Evening star., 1934-05-08

ROOSEVELT'S MAIL
MILL AIDS MANY
Life of 10.Year.0Id Girl Is
Saved and ParaIytic Gets
Lifetime lob.
BY the Associated Press.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, first Presi-
dent to tackle as a psychological
problem" all that the mail man brings,
is getting some amazing results.
He saved a life by getting an
anaemic, rural 10-year-old girl in
touch with an insulin supply. He
found a lost trunk for a World War
veteran who went from Chicago to
California.
He got a lifetime printing job for
a young paralytic.
The examples are but by-products
to the mightiest mail mill ever set
up in the Capital. 1t turns out each
week a detailed analysis of the VOL
unteered thought of the people, par
ticularly about unemployment and
relief
Over the mail mill Jasper j.
Mayer presides in a room that always
sounds alive with clicking typewriters.
Each worker Is instructed to handle
each letter as though 1t were the
one important matter in the world
Keeps Map of Situation.
Upon a map of the United States
Mayer has projected an analysis, pro-
portioned as to population, of all the
advice the citiZenry has given the
President on the economic situation
and the civil works program from
January 10 to March 81, inclusive.
A dark blue line in each State tells
114 ut ha HiNvli
works jobs went to loafers. and to
the rich" who didn't need them.
Only the State of Nevada is minus
such a line.
BY glancing at this map, the Presi-
dent can see. among many other
things. the relative written demand
for subsistence homeSteadS, the COM
parative number of graft charges.
What was learned from the mail is
going to help a lot on a Summer
move for educational camps and resi-
dences for unattached women. But
so far the President hasn't solved the
problem of one of their number who
pleaded: please, Mr.. President, send
me man.
4 iNsNS Va 4Anh"
A few summarizing figures were
given by Mayer. About a half mil
lion pieces of mail have been handled
since December Is. The largest num-
Der of people working on it at one
time was 80. The present staff is g.
The top day on kilograms was 1000
the day the civil works program was
discontinued The maximum on post
cards was 1892 in one day, all con-
cerning the Chicago school teachers
Public utterances, like the Writ con-
troversy. move the mail in tides like
waves breaking on the SeaShore
President Roosevelt himself reads as
many as so or so relief case letters
day.
The finest piece of personal
thoughtfulness any President has ever
done" Mayer said Of Roosevelt's ham
ding Of the mail problem.
Thirty or 40 letters a day, which
might be termed "neediest cases" mail,
come to Mayer from the White House,
with notations from the Presidents
secretaries, Mrs. Roosevelt, or her
daughter, Anna Dali.
Starts Aid Machinery.
It's Mayors job to start the relief
investigation and aid machinery in
motion. and he says it's amazing the
number of times something really
constructive is done about these cases.
Thank you" letters come pouring in.
One man respectfully wrote in his
thank you: Il assure you, if it wasn't
compulsory for me to get some COM
pensation. would never have written
to our honorable President, Franklin
D. Roosevelt, nor to his secretary, the
honorable Marvin Mcintyre"
One woman reported receiving a
s2.93 grocery order and a $685. cloth
order, saying: Il told you all when
first wrote you that when l started
getting help would let you know"
Another reported local relief people
had been running things with
high hand" but changed their
minds" after she had written to
Washington.
One of the biggest laughs Mayer
has got out of his Office, which acts
as sort of clearing house for battling
letters in all departments, was
through a letter addressed to Secre-
tary Ickes.
1t read: Il get my oil from Perry.
He send me to oil administrator. He
refer me to vegetable fat section. Fat
section refer me to lubricating oil
section. Lubricating oil section refer
me to you Gosh almight! who do
you refer me to?"