Evening star., 1914-12-27
Holiday SentirnentKeeps Post Office WorkerSon Ju

material among the "extras'' to make
up a cracking good foot ball team. All
of the extra men, however. We're not
picked from educational institutions
There was an old pugilist. famous In
Washington in years gone by: there
was Il man who had studied for the law.
The pay of the extra men is 30 cents
an hour. with u maximum working
day of sixteen hours theoretically the
extra men may work any hours they
like, but the extreme length Of the
day before means deficient work on the
day after. Hence the extra men are
urged to work in eight-hour shifts.
When these men were employed they
first attended a school, organized by
Supt. Matthews. They were told the
and registered and c. O. D. mail. Here
are some of the rules they were re-
quired to learn before they started out
on their Journeys:
BE courteous. Be careful.
Before making each delivery be
sure you are on the right street.
Don't fail to look at the number on
the house to see that it agrees with
the number on the package.
Don't let For Rent sign keep you
from going to the door and ascertain
ing for certainty that the house is
vacant.
fail to ask if the person to whom it is
addressed lives at the number indt-
Gated.
when packages do not belong at
the house addressed mark on them the
words Not at and bring them back to
the office.
when you are told that a package
does not belong at the house addressed
satisfy yourself that you are on the
right street and at the right house.
Don't give the elevator boys. JAM
tors or other servants packages to de-
liver in apartment houses unless spe-
cially Instructed to do so.
Before delivering each package sat
isfy yourself as to whether it is an In
sured or c. o. D. package.
when persons tell you certain
package Is overdue and should have
been delivered don't tell them to call
at the office. Tell them to see their
regular carrier.
The proximity of the post Office to the
Union station has proved an invaluable
aid in expediting work. The long trips
to and from the Post Office Department
at 11th street and Pennsylvania ave
nue. have been eliminated. walk
across the bridge of sighs. conn Getting
the post office and the Union station, is
sufficient to convince the visitor of the
advantages of the new system.
x x
Because of the overwhelming inva-
sion of holiday tokens it is necessary
to use not only the regular revolving
belts, but both of the elevators as well.
These have capacity of 10000
pounds-and it is needed. All day long
big trucks, piled ten feet high with
mail sacks, are going in the elevators:
1.yhiJ he seni1aSS phain.'
as the hugh rubber belt Is called, car
ries individual sacks to the main
floor. The sorting and distribution of
the mail is lightninglike. suggestive
of performance by jugglers.
So much for the work. Now comes
endless tales of human experience
which the mall carriers experience
each holiday season. Besides conven-
tional cards with their conventional
expressions of polite regard, there are
innumerable little trinkets which find
their way through the mails and sug-
gest their story of some experience.
One of the trinkets which set the men
to thinking was piece of leather cut
in the shape of a shoe sole. 1t was
regularly addressed, the writing having
been worked into the leather with a
heavy pen. There was nothing else but
the date, the words, Don't forget
and the given name of man or boy.
What did the date mean? Was some
father inviting his erring son to come
home and be spanked and using this
rather orienta1ly symbolical manner of
extending the invitation? Was 1t in
reference to d long hike somewhere
vacation plan for the coming sum-
mer? The leathern sole remained but
little while with the post Office authori-
ties-then went away, bearing it's
mystery with 1t.
On one of the tables was package
probably u New Year book of most
elaborate design-and it was addressed
to a woman whose husband is nation
ally famous. Beside it was Il little
package which might have contained a
rhinestone ornament. addressed in a
childish, irregular hand to a person
living in one of the poorer quarters of
the city. There they were, the high
and the low grouped for a moment in