The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1919-05-02
Hone-B Bound Mail From France
Increased Enormously
After ArmiStice.
SEND TONS OF SOUVENIRS
Post OFFICES at Bordeaux and Rrest
Have More Extensive Distribution
Service Than Any Post Office in
World-Mail Handled Quickly,


there" have stopped fighting they have
taken to letter writing.
The home-bound mail from France
has increased enormously since the
signing of the armistice and the parcel
post has become a souvenir service.
The value of souvenirs may be meas
ured by the ton, consisting of small
cases, parts of rifles and revolvers.
bayonets, uniform buttons, and frag-
mentS of demolished airplanes.
A captured German helmet is the
most priced token. Four or five hum
dred thousands of these have come
through the mail since the war began.
and the shipping requirements of the
postal service were relaxed so that a
large number have come through un-
wrapped.
The mail from the American forces
In France Is dispatched from two
ports, Bordeaux and Brest.
During the month of November-the
armistice having been signed on the
11th-17, 615, 400 letters were dis
patched from Bordeaux, besides 2,816
sacks of papers; 5419 sacks of GUS
toms packages and 26,OS9 pieces of
registered mail, the whole volume
amounting to 2S71a tons.
Busy Letter Writers.
The tight-freed boys got into full
swing of letter writing during Deem
Der and January, and for these months
the amount of mail increased about 20
per cent over the plethoric month of
November. One soldier wrote 80 let
tiers in a single day. 1t is not known
how many others equaled or surpassed
this record. Frequently II to Is let
tiers were sent by each soldier.
1t is likely to be some time before
the home-bound mail from France
grows less. AS the number of boys
coming home increases the impulse to
write becomes stronger among those
who remain. The regularly equipped
post offices at Bordeaux and Brest,
from which all mail from the expedi-
tionary forces to the United States is
dispatched, have the most extensive
distribution service of any post office
in the world. While a larger volume
of mail is carried by the New York
and Chicago offices, their fields of dis
tribution are more restrictt i. From
Bordeaux mail is dispatched to every
state in the Union, and to every city,
town, hamlet and rural route.
Mr. Richard N. Bird, who was de-
tailed by the post office department
to take general charge of the offices at
Bordeaux and Brest, has recently re-
turned from France and his report of
the work over there is full of interest.
Mail leaving this country addressed
to the eXpeditionary forces in France
passes out of the jurisdiction of the
post office department into that of the
army when it leaves the port of de-
barkatiOn at New York. This army
collects the soldiers mail through ap-
DrOXimately $50 army post offices scat
tered throughout France, making the
letters up in packages by states, and
delivers it to the officials of the post
office department at Bordeaux and
Brest. Before being dispatched to the
United States all mail is sorted at BOr-
deaux or Brest and made up for direct
dispatch to cities and railway mail
routes in this country.
Every bit of mail is cleaned up to
the very minute of sailing, and choice
between sending it by slower boat or
by faster boat that may sail a day
later is determined by the time sched-
uled for the boats to arrive in New
York. The boat to arrive first is given
the mail in preference to sending it
day ahead by a slower boat. Approx
mately % dispatches, or one every day
except Sunday, are made from either
Bordeaux or Brest each month, and
the time to New York is about ten
days, with an infrequent delay of
day or two due to storms or accident.
Sent Direct to Trains.
The pouches or sacks when received
in New York are sent direct to the
railway postal cars and dispatched on
fast mail trains to the routes or cities
for which they are labeled. About So
per cent Of mail is handled in this way.
The soldiers being located with sub
stantial permanency since the signing,
of the armistice, there is no delay in
the distribution of mail on the other.
side by the army except where 1t Is
improperly addressed or the unit to
which it is addressed is one selected
to return to the United States. In the
latter case the mail is held on this
side. Whenever any mail from the
army post offices is delayed reaching
Brest or Bordeaux, the date of its re-
ceipt at those terminals is noted by
"back-stamp" on the delayed letters.
The site of the Bordeaux terminal
post office is on the river close to the
depots. The building is $50 feet long
and % feet wide and is we'll ventilated
and lighted. 1t was built by the UnitedI
States army engineers from plans sub
mitted by Mr.. Bird. 1t has every con-
venience for employees, and every ap-
pliance for the proper handling of
L., f4,s