Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1921-08-18
SERVICE

From the Postal Bulletin
Office of the Postmaster General,
Washington, August 9, 1921.
The splendid suggestions in the fol-
lowing editorial from the Grand Rap
ids, (Mich.) Herald will help to I'M
prove the Postal Service.
WILL Fl. HAYS,
Postmaster General.
THE Herald, Established 1884. A. Fl.
Vandenberg, Editor. Grand Rapids,
July %, 1921.
Misdireeted Mail.
It seems almost inconceivable, but
it is reported as an official fact, that
$4,000 pieces of misdirected mail are
handled daily at the New York post
office, which includes Manhattan only.
This means that 127 100000 misdirect-
ed pieces are handler every year In
this one metropolitan center. 1t re-
quires no imagination to appreciate
what this means by way of hamper
ing and slowing down the Postal Ser
vice. Great armies of postal clerks,
who might otherwise be engaged In
facilitating the general service, are
thus tied down to the problem of rec
tifying the mistakes and supplying the
omissions that are chargeable to care
| less correspondents. We Americans
sort Of take our Postal Service for
granted. We kick like steers when
one letter out of the millions handled
daily goes astray or is delayed a few
hours; yet we are so neglectful of our
own responsibilities in this connection
that we pile thousands of pieces of
misdirected mail into the post office
and expect that the postal machinery
can and must in some way surmount
our own negligence.
The New York situation is merely
| typical of the situation in every other
city in the land. Take Grand Rapids,
for example. Postmaster Hogadone
says that, as nearly as can be estimat-
ed, the local post Office handles 5000
pieces of misdirected mail every "a
hours; and, in addition thereto, about
10000 pieces of mail are received with
out street addresses. 1t requires the
! full time of five clerks here in Grand
/ Rapids alone to correct the addresses
on instructed mail. The mail without
1 complete address causes loss of time
| 70 distributors who could otherwise
have been employed in handling prop
erly the fully addressed mail, thereby
making it possible in many instances
to give an earlier delivery. We who
constantly yell for greater economy"
and greater efficiency" in the public
service may well pause and ask our
selves whether it wouldn't be a good
thing, consistent thing, if we took a
little more care in making Economy
and efficiency" in the public service
possible.
Some of the more common mistakes
locally observed, in addressing mail
are noted as follows: Addresses are
written hastily and illegibly, often in
lead pencil; pencil addresses become
obliterated in the course of handling.
Authorizations in the names of firms,
post Offices, and States are confusing
and invite trouble; for instance, con-
template the similarity in the abbrevi-
ations of "Pa." for Pennsylvania LA"
for Louisiana and ia" for Iowa; also
Col" for Colorado and "Cal" for Cal
| lfornla. Unless all the letters in these
authorizations are written very plainly,
there is danger of mistakes. Street
addresses are often omitted (also the
regional direction NE, Sc, NV,
SW., on city maiD; and obsolete mail
ing lists are the bane of postal exist
ence.
All things considered, it is really
wonder that the post office makes as
few mistakes as it does. When one
thinks of the 5000 instructed pieces
of mail in Grand Rapids daily and
$50, 900 pieces in New York-and when
one multiplies an average figure by the
number of post Offices in the country
it is neces sary to confess that the peo-
pie do not do their whole part in the
matter of postal efficiency. If we are
going to throw stones, we must mt live
III glass houses. We are all demand
ing of the Post Office Department that
It turn over new leaf' under it's pep
Ply new Washington chief. Let us
turn over new leaf" too.