New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1915-08-18
MUCH MAlLHANDLED
AT THE POST OFFICE
FEW MISTAKES MADE IF POSI-
BILITY OF ERROR is CON-
SIDERED.
WALLS HAVE EARS AND EYES.
TOO, FOR DETECTION OF
CROOKEDNESS.

y Ac leAI ClIue leICer goes aInlSS at
the post-office don't go to calling the
mail clerks incompetents and robbers,
don't 60 to writing a shot" letter to the
postal authorities at Washington. Just
go and put the matter up to. the local
post Office in courteous and business
like way and the chances are ten to one
it can all be Strengthened out in few
minutes. And the chances are fifteen
to one that you have failed to direct the
letter properly in the first place. And
while you are there, 60 over the office
system, see how complicated it is and
then go away marverlling that you ever
get your mail at all.
New Ulm has one of the best equipped
post Offices in the state and the handling
OF the many sacks of mail matter that
come in each day is a wonder of system.
AS the sacks come in they are dumped
on the big receiving table and rapidly
sorted. The second, third, and fourth
class mail is transferred at once to a
different table for sorting. The first
stage of the sorting is to throw the mail
into sections according to it's destination.
There are five sections of the mail boxes,
there are three city carriers and there
are seven rural carriers. Every piece of
first class mail is thrown with remarkable
dexterity into its proper section. From
here it is carried to second sorting and
is then placed in the boxes or in the mail
of the carrier. All this means several
landings of the mail so if once a month
a letter that should have gone in your
neishbors box gets chucked into yours,
don't kick too hard. Just remember
that the mail clerk back of the window
is as human as you are and as prone to
mistakes.
The treatment of the outgoing mail is
equally complicated a matter. AS you
enter the post Office to mail your letters
you find three openings in which to
deposit mail. One is for letters, one for
papers and the third is intended for
parcels. But the public in mailing
letters seem to lose sight of this fact.
They seem to make general stab at the
first opening that catches their sight.
The result is that the mail gets woefully
mixed. The day we were conducted
thru the Office there was as much first
class mail in the parcel division as there
was in the actual letter division. And
there was a good bit more first class
matter in the paper section than any
where else. So the mail clerks have
some ground for complaint as well as
the public in the matter of mail matter"
The letters are first gathered and put
thru the canceling machine. This is
great labor-saving device and at
the rush seasons it would be impossible
to get the mail out without its use. The
cancelled letters must now be placed in
the proper sack. There they stand,
battery Of some fifty open bags and the
clerk must decide at a. glance where
each letter is to 60. If he reads a letter
addressed in lead pencil "St. Paul"
when the sender really meant est. Louis"
he will chuck it into the St. Paul mail
bag instead Of the Missouri bag. And
when the clerk on the mail train dis
covers the mistake he reports the matter
back to Washington. The ponderous
postal machinery is set in motion and
in the course Of time the matter is traced
back to the luckless clerk who couldn't
make out the pencil marks in the un-
certain light. And he is given black
mark in the records because of the care
lessness Of some one else.
The letters to any town of Importance
are tied together in one bundle to
expedite matters in handling the mail
on the trains. For example, there will
be some fifty letters for Mankato to 60
on the afternoon train. All Of these will
be done up in one package and can then
be handled on the train in q single
operation instead Of fifty distinct moves.
It is little things like this that systematize
the work SO it can be accomplished at
all. The incoming letters are treated
in the same way and each package is
then cut apart for distribution. Of
course, great deal Of string is used in
this way. But it is not destroyed. Not
by any means. This Is one Of your Uncle
Sammy's hobbies, Is the saving Of string.
Each piece Of string that comes in must
be carefully wound mp and used for tying
up other packages 8 they come in order
Continued on page2)