Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-25
Immortalized in Verse.

Inc 0u81nLcSI 0SSlStdut u dll, iOWcSSi,
is a novel device, almost laughable until
one learns what remarkable things have
been accomplished with 1t. The carriers
have dubbed it Follow the String" and
one of them has broken out into rhyme
over It,
This is how the poem describes it:
1.-The packages they are routed,
A bag placed on a rack,
string is tied to the first piece,
They are placed down in the sack.
Another and still another
Is put down with ring,
And then you'll find as you start away
That you've got to follow the
string.
''You can tell. if you look at the tor
Just where your first stop will be;
But the rest, being down at the bot
tom,
The end you cannot see.
But Pull, and look, and deliver,
And you will be able to sing,
L now have reached the last package
By simply following the string.
1.-The people you meet as you journey
Inquire whittier you go.
You shake your head and answer,
Indeed 1 do not know.
So on you go with your heavy load,
/ Knowing just what it will bring,
For soon all will be delivered
BY steadily following the string"
Key to the Poem.
The verses tell the story. The carrier
! before he leaves the post office has to
route" his mail-that is to say, ar
| range it in the order in which he must
deliver it. Cards and letters can be
| easily routed" but packages not sc
| easily. So to meet the emergency the
packages, which have to he all placed
| in sacks thrown across the carriers
| shoulder. were routed on a string
! The package last to be delivered was
| first tied to the string, then the pack
age next to the last was slipped on
much as girls string beads. and so OF
until all the packages placed in sacks
were thus routed" and ready for de-
nv IN nsr sss stqns 15asr BY s%
Thomas III. Ingram. No. 104, Is the au.
| thor Of the verse that describes the
| novel device. By means Of this device
the delivery Of packages has been ex-
| pedited teufold.
Expect a Complete "Clean-Up."
Supt. Haycock Of the delivery division
and Supt '"Tony" Matthews Of the let
ter carriers said that the office would be
cleaned out when the last delivery Is
bring very much more mail deposited by
! late shoppers in other cities the car
| riers, except those who belong to the re-
serve holiday force, will be able to eat
their Christmas dinners at home during
daylight. Supt Hunt Of the registry
division was enthusiastic in having the
registered mail Cleaned up except. per-
| haps, thousand or packages Of for
| eign origin which have to be held for
| special treatment as supposed liable to
customs duties" BY noon he was able
| to relieve all except his reserve holiday
| force. Supt. Springer Of the mailing di-
vision said he and his employees, thanks
| to the people of Washington who mailed
their gifts early are on Easy street" "
and would spend their Christmas day al
| home.
| Work Planned Weeks Ahead.
| But all of them, including Cashier
Robinson, who for some time has beer
| acting assistant postmaster without the
| honor Of a regular appointment or the
! salary that goes with it. declared ex
ultingly that Postmaster Norman Aller
| Merritt is 1.-THE best postmaster Wash
| ington has ever had" The credit IL
i given to him for devising ways anG
| means weeks ahead that had produced q
! result of which the entire offlce is justly
proud.
| '.the best force of postal employees in the
country and the more bountiful support
given his office by Postmaster Genera
| Hitchcock"