Imperial Valley press., 1925-06-02
BETTER MAILING WEEK

While it is generally accepted that this is not the
age of miracles, nevertheless there thousands of
patrons of the United States mails who take it for
granted that Uncle Sam has many wonder-Workers on
his pay roll.
The very fact that there are wizards in the en-
ploy of the post office department-men and women
who uncanny, to say the least, in decipherng il
legibe hand writng-has caused no end of trouble and
expense to the government as we'll as the tax payer
along with inconvenience in the receipt and delivery
of mail matter.
YET with all this expert handling and careful
study of hand writing the part of the postal clerks
the annual from dead mail matter received by
the government amounts to approximately $300,000
Last year, the dead letter office received S120000
from the sale of orphaned packages which could neith
be forwarded to the addresses returned to the
senders because of Inadequate addresses. The same
office turned into the United States treasury S55523.96
in cash removed from misdirected letters Or found
loose in the mails.
Postage stamps were taken from letters or found
loose in the mails having value of S12, 1857 almost
double the entire of the postal service in 1889
Three-cent fees collected for the return to send
ers of letters which could not be delivered totaled
$92oo754
But this is not half the story. Checks, drafts
and money ORDERS whose could not be located
and amounting to S3546, ,54254 finally found resting
place in the dead letter office.
For want of correct or complete addresses 21-
letters deposited the dead letter office
not to speak of 100000 parcels which had been i'm
properly addressed wrapped
Strange to say, this depositing of letters and
packages in the mails with incomplete inadequate adj
dresses and wrapping comes, in large majority of
cases, from those patrons who the most liberal
contributors to this branch of the United States gov
ernment.
1t has been established by postal officials that 200
100000 pieces of mail given directory service
every year, which that employees must take time
from the regular handling and dispatching of mail in
the endeavor to provide correct addresses for this
huge volume of misdirected matter. In New York
City alone the cost of this service approximates $500
every day in the and the total amount through the
country is stupendous.
While the revenue from the dead letter office is
sufficient to keep that branch Of the postal service
functionng is not nearly enough to pay the annual
toll for support of the mike
mike is letter parcel so improperly ad-
dressed that neither be delivered the addressee
returned to the sender without special treatment
This special treatment cost the post office department
the tax payer in the final analysis, approximately
$1,740,000 every year
In order to lift this tremendous burden from the
shoulders of the post office department and the
pockebook of the American people, the first week in
June has been set aside by Postmaster General New
as Better Mailing Week. An active, nationwide
campaign will be conducted during that period for the
purpose of impressng the mailer the necessity from
every viewpoint of using in the addressing
of his mail not only letters but parcels as we'll.