The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-08-17

" HllOlulIlR lie udllOIdI CONVENTION "
this a
Your executive committee deemed
1t wise that this association meet In
connection with the national, but the
location was voted by the convention
instead Of being selected by the cofn
mittee and the latter therefore did not
have power to make the change.
THE situation was fully gone ovel
with Postmaster Kent, then in charge
of the Grand Forks office and with the
commercial club Of that city, and the
invitation which had been extended
by Grand Forks to the members oil
the association to meet in that city in
1914 was most c~ourteously withdrawn
order not to embarrass the committee
land also to assist in making the pres
ent gathering the complete success
which is evident from the attendance
here today. The executive committee
then were at liberty to change the
place to st. Paul.
II feel that this courtesy on behalf
Of my sister city of Grand Forks is
one that merits high approval. / hope
that it will be formally recognized by
the committee on resolutions and that
you members here today of the Tri-
state Postrnasters' association will re-
turn the compliment by unanimously
deciding to accept the invitation
which my good democratic friend,
Hon. George e. Duis, the new post
master at Grand Forks, will extend
you or behalf Of that city to hold the
1915 convention with himself as the
host postmaster.
Postmaster Duis is a big man not
only in stature but in ali other re-
spects and as you come to know him
you grow to love him, whether you be
democrat or republican, and in the
years to come-when his inherent
modesty wears off-you will appreci-
ate his ~eloquence as you meet him at
convention after convention. I am
going to ask Brother Duis to stand up
so that you all may know him, as
when you once see him and especially
soon forget him.
II don't intend to talk all day, and
I have taken up considerable time al
ready in generalities but there are a
few practicable everyday topics which
I would like to touch upon and which
I believe can later be made fruitful
topics of discussion by the members,
with perhaps a narration of some Of
the incidents which may have come
under your own observation.
There are many complaints made
against the management OF postofflces
which are without cause; cases where
the public does not understand about
the inside working of an office or the
rules n regulations. One day I was
buying a cigar at a stand in a hotel
when the girl in charge complained
bitterly because she had just received
a letter which had been in the office
ten days and it should have been de-
liVered by carrier. She had lived in
Fargo six years and had no trouble
with her mail heretofore and could not
understand the for the delay in
this case. / asked her il she had an
order on file at the postoff1ce as to
where her mail should go and she re-
piled in the negative. 1 told her that
we had three new clerks just appoint
ed in the office and that as they had
to be named from the top Of the civil.
service list of eligibles, many of them
were not Fargo boys and, as she had
failed to file an order for her mail in
the office, her name naturally did not
appear in the official directory of the
office. 1t was only when the letter
reached one of the older clerks that he
remembered where it should go. She
then understood why the delay had
occurred and that 1t was really her
fault instead Of the Office.
when 1 first became postmaster ]
met with more difficulties from the
travelling men than from any other
class. All mail is usually deemed i'm
portant by the sender and the receiver,
but the letters for the travelling class
are without doubt as important as any
handled by the postof1ce department.
It is also especially important that the
forwarding orders be very promptly
complied with. I have known of post
Offices, l am sorry to say. where there
has been weeks delay between the
receipt of the forwarding order and
the compliance Herewith.
upon thorough investigation I have
found that at least in nine cases out
Of ten the complaint of travellers con-
corning their mail is not the fault Of
the local postoff1ce. I might mention
one or two instances to confirm this.
"a travelling man expected to spend
Sunday at Wahpeton, but he got ahead
of his trip a day and decided to come
to Fargo. He telegraphed his house
in Minneapolis, giving the change of
his plan and asked them to send his
expense check to Fargo. This was on
Friday and he did not receive a letter
from his house on Saturday. Sunday
morning no letter reached him at his
hotel and he phoned to me concerning
it and l made a thorough search and ]
found no letter for him, but said ]
would look again when the evening
mail had arrived. / came down espe-
cially that night but nothing could be
found for him. Monday morning he
was ready to go out on his trip but no
letter arrived from the house and he
wired them concerning the letter.
They responded that the letter and
check were forwarded to him, care Of
the Fargo hotel, on Saturday. He
brought me the telegram II al de-
cidedly angry. He said that the mem
Der of the firm caring for those mat
tiers was one who never made a mis-
take and the letter must be In our Of
flee. He damned the mail service, es-
pecially in Fargo, up one side and
down the other and declared that
there would have to be a new post
master in Fargo or someone would
have to pay him for his expense and
| delay. OF course there was a posi-
bility of this letter being carried by,
| but this was hardly possible in the
case of Fargo. In some smaller towns
blame the railway mail for this prac-
tice. because it is a convenient ex-
| cuse in all ofices--to throw the re-
sponsibility for trouble on some other
branch of the service. ].
Monday night no mail was received
for him mi Tuesday morning the same
condition existed. He then telegraphed
insisted the letter and check were for
warded on Saturday and the trouble
must be In our office. An hour later
he come with a telegram from his
house reading as follows: Telephone. 2
Forwarded today 1t seems that the
junior partner in the house had dictated
the letter on Saturday morning. The
letter had been typewritten and he
signed the same just before lunch time.
The stenographer went to the cashier
to nave him make out the check to be
enclosed and found that he had gone to