Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-11-04
LITTLE STORIES OF
THE STREET
By
The Man About Town

Modern engineers have doubled the
efficiency of industrial plants in many
instances simply by equallzing the
I;stribution of labor. The Post Office
Department is applying this principle
in its attempt to systematlcally re-
duce the burden placed on It's en-
ployees by a careless public.
Postmaster w. Morgan Smith IS
actively engaged in a campaign 20
have all houses in the city properly
numbered and fitted with receptacies
wherein the mail may be deposited by
the carrier. A loss of approximately
two minutes occurs every time the
carrier is forced to make a personal
delivery at your door. 1t is an IN
necessary waste, and prompt compii-
ance with the postmaster's request
will speed up the service. Thomas A..
Fisher, formerly mayor OF Alexah-
dria, has the honor of being the first
nerson in town to give his active sup
mort to the movement. Immediately
uuon receipt of Mr.. Smiths communl-
cation Mr.. Fisher provided a receipt
acle for the deposit Of his mail and
'phone / the postmaster that ne had
done so.
The collection of mail begins at $50
every morning. This collection IS US
uallv very light. While making their
morning and afternoon deliveries the
carriers again collect, winding up
their day with the evening collection
which is the heavy one, at about 8.3O
This throws the peak load on the EN-,
ployees during the early evening ana
IN many cases it is found impossible
to get the late collections out on the
night trains Mr.. Smith suggests that
every business man should have MS
mail deposited for collection at the
earliest possible moment after It IS
written. 1t is customary in many Of
fees to hold up the accumulated cor
respondence of the day until closing
time in the afternoon when it IS de-
posted in a bundle. This is the
WRONG system because 1t adds to
the load at the very time when faci-
lities for handling the mail are over
taxed.
"If every business man in town
would clean up his desk before going
out to LUNCH" said Mr.. Smith, land
then take the trouble to see that his
correspondence gets into the mails
promptly, our burdens would be ap-
preciably lightenea."
"There are more ways to make a
dollar than there are minutes in the
day," volunteered Mr.. Close Observer
as we stood waiting for the car, "and
that fellow over there has hit on
pretty good scheme"
"That fellow over there" seemed
to be doing a very good business. On
reconstructed flivver he had built a
little booth which housed complete
grinding equipment. Snugly planted
within his nest he was rapidly shar-
pening an accumulation of shears,
knives, cleavers and miscellaneous
cutlery.
A long cry from the itinerant scis-
sor-sharpener of our childhood who
carried his stand on his broad back
and tangled bell to herald his ap-
proach. The world does move.
A we'll known educator once assert
ed that the photograph had done more
to further civilization in the out-of-
way corners of the earth than the
rife. Perhaps he was right, but right
or wrong it may be truthfully said
that the sun never sets on the talking
machine. 1t has penetrated the heart
of the Jungle, the tops of the Andean
peaks. the ice guarded Businesses Of
the far north, and its voice is heard
on the seven seas. In cow-camp, min
ing town, fishing village or farming
community the strains of the latest
musical offerings mingle with the
laughter of little children on wintry
evenings. In the cities and towns it
has a multitude of admirers, yea even
on Broadway, where musical comedy
was born.
Having such wide appeal it fol-
lows that large percentage of Ga
Zette readers are interested in talking
machine records. Hoping to discover
Just what class of music meets with
popular approval here in Alexandria
we took it upon ourselves to inter-
view the various dealers handling that
commodity and get a line upon the
best sellers Of the different makes.
The Pathe product is handled by Mr..
Mchelbach and he states that the
three following records are most in
demand just at this time. 'fWhere the
Lazy Mississippi Flows" violin solo
played by Ray Eleanor Ball: "All by
Myself" vocal gem from Zeigfeld's
Fosiies. and "Say it With Music" a
dashing fox-trot.
At Casteberg's where Vocation re-
cords are featured the call is for
"Elsa's Dream" from Lohengrin,
sung by Marie Sundelius: ITO Wild
Rose" violin solo BY Marie Daw.
son Morrell. and "Ma," jazzy fox
trot.
Further down the street we found
the Columbia representative at
Rubens' who furnished the following