Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-12-27
POSTAL BUSINESS
BREAKS RECORDS
HOLIDAY MAIL OF MUCH
GREATER VOLUME THAN EVER.
More Than 5000 Taken In During
Eight Days Immediately Preceding
Christmas - Ono Days Sale OF
Stamps Totals $soo-speoial ocliv.
cry Business Exceptionally Large.

All records for volume Of business
during the holiday season in the local
postoffice were broken this year, re-
ceipts of the office, amount of first
class mail handled, parcel post bust
ness, special delivery letters received,
/ volume Of incoming and outgoing mail
and number of packages insured ex-
ceeding greatly the figures of pre-
vious years.
Fortunately for the postal employees
the Christmas rush started about
| four days earlier than usual this
year and when last deliveries were
made Friday not any of the holiday
mail remained undelivered
Exceptional speed was shown in
deliveries notwithstanding the great
ly increased business. Extra delivery
wagons were pressed into service for
the last days of the rush to exp adite
delivery. One day five extra teams
were used.
Office Receipts Increased
The receipts of the office for the
$4,000, or about equal to the entire
receipts of the office for a month
before the institution of the parcel
post service.
Monday was the record breaking
day for outgoing mail, the volume
Of mail handled being far in excess of
any other single day in the history
Of the office. A new record was
established on that day for parcel
post business.
Tuesday the record for receipts for
single day was broken. On that day
the receipts from sale of stamps alone
were more than 5000. The business of
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was
much greater than any other three
days in the history of the office, and
any one Of the three days shows larg-
err receipts than even before for a
single day.
Not All Christmas Packages.
The great increase in business was
not entirely due to the great run of
| Christmas packages, for there was
an unusual amount of first-class mail
| passing thru the office. This is shown
in the receipt for sales of stamps. On
Dec. % the sale of 2-cent stamps
amounted to $3.50 and on Dec. 90 to
1852. On Dec. %, 10000, 1-cent stamps
were sold and on the following day
II, 900 were disposed Of. Ordinarily
100 each of 3 and Accent stamps
would be sold, but during the rush of
Christmas mailing the average daily
receipts showed about 400 3-cent
stamps and 500 Accent stamps sold
The high cost Of living and labor
unrest apparently had little effect on
gift-giving.
Special Delivery Popular.
Altho the use of the special delivery
has been showing a marked increase
for some months all records were
broken during the holidays. More spe-
cial delivery letters and packages
were received in the local office in ten
days before Christmas than would be
received in three months five years
ago.
! During the four days preceding
Christmas approximately ESQ special
deliveries were received daily.
More attention also was shown to
the insurance of packages, the numb
er Of pieces Of mail being insured be-
ing more than double that Of any
previous year.
ASSoA 1CSSlplS VI IilS Ol1lCc 1OT IUe
year will exceed those Of 1918, altho
the 3-cent postage then was effective.
Post Card Mail Tremendous.
The Christmas post card mail this
year was tremendous. The day be-
fore Christmas, it was said, not a
card Of popular price was to be had
in local shops, the entire stock having
been sold. Virtually all this great
volume Of post cards was dispatched
thru the local office.
There are some cards, however,
which went into the letter drops which
will never reach their destination.
There is postal regulation against
the mailing Of postcards with tinsel
or other ornamentation attached I'M
less mailed in an envelope, and this
rule was d1sregarded in many cases.
Such cards will go to the dead letter
office. Many other post cards were
mailed without stamps and are be-
ing held for postage. A considerable
number Of letters also went into the
drops without postage.
The carry-over department also
has on hand many packages address
sed to persons not now in the city.
AAooC W43A 10 IOEWdIucu bS rapidly
as correct addresses can be secured.
Employee Deserve Praise.
The handling Of the mail in this
city during the unprec adented holiday
rush was exceptional. In many cities
there is considerable unrest among
postal employees because Of the pre-
vailing wage scale and while the scale
has not been satisfactory here no
evidence Of any endeavor on the part
Of the employees to shirk during the
years busiest season was apparent,
On tho contrary there was the great
est harmony between the superin-
tendents and the employees and a
particular pride in handling the mail
efficiently was evident thruout the
rush period. A personal interest in
the work was shown by all the en-
ployes,
|