Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-09
CALL POST OFFICE
OUT OF THE WAY
Business Men Protest Re-
movaI, Saying 1t Causes
Great inconvenience.
COMPLAINT IS RECEIVED
FROM GEORGE H. JUDD
Could Not Buy Large Quantity of
Envelopes Nearer Than Union
Station, He Says.

\ ~sS
I Already the business men Of Washing
| ton are up in arms over the removal Of
+: the city post office to an out-of-the-way
location. and their abandonment to what
/ they cali cheap and unsatisfactory ia
eihties afforded by contract station serV-
+: ice, in lieu OF the full facilities which
have been accorded them for fifteen years
past in the present Post Office Depart
nent building.
George H Judd of the firm of Judd Z:
Detwiler. Incorporated, in letter to ine
Star strongly voices his protest:
There seems to be an idea prevalent
in the department he writes. land that
idea Is manifest in their action enforced
today (yester, ly> that the business por-
ton of the cit : Is located at a different
place from where it really exists, and
they do not seem to have comprehended
the fact that the people who use a great
amount of stamps and postal cards ana
who have numerous special delivery let
ters to send are within a radius Of hive
blocks of the old post office site.
This lack Of comprehension Is shown
by the paltry amount OF stock left al the
and D streets and 18th and the Avenue.
We find that at u O'Clock OF the opening
day you could not purchase 1000 No. 3
two-cent stamped envelopes any nearer
than the Union station, not even at the
long-esta biished q street station. Tne
same condition shows up when you ask
for more than two sheets OF hVe-cehs
stamps and slightly more than two sheets
OF ten-cent stamps.
Va h.A
would be to give them time to find out
what the demand would be, but they
have had many. many years IN tue old
post Office building to find out the eau
would have to do would be to deter
mine what proportion Of stamps pass
ing over the counter have been fur
nished to sub-stations.
ut Is apparent to the writer that
they have stocked these three branches
with about S501 worth of supplies
when any business man in the neigl-
borhood would have told them 1t would
SIS, 600 OF $4,000 worth of stock on hand"
Special Delivery Service Lost.
Another business man was equally tn
dignant at being deprived of the bene-
fit Of the special delivery service. for
which, it seams, no provision had been
made at all.
Business, Washington" he COM
planned, has practically lost the bene-
fit of the special delivery service by
the removal of the city post office to
its Union station site and the reduc-
ton of station G from a delivery to
financial station. 1t is true he con-
tinued, you can have a special deiiv-
cry messenger call at one of the con-
tract stations for your special delivery
letter. if you are willing to pay cents
<,,rfv fN nnlJ INV al art
can deposit YOUR special delivery letter
in the street letter box and take
chances about the time of it's delivery
afterward
Washington nearer than Georgetown,
or station F. on U street between 14th
and 18th streets, where a special de-
livery letter can be deposited with the
assurance of Its speedy delivery. ac-
coFding to present arrangements, IN
less one has tire time to go to the
new city post office to mail the letter.
or unless one is willing to pay Is cents
for the special service. which telegraph
companies are rendering for 10 cents.
I doubt if there Is single post Office
in the country similarly situated"
Explanation at Post Office.
Inquiry at the post office in the alb
sence of Postmaster Praeger ELECTED that
provisions had been made to have special
delivery messengers call at station c.
at i419 street northwest, and at station
@. on near It'll street northwest, when
! they are out on their trips. or. If no
messengers are at hand at those stations
the station superintendent are author
| lied to telephone for them, without
charge. This, it was explained. could
be done only at stations where there is
government service. It cannot be done
at the contract stations mentioned in
Mr. Judd's complaint, for there the call
by telephone is charged for.
| 1t was further expla ned that In other
lect special delivery mail such as has
heretofore been made in Washington.
I because the special delivery stamp insures
: quick delivery. not quick collection and
delivery, too.
! Assistant Postmaster Robinson today.
speaking for Mr.. Praeger. said that both
i complaints in a measure were justified,
but that steps were taken yesterday aft
ernoon to remedy the evils. Hereafter,
: he said, special messengers will call at
the stations at 18th street and Pennsyl-
vania avenue. 10th and ID streets and 9th
street and Pennsylvania avenue every
thirty minutes for special delivery let
tiers, that this had been the practice at
stations and G for years past and that
the three contract stations had also been
now furnished with adequate stock to
! meet ordinary demands. Mr.. Robinson
! said 1t was regretted that these things
! had been overlooked in the extraordinary
pressure due to the moving of the entire
city post office in very brief space of
time without interruption to the mails.
but as soon attention had been called
TO the oversight it had been promptly
renedied and he felt there would be no
further cause for cor: plai.lt.
, 1t Is impossible he said. ito stock
up a station as the main post office is
stocked up There are times when with
: our 1900 stock In the main office we
are likely to run short on envelopes OF
size for instance, which is not often
called for. 1t is the postmaster's purpose
to meet every legitimate postal demand
and believe il will he