Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-26
BIG MAIL HANDLED
Postmen Deliver Packages All
Day Long.
TO CLEAN UP TOMORROW
More Than 100000 Pieces Left at
Homes Yesterday-Acting Post
master Merritt Satisfied.
TO CLEAN UP TOMORROW

| Christmas. 1909, will go into history as
harbinger of returning prosperity if
| a generous outpouring of the Christmas
gifts is any indication. Both the city
| post Office and the express companies say
that not in several years has there been
| such vast number of packages and
parcels incoming and outgoing. The gifts
this year. too. it is said, were more pre-
tentious and evidently of greater value
than those of the past three or four
years. Instead of books and testimonials
of the cheaper form the gifts have con-
sisted of merchandise of various types
and value.
| In the city post Office it required the
! efforts of 80 clerks and carriers to ham
| die the volume of mail that was deliv-
| cred Christmas day. Packages and par
cells We're delivered all day long. and
| those that have come in since the last
! delivery Yesterday will be delivered to-
morrow until the office is cleaned out.
Haycock Pleased.
| When he left the office at midnight last
night Supt. Haycock of the delivery di
vision wore a broad smile. even though
it was a tired one. He said he had the
satisfaction of knowing that with a rec
ord unparalleled In the city post Office in
the volume of Christmas mail the affairs
of his division were IN better shape than
they had ever been before at this time.
| More than one hundred thousand pack
ages and parcels were delivered yester-
day. The carrier delivery of the morn
ing began at 80 o'clock, and many
carriers waited until hour later
| mail possible. After the completion of
their delivery all of them returned to
| the post office and began the delivery of
| packages and parcels. The forty-nine
mail collectors after completing their regu-
| lar mail collection returned to the post
office and they. too, assisted in the de-
| livery of the thousands of packages that
| poured in with each arriving train
Will "Clean Up Soon.
A heavy force worked last night caring
| for the incoming mails and preparing
them for delivery this morning. Supt.
Haycock said he expected to have the
Office Cleaned up by tomorrow's last
delivery at the latest. Hundreds Of ad-
| ditional packages and parcels, evidently
belated gifts. continued to arrive through
the night, and the number on hand in the
| small hours of the morning might well
appall a force that had not made the
| .Diecedented record of yesterday and
! liIe few days before.
III
close touch with his superintendent
| throughout the mighty rush of the past
few days. When he left the office to
go to his Christmas dinner, tired and
worn out. he said
! "A mighty work has been done in this
Office this year. I don't believe there
have been many mistakes, If any; but
even if there have, when the huge vol
believe any one will have the heart to
| count them against us. L cannot speak
| too strongly for the men and women who
have made this years record a thing to
as. well as men, who helped to make
| things go as they did l am proud of the
! organization of the offise and proud of
/ every man and woman who has helped to
/ give the people of Washington their
| Christmas gifts intact and on time
+, Express Companies Record.
| The record OF the express companies
| TALES closely with that of the post Of
| flee, although the latter seems to have
handled the bulk of the incoming small
packages and parcels. Yesterday the
United States Express Company had $50
men at work, eighty engaged in making
deliveries and seventy in handling ex-
press matter. Everything was rushed
out as quickly as possible after its re-
ceipt. say those in charge, SO that at
the close of the day there were not
many undelivered packages. The bust
ness is reported to have been the largest
handled in three or four years. Four
thousand packages were delivered yes
terday. When the wagons turned in at
Z o'clock last night, after their last de-
livery. only fifteen men We're retained
on duty. The remainder of the force
was allowed to go home.
The Adams Express Company and the
Southern Express Company, which MAIN
tain joint Offices in this city, report that
they had to employ $50 extra men to
handle their business. Little trouble was
experienced in making wagon deliveries
and at night the warehouses were fairly
well cleaned out of local matter. Those
in charge say the business this year was
perhaps 10 per cent larger than for the
past three four years. 1t was the
Adams Express Company that handled
the famous Taft pie"