Evening star., 1916-10-01
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT is DOING

device for separating his fruit accord
ing to size, but up to date the postal
service must depend on human hands to
separate the mails.
ern city for dispatch to a western city
for example, Seattle, Wash The mail
collector on foot takes 1t with other
letters from the box to a central stor-
age collection box in which other foot
collectors deposit their mail.
An automobile collector on a regular
schedule and circuit takes the full bags
from the storage collection box, leaves
empty bags in their place, and pro-
ceeds to the central post office, where
conveyor from the mail platform to the
facing" tables, upon which it is dump
ed in great heaps and then faced
that is the addresses and stamps are
order properly to feed them through
mechanical canceling device at the
rate of some 500 a minute.
From the canceling tables the letters
are conveyed in trays over q mechanical
conveyor. similar to those used in any
modern department store. to what are
known as the primary separation"
cases; usually each case has from
twenty to thirty separators. which. as
the name indicates, is the first separa-
tion given to the letters. Letters for
Seattle are thrown into a box labeled
western states"
From the primary separation" cases
the letters are again conveyed me-
chanically to the final separation cases,
where much larger force of clerks
gives the letters their final separation
for dispatch. Seattle letters go to the
western states" cases. where mail for
that section Of the country is separated
and tied in packages: packages for the
larger cities being made up separately.
AS fast as the Seattle box Of each
clerk working the western states
cases is filled it is emptied and the
letters tied in bundles bearing a slip
hour of mailing, and the name and
number of dispatching clerk. If any
letter for city other than Seattle is
found in the package when it reaches
it's destination. the error is recorded on
the. slip and is eventually charged
against the dispatching clerks record.
Bundles of letters for Seattle. if suf-
icient in number. are placed in a
locked pouch and labeled direct to
Seattle. otherwise they are placed with
that state or locality in a pouch lab
eled to the proper railway post office
another term for mail cars-for an
other separation. Letters for the small
lngton are tied in packages labeled
Washington state" and all such pack
ages OF letters are distributed on the
railway cars en- route. running west
anu northwest from ChlcagO, and dis
patched to the proper connecting mail
trains for final delivery. Postal clerks
on mail trains. or railway post offices,
entering large cities just prior or
during delivery hours must be famil-
lar with the delivery systems of these
large cities, SO that all letters may be
distributed to insure prompt delivery
upon reaching the city post Office
Und1stributed packages of letters for
any city, on reaching the post office,
are mechanically conveyed to the city
primary separation cases, where not
only these letters. but those mailed for
local delivery receive their first city
separation to station districts prior to
the final separation by,Qther clerks to
the various letter carrier routes and
general delivery box sections of the
ofice. The letters are then distributed
by the postman in his pouch, and when
he departs the letters are arranged so
that the first letter for delivery is on
the top of the package and the last let
ter for delivery on the bottom
Uncle Sans employees therefore have
to handle the mail good many times
between starting point and final desti-
nation. and the care for proper ad-
dressing is easily seen. One carelessly
or illegibly addressed letter causes de-
lay to all other letters that follow, or
1T may result in the letter being thrown
to clerk, called the mike" clerk.
whose duty it is to decipher addresses
or return them to the sender II a re-
turn address appears on the envelope,
otherwise to the dead letter off7ce