The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-06-11

Attendance From N. D.
at St. Paul Meeting
Continued From Page One.

whole range of the transactions Of the
postal service.
1t reminded me OF the old darby
preacher, who raj relating his expert
ence in his chosen ~avocation, when he
said that he knew SO little about 1t
that for his first sermon he took the
entire Bible as his text and told his
hearers all he knew about the book,
but the following week he found that
he could tell them enough with the
Old Testament as his text, to occupy
his time in the pulpit, and the next
time he took the New Testament;
then he dropped down to the various
books and finally to chapters and in
the end he became so proficient that
he could preach a sermon founded
upon even one verse of the Bible.
Perhaps If MI. Vanish. the chairman
Of your executive committee, can pre-
vail upon the democrats, especially
President Wilson, to have me kept in
office long enough, and If YOU, ladies
and gentlemen, are patient enough to
listen to my talks from year to year,
at some time in the far distant future
your executive committee may hin
that / have progressed-the same as
the old darby with his knowledge Of
the scriptures-so that ] nay be as
signed to talk to o on some particu-
lar phase of the postal service.
1t is well, however, that your COM
mittee assigned to me SO broad a topic,
because I can touch upon everything
in connection with the service and you
will have no right to find fault.
The answer to the topic can well be
expressed in one or two words. Eff
cheney in the mail service is promoted
by eternal vigilance and the closest
attention possible to details. Perhaps
1t would be well for me to stop right
here, and not attempt to weary you
with a longer paper, but there is q
temptation to show o what little l
do know in regard to the subject, and
therefore with your kind forbearance
I will proceed.
Another prime requisite to efficiency
is to study the rules and regulations
to the best of your ability and to act
in accordance with their instructions
on all occasions.
Perhaps a good illustration of the
foregoing statement, is an experience
of the Fargo office a year or two ago
concerning q money order remittance
from an office some fifty miles away
from a railroad. Many of you know
that the Fargo Office is the official
depository for the state of North Da-
Ekota and you also know that remit
tances must be in cash or in drafts
drawn by national or state bank and
that private checks OF other evidence
of indebtedness canno be accepted for
these deposits.
The postmaster mentioned sent the
Fargo office SIS in bills but failed to
list them; he also had $4.34 in pennies,
which were originally in a bag but
had broken loose and were scattered
everywhere; there was a pension
check for $36: a personal check for
$3.50 drawn on a bank forty miles
from the postoff1ce and three hundred
miles away from the depository office:
a railway ti~me-check for SIG, origin
ally given to a laborer on the Illinois
Central railway down in Illinois,
which had three endorsements upon 1t,
and a personal check for $4.16 given
by a st. Louis firm four months be-
fore, and having five endorsements
made thereon.
I was sorry to have to return this
remittance to the sender, and ask him
to comply with the regulations, but
the office mentioned is twenty-five
miles from the nearest bank as well
as forty miles from the railroad and
apparently acted as a clearing house
for all kinds of financial transactions.
The postmaster evidently had tried to
accommodate all his patrons, but had
violated the rules and regulations of
Inc department on many occasions,
and / did not feel that 7 could person
ally give him a receipt for the funds
sent, and run the risk of clearing up
all of his financial deals.
In this connection also it is inter-
esting to note that during the last
nine months the postoffice department
handled over 5000. 600, 900, and notwith-
standing this large amount had to
charge off during that period only 3d.
036.37 for losses from fire, burglary
and bad debts, or a loss Of only ff-
teen ten-thousandths of 1 per cent
If the regulations had been strictly
observed even this small percentage
would have been reduced.
The General Delivery.
One Of the most important features
to promote efficiency in the postoffice
is the work at the general delivery
Too many times those who occupy
this position feel it is a sinecure and
treat the public with lax courtesy.
Every clerk and employee should ex-
ert himself to the utmost to please
those with whom he or she may come
in contact. The clerk in the store
tries in every way to impress his i'm
dividuality on the customer so that
the party will wish to come back and
trade with him. There should be no
visiting or flirting, but because the
government has a monopoly of the
sale of stamps and the handling OF
mail there Isl no reason why the
utmost courtesy should not be given
to every caller whether the individual
outside Of the postoffice screen is
cranky or pleasant.
Close attention also should be given
to the observance of the regulations
providing for the prompt return Of UNI
4 called for letters. This liz much MOI
important than it seems at first.
know of an office where inspectors III
checking UP found 1000 letters pass
the return time and many Of them
should have been sent to the writers
months before the inspection was
made. This was in a town of less thar
Il 5000 people and the postmaster hon.
estly thought he was comforting a fav.
or upon his patrons by retaining those
letters In the general delivery. There
y lis, however, good reason for the regu-
lations and their strict enforcement.
There should also be a closer b
vision of the work Of the rural car.
riers than is generally the case. Iii
the second II third class offices
there is not the4occasion for this corn.
Il plaint, but in the first class offices Thu
postmaster deVotes nearly all OF his
time to the needs OF his city patrons
and does not attempt to get In toucl
with or supervise the work OF the rura
carriers, This is wrong and a greaa
Improvement OF the service can 81
made by giving proper attention to th,
rural mall delivery.
In the8fourth class offices the rura
lcarrier generally receiveg more pa,
than the postmaster and In conse'