning and before the
close of the week all the men allow
ed the Savannah Office will be at
work. The rush of business is increas-
ing steadily and rapidly and the pres
ent force is hard pushed to handle all
the work that is required of it.
Registry Department Rushed.
The registry department is hard
worked. Gifts are being sent to all
parts of the country, and some to for
eign countries. To insure against loss
and to render it easy to trace any miss
ing packages, people avail themselves
of the registry department. The reg
istry clerks are kept busy from the
opening hour until the closing, and
there is almost always q line or peo-
pie before the window waiting to be
served
The same facts hold true at the
money order window. Amounts vary
ing in value from 81 to 500 are being
sent out daily. The rush of money re-
ceived here is equally as large and
the money order clerks are among the
busiest in the entire office. The eff
fects of the holiday season are shown,
in fact. in all departments, and it
would be hard to say which has the
heaviest duties.
Some General Rules
For the guidance of those who use
the postoffice-and there are thous-
ands-the following rules have been
prepared by the postmaster to insure
| against loss of packages and against
| delays in delivery:
Mark the address plainly and also
place the name of the sender as well
on the letter or package. Securely
wrap and tie all packages See that
| sufficient postage is affixed Don't
guess at the weight.
Do not enclose notes or writing mat
ter within packages, unless you pay
| letter postage. Don't send bottled per-
| fumery through the mails. This Is
against the law. Sealed packages
must be paid for at letter postage rate.
| Foreign mail must not be closed to in
spection.
Register all valuable packages, the
fee is s cents in addition to the post
age rate. Books, cards and printed
matter go at the rate of two ounces
! for 1 cent. The rate of merchandise
| Is 1 cent an ounce.
BY placing the name of the sender
on the upper left-handed corner in
| case of insufficient postage or If the
| matter is held up for other reason, the
department will be able to promptly
notify the sender of the fact.
Rules for Clerks.
Everything possible is done by the
| Postoffice Department to insure the
safe carriage and delivery of packages
The following rules have been sent to
all clerks by the Postmaster General,
and they will serve to show the pub
lie the added care that is taken at this
| time Of year;
During the Christmas holiday season,
numerous Christmas gifts are in the
registered and ordinary mails. Many
of them are fragile, and some are not
packed securely enough to Withstand
either the frequent handling they re-
ceive or contact with heavier bundles
or packages.
Clerks are especially charged, there
fore, to exercise extraordinary care in
dumping pouches and sacks, in piling
mail and also in delivering 1t, to avoid
breaking or crushing Christmas gifts.
1t is also important, in distributing
packages into pouches or sacks, to do
so carefully, in order to avoid their
being broken by contact with heavy
matter or by striking the racks.
TrampIing Upon Mail Sacks.
Trampling upon mail sacks is al
ways forbidden. When sacks or
pouches in the rack begin to fill up,
they must not be jolted or the con-
tents pressed down either by hand or
foot and if the contents do not settle
by shaking the sacks from the bottom,
they should be taken out and other
sacks hung, instead of endeavoring
to pack sacks or pouches to the fullest
extent.
When practicable, packages Of mer-
chandse, which seem especially liable
to injury, should be included in
pouches whether letter postage is paid
on them or not.
Clerks will be particular to note the
pouch or sack in which loose articles
are found, and examine same careful
ly TO see whether the address can be
ascertained, before treating them as
unavailable. In all cases the pouch
or sack label should be forwarded with
reports Of unavailable matter, and sec
ton 1912 to 1918 inclusive, p, L. and
r., otherwise carefully compiled with.
Clerks will also retie loose packages
to prevent any loss Of contents.
II is the especial duty of clerks In
charge TO see that these instructions
~-f1~,o1 IN their several crews