The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-11-21
SOLDIERS LETTERS LOST
Thousands of Them Held Up BY War
Department.

Boston, Nov. 21.--Thousands OF
letters addressed to American SOL
diers in France are being held up at
the War Department through lack of
facilities to locate the military or
ganizations to which the soldiers are
assigned, says special dispatch to
The Transcript
Many of these letters have been de-
tanned at the department since Oc-
tober, Some have been there since
September At least one. examined
by The Transcript correspondent has
been there since Aug a.
lieutenant and three clerks are
trying to locate the addresses and
forward their mail These clerks at
best are unable to dispose OF more
than 200 letters day They are
coming in at the rate OF from 400 to
/, 500 a day Consequently the pile is
rapidly mounting and the bottom OF
the pile dusty. @th aiq e
Because the law says that the War
Department must employ only clerks
certified to by the Civil Service Com
mission and because the hold of red
tape on the workings of the depart
ment still is strong, Maj. Jones OF
the adjutant general office. who is
in charge of this matter, is unable
to get more than the three clerks
he, now has for the work He could
use, he says, 80 or 40 if he could get
them.
Investigation into the matter to-
day by the Transcript correspondent
disclosed general state of ineffi-
cheney and almost hopeless confusion
in the handling of the matter
1t must be understood that not all
soldiers mail has to go through this
terrible ordeal at Washington Only
that mail which does not bear on
the envelope the identity of the mill
tary organizations to which the sol
dier addressed belongs is affected
And yet. because the War Department
first was most careful to warn all
relatives of soldiers by the strictest
of published announcements to give
the identity of these organizations
the number of letters involved is still
considerable. despite the fact that
subsequently the order was changed
As stated, the letters are coming into
Washington at the rate of 500 day
Moreover. 1t is not altogether the
mail OF the soldiers in France. In
many instances, the investigation
shows, letters are addressed to sol
diers as members of the American
Expeditionary Forces, when as a mat
ter of fact, they are still in this coun
| try at training camp, cantonment OF
barracks.
1t is a long, tedious investigation
not only because of the lack of clerks
| with which to do the work, but be
cause of the more serious circum
stances that the War Department i:
woefully behind in its records. Wher
war was declared and it was decided
| to suddenly expand the military
forces from 100000 to 1000 900 tn,
| Adjutant Generals office, which keep.
the record, was as ill-prepared as an!
other department of the Government
| for the business of war.
In consequence of this, less thai
| half of the men now In the army ar,
| registered III tne war department
in such way as to locate the records
! Ordinarily. each man is supposed t.
have card in the files in the Ad
jutant Generals Office These card
| are supposed to be kept up to dat
priyte John Smith, for example i
still with Company X of the----aI
tillery. which is with Pershing abroa'
or whether he has been transferred
to the-Infantry which is still
in the United States.
About 90 clerks are now engage,
in the task of trying to make up
special card index of every officer an
soldier that is with the organization
abroad When this is completed
will be able to handle the mail muc
quicker, for when letter then come
to Private John Smith, American E.
peditionary Forces" as people wer
first instructed to address their le
ters. the clerk in the Adjutant Ger
erals Office can turn to the card il