The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-06-26

.bSfeu more months, ana ne mas re-
turned to tell his fellow townsmen
Just what happened behind the scenes
IN the army postof1ce. Reynolds ar
rived in Richmond. following his work
overseas. a week ago. and is now on
the directory desk In the Richmond
postoffice.
BY ROY z. REYNOLDS.
On the banks of the Gironde river,
in Bordeaux. France, stands long,
low building called the Bordeaux U.
8. Mail terminal. 1t was operated by
men few Of whom had had less than
ten years experience in the U. s. Mail
service.
Postoffice clerks and railway mail
clerks from all over the United States
sorted and made direct sacks Of first
class mail to cities. routes and Gus
tom houses. This was done to cause
no delay to mail from the A. e. F.
to New York and the United States.
Not one hour was wasted In New
York in handling the monster batch
of mail. Homeward bound mall, when
written and properly addressed, in
France or other occupied territory is
as sure Of delivery upon reaching the
Bordeaux terminal as Is the letter
mailed in st. Louis. Mo, to some one
in San Francisco. California. And II
from q soldier. 1t needed no stamp.
During the month Of December,
1918. there were handled in the Bor-
deaux terminal, 44.534.560 pieces Of
first class mail. 81 per cent of which
was worked During the month of
March, 1919, $4,000 sacks of parcel
post was handled and 95 per cent
was worked. These parcels consisted
mostly Of helmets. guns and souvenirs
of France. Italy, England, Germany,
Switzerland, Spain and Austria, all
sent to custom houses which re-dis
tributed them to your own local post
office.
Follows Letter to France.
To send a letter to Mrs. John B..
Good 816 Calumet Ave. Chicago Is
however, quite different matter from
sending one from Mrs. John B. Good
to her son in France, or John B. Good,
Jr, Company ID, 81 Pioneers, A.
E. F., France. Let US follow this
mothers letter to her boy.
From Chicago 1t goes to Chelsea
Terminal, New York. Here it is sort
ed and put in the mail for ID" Co.,
al Pioneers. The first transport
leaving carries with it thousands Of
other letters. After twelve days 1t
arrives at Bordeaux. The army post
once at Bordeaux, designated as A.
p. D. 705, has received cable advices
and Is already to receive Johns let
ter and thousands of others and to
forward them to their destination.
The bcation Of every army postoffice
in Fance Is a letter Of record in this
Office.
Az Bordeaux the mail pouch is
again labeled to the French town or
vile where the 311th Pioneers are
stationed. Mail cars. attached to the
fastest trains in France. each con-
Yoyed by two soldiers, carry the sacks
and pouches to their destination.
n Transferred Many Times.
Upon receipt the mail is sorted and
called for by mail orderlies, who take
DIT to the individual to whom it is ad-
dressed. Mrs. Goods letter is with the
Z rest, but her son is not present. A
week before Private Good got hit by
a piece of shrapnel, which broke his
arm, and the surgeon has sent him to
Base Hospital No. 81, at Toul. There
? Private Good has partially recovered
and due to the overcrowded condition
Hospital No. s, ct Bordeaux.
His letter has in the mean time fol
lowed him to Toul. then to Bordeaux
but by this time Private Good has been
transferred to Beau Desert Hospital
Center, few miles away. Mrs Goods
letter to her boy might reach him
there, but perhaps his qualification
card has showed him to be an ex
pert stenographer in civilian life, anG
since a shortage in this class has de
veloped at General Headquarters Al
Chaumont, the boy has been sent VI
there to do stenographic work, upor
his recovery. His letter meanwhile i!
forwarded from Beau Desert Hospita
Center to Chaumont upon information
7 that he has been moved.
The work at Chaumont, however, Il
soon brought up to date; Privat,
Good is released and sent to ST. Sui
pice. where great store house of sup
plies for the U. S. army exists. Thel
he may get his letter or twenty let
tiers if he stays there long enough t
get them, but in the meantime two o
three months may have elapsed, an,
Private Good and his relatives ar
: cursing the mail service.
large part of the personnel of tn
army in France is constantly on tn
move TO army camp, schools, or spe
cial work with French instructors
Private Goods case is not an exceI
ton. In his case and thousands @
others every effort is made in tn
postal service to get the letters de
livered, but the thousands of peopl
back home who have mailed these le
tiers must appreciate and attempt t
visualize, in certain cases, the esser
tial difficulties, minute percentag
of the whole, under which the pos
Office department of the United State
army is performing its unusual tasl
Letters Badly Addressed.
Many letters were addressed so bar
ly that often the best clerk in th
oce could hardly read the address
Secretary Franklin K. Lane said owe
200, 900 could not read their names
applying for enlistment. No dout
fully 100000 are very poor writer!
and. again, many thousands of letter
were addressed incorrectly. Some {