The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-10-13
|ADDRESSCLEARLY
 WRAP SECURELY AND MAIL EARLY
Regulations for Sending Xmas Mail and Parcels to
 Soldiers in France

| [ E
 the postmaster general urges to the
 public to aid in assuring a happy Christmas at the front are: Mail early, l address intelligently. and pack secure- i ly. For this reason it is requested that
 all persons having Christmas mail for
 the soldiers and sailors and the civil
 ian units attached to the army in Eur l ope observe the following directions:
 Mails toreach the soldiers in France by Christrnas morning must be posted not later than November 16.s
 l Every package must bear conspicu- ous1y the words "Christmas Mail,'' the
 complete address of the person for
 whom it is intended, and, in the up- l per left-hand corner, the name and address of the sender.
 Every parcel must be so packed and
 wrapped as to admit of easy inspection by the postmaster. No parcel will be dispatched to France, which has not the postmaster's certificate that 1t fcontains no prohibited articles. The foregoing rules have been made by Postmaster General A. s. Burleson, 4 and signed also by the secretary of
 war and the secretary of the navy. Recognizing the unusual signfiic-
 ance of the coming Christmas-tide to Jour military, naval and civilian forces
 abroad, who will undoubtedly be the
 recipients of nuemrous gifts from friends and relatives at home, the post office department, with the CO., leperation of other governmental de- apartments interested in the welfare
 and comfort of the men on foreign soil, has made special arrangements to
 effect time delivery of all stChristmas'' parcels addressed to the American Ex-z tpedtiionary forces overseas. In order. l that the department may realize it's cherished purpose to place Tn the
 ems of friendship and esteem on hands of the absent ones theSe tok- l Christmas morning, patrons of the postal service are requested to faith fully comply with the following sim pie postal requir rements outlined by I the second assistant postmaster gener- al, Otto Praeger, as without the hearty cooperation of mailers this extraor-
 dinary service cannot be adequately performed.
 I Owing to the unusual distance this ] mail must be transported, the handling and the storage 1t must undergo. ti is
 absolutely necessary that all parcels be covered with wrappers of sufficient [strength not only to resist pressure of Il other mail contained in the sacks in I which it will be enclosed, but to with
 stand the weight of other sacks of mail, which in long transit may be pill :. ed thereo1i Furthermore, owing to the fact that the contents of each par l eel must be scrutinized before leaving the United States to obviate delay, due Il to censorship, the covering thereof should be so secure as to admit ready ;I inspection of the contents of the par eel.
 Parcels must be fully. correctly and \ legibly addressed and conspicuously ,I marked "Christmas Mall" The ad- I dressee,s company, regiment or other
 organization. followed by the words, s;,American Expeditionary Forces '' should appear in the dadress. Tn the uperr left hand corner the name and address Of the sender must be placed, all superscriptions being in ink. In case tag is used, the name and ad- Il dress of the sender and addressee ,i should be written on the wrapper of ,l the parcel for use, should the tag be- lt come detached.
 All parcels must be fully prepaid by . stamps affixed, at the eighth zone rate | of postage or fraction Patrons are | 11GclAAAob : stamps or stickers other than postage
 stamps, on the address side of mail } matter, as such matter is thereby rem 5 dered unmailabfe. In the use of | Christmas stickers care should be talk : en not to seal the parcels herewith, as VI sealed parcels are unnaiIab1e, at the 3 fourth class rate of postage which ne r cessitates their being returned or held :. for postage, thus causing delay and l possible disappointment. Pasters or g stickers which resemble postage stamps are not permissible on the out : side of any mail matter. In addition f to the address of the sender, it is also permissible to write or print on the s covering of the, parcel of fourth class
 matter the occupation of the sender
 and to indicate by means of brief des-
 cription, the character of the parcel
 but ample space must be left for the . full address and for the necessary pos ' tage stamps. Inscriptions pertaining !, to the season, such as Merry Christ. 2 lmas." Please do not open unti n Christina ,s' Happy New Year" etc. 7 may also be written on the wrapper SC : long as it does not interfere with the : address. Books may bear similar ded n icatory inscriptions not of a nature O . personal correspondence.
 The rate of postage on parcels oi ! printed books weighing eight ounce. ]. or less, is one cent for each two ' lounces or fraction thereof. Book par = cels weighing more than eight ounce, :, are subject to the parcel post rates O : 12 cents per pound. Parcels contain | ing perishable matter should be with ' ' held from the mails unless it is abso : Elutely certain that the contents vii !, not deteriorate within six weeks from
 the date of mailing.
 The principal articles prohibited r from the malls are intoxicants, pois g ons, inflammable. materials, including
 friction matches, or composition = whcih may kill or injure, or damage
 the malls. As all contents of package
 will be carefully examined, mailer z will refrain from inclosing in parcel