Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-19
LYlNG POST OFFICES
is HEAVY PROPOSITION

10 u1HV1 IOb WI
- TARTLING progress has been mad
for the past few years in the nan
ding of Uncle Sans business a
~ Washington, and in no case is thi
advancement more noticeable thai
in the Post Office Department, with abou
24O. 1000 employees scattered over the broa'
expanse of the United States. Sixty-odt
thousand Of these postal workers are dull!
authorized postmasters. with jurisdiction
over offices ranging from the ten-dollar-a
year cigar box affair to palatial admins
tration buildings housing thousands o
employees and earning millions of dollars
yearly for the service.
To successfully conduct these sixty-ooe
thousand post Offices requires a system-s
rigid. ironclad system-and Its working!
In the one matter Of furnishing supplies
to the different postmasters will illustrate
the exacting care with which govern
mental matters are handled. With f1ool
space of 10000 square feet and force o.
eighty employees. all demands from thu
postal service are met promptly by thu
supply department. All acquisitions fol
supplies are filled in less than twenty
four hours after reaching the department
These supplies cost Uncle Sam the It'd!
sum of 81, $4,000 this year. and rang'
from tags to tacks, file cases to fans
wheelbarrows. paints, leather, wire
lamps and a conglomeration of other mis-
cellaneous articles such, as would be han
died by a large general department store
For instance. the department purchase
nearly 100000 pens each year, Will
1,556, 400 pencils of every description ar
expected to meet the demands Of tn
postal service for the coming year. /
these pencils were laid end to end the!
would reach a distance of 80 miles, blu
it would be impossible to estimate. thu
number Of times these pencils would b
placed to the users lips in an endeavol
to collect thoughts" thereby hardening
the lead and tending to shorten their Off
cial lives. Uncle Sam will not stretch q
point but his employees frequently do
for there Is an estimated requirement OF
II 600 pounds of rubber bands for this
year.
Some Of the Items.
Five hundred typewriters and H. 90 rib
bons will meet the demands Ct official
typists, the department thinks, and 80,
OOO, 900 wire clips and $4,000 fasteners
will hold official papers in place until
IA 600 pounds Of sealing wax can be af-
fixed. Writing is avoided wherever pos
sible by the use of rubber stamps, and
Z 600 dozen stamp pads will probably be
worn out during the next year.
There are sixty-odd thousand post Of
fees, large and small, scattered over the
broad expanse of the United States!
office carrying out his daily routine.
Stamps must be Cancelled; all mail must
be dated or ''postmarked;' the depart
ment at Washington must know what Is
going on daily in even the smallest office.
Every time a postmaster lifts his arm to
cancel q stamp or record the issuance OF
a money order, sixty-odd thousand arms
are lifted and sixty-odd thousand stamps
or money orders recorded. Du-
plicate your" postmasters every move
by 10000, and II it is very small office
multiply the total by 225. This becomes
a stupendous proposition, and one small
in Washington handles all the
supplies required by these multitudinous
operations!
But these sixty-odd thousand post
masters are not the army-only the gen.
erals. There are assistant postmasters,
clerks. assorters. distributors, carriers,
special and rural free deliver carriers.
janitors and other employes outside OF
numbering approximately
10000. This army handles the routine
called red tape"
Inspecting Each Requisition.
The postmaster wishes a fresh supply
of Official envelopes or any other of the
many labor-saving supplies furnished by
the department. Picking up blank. ne
fills in the name Of the Office and under
appropriate headings the stock number OF
the articles desired. This blank is for
" arded in a printed envelope to the sup
ply division at Washington. where the
requisition is reviewed by experts to as
certain If the supplies called for are
proper. Reference to a file will instantly
determine the amounts and variety Of
supplies required In past years for the
proper conduct of public business at that
particular office. and thus an effective
check is maintained on the supplies on
hand or required at any office and also
the care exercised by the postmaster.
To illustrate the immense saving IN
time and money by the consolidation OF
supplies under one head. the following
quotation from an address by Mr.. Rich
ard p Covert. chief Of supplies. before
recent convention of postmasters will be
nte resting:
"As each distinct line of supplies has
been handled Independently. the transfer
made practically eight separate supply
divisions under one head. To illustrate:
The postmaster at Chicago might on
another requisition for money order sup
plies, one more for envelopes, still an
other for stationery and final requisition
FOR free delivery supplies, which meant
hat these five acquisitions were review ed,
filed, wrapped and shipped from five diff
terent divisions by five different forces
IF employees. Not only is this work now
handled by one division. but a committee
Is working on the problem Of eliminat-
ng all blank forms that can possibly be
dispensed with"
Another innovation which will be pro-
1uctive of good results is plan recently
devised by Fourth Assistant Postmaster
General DeGraw. One employe in each
office is to be charged with supervision of
al supplies Of every description-money
orders, envelopes stationery. Irvine, etc.
1t is believed this plan will eliminate
many of the urgent acquisitions from
who frequently state that
hey ''have just discovered that they are
entirely OUT Of certain supplies.