Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-09
Uncle Sans Mail
Is Hard To Read
BY Frsdeetc ]. Haskin

population more clearly shown thnn n
the war time correspondence Of the Unit
ed States Government. Letters in ever,
language Of Importance from the widely
spoken French to Finnish, Taglo, ane
Chinese bring the problems and question
Of the alien TO Uncle Sam. In order tt
read the answer its ever increasing foreign
language mail, the government has found
it necessary 10 install translation divisions
in n number of it's departments, Of which
the War Risk Bureau has probably tho
most interesting
Most Of the foreigners who write %
the government in their native tongue are
in difficulty ms To the meaning Of Federal
institutions and regulations. Some are
in search of help in private affairs
others offer their services to the country
and still others write only TO express Their
feeling towards America and her part IN
the war
FEW SAMPLES.
A few extracts from the last named
type Of letter received by the War RISK
Insurance Bureau will best illustrate tn,
universal admiration for America ex
pressed by her foreign-spcaking cor
respondents
Boheman--T have already given The
life of one son TO help America and an
ready To give my other sop, because it il
only in the United States that we have
found the true liberty, a precious thins
which other peoples do not possess
Italian" America il the nation cboeer
bv the Divine Providence TO alleviate The
evils Of the world.
Frequently used in Greek letters
America, the nourisher Of starving
peoples"
French-"I assure you that the Amen.
can soldier is the best soldier in the world
He is not afra.d Of anything, and is az
brave as lion"
Nearly all the foreign language mail o'
the War Risk Bureau deals with money
which is to the families Of soldiers most
important subject. The American soldier
with hIs $50 month is the beet paid
soldier in the world With this amount
contrast the pay OF the European roldie,
which ranges from four 70 eighty-nine
dollars year. Furthermore, the Arneri-
can fighter receives the benefits Of an al
lotment and allowance ryBten on scale
not duplicated in any other fighting ooun-
try.
WAR ZONE CORRESPONDENCE
To the people living in the war zone
the generosity Of the United States IN
providing money Tor the relatives of her
fighting men IL n matter OF wonder OF
which they never tire Of writing. The
most enthusiastic letters come from
Italy. Greece and Slavic countries. In
these war stricken zones 80 dollars a
month IS to family sum of money TO be
spoken or IN awe-stnIck tones with de-
lighted speculation az 10 the necessities
which can be bought with the fortune.
The variegated character Of the Ameri-
can Army is interestingly brought out IN
the letters from the soldiers relatives
From Iceland, Tunis, Persia, and Egypt
come appeals for financial aid on the
grounds Of boy in the United States
forces Practically the only civilized
localities not included are those in the
hands Of the Central Powers. Letters in
German, from aliens IN this country, often
reach the government The striking
thing about these is the apology expressed
for use Of the German tongue. we are
loyal TO America" is repeated again and
again in these epistles.
In answer to the appeals Of relatives Of
our soldiers and sailors to the War Risk
Bureau, about IS 900 letters, mostly con-
tanning checks, go every month to foreign
persons in 78 countries.
The answering of foreign language let
ters dealing with governmental affairs Is A
complicated affair, requiring the services
Of skilled translators Of % or more
languages. Each letter received must be
translated BY an expert in that Language,
familiar with ldioms and able 10 read and
understand even llliterate and INGRAM
Ee- III -
in reading the letters, even BY foreign
language experts. Tb.s ls especially
true OF some OF the Italian letters, a tact
which the translating division attributes
10 the high percentage ol Italian litter
acv Even in the most crudely written
messages, however, the writer's manage TO
make their trust in America understood.
When the meaning of the letter Is de-
ciphered. an English translation of 1t IS
typed and IL is sent TO the bureau handling
the problem involved An answer in
English is returned 10 the translator who
writes it out in the correspondent own
language and, If possible, the letter Is
typed. At present, the War Risk Bureau
has no means of tipping answers in Russian,
Chinese. Hebrew and other languages re-
quiring special characters, but the bureau
expects TO secure a Typewriter to which
keys bearing the different slphabets can
be fitted
The War Risk Translating Division
has had, at times some trouble In Sc
curing translators OF the needed Qualifica-
tions. Applications from persons claim
ing to be expert translators came in by
hundreds, but trial or few letters ex-
changed usually proved that the appli-
cant was not the type of translator need
ed Now. however, the bureau has Sc
cured Is skilled translators and is hand
ling all of its correspondence except
Chinese and Japanese. which letters are
turned over TO the State Department for
interpreting
The chief Of the War Risk Translation
Division, DR. Aurelius PalmIeri, speaks,
reads and writes - languages and dia-
lects. including the various Slavic tongues
in which so many OF the Bureau 5 letters
are worded DR. PalTnleri has written
books on history and political economy,
held the position of secretary TO the Pope,
and catalogued sc, 600 books in the foreign
language division of the Congressional
Library, but he now gives his services en-
tirely to the bureau, feeling that in this
way he can best aid the country in its war
activities.
4 large percentage of the bureau staff
are of foreign nationality or descent The
most picturesque figure in this collection
of distinctly foreign experts was an Italian
marquis who gave his time without pay
in the interests of the bureau while in
WashiuTton, recovering from wounds
gained i'm fighting The MARQUIS castle