Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-27
POSTMASTER'S MAIL
SENT TO THE STAR
Climax Reached in laxity of
Post Office Methods.
NO DOUBT ABOUT ADDRESS
Plainly Typewriter. But Follows
'Go Wrong" Custom.
rs FINALLY DELIVERED
Takes Roundabout Journey and Is
Personally Conducted to It's
Destination.

1t is SO rare for outsiders to have the
privilege of assisting at the sacred mys-
teries Of making the governmental wheels
go around and around and around that
The Star considers itself exceptionally
fortunate in being permitted to aid in
what appears to be the impossible task
of distributing accurately and promptly
the mail received at the Washington post
office
Yesterday The Star received in it's
mail postal card addressed as plainly as
typewriting could make it to "Postmas-
ter, Washington, D.. c." and not the least
remarkable thing about it was that the
card escaped from the office on the same
day it was mailed, which has recently
become an unaccustomed phenomenon,
although it did not at that time reach the
official to whom it was so clearly adj
dressed.
Wanted Address Changed.
Acting. therefore. as a locum tenens
for the postal authorities, as an unauthor-
lied but wofully needed volunteer in the
service of getting letters to the place
where they belong, reporter for The
Star tipped the postal card wrong side up
and read the message-inscribed thereon.
time-honOred privilege of postmasters
1t was request from 1. D. Warrington
that his address for delivery Of mail be
changed from 2S14 18th street to No. A.
the Olympia, corner of 14th street and
Euclid avenue, to take effect February 20.
If the postal card had not been delivered
until next year. which is quite within the
bounds of possibility as affairs are now
administered, it would have proved an in
explfcable puzzle to the employees of the
office. for there would have been no Feb
ruary %, and therefore the request would
have been imperative.
Resolved to guard against so unfortu-
nate complication, The Star determined
to bend it's most earnest efforts toward
seeing that the postmaster received the
card before December 81, while the leap
year was still bounding joyously along
At first the most obvious method Of trans
hitting the communication was consid-
cred. That was to send a boy across the
street to the Office to RENAL the card
But on reflection that means was thought
too hazardous. since The Star is receiving
daily many complaints about letters be-
ing delayed Tor days and sometimes for
weeks after they pass into the cavern of
mysteries over which Mr.. Barnes broods,
wherein might be inscribed the legend
which Dante read above the entrance to
Inferno, abandon hope, all We who enter
here
Therefore, instead of mailing the let
ter. and possibly thereby preventing Mr..
Warrington from having his address
changed until some unknown period in
the future, when airships have ceased to
be experiments and politics is friendly
it was decided that the only safe and
certain method would be. to carry the
postal card across the street and deliver
it to Assistant Postmaster Davis, in the
absence of Mr.. Barnes. This was ac-
cordingly done, and Mr.. Warrington may
Il
reached it's address, though what may
happen to letters addressed to him is
too wild a thing about which to prOphesy.
No man can divine such matters. and
it is only he who is rash to the point of
madness who would even endeavor to
risk the faintest guess.
Loses Its Own Mail.
That the post Office cannot deliver mail
to itself might seem to the uninitiated
to be an indication of the most gross
laxity Of method. But the charitable
man will not be harsh in his judgment.
1t may easily be imagined that in this
particular case the post office is actuated
by the highest motives Of unselfshness.
1t may have felt that The Star was not
getting quite so much mail as it was en-
titled to, and may have thrown in Mr..
Warrington's card just for good meas
ure, thinking that Mr.. Barnes would
never miss it, among the fnnumerable
that fill his mail daily. and
that even If he did miss 1T he would
not feel the loss too keenly.
This attitude is highly creditable. for
such altrusm is all too rare in this world,
but the generosity is unwise. since in 1t
Mr.. Warrington and his desires are for
gotten. He shares with some 100000 other
residents of Washington a desire to get
his mail within a reasonable time after
it reaches the city, and If The Star had
kept the postal card so kindly presented
to it by the post office he would have
had the indefinite period which he has
10 wait for his letters at present extend
ed to an era or an epoch, the length of
which it is horrible to contemplate.
st. Valentines day is past long ago.
and the excuses for delayed mail which
were built on a foundation of flood of
valentine cards have been outlawed but
the service is just as bad. For instance,
a letter received in the Washington Office
at 10 am. February 10, was not deliver
ed until $50 am. February p, although
it was plainly addressed to man who
has lived in the same place for more
than two years. And among many other
letters which have been delayed for long
er or shorter periods The Star has one
it was addressed until one month. lacking
two DAYS, after it was received in the
office. The address Vas plainly type
written.
But it is evident that little improve
ment need be expected on the outside until
the post Office learns the difficult art OF
delivering. its own mail to itself.