Evening star., 1914-12-21
UNCLE SAM BUSY TODAY
HELPING SANTA CLAUS
Christmas Gift Packages Already
Are Pouring Through the Wash.
ington Post Office.
Shop and Mail Early Slogans Heed
cd by Thousands This Year.
Parcel Post Is Heavy.

Santa Claus started to work earlier
than usual this year. He was watched
by q star reporter today. The old gem
tleInan is q strong believer i'll that old
adase that 1T is never too late to
l"arn- He believes in II, and has
rronted BY IT, for he is not shopping
carly" but delivering early, with the
little slips please do net open until!
Christmas pasted on his deliveries
Hes get so much ground to cover this
year that he had to do #, and get II
done in the allotted time.
Today his whiskers had gone, and
bis little red cap and coat and high
boots, and, yes, gcggles-fae's a mod
ern Santa Claus-had disappeared, and
he was working in his shirt sleeves,
putting and blowing as he sent each
package on its way He was the shirt
;leeyed Santa Claus, fathered by that
old gentleman often pictured as tall
and 1anl-y, with the flowing WHISPERS
and the long trousers Of red and white
stripes, the coat OF blue stars and the
hat Of red. white and hlue-popularly
termed Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam Helps Santa.
It was in the big city post Office tAst
this Santa Claus helper was seen send
ing hundreds of Christmas packages
to their destinations and piling up the
hundreds more that come to the clty
to be started on thsir delivery route.
Though hundreds of pieces OF mail
came through the post offices yester-
day and last night none stopped very
long in any one place They rode
around the post office in conveyors,
went down chutes. and came up chutes,
all in the move to get them TO their
destinations in time for Santa Claus
to open them
Earlier TINS year, much earlier than
usual, are the packages coming in for
delivery by the post office. This time
last year, it was declared, the Christ
mas mail had not started to any appre-
Ciable extent, but this year it is no
ticesble, and it is the belief of the
post office officials that there will not
he the Christmas rush that has char
acterized the handling of the mails IN
former years, despite the fact that
parcel post rates have been lowered
and many people will take advantage
of these lower rates, and give Uncle
Sam their Santa Claus trade.
Gifts Mailed Early.
The plea of the post office to mail
packages early seems TO have had its
effect, although there probably will be
some congestion, it is suggested, OH
Christmas eve and Christmas day, be-
cause there are always some who are
unwilling to help this Uncle Sam Santa
Claus to set their packages to their
destinations in good condition and on
time.
Then, too Santa Claus has some of
his supplies sent by fast express, those
packages that are too bulky to be sent
by the mail route. And even there the
shop carly" slogan is being felt. Men
on the express platforms today de-
clared that they already have handled
much of the Christmas traffic, some-
thing uaheard of heretofore As in the
case of the post Office, no Christmas
traffic had been handled this time last
year. 1t all came in a rush. There was
not the sign of boxes and packages
piled high around the express plat
forms today, but there were evidences
that the shipments were gradual and
coming in u manner that is not likely
to cause congestion.