Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-11-21
HANDLING WAR
RISK MAIL IS
GIGANTIC TASK
More Than 100000 Letters Are
Received Every Day.
WORK NIGHT and DAY SHIFTS


Hearty Willingness to Conform to Re-
ouirements Is Manifested in Letters
Received by the Hundreds Of Thou
sands-ldentification Of Cases OFTEN
impossible Because Necessary infor'
nation 10 Lacking-How Core
spondence Is Handled.
Dear government. This is to LET
YOU know that i am staying while
with my folks at Simpkins Falls
And this loyal, punctilious American
mother thought that in that message
she faithfully had complied with the
oft-repeated Injunction, Don't fail TO
inform the bureau of war risk insur-
ance of change of address"
Another conscientious mother who
had been duly instructed in the fact
that IL Is often difficult to identify
soldier unless specific information be
given in the letter of inquiry addressed
to the bureau, asked for news OF
my boy Jim" "You must have no.
ticed Jim. because he's six feet tall"
And of course she couldn't be expected
to know that that wasn't just the sort
of descriptive information which might
help in placing Jim, nor that in that
splendid regiment known as per
shing's Own" made up of units from
all over the country, there were 2,1oo
men who stood six feet and better.
One mother for whom "the boy" had
made allotment and asked government
allowance answered the formal inquiry
as to whether she had other sources OF
income with the painstakingly consci-
entious statement, "Only Fred's hens"
Show Hearty Willingness.
So into the bureau of war risk in
surance by the hundreds of thousands
pour the letters bearing their manifest
stories of hearty willingness to con-
form to requirements and simple, IN
corruptible honesty, but frequently SO
vague in respect to necessary infor-
nation as to render identification OF
the cases difficult if not impossible.
The mail section of the bureau works
on a 16-hour basis with one shift work
ing from nine in the morning to five
In the afternoon and night shift from
one to eight in the morning, handling
directly from the post office all mali
arriving during the night.
During the period October, 1918, to
October, 1919, this section received.
sorted, classified and distributed to-
tai of 10, ,S66, ,533 pieces of mail, and for
the same period received from the va
rious divisions Of the bureau, arranged
according to states, and forwarded TO
the city post Office total of 22,527,5Oo
bieces of mail This makes grand
total of AZ, ,041 pieces of mail pass
ing through the mail section during
Ahe course Of twelve months.
y On July IA, 1919, the mail section
under instructions from Director r. G..
Cholmeley- Jones, took over the arrang-
Ing and listing of all tenders in pay
ment for insurance premiums. These
remittances during the period July
l4th to October 7th numbered 1908
1872 at a valuation of $9,7s4 1858.
Takes On Additional Duties.
The mail section from time to time
Is taking on additional duties in order
10 relieve the various divisions OF the
bureau. and Is functioning with a
lower percentage of errors than the
minimum allowed by the United States
post office.
The bureaus mail trucks make
hourly trips between the post office
and the Arlington building and also
collect or deliver at nine offices of the
bureau outside of the Arlington build
ing. and at eleven other government
Offices.
Around the first of the month the
mail comes In at the rate of about
100000 pieces day, later falling to
10000 or $4,000.
Premium receipts make up about
half of the entire incoming mail dur
ing the first half of the month. Sew
enty-five per cent Of all mail received
IA for the insurance division of the
bureau.
The mail section also handles eacf
day $4,000 to 100000 pieces of out
going mail and about 10000 pieces o.
Interdepartmental mail. Between De
cember 1. 1879, and September 80
ip19. the bureuu received 4,503.465 dis
.sRarge notices alone. In January thu
dood of discharge notices rose to $50,
800. In August 1t reached the high
water mark Of 7OO,325. The total mum
ber of pieces of incoming mail re
ceiyed during August was 2,2S7,43o.
How Mail 10 Handled.
Mail as 1t comes from the mail sacl
is separated unopened into 81 classes
Tho letters are run through the lester