The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-23
SAM BECOMES !.
SANTA CLAUS PARTNER
CHRISTMAS RUSH IS ON AT THE
MINNEAPOLIS PosToFFICE. !.
substations Relieve Main Office of I'm
mense Amount Of Work, but the Car
riers Are ''Getting THEIRS Now
that the Gifts Have Begun to Come
In ?, = - " -

Santa Claus, in primitive times went
about with sledgee and reindeer distrib-
uting his load Of gifts. But in these
later years he has found an able ally
in another benevolent old gentleman,
one Uncle Sam by name, and has en-
trusted the task Of distribution to him.
Fast mail trains rush the millions of
gifts from one city to another and gray
clad carriers, with gu. So stamped
on their buttons, complete the work of
distribution. ''-' .- ~. ''
Between the sender and the receiver
of Christmas gifts there is an army of
Santa Claus partner, Uncle Sam: Any
one yenturing into the Minneapolis
postoffice yesterday might have seen
one regiment of these servants Of the
public at work. II. =: -: 49,.
, More Women Than Men. :, =. =
At the window where parcels are
weighed that the senders may know
how much postage to pay, there has
been, a steady stream of patrons,
mostly women. The same is true Of
the stamp window, where the clerks
were kept busy handing out stamps of
denominations seldom used by the gem
era1 public: Back in the hidden re-
glons OF the postoffice an augmented
force, of clerks sorted oven5a mass of
size, putting. each one in the sack
routed. to its destination Still other
clerks will further sort these pack
ages as the rushing trains speed them
across the country. 49, -'''}ss' '7'
Despite the fast and furious shop
ping which has been going on for the
last week., there is little indication Of
a real rush at the postoffice This, is
accounted for by. the fact that there
office scattered about thru the resi-
dence and business sections of the city,
fully. equipped to receive, sort, and
register mail. These sub-stations are
sending their filled sacks direct to the
railway Stations, greatly relieving the
congestion which in past years has
made the central office in the closing
days Of the season veritable inferno
OF haste: and Impotence.
4. Extra Carriers at Work.
Twelve additional carriers are al
ready in the service distributing in
coming parcels. This force will be in
q creased to. forty-fve tomorrow and
addition to the Soo or more nnuse r asg an
carriers. The incoming mail is already
too voluminous for the regular distrib
tutlng quarters, and the side galleries
OF the second floor at the postoffice
have been turned into temporary sort
ing rooms. --"eu::@
! = Vexatious and amusing Incidents al
.te,rnate with lightning rapidity;@in the
lobbiesSand behind the scenes. The TO-
norant person anad the inconsiderate
person hold the center of the stage by
turns. There are those who imagine
the government allows cut rates on
think that they alone are patronizing
the office. But out Of all this mass of
conflicting interests the trained work
ers OF the office are bringing a surpris
ing degree of order and dispatch.
Foreign presents are causing the most
trouble, tho this comes to comparative.
'ly few persons. The tariff works lust
as hard in the; holiday season as in any
other, and more than one person has
had to take the elevator to the third
=Hoor FOL. a. session. with G. r. Cooley,
celving the gift from across the border
" hlle the majority; of presents from
abroad are trifing in value, and de-
mand no duty, some Of the more ire
tentlous ones are a severe tax on the
RECIPIENTS who,s before they are thru
wish that, their friends had been less
generous. a
s: s, IL IS impossible to prepay customs
charges: and IN consequence gifts sent
or received from abroad are a tax IN
the donee as well as on the donor. As
a result, large proportion of the gifts
sent from Minneapolis by the more OK.
perlenced have either been ;of nominal
value or else IN the form of money Or
,ders. 4. y, ifs< DE