Evening star., 1936-06-17
500 CHECKS SENT
IN FIRST BATCH
FROM POST OFFICE
Several Thousand More
Expected to Be Finally
'CaShed' by Tomorrow.
STORES MAY FEEL
CASH FLOW TODAY
Peak Load Passed in Delivery.
Certifying Units Continue
Hard at Work.

The first checks in payment for
surrendered bonus bonds were de-
livered through the mails to veterans
here today
There were about 500 checks. aver
aging about $500 each, written in
the City Post Office and signed bv
Postmaster Vincent C. Burke. This
post office has been designated a
paying office" for bonds.
The checks represent the next to
the last transaction in the somewhat
complicated process of cashing in on
the new veterans bonus. When the
checks arrived in the mail today,
the veterans had only to use the
checks for whatever purpose they
wished.
Postmaster Burke said that only
the first group of 500 checks would be
dropped in the mails today. His
force handling surrendered bonds and
writing checks, however, was working
last night and today at top speed,
BY tomorrow morning several thou
sand Of these final checks probably
Will be ready for distribution.
Last Check for Face Value.
These final checks are in addi-
ton to the original small check which
the veteran found in his bonus en-
velope. The first small check was
for less than $50. This last check
Is for the face value Of bonds sur
rendered. When veterans cash in
their bonds now they get no interest.
Under law, interest begins to run
June Is, 1886, but bonds cashed be.
fore June IS. 1887, will be cashed
at par, without interest.
Thousands of bonds were certified
yesterday and last night at the many
places where certif1cation units we're
operated by representatives of the
City Post Office. These will pour into
the City Post Office today, where the
unit handling surrendered bonds will
now take over the brunt of the cur.
rent work.
In this section large force Is
handling the various accounts,
Checks are all signed with the name
OF the postmaster, by a special
machine which writes several sigma.
lures with one operation of the pen.
Meantime delivery of bonds to vet.
erans continued only during the day.
time. There will be no more night
deliveries. Postmaster Burke said.
Decks Kept Clear.
Deliveries of bonds out of the post
has reached a point where the decks
are being cleared as fast as the bonds
arrive from the Treasury. About
10000 were delivered to the post
office yesterday. only about 500 Of
which were for veterans here in
Washington.
In the Division of Loans and Cur
rency of the Treasury of which Ma
vim Wesley is chief, the force still
is working day and night, but the
decks are being kept virtually clear.
From the time veterans account ar
rives in the division from the Vete-
rams Administration. until it is sent
over to the post Office, is only a mat
ter of about 48 hours now. The peak
of the load is past.
In the Veterans Administration it
was said applications still are COM
ing in, but the large force used to
handle the peak load still is working
at top speed.
Over 100000 Certified.
More than 100000 accounts have
hnon cartif1od b1, Tho JTotoro~s, l.,
ministration to the Treasury for pay
ment, it was learned today. Only
about 100000 still remain on hand
for calculation. These will all be dis
posed of and sent along to the Treas
ury within the next few days" it
was explained.
This all means that with the big
load of calculation, certification to
the Treasury and delivery to the
post office and out of the post office
the remaining applications will flow
through the Government machinery
without delay.
For the next two nights postal car
riers will be on duty at several
postal stations throughout the city to
AASAP oils SCI lily IIlCu 1OI
payment. The hours are from to
10 pm. Beginning Friday morning
after the big rush is over, the postal
stations will be open for certification
Of bonds during the day In order to
prevent interruption to regular postal
business, however, no bonds will be
certified either today or tomorrow dur
ing regular business hours, except at
the main post office
With the release of the large checks
in return for surrendered bonds to-
day, Washington was expecting the
first substantial effects of the bonus
business boom. Many veterans had
planned to pay debts and buy mer-
chandise. This was expected to be
reflected in retail trade.
Certification of bonds continued
throughout government departments
and business houses today, where units
of city postal employees assisted vete-
rams Banks alSn vern certifvioO