Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13
lgton Factory Makes Federal Mail Bags by the Million

which can be repaired are serviced as
often as necessary to keep them in
satisfactory condition. They are sewed,
patched, repaired, fitted with new grom-
NETS and lacing cords.
The average life of one Of these Fed
eral mail bags ranges from six to nine
years. Both the new and repaired bags
are circulated from 10 repositories At
Washington. New York City, Boston,
st. Paul, Chicago. Atlanta, San Fran
cisco, st. Louis, Cincinnati and Kansas
City. The old bags and postal equip
ment requiring repair are also assem-
bled at these centers and subsequently
are forwarded to u National Capital.
The mail facing table now used in
major post offices throughout the
United States was designed at the Post
Office Department shops" 1t Is Q
round table to accommodate eight mai
sorters. These attendants face the
mail by hand and deliver the short and
long letters, respectively, to special slots
which convey them by means OF a re-
vol~ing platform to the stacking devices.
The experts of the Mail Equipment
Shopa are now conducting experiments,
seeking to perfect a way of combining
the mail canceling machinery with the
facing table. Such an amalgamation
will aid markedly in reducing the hand
WOIh al ulOQcIh IIdJOI DOot Ol11CCSs
The IL. A." lock, which Is now so
popular with postmen from Canada
to Mexico, is another piece Of equipment
designed by these expert Federal lock-
smiths. 1t replaces a former postal
lock known as the double star" which
was twice al large and more costly.
Uncle Sam now manufactures the Il.
A." locks at a total cost of approx
mately 10 cents apiece.
The IL. A" locks have been in ser
vice now for IS years and their repair
requirements up to the present time has
| amounted to less thar l per cent.
The grommets of zinc which line the
cord holes in the top of each mail
bag were also originated in this Gov
eminent factory. The mail bags are
hung In postal racks and aboard trans
continental trains by these reinforced
holes. Twenty million gremmets are
used every IL months at the mall bag
factory in the repair and manufacture
Of canvas containers for u domestic
and foreign mail. Two special presses
have been devised which make these
important grommets at the rate OF no.
900 daily.
WITH the advent Of parcel post and
the mailing Of millions Of pack
ages daily of unusual proportions and
shapes, Uncle Sam discovered that the
steel stamps which had been used for
generations in stamping official mall
were unsuitable. This led to the de-
velopment of a flexible rubber stamp
made of printers roller composition
rubber. 1t was originated in the WASH
ington factory and is now made ex-
clusively by that mandatory.
Until recently the Mail Equipment
Shops were operated both night and
day in order to keep up with the Fed
eral demand for the products. OF
course the employees on the night shit
preferred to work during the daytime,
and that is why Fourth Assistant POST
master General H. H. Billany has
eliminated the night work by merging
its activities with the day shift.
The historical blue stripe in Uncle
Sans white mail bag has passed per-
manently from the picture. In the
interests of economy, Uncle Sam dis
covered that by eliminating the IL blue
stripes he could save l cent a YARD OF
canvas. This means a saving OF S42,-
500 for the output Of the current fscal
year.
Supt. Cady Of the Mail Equipment
Shops will tell you If you ask him
that 1t is difficult to schedule the
operations of that Federal factory
for one year in advance. This obtains
because of the impossibility OF estfnaft
ing exactly how many mail bags and
pieces of postal equipment will be re-
turned to that Government agency for
repair during a given IL months. The
: operations of the mandatory hence
| have to be very elastic-to expand or
contract on short notice in coincidence
with the increase or decrease In the
maintenance requirements OF postal
apparatus.