The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-06-23
OVERSEAS DELIVERY
OF PACKAGES ONLY ON
REQUEST BY SOLDIERS

Washington, June 22.-Every eff
fort is being made by the war de-
partment to reduce the quantity OF
unnecessary parcels sent to Ameri-
can soldiers in France by relatives
and friends. The adjutant general s
office gives notice that IT will no
longer pass upon requests tor ship
ment of parcels which have not been
approved in the required manner by
the military authorities in France.
Hereafter no exceptions will be
made to the rule that parcels when
presented to postotfces. express
companies or freight stations for
shipment must be accompanied by
a written request from the soldier
approved by a major or higher com
manding officer. Persons connected
with the M. c. A., the Red Cross
or other organizations i'll France
must make request for articles in a
similar manner. the approval of an
executive officer OF the organization
being necessary in such case.
About 1000 letters in which re-
quests are made for permission to
send parcels to France have been
received daily recently by the adju-
tant generals office. Up to this time
it has been possible for relatives and
friends to submit to the adjutant
generals Office for approval requests
from France made prior to May |
which did not bear the signature OF
a ma jor or higher commanding Of
hcer.
Sufficient time now has elapsed to
withdraw this privilege. In the fu-
ture letters will be returned to the
sender without action. Parcels with
the proper approval by the authorf-
ties in France will be received at
postoffices, express companies or
freight stations, without any refer
ence to the adjutant generals Office.
The original order provided that a
regimental or higher commander
should approve request. This ha/
been modified so that major or
higher commander may do so. The
approval OF a company commander
is not sufficient.
Unnecessary Goods Piled UP.
The question of the shipment of
parcels to France came to the at
tention of the war department orig
inally when the commanding general
OF the Expeditionary Forces cabled
that the congestion OF such articles
had reached such point that
French railroads were unable to
move them. The secretary OF war
and the postmaster general. repre-
sentative of the Y. NJ. c. A.. a rep
resentative OF the Knights OF Column
bus, a representative of the Red
Cross, and representative of the
port of embarkation in the United
States where these articles are ship
ped. This board examined. very
carefully. 5000 sacks of parcel-post
mail and found that the articles
therein not only were in the main
absolutely unnecessary but undesir-
able. The investigation developed
that the amount of such mail had
reached the extraordinary total oi
100000 pounds a week and that the
mail for the first half of February
was greater than that OF the entire
month of January. and that for the
first half Of January il was greater
than the enntire month OF Decem-
ber.
The regulations now in effect,
leaving in the hands OF the COM
manding general of the Expedition
ary Forces the entire control OF
shipments to individuals in the mill
tary establishment in France. were
based on the recommendations re-
sulting from the investigation by
this board.
Relatives and friends will find they
often can do a greater service to
soldiers by sending them money for
the purchase OF articles in France
than by forwarding the articles. To-