Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-09

must bc accepted as military necessity.
The same is true when shipments oi
supplies, munitions, fresh meat, etc, are
such as to make an extraordinary de-
mand upon transportation facilities from
the French ports. Such DELAYS, however,
arc but for few days at most
When divisional post office Is moved
IN connection with big troop movement,
great secrecy has to be exercised. No
word. even 10 the army postal authorities,
Is permitted. concerning the secret troop
mo vemcnt until the troops have been To-
Gated permanently enough to permit the
sending of mail Under these conditions
n weeks delay in the delivery Of mail Is
possible
Every care is taken in expcditing the
mail for wounded men IN hospitals he
only delay in the delivery Of such mail Is
that which is absolutely unavoidable.
A wounded man may he sent from one
hospital TO another and even 10 several,
before reaching permanent base hos
pital and If detained day or two at
each Of the hospitals through which he
passes, in transit, his mail will he delayed
until he is at hospital long enough for
il 10 reach him If ne should be but slight
" wounded. not being at the hospital
long enough to get his mail, and then
should he assigned to n new oTEanlza-
ton. then, would bc some further delay
hut in none of these cases Is the dCtaN
great
The hospital authorities arc required to
notify the central post office rs we'll as
his company commander immediately un
The arrival Of the soldier there for treat
ment, and mail is sent TO HIM AZ once
There is no delay whatever in mail sent
home by or for the wounded man II IS
only that addressed to him tha; MAY hc
slightly delayed prior 20 his permanent
location.
OVERLAPPING MAILS
One ~ the most pulling things 10 tho
public has been the frequent occurrence.
both rs TO mail delivered IN France and
mail received IN thus country. of \ letter
Of a later date being received before one
mailed perhaps week or more earlier
One explanation of this IS that the post
master at the port of cmharkatIon has
been assigned hv the War Department
definite limited space for mail and when
the amoun, Of mail has exceeded this
the excess has had to bC held over until
the next steamer
II there were. say. 1000 bags ready for
shipment and the postmaster was notified
4 that only 500 bags could be handled the
| over, being included III the mail accumu
! latlng for the ncNt steamer Such An cN-
f, CO.'S Of mail might occur several tunes
! and some OF the bags missing tho tirst
! mail might also he among those left over
from the second This situation will he
/ rcmedied hy an order from the War De
( partmcnt that upon proper notice "a
| advance from tho postal officer at tho
: port Of CmharkatIou AS 20 the numhcT of
: sacks 70 he handled tho entire volume
| shall be cleaned un al each sailing
The possible delay that would hc nm
avoidahle, though unusual, IN the trans
port alton of \ letter from New ork ~
divisional postoflicc NJ the front In
France might hr y days one day ~
| distributing IN New \ urk seven DAYS on
| account of J,rst missing boat thrrC dayS
: on account of shortage Of freight cars fer
! carload transpor, alton fcom the port of
/ q ,barkatIon in France, seven DAYS on
/ account Of secret troop movements. and.
/ IN case ~ severe fighting holdup of
/ trains carrying mail ol perhaps three
/ davs THIS exceptional DELAY would In
! crease the normal time If from two 20
! three weeks for tho delivery Of mail to
/ from five 20 SIX weeks Normally II
takes from two 70 three davs to deliver a
/ letter AZ the front after It's arrival n .
| French port
| CENSORSHIP
Delay that has occurred an the delivery
| in the United States Of soldiers letters
! mailed in France IS some times due In \
slight extent TO tho censorship. Usually
| the delay from this cause is not great but
there have been cases, under exceptional
circumstances. where II has been as much
as three weeks cause Of DELAYS in mail
coming this way Is that the civilian postal
| officials to " hom this mail is delivered ~
| the French port have had hut one port If
embarkauon for all mail The dispat ching
/ Of mail is therefore limited to the sailing
time of steamers from that port, whereas
steamers are sailing from other ports
| which also might carry mail
The reason for thus restriction 10 one
port Is that the military authorities re-
/ garded il as lnadvisshlc to furnish the
! civilian postal authorities 10 whom the
/ mail Is turned over at the port Of cmbarka-
/ ton, with the sailing dates of vessels
| from other ports This matter has been
| adjusted now so that the postal officials
may take advantage Of the opportunity
/ afforded by saIlngs from other ports for
| the dispatch Of mail
| COMPLETE SYSTEM NOW
4 complete postal system correspond
| ing to that in the United States. is II ow IN
! operation in France with central post
| office located az Tours This service IN
! France except the distribution and dis
| patch Of mails to the United States. Is
| entirely under military control the direct
| or and assistant directors being conmis-
stoned army officers and the entire force
being part Of the military service
Nearly all Of these officers and soldiers
detailed 10 this work are men formerly
employed in the postal service of the
| United States. former railway mail clerks
being employed III the handling Of mail
on postal trains, and Others acting rs
distributors, etc.
France is divided into three postal
districts, each district in charge of an
army officer who was formerly 3 postal
official: and these districts are under
the supervision Of the director at the
central postofficc at Tours. Lieutenant
Colonel T. ID. Howe. Permanent post
offices are established at numerous points
and mobile postofficcs are right at the
front and move with division to whcI
they are attached. They are frequently
under fire.
The commanding officer Of each com.
pany or military establishment is re-
qured to detail from his company a mai
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