Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-10-13
ADD TO WOES or
POSTAL CHIEFS
Minor Post Offices Cause Trouble
for Department by Slack
ness of Methods.
DON'T TAKE JOB SERIOUSLY
Postmasters Refuse to Answer De-
partment Correspondence and
Threaten TO Quit When Called
to Task by Officials.

Neutrality-suspicious. of the trials of
the Post Office department with many
of the fourth class postmasters of the
country, who refuse to answer official
correspondence, and who otherwise
conduct themselves in a perhaps too
high-handed fashion, are revealed by
w. Irving Glover, third assistant post
master general.
Those fourth class postmasters, it
appears, have been in part responsible
for the delay in adjusting the $4,000
claims for lost and damaged parcels.
But more than that, they continually
act as If they didn't care rap wheth-
er they held their jobs or not.
Care Little About Jobs.
The trouble is that they really do
not, Glover intimated, and they often
tell the department officials as much
In just about that many words. They
are under civil service, and often they
are the only men in their towns who
will and can act as postmasters. Most
often they run small stores, and If
the department in Washington gets
'all het up" over their failure to an
swer correspondence, the postmasters
threaten to give up the post Office
work.
That threat usually works" for 1t
Is better to have some sort of post Of
fee than none at all.
why, some of them pay no atten-
ton to as at ALL" said Glover, with a
smile Of despair. Zone Of them re-
Gently was asked to ill out question
naire showing reasons as to this and
that in connection with a lost parcel
Hell. no; hell. yes hell, no; he'll,
yes was the way he sent the ques-
tionnaire back to u.s." continued Clio
yer, with some feeling. Then, he
continued, If you don't like it, take
your post Office out Of my
store
'This is sample of the thing we
rave TO put up with" continued the
third assistant postmaster general.
"One postmaster actually tore out
the partitions used to mark off the
post office from the rest of his store
and threw them out into the street.
together with all the postal appa-
ratus.
when the mails arrived the men
on the train saw that they could not
to an Office out In the street so re-
fused to let the mail off. Word was
sent to headquarters and inspectors
sent down at once
do you have to put up with that
sort of thing?" Glover was asked
Many Requests Unanswered.
"There is not much else we can do,
sometimes" he said "Often It be-
comes a case Of having a postmaster
like that or none at all. Often they
pay no attention whatever to letters
asking for information, and some of
them even refuse to send back to mer-
camille houses packages refused by
customers in their villages.
"For instance, a man asks for SAM
Piles of suitings from some big mer-
camille house. that is, perhaps, not as
strict In it's business ethics as some of
TIE HOUSES.
"A sample of a blue cloth, and
sample of brown cloth are sent him.
from which he selects the blue, and
orders suit Of that color. But the
clothing house sends him suits made
from both colored cloths.
"The customer accepts the blue.
suit, but refuses the brown one. And
the postmaster does not take the
trouble either to notify the mercan-
tile house or send the suit back. Then
when the house kicks, and begins to
food the customer with letters asking
for a remittance for the brown suit,
too, the customer tears up the letters
and the postmaster pays no attention
to letters to him"
Glover said that the department
had been able TO clear up the $4,000
delayed cases partly because ii had
waived the old rules requiring many
affidavits as to the cost of articles al
ksoad en- ha lnSf