Evening star., 1922-08-26
HOME MAIL BOXES
DUE BEFORE Jan. |.
Four.Month Grace Given All
HousehoIders to Install
Devices.
DOOR SLOTS ACCEPTABLE
Rule to Be Enforced to Prevent
Carriers Waiting to See Mem
bers of Family.
DOOR SLOTS ACCEPTABLE

Four months will be given all house.
holders to install mail boxes at their
front doors or cut slots in the door
therein.
Mail delivery will be discontinued
to all such homes as fail to meet the
requirements. according to a sweep
ing order issued today by First As
sistant Postmaster General John H.
Bartlett. supplementing his mo box
no mall order of recent date.
The new order applies to all house,
holders, both in the District and
throughout the country. who get their
mail BY carrier every day. The pre-
yious order applied to those who move
into new houses.
The new order applies to persons
in old or new houses, irrespective,
only apartment house dwellers and
those receiving rural delivery being
and rural homes already have letter
boxes.
Would Speed Delivery.
"On account of the delays caused
to carriers at dwelling houses where
no door slot or mail receptacle is pro-
vided and the fact that large ma
jority Of dwellings are thus equipped
sonable period. to require all who are
to receive mail by street carriers at
their dwellings to provide such &C
commodations, the expense OF the
same being small" declared Gov.
Bartlett in his order.
"Postmasters are therefore thus in
structed. The length of the notice
should not exceed four months, al
though there may be exceptional cases
where postmasters should use reason
able discretion or ask for lnstruc-
tions"
desire that any shall be deprived OF
delivery by this requirement, Gov.
Bartlett said.
But rather it is earnestly hoped
that all will see the reasonableness
of it and its advantages to themselves
But If it finally becomes necessary;
mail service will be discontinued
where no door-slots, preferably. OF
mail receptacles are provided.
30 Per Cent Negligent.
Seventy per cent of the homes
throughout the country already are
equipped with home mail boxes. or
have slots cut in their front doors,
Gov. Bartlett said, so the department
is now going to "jog" the other ~
! per cent into helping the carriers ana
| thus helping themselves.
| There are approximately 5o.OoV te.-
ter carriers throughout the country,
and the time of these men is wasted
at every trip by being forced to wall
i at doors until somebody answers the
! bell. At the same time, householders
! busy on other matters are forced 10
drop what they are doing and answer
| the carriers ring.
! Ali home owners who have home
mail boxes or door-slots are enthu-
siastic over them, Gov. Bartlett said
and expressed the conviction that the
recalcitrant 80 per cent would be
| equally as enthusiastic when they in
stalled their boxes.
One of the big advantages Of q
home box, 1t was declared. is that !,
practically does away with the street
! letter boxes for householders, as they
may place their addressed and
stamped letters in their own boxes
| them as they come on their delivery
The -four months grace" will end
about January I next, so that the re-
mainder of the year will be given
householders here and throughout
the United States to put up theiI
boxes. inexpensive affairs, or cut slits
in their front doors.
Ofiicials at the Washington city
post off1ce said they had not received
the new order yet, but would take uI
the matter Immediately 1t Is received
| Postmaster Chance early in the week
ordered all his supervisory officials
to Install boxes at their homes, tr
order to set a good example.
The new order tends to remove the
determination seemingly caused by
the. former order. which applied onl!
to new houses" The department
found that it would be difncult to
EXACTLY define a new house." or draw
the line at just when a house became
''old." :,
So the new order is inclusive of all
houses. The Post Once Department
tfeels that the whole matter Is but
lone Of the reasonable regulations, IL
which the public will be glad to CO.