Charlevoix county herald., 1918-05-03
MAIL TO SOLDIERS
IS OVERBURDENED
Parcel Post Is Loaded Down With
Unnecessary Articles for
Army Mer.
PRIVILEGE MAY Be CURTAILED
Postofflee Department Statement A.
serts That Large Number Of
Articles So Carried Can Be
Purchased at Canteens.

Washington-That the parcel post
mails to soldiers In France are greatly
burdened by reason Of so many un-
necessary articles being mailed, and
that there may arise q necessity for
curtailing the parcel post privilege to
soldiers are shown In the following
statement given out by the Post OF!
fee department:
Recently a government transport
reached France carrying to the SOL
diers at the front 715,9S0 letters and
S35, $40 pieces Of parcel post and news
papers. The letters weighed 81 tons
and the parcels and papers In excess
OF 113 tons. BY reason Of the bulki-
ness Of the mail, this shipment took up
In excess Of $1,000 cubic feet Of space
on the transport. This means q slice
Of the ships cargo space 100 feet long,
10 feet high, and II feet wide. The
715,9S0 letters went into 346 sacks but
the pieces Of parcel post and papers
required 1852 sacks. When this mail
was unloaded at French port the let
ters filled completely one of the small
French cars, which are half the size Of
the American mail cars, but the par
cells and papers required a train Of 10
cars.
Waits for Days on Cars.
The mail that is unloaded from the
ships must frequently wait days at
the port before cars can be spared
from the heavily burdened railroads
in France to move the mail.
When the United States army pos
tai service was first inaugurated mail
reached all of the camps in the coun-
try in one TO two days, according to
distance and train connections. Today
mail, by reason Of It's vast volume and
the heavy demands on the railroads,
frequently takes six days to reach Gen.
eral Pershing's headquarters.
According to a report from New
York and Chicago Of some Of the con-
tents Of this parcel post matter to the
troops, a 12-hour inspection Of the par
eel post as 1t was being searched for
inflammables and explosives disclosed
among other things, 1912 boxes Of
224 cigar lighters (all Of these Of the
greatest menace to the safety Of the
ship, 1,24S cakes, 3,S18 packages Of
candles, 1882 bars Of chocolate, be-
sides countless scores Of useful, as
well as useless, articles, including
a bouquet Of artificial flowers, baby
outfit, and q bottle Of whisky.
A. - p.l~
raises is: Why send apples and or
anges that become bruised In the long
transit and rot in the stuffy holds Of
the ships, when the recreation rooms
Of the Young Mems Christian associa-
tlon and other welfare organizations
serve fruit fresh from Italy and Spain,
that takes up no cargo space; why
send cakes and candles and chewing
gum, when the post canteens sell IT
varieties of cakes and cookies, fresh
baked In France, at American prices,
or bare shade higher; why try to
send across vast quantities Of matches,
which endanger the ship and which is
a penitentiary offense to place even In
the domestic mails7
Can Buy Same Articles In Franco.
Two-thirds Of the articles found In
a 12-hour inspection tour when work
ing the soldiers parcel post are on
General Pershing's canteen list and
sold in retail quantities to the soldiers
at practically wholesale prices.
The question will have to be ans
wered by the relatives of the soldiers,
or 1t will, of military necessity, be
answered drastically by the authori-
ties in France charged with the re-
sponslbility for the success of this war.