Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-11-01

Heavy, yeS;' he grunted, and Its cur
rently reported that there's more on
the way!'"
"Mr. Whitney over here Is our
mike" clerk" said the postmaster.
as we walked to the front of the
room. "And he is also one Of the
most courteous general delivery
clerks in the service"
"A mike cierk?"
"Yes-that means that he has
charge of the letters that come to
this city obviously intended for some
other postoff1ce. There are sixteen
Augustus alone in the United States,
and the similarity in abbreviation Of
the State between Augusta, Miss
souri, (Mo.) and this city causes a
number of errors. Much mail In
tended for Augusta, Co.. also 10 re-
ce!ved here. Mr.. Whitney has all
these directories OF different cities
before him, and he Is generally able
to send the letter to the proper yer
son without recourse to the dead
letter Office"
The reporter expressed his sur
prise at the number of Augustus in
the nation, and glance at the postal
guide disclosed that there was an
Augusta in Arkansas, Missouri,
Colorado, Georgia. Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas. Kentucky, Michigan, Mon
tana, New Jersey. Ohio, Texas. West
Virginia and Wisconsin as well as in
Maine.
"Under our system here, one can
buy stamp and register a letter at
any hour, day or night--24 hours a
day except Sunday. The office is
open for business from 1901 A. NJ,
Monday to IL p. NJ. Saturday. Wren
the regular stamp window is closed,
stamps are sold at the general de-
livery window. Money orders can
be obtained up to 10 p. NJ. daily
Each of our stamp clerks has his
own drawer from which he sells to
the public He is held responsible
for the $4,000 worth of stamps in his
possession for the business of the
day. and buys to rcplenish his stock
from Mr.. Ryan as l explained be-
fore"
"The parcel post, packages arc
divided and subdivided just as the
first class matter is" said MIR.
Plaistcd indicating the latticed COM
partments containing packages ready
for delivery. THE circulars are sort
ed separately in the same sort of
duplicate cases 1 showed you before.
Our special delivery letters come in,
are rectiptcd for and are again
signed by the special delivery clerk
before he takes them from the Of
fee" Ten cents in ordinary stamps,
in addition to the postage, makes a
letter special if the words Special
Delivery" are written on the enve-
lope.
Come over here, and we'll have
Mr.. Hill tell you about the Dispatch
ing of mail" Fred B. Hill, assistant
superintendent of mails, stood before
rack somewhat similar to that used
in sorting mail for delivery.
This is our dispatching rack" he
said, after greeting the Journal man.
You will notice that we have a great
many of the big centers assigned
pigeon holes here, and in the case
of Boston, we have a number of sub
divisions"
Here at this rack we sort the
mail preparatory to it's being pouched
for the railway mail clerks. We
divide it as finely as we can. Five
or more letters destined for a single
rnjof
are tie dtogether in a bundle so that
when they are received on the train
it makes it much easier for the clerk
who has to again sort the matter We
make up directs for nearly all the
big points. In order to expedite
special delivery letters leaving this
office, they are tied on the top of
each of these bundles. While, of
course they don't reach their desti-
nation any sooner, it means that they
get prompt attention upon their ar
rival"
when we do not have enough let
tiers for single point to make UP
a direct they are pouched as runs
according to the section of the coun-
try they are going to, and are then
made up into directs on the trains,
where possible, by the railway mail
clerks. Ten or more letters consti-
tuee a State packet"
I'VE had quite bit Of trot1ble at
one time with our letters destined
for Hal1owell and Gardiner being
carried by these stations because Of
the very short space Of time allowed
the railway clerks to act before the
train reached the two cities. Now we
make directs Of all Hallowell and
Gardiner matter and tie them inside
the mouth Of the pouch with the
string hanging outside, 50 that the
clerks have simply to open the
pouch. pull the string, and fish out
the letters for our down river
neighbors."
"The people whom we serve could
help us lot, and could insure ex-
pediting their mail If they would al
low us as much time as possible to
sort the mail in this Office instead
Of having to pouch large quantity
without having sufficient time to
subdivide it here. Augusta merchants,
by making several mailings in the
course Of an afternoon would help
greatly. Too often, the heaviest
mail of the day is DUMPED in all at
once, between FIVE and six o'clock
in the afternoon, and we do not have
the time we should to sort It."
Mail early and often" should be
the motto of all our business men,"
said Postmaster Plaisted.
IF It were not for the directs
made up in bundles in this ONCE you