The daily morning oasis., 1919-05-27
HAS GROWN TO Be ONE
OF MOST IMPORTANT
AND EFFICIENT IN
GOVERNMENT

/ WASHINGTON, May 26.-More
(. than. ton of incoming mail each day
and nearly as much outgoing mail
have made is necessary for the Bu-
reau War Risk Insurance to build
up postal system that is larger
than any other of it's kind in the
United States.
Eighty thousand pieces of incom-
ing mail each day are the average
for the Bureau of War Risk Insur-
ance. Of these more than $4,000
bring letters. There are over $4,000
outgoing letters from the bureau
each day. To handle the delivery
and collection of this vast amount of
mail requires over 100 employees.
Mail is received every half hour at
the Bureau of War Risk Insurance
1t is sorted Immediately upon re-
ceipt, and those pieces of mail which
are addressed to a definite division
of the bureau are delivered at once.
The greater part of the mail, how
ever, comes addressed to the Bu-
reau Of "War Risk Insurance" To
deliver this mail to its proper des-
tination means that it must be open
ed by a machine process. The let
ters then are tied in small bundles
and delivered to readers.
Reading the mail of the Bureau of
War Risk Insurance is a task which
requires an intimate knowledge of
the various divisions of the bureau,
and the work that each division
handles. Highly trained women,
most of them college graduates, are
employed as mail readers. Each
reader must decide from the text Of
the letter where it should be re-
>ferred and there are thirty-six diff
ferent sections to which these readers
may refer a letter. Many of the
readers are capable Of reading 1,500
letters day.
After reading a letter the reader
stamps upon it the time of receipt
and designates its routing and places
it in file which is classified ac-
cording to each of the thirty-six
routes a letter may take. These flies
are cleared every fifteen minutes
and the letters routed according to
the directions of the reader.
Many letters received contain ques-
tions which concern two different
divisions of the bureau. Readers in
dicate these letters as "dupls" and
give them two indications for routing
They are then copied and "a copy
sent to each of the divisions indi-
Gated by the reader.
Thousands of the letters which are
received contain remittances for in
surance premiums land for refunds
on overpayment. These .remittances
come in money orders, checks and
currency, and it is necessary to take
the greatest care in order that none
of them may be lost.
When letters are received that do
not give sufficient information upon
which reply may be based, the
reader indicates this and by return
mail form setting forth all the
necessary information is sent to the
writer of the letter.
Hundreds of letters are received
each day by the Bureau of War Risk
Insurance which do not concern the
work of the bureau. The readers
must have a knowledge of the work
of other Government departments so
that they may indicate correct for
warding address for letters which do
not belong to the bureau. More than
half hundred letters of this sort are
,lwaroed each day to other Govern
ment Departments and bureaus,
many of them to the War Depart
ment.
Outgoing letters from the Bureau
of War Risk Insurance average more