Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-09-30
UNCLE SANS STAMP SHIPPER
Margaret KerfOot Forwards 25,'
100000 a Day without Eros.
who Represents the New Element
In 2Oth Century Civilization Known
Az Efficient Femininity.

ny the bureau OK engraving ana fflnt-
ing. Quite large order. you say? Well.
rather. the largest ever.
Yet the size OF the order is not the
most important thing about It. Not Mt
all. The amazing feature IL this; the
entire work OF drawing the stamps. bal
ancing the separate orders and shipping
them was carried on under the super
vision Of a woman, and, thanks TO this
woman's efficiency, without a single dis
crepancy.
Miss Margaret Kerfoot. chief OF the
division which fills and ships orders TO
the 64.0oO postoffices throughout this
country, Is the efficient woman In the
case.
She has been working In the bureau
Of engraving and printing for 80 years,
and though the figures Of last years
stamp output and her record-breaking
infallbilty are startling enough to de-
serve especial mention, she may, never
theIees, be found any day in her huge
basement office OF the bureaus new
building on tho Speedway. filling stamp
orders with a remarkable aversion to
error.
Her record for perfection Is a matter
Of pride. not only to herself, but also
to Director Ralph OF tho bureau, who
praises her in this wise:
Twelve billion stamps form ship
ment Of size impossible to conceive 1t
Is stupendous-shail I sayf--and yet
the separate orderB. numbering many
thousands. were made up and shipped
without a single mistake In any of the
accounts. Take any mail order house
or dry goods store in the country. which
conducts small business in comparison
to Uncle Sam. and should, therefore.
have relatively less opportunity for err
ror and see II It can approach our rec
ord.
You'll not find such a record any
where. 1t Is one Of which we are justi-
fably very proud. Miss Kerfoot is the
handspring Of a division which works
without error. and I say this because I
know she Is too modest to say 1t her
self"
Then down to Miss Kerfoot's office
went the interviewer. She was found
In large shipping room. full Of work.
ers and with a warehouse atmosphere.
and she was asked to tell about tho
great shipment Of stamps. numbering
io1. 10000. which she Is now sending out
San Francisco. who are swelling the
mails by sending postcards and letters
to the homo folk. giving news Of the
| exposition.
This. our latest order" said Miss
Kerfoot. which goes out in the morn.
ing. is worth Sl,ass.4ss. II will be dis
tributed among $50 postoffices in the
country. but the largest part OF the or
der goes to San Francisco. where there
Is a special demand for the Panama
stamps.
| "Orders come to US every day and We
pack a daily average OF 4, 10000 stamps.
though we have been known to pack as
many as a5. 10000 In a single day. These
numbers include coil stamps for the slot
machines. books OF stamps. as we'll as
tho regular sheets Of different denon1i-
nations.
"If you want to follow the machinery
Of my department ana understand fully
what part 1t plays IN the work OF the
bureau OF engraving and printing. you
must know that we attend simply to
that end Of the system which has charge
OF filling orders for postage stamps and
sending them to the postofflce to be de-
livered over the country.
CHECKING AGAINST MISTAKES.
THE orders, themselves. como TO the
office OF the third assistant postmaster
general, where they are assembled. made
out and sent down to mo. Then go over
this entire order and draw from the de-
post vault as many stamps OF each de-
nomination as I find may he required.
| II take tho ORDER" explained Miss
Kerfoot. land subdiv1de # into States
and individual postoffices. One OF my ex-
pert counters then counts out enough
stamps from those I have drawn to fill
each separate order. An expert verifier
verifies the count. In this way, after
all Of the individual orders are filled.
have one way Of knowing that my ac-
counts are correct. for II the supply Is
accurately drawn each order will be ex-
actly filled and no extra stamps will be
left over.
I'm order to guard against theft while
the stamps are en- route to their desti .
nations. We take precautions in packing
them which mako 1t impossible to modest
single stamp without detection. We
stitch the sheets together and staple them
on the edges. so that no sheet may be
torn away without leaving a perforated
border OF damaging evidence behind t..
This Is safeguard for the bureau, be-
cause tho evidence would show that the
theft had been made after the order left
our department.
These stitched sheets are bound to-
gether and tied into packages. which
are wrapped and stamped on the outside
with the address they were being sent
to- Packages vary In size. The largest
that may he sent separately contains 800
non stamps. All above this number in any
individual order are sent In additional
packages
RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCURACY.
Then the largest part OF the work is
out OF the way" Miss Kerfoot went on
to say. The packages are put In trucks
and sent TO the city postoffice. where they
are registered-for all these stamps arc
delivered as registered maitland pouched
for shipment directly 10 the Individual
postmasters
my own responsibility. besides being
chief OF the department with 25 counters.
verifiers and packers under me, consists
OF drawing the stamps from the vaults
and balancing the orders OF course |
am also responsible for the accuracy OF
every order"
It seems to her most fitting, says Miss
Kerfoot, that the packing department
should be located in the basement, for
tho bureau Is 30 arranged that the work
OF printing begins on the top floor and
the intermediate steps OF cumming and
finishing bring the stamps finally down
to her basement retreat, where the dis
tribution takes place