Evening star., 1918-01-07
PRAISE Of WOMAN
LETTER CARRIERS
Witness at House Committee
Hearing Says Washington
Experiment Was Success.

That the experiment in employing
women as letter carriers in the Wash
.tngton city post Office had proved very
satisfactory and that reports on this
ara being sent to all the large offices
of the country, with the prospect that
soon women will have to be employed
generally in this work. was feature
of the hearing resumed today on the
question of salaries for postal en-
ployes.
These hearings are being held by a
subcommittee Of the House committee on
post Office and post roads, Of which Rep
resentative Thomas NJ. Bell OF Georgia
Is chairman. and the statement relative
TO the employment Of women carriers was
made by John C. Koons, first assistant
postmaster general William L Denning.
superintsndent Of the railway mail serv-
ice, WAS waiting to be heard.
". Proves Highly Satisfactory.
Mr.. Koons said that the employment
Of women had proved highly satisfac-
tory. He advised that they should not
be given full routes Of eight hours. but
that their work should be divided into
two routes of scur hours each. He said
a survey is now being made to deter
mine what places women can fill. and
that If the war continued 1t may be
found necessary to substitute the serv-
ices Of women in all parts of the coun-
try. -
Office handled the Christmas rush was
raised by Representative Madden OF II
linois. father of the principal bill under
consideration by the committee. Mr.
Koons said the Washington office had
cleaned up without any serious con-
gestfon.
saw the mail piled as high as the cell
ing" and Mr.. Rooms replied that that
was the fault of the terminal station
and the railroads, which could not ham
die 1t. He said that their organization
had collapsed and that the postal serv-
ice had to take care Of this work. Rep
resentative Madden asked If the trains
had not been unladen by soldiers, and
Mr.. Koons replied that he believed So
you can handle the mails If you leave
them lying out on the tracks
Warrington Office Again Topic.
The Washington Office was cited at an
other time by Mr.. Koons in discussing
the treatment that the eight-hour day
had been based on times when work
keep speeded up to handle the work in
buster times Mr.. koons said he had
brought a report from the Washing
ton ofice because at this time the office
registers the most abnormal conditions
anywhere, the work having increased
here as nowhere else. The statistics
given to him in a report by Postmaster
Chance, covering a period ended last
October, showed that the underline al
lowed the clerks was 1877 days and that
this was about twice the overtime that
they had been forced to work.
Suggests Legislation.
One Of the striking features Of Mr.
sKoonf statement to the committee was
the prese ntation of q suggestion for
legislation which would give the l,30C
men called from the postal service by
the draft and the hundreds Of others
who have had to be assigned to the can.
tonments after the war the same grade
and same salary to which they would
have risen IL they had continued in the
departmental service. He said that thu
law now provides that they are to bt
srefnstated in the service and that tn.
clerks sent to the cantonments hav.
been promised their old assignment.
when they return, but he felt and tn,
department felt that rali OF these ar,
entitled to whatever advancement
would have come through automati
prometion Il thAy had not bean ea1lel