The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-10-14
Return to Stamp.
Mrs. Walter Smith,
Street,
Boston, Mass.
Private John Walter Smith. Jr.,
Co. L, 102d Infantry,
Via N. Y. American e. r.

! Via N. Y. American e. r. 81
"s...'.'.s.s.
The mail Of more than $4,000 SOL
ldiers in France Is delayed and per-
haps can never be delivered because
of incorrect addressing. While delays
due to this aus and to the fact that
the military authorities have objected
In some to furnishing civilian
postal authorities with information as
ito the location of troops have been nu-
merous and d~isagreeable, nevertheless
Captain Frazier maintains they have
constituted a small part of the service,
which amounts to the delivery of l.
100000 letters a day to the troops
abroad.
Three Weeks the Average Now.
Delays caused by military objection
to furnishing location of troops are
now being cured in q measure by Civ.
ing such information to army officers
directing the mail service. Military
mail officials are now provided with
transportation facilities that were de-
MED to the civilian service. Only in
exceptional cases does 1t take more
than three weeks for a properly ad.
dressed letter to reach a soldier In
France who Is attached to an organ.
lied unit of the army. The great mass
Of letters to and from the expedition.
airy forces come and go on time"
One Of the causes Of delay has been
duplication of names. Another has
been that hundreds of thousands OF
letters sent to some training camp or
other In this country were forwarded
to the great central A. K. #. post office
in France, at Tours, and there held
until the addressee could be located in
France. 1t is estimated that 100000
letters a month were delayed on this
account. Captain Frazier points out
that it is necessary that every soldier
should notify his correspondents at
once when he is assigned to a definite
unit in France.
Delays In the delivery of mail
which cannot be avoided are likely to
occur at any time during a period of
great activity and secret movement of
troops" Captain Frazier explains.
where the success of a troop move.
ment on the front depends upon Sc
crecy mail cannot be sent to members
of a mobile force until the troops are
established at the selected designation.
Whether the delay be Of hours or sew.
eral days It must be accepted as a
military necessity.
Some Letters Just Miss Ships.
Every care Is taken to expedite the
mail for wounded men In hospitals.
The only delay is that which Is abso-
lutely unavoidable. A wounded man
may be sent from one hospital to In
other, and eve to several before
reaching a permanent base hospital.
There is no delay whatever in mail
sent home by or for wounded men.
"Only two causes of delay have oc-
Cured at the port Of embarkation in
this country. One is the posting of the
letter just too late to make the trans
port and with a week ensuing before
the sailing Of another transport. The
other cause is the limitation placed
upon ocean transportation facilities
and lack of information as to the des-
tination of ships.
unless the military port officer at
the port Of embarkation knows where
a steamship is going to land, mail a in
not be sent by that steamship. This
defect has been cured by a war de-
partment order which directs that the
information as to destination be fur
nished to the military port officer. One
of the most puzzling things to the pub
lie has been the frequency with which
letters were received In France Of q
later date than letters that came after
ward. One explanation Of this is that
the postmaster OF the port Of embarka-
ton has been assigned a definite linn
tied cargo space. If 1000 bags were
ready for shipment and he could get
space for only 800, 1000 bags would
lie over. and these might include let
tiers written previously to letters In the
800 bags"
All In all. Captain Frazier sees a
great Improvement in the service and
predicts a constant betterment-if the
people at home will 8 care.