Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-26
THE HEAVIEST MAIL
Letter Carriers Have Had a
Strenuous Season.
WORKED MANY HOURS
HAVE WON PRAISE FOR THEIR
CELEBRITY AND DEXTERITY.
Decrease in the Letters Handled and
Increase in the Number of
Packages.

As an indication of the prosperity of the
country and the Christmas spirit of Ameri-
cans it is said at the Post Office Depart
ment that there has been an increase of Is
per cent in the bulk of mails going abroad
this season over last. Great Britain and
Germany lead the list of foreign countries
receiving gifts from the United States, and
the outgoing steamers this month have all
been weighted down with the increased
number of mail sacks and letter pouches.
The parcels post treaty with Germany has
been the means of sending thousands of
packages to that country that would not
have been accepted in the ordinary mails,
and Germany has benefited in proportion.
1t is the spirit of the Yuletide that per-
vades alike America and Germany, the
latter the home of tradition and Santa
Claus, that accounts for the superabun-
dance of presents that have gone from here
to the fatherland. The Americanized Ger
man, although true to the instincts of the
land of his adoption, never forgetS that of
his birth, and his friends and relatives
whom he has left there are, next to his
family here, his chief thought at this
season.
Heaviest Mail Ever Received.
AT the local Office the heaviest mail ever
received was brought there for Christmas
nnand of the superintendent of delivery
were required to get 1t to it's destination.
Ely the time these words are read the sur
plus accumulation will have been deliv-
cred and Washingtonians have received
their gifts that came to the city before
Sunday In order to effect that end many
of the carriers have been working fifteen
hours a day since the rush began, and
some of them have put in nearly the entire
twenty-four hours before being called upon
to surrender to nature.
Many Belated Gifts.
The mail will not drop to normal condi-
tipns until the middle of this week, this
being accounted for by the fact that many
persons who have received gifts from
friends to whom they did not look for the
customary remembrance will feel 1t. in
cumbent upon them to reciprocate. This
fills the mails, and so do the hundreds of
packages that will be sent by persons who
purposely refrain from mailing their pack
ages during the rush because they fear
late delivery and damage to their gifts.
Major Bell. superintendent of delivery of
the Washington Office, said today that the
delivery this year had been unprecedented
the carriers had handled the tremendous in
crease.
The Sunday Delivery.
1.-The Sunday delivery" he said, was an
innovation that was appreciated by this
branch of the office and would be by the
public if they understood that to this fea-
ture they are indebted for the delivery of
their packages much earlier than would
have been possible under ordinary circum-
stances.
Postmaster Merritt has said that he was
more than pleased with the way in which
our force handled the mail and that the
carriers deserved great commentator for
their deXterity and earnestness in taking
care of the great mass Of packages that
came into the office.
"One of the features of this Christmas
rush in the post Office has been the fact
that there has been a noticeable falling off
of letter mail and a decided increase of
package mail. This is explainable by re-
Numbering that at this season people have
not time to write letters. Even business
houses are rushed with work that they
are unable to attend to their correspondence
as they ordinarily do, all their time being
called for in the work of delivering parcels
purchased for the holidays.
From now on the letter mail will largely
increase and the package mail fall off.
People who have not written for a week
will now make up for lost time and the
letter mail will be crowded more than 1t
has been for q week or more. Altogether,
the mail has been the largest we ever
handled and it has been taken care of
We are correspondingly gratified. both
with the work of the force on the city
delivery and for the commentator of the
pOStmaSter.'