New Britain herald., 1918-08-08
STOP SENDING OLD
 MAGAZINES ID BOYS
Unnecessary Burden Placed on Post Office by ThoughtIess Public

The attention of the public is called to the quantities of old ma gazines which are pouring into the local post office each day to be sent to the boys in the various camps and cantonments in this country. Official notice was re- celVed some time ago by the local post master, w.. F. Delaney, fOrbidding the acceptance of magazines more than two months old. The ruling provides that weekly magazines over three weeks old and monthly magazines over two months old should be barred from the mails. In many cases boys in camp have read the issues further back, be- fore going to camp, and those num- bers are practically useless to them Inasmuch as business at the post of fees all over the country has greatly increased during the past few years, the post office department cannot bother with mail of that nature that has no real value connected with it.
 There seems to be some misunder- standing concerning the destination of magazines sent in this manner. Many persons are inclined to believe that they are sent directly overseas. This is not the case, however, as they are sent only to the camps and can comments in this country. If young men in camp desire to take some of them overseas, when they go, they may do so, but none are mailed to France. The monthlies more than two months old have become stale read ing by the time they reach camp, if allowed to go through the mails, which is one reason for the ban which the postmaster general has placed on ,Iy Ixr Saturday Evening Post, Golfers Weekly, Literary Digest etc, while the monthlies are the Ladies Home Journal, Th< ~ ed Book, Cosmopoli- tan, Delineator, American Magazine, and many others. The boys in camp greatly appreciate these magazines and people who subscribe for them are urged to keep on sending them as suggested by the post office de- partment, which simply calls for the placing of a one cent stamp on the cover of the periodical after which the sender deposits it in the drop at the post office. to be sent to some one of the numerous camps in the cOun- try. It is necessary that the maga- zines be mailed as soon as possible after the reader has finished with them, so that the soldiers may receive the benefits of fresh reading matter.
 According to instructions from Washington, local post office clerks refuse all magazines which are too old to come under the ruling, if hand ed to them at the mailing window. Since the custom of depOsiting mailing matter in the drops provided for them at the post office, with the proper postage affixed, has become so popular largo numbers of magazines are aC- tually forced upon the local post office each day, simply because they are too old to send to the camps. Post office clerks would gladly send them, but they must abide by rules and reg ulatons. The only use to which these stale issues are put to, is to sell them as old paper. They are too bulky, coming in such large quantities as they do, to allow them to accumu- late at the post office building, and a hasty disposal is made of them in the manner mentioned.
 The superintendent of mailing, Mir. Grace, wishes to impress upon local patrons tho uselessness of mail ing magazines that are older than the law allows, as they are simply wasting their time and money and at the same time putting the post office em- ployes to unnecessary trouble.