The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1914-09-25
of existence.

surely passing out
of existence.
Since last year the number OF EN-
ployes in the dead letter office has
been reduced more than half Then
there were $50 employees now there
are about So
Five reasons are assigned for the
dlsmantlement OF the dead letter of
nee. First, the establishment of the
parcel post system, not more than ii
year old, which has diverted large
volume of the former parcel business
done in the dead letter Office The
business once handled in Washington
mas been turned over to the seVeTaI
post offices at division railway centers
Second, letters from foreign coun-
trles have been diverted to the post
once exchange agencies at the ports
OF entry of this country. Then there
are two mammoth machines, which
stand for efficiency and can cut 5000
letters an hour when formerly the
work had to be done by hand.
There is a similar machine for seal
ing the letters once opened, identified,
and returned
Last but not least the increased Of
ficiency of trained readers and de-
cipherers Of the queer letters that
come to the Office from everywhere
has developed a capacity for produc
ton that can crowd out" the lesser
and perhaps more superanDuated
clerk
In connection with the dismissal of
so-called "superannuated" clerks, I'D
otilcial yesterday defended the depart
ments stand lie said There has
been great hue and cry against dis
missals from the post Office depart
ment In our division, although these
dismissals have been frequent, ! can
/ say that we did everything in our
power to find work for the employees
! ousted. We have referred them to
the several branches OF the service
/ where work was to be had, and when
! they did not want to accept work
| outside OF the city we have found 1t
necessary to drop them, retaining
/ only those who were the more eff
! iicient workers
There may be a false notion in the
| popular mind as to the function of
/ our so-callcd dead letter Office The
world believes we concern ourselves
with the difficult manuscripts that are
written by iIlterates and by wee
children who write undecipherable ad
! dresses They think our staff has
nothing 10 do but develop eXpertness
, in reading that which no mortal can
read Such is not the case.
I'VE have no longer the dead let
ter Office Of fifteen years ago. We
have evolved, and are now an efficient
machine. To us come the unclaimed
| letters, Inisdrected letters. unad-
dressed letters, or letters to fraudulent
! concerns, as well as letters bearing
prohibited mail such as lotteries and
the like. We are not working to de
cipher the illegible. All that is now
left to the railway mail service, an
organization with fifteen branch of
fees, which hires expert readers
We handle at least $4,000 pieces
Of mail a day, and each Of our 50 en-
! ployes returns 500 letters q day, or a
! total Of 10000 day.
The dead latter office of fifteen
years ago represented a similar out
put Of return mail of about $50 pieces
Of mail a day for each employe, and
they employed twice the number OF
clerks we now carry.
There has been some talk it is
| true, Of consolidating the division OF
dead letters with another division 1t
is certain they cannot do away with
/ the work altogether. Whether this
/ consolidation will take place / can
not say"
The dead letter Office was estab-
lished almost 80 years ago, and is one
Of Washington's Oldest and most
widely celebrated institutions. 1t was
established, as far Is is known, in
1928, when it was installed in an old
room in the building in Seventh
street, now the general land office
Unlike many Of the divisions Of
the department It was not created by
statute, but became an institution re-
sultn2 from regulations that letters
be sent to the dead letter office"
It's functions. or part OF them at
least may have antedated its estab
lshment here, it is said. A similar
branch OF post Office administration
was known at the time Of Benjamin
Franklin when the federal capital was
located at Philadelphia