Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-02-15
POST MASTER
TELLS ABOUT
POSTAL WORK
Says Perth Anbay Service
Is as Good as Any City
of This Size.
CONTINUALLY URGED To
KEEP DOWN EXPENSE

That the postoffice in this city has
all the help the government will allow
it and that 1t has more clerks and
carriers than Offices in many other cit.
les comparing the number of peopIe
served and the volume Of business
transacted, are the statements OF
: Postmaster George FL. Tice. When
seen the postmaster reluctantly sub
mitted to an interview ON the subject
of postal conditions in this city, stat
ing he did not feel as though he should
take hand in the discussion that
someone has seen fit to start He ad.
! mitted having been shown copies OF
stPublic Opinions of one who criti-
l.cized him for doing his duty, but sta
/ ted that he had taken little notice OF
them. In the position of public ser
want he deemed it unwise to attack
his aecnser, but stated that he was
vested with the knowledge backed BY
government documents to disprovs
what may have been said regarding
the service furnished with the amount
of help employed.
Mr.. Tice readily answered questions
put to him and in that way a concise
idea of what is required by the gov
ernment of him and the postofIice em-
ployees was obtained. Mr.. Tiee be-
lieves he is doing his duty and de-
elares that he will continue along the
same lines in the future as in tie past,
ever seeking to better the service and
at the same time keeping within the
restrictions made by his superiors.
Urged to Keep Down Expenses.
At intervals last year, Mr.. Tice re-
ceived communications from Postmas-
ter General P. M. Hitchcock and First
Assistant Postmaster General O.. p.
Grandfieid, to keep down expendituresy
to aid in decreasing the deficiency In
the department. He was repeatedly
asked to keep the number of employees
down and number of times was In
formed to use no substitutes except in
dire cases Of necessity. On june 8,
| 1910, the postmaster received a four
page communication asking him to de-
crease postal expenditures The docu-
ment explained in detail how and why
the expenditures should be Isasened
and took the matter ous Of h5s hand4
/ beyond permitting him lid
4 the Instructions given, The 1oeMnS
previded fore one sub -
. !. sig ght or b Il ,1e
1xlSl41es at WORK to ss3El. lls@. |
q $50 xsas M JstssE esss
such tilaes as 1t was deemed practical
| by the postmaster to use them. Only
in special cases can fhe postmaster
name additions to the present foree.
Thus Mr.. Tice deems that he has,
more help than is necessary gre1.
deal of the time, yet there are times.
when rushes occur, such as theF do In
all other Offices.
Work Carriers Eight Hours.
On june 27, 1910, Mr.. Tice received
another letter asking him to work his
carriers as near to eight hour day
as possible. He was urged ~ keep
them working steadily eight 1tours
day and if there were lapses of time
when there was nothing to do, so that
a carrier could not get in Q fun fortyy
eight hour week, the postmaster was
instructed to rearrange schedules so
that carriers did work the full forty.
eight hours. Regarding the engage
ment of carriers, the postal regnia-
tions provide for one carrier for every
$500 inhabitants, or thereabouts. In
this city, Mr.. Tice says, there are ten
carriers to approximately 10000 peo-
pie, for he pointed out to his inter-
viewer the western, northern and
northeastern sections which are thiekly
settled, but not yet given free deliv-
cry, because Of neglect of street inn
provements.
Article No. 34s, of the o. s postal
laws, prescribes what the postmaster
must do to maintain efficiency IN the
delivery of mail by his carriers It
reads; E'The postmaster must fre-
quently test at irregular intervals tie
efficiency of letter carriers in the col
lection and delivery of the mail. y
Article No. 239 gives the postmaster
control over both clerks and carriers
and commands him to at all times
watch their efficiency; to test it by
counting the pieces of mail handled in
given time and to recommend their
CONTINUED on page ~