Imperial Valley press., 1922-05-05
FL CENTRIC PUPILS
EAGER TO AID U. S.
AT POST0FFICE

"The work we are doing among Ell
Centre school children as part of postal
improvement week observance is al
ready showing results" says Postmas-
ter Collins, "and we wish older folks
would take the same interest the chill
dren do, particularly business houses
and other heavy mailers.'
According to records kept by the post
| master, on May l 7.1S5 cancellations of
first class mail were made by the can
ceiling machine, 1886 Of which were
received between $3.50 and $3.50 p m.
on May 2, $500 cancellations, 4,281 be-
tween the same hours were made and
Wednesday $3.50 cancellations were re-
corded, 3,2S7 of which were received
during the evening hour. These figures
include only first class mail and do not
take into consideration the large en-
velopes which must be cancelled by
hand and run into the hundreds daily.
More than So per cent of outgoing
mail Postmaster Collins figures, is re-
ceived at the local postoffice in one
hour, and that practically the last hour
of the business day. In order to get
this mail to the trains, clerks must work
at top speed and after hours, which re-
| duces their efficiency and causes mis-
takes and delays, The postal rules al.
| low clerk to work only eight hours
out Of 10, but it is necessary to break
this rule daily at Ell Centre in order to
get the mail out on time.
Parcel Post Troubles
Not only first class mail, but large
parcel post bundles are held back until
the last hour and then dumped into the
pOstoffice, many of them incorrectly ad-
dressed or with an insufficient amount
Of postage the postmaster points out,
and wrapped in such manner the clerk
has to do this work over again. 1t has
been shown that in the city of Washing
ton, as result of the merchants agree
ing to mail early in the day, IL clerks
were relieved of night work, and added
to the day force, greatly increasing the
efficiency Of the postoffice and enabl-
ing better service.
More than 5000 pieces of mail are
received in the Ell Centre postoffice
daily, and close observation has proven
that less than 1000 are received with
the proper street and number or post
office box. The majority bear no re-
turn address. When mail is received
incorrectly addressed, postal regulations
demand that it be returned to the writer
the day it is received, or if no retun adj
dress is found, it must be forwarded to
the dead letter office at Washington.
A letter addressed John Jones, FL Cen
tro, California, is Immediately returned
to the writer unless the clerks, through
familiarity with the patrons of the post
office, happen to know who John Jones
is, or a search of the postoffice direc-
tory (not the city directory reveals his
identity. Local clerks know many of
the people receiving letters and are able
to distribute them properly, but when
a new clerk is on the job, delays are
bound to occur.
Sunday Mail Voluntary
The postal rules call for no Sunday
work, but on his own responsibility, and
for the convenience of the people of FL
Centre, Postmaster Collins has always
distributed box mail on Sunday and will
continue to do so. A demand was made
several years ago for city delivery, and
| it was installed, but the postmaster
states that none of the merchants are
using it, fact which also tends to
hamper the postoffice.
Instead of leaving the mail until the
last thing at night, and then bringing
it to the postoffice in large quantities,
the postmaster urgently requests the
people of Ell Centre to cooperate with
him in his endeavors to give better serv-
ice, and send their mail in during the
early hours of the day. If it cannot be
brought to the postoffice, it should be
dropped in street boxes. See that mail
is correctly addressed and stamped and
that it bears return address, mail
early and often, and better results will
be obtained for all the postmaster prom