Evening star., 1922-08-29
SAY LETTER BOXES
MEAN MORE WORK
Carriers Will Be Expected to
Cover Longer Routes,
They Now Fear.
SOME LOSS OF JOBS SEEN
Officials Not Ready to Predict in
Reduction in Force,
However.

Letter carriers fear that more work
and dismissals will be their portion as
the result of the order of the Post
Office Department requiring house
holders to install letter boxes or slots
in their front doors by January /.
Officials of the city post office. while
loath to discuss the question of the
effect of the order upon carriers. ad-
mittsd that if the universal installa-
tion of home mail boxes enables ear
riers to cover their routes quicker, it
Probably will result in each carrier
being given more houses to deliver to.
Carriers then claim that il each car
ritr can cover more ground the pres
ent force will be found too large, and
some carriers will find themselves out
of jobs Officials refused to admit the
possibility of This. however
Quicker Time Certain.
1t seems pretty certain 10 postal
officials that carriers will be enabled
to shorten the time consumed on their
routes materially when everybody has
a mail box or slot at the front door.
Then each carrier will be over his
route ahead of present schedule.
First Assistant Postmaster General
Bartlett, who is responsible for the no
box no mail order. declared today that
he did not feel that the order ought 10
result in more work for carriers, but
that details had not been worked out
as vet.
The law requires that carriers work
eight hours in ten hours. City post
office officials see nothing to it but that
under present regulations made by the
Post Office Department carriers must
be at work during those eight hours In
other words. if they complete their
routes ahead of present schedules. they
hardly will be allowed to spend the
time saved in drinking soda waters at
the drug store, or pitching quoits on
vacant lots.
Greater Safety Not Proved.
Some carriers assert that the uni
versal installation of mail receptacles
at homes is not certain to assure either
more speed or greater safety.
THE chief selling argument in favor
of the boxes or slots has been that
their installation would make the de
livery of the mail earlier and easier"
one carrier declared.
"A little thought will dispeH this
fallacy. A letter carrier lis required 70
perform eight hours service each day
If through installation of reCeptacles. |
am able to save one hour a day. will
the department allow me that time for
myself, although | have rendered as
much actual service as | now render in
eight hotlrs?'
ine carrier slapped MS sack tmpnatl-
caily.
Carrier Sees Added Work.
mot for an instant" he continued
II will be assigned more blocks to
cover. and the time of delivery on
these blocks will be just as late as at
present, if not later. Moreover these
blocks will have to be taken from
territory of some other carrier and
a half dozen repetitions of this
economy would leave him without a
roufe-tflat is. without a job.
"A small portion of those living
along the new routes thus created
would have earlier delivery of their
mail. many more would receive their
mail just as at present. and for those
switched to the latter end of the new
routes, delivery would be actually
later than at present.
LAS for facilitating delivery of mail
for the carrier. the extra weight he
has to carry. due to the addition to
his load Of several more blocks mail
will turn the balance against the
questionable advantage of forcing
mail into a narrow and sharp edged
slot"
This carrier asserted that of the
130 receptacles along his own route,
thirty, at least, are defective either
in closing or in locking, and another
thirty are habitually left unlocked.
He declared that he has vet to see
a box that could not be pried open
with an ordinary jack knife.