Evening star., 1938-12-11
Bv J. 4. For.

Thirty million pieces of letter
mail and thousands of packages Of
assorted sizes shortly will drop
down on the Washington Post Office
and Postmaster Vincent c. Burke
is echoing the hope of about 10000
other postmasters in the United
States for legible. correct addresses
and an abundant use of strong
twine and wrapping paper as the
Yuletide flood sweeps in.
Human nature being what 1t IS
the hopes will be realized only in
part, and the end of the rush will
see the usual accumulation headed
toward the graveyard of good in
tentions-the Dead Letter Office
but it will not be for want of effort
on the part of the army of postal
workers to avoid this.
"At that" says Mr.. Burke, as he
moves through the vast plant across
from Union Station with his aides
attending to the last-minute details
vital to the smooth functioning OF
the postal machine as it slips into
high gear, conditions are far bet
ter than years ago and annually
there is improvement. But always
room for more"
The thing that has been particu-
1arly helpful, adds the veteran post
master, who can look back on more
than three decades in service, is the
emphasis that has been laid on the
shop early, mail early" theme by
merchants, press, radio and the
Post Office Department itself. The
continued insistence on a smoother
approach to problem of tre-
mendous proportions has had and
is having its effect, and while the
notwithstanding rush is an in
evitable accompaniment of Christ
mas, experience has developed eff
cient methods of handling the load
with a minimum of lost motion.
There is nothing hit-or-miss
about the Post Office DEPARTMENT. s
preparations for Christmas and
almost before last years bills have
been disposed of, thought is given
to the manpower and equipment
that will be needed for the new
season.
Population trends, economic con-
ditions, and even the weather
always must be taken into consid-
Grafton. At the same time plenty
of allowance must be made for con-
tingencies. Mailing fads have a
habit of gripping the public and
there never is any telling when one
will hit. For years the cross
roads post office at Santa Claus,
Ind, has blossomed into metropoli-
tan proportions at Christmas time
as tons of mail pour in for re-
dispatch with the intriguing Santa
Claus postmark. And while Indi-
ana alone has Santa Claus, there
are seven States with a Bethlehem
to say nothing of Christmas, KY,
and Fla; Christmas Cove, Me-,
and Noel, Va; and at any given
moment any one of these is liable
to be seized upon as just the spot
for a priced postmark.
This year, for example, move
was started for a special cachet
from Bethlehem, Md, a hamlet of
$50 population in Caroline County,
and that sort of thing needs only q
start. 1t will furnish its own mo-
mentum.
So postal authorities are Just as
well satisfied that no State has q
Yule-yet.
One OF the principal items that
early enters into official calcula-
tons is the number of stamps that
will be required. Collection of this
information Is started in Septem-
Der and right now the Post once
Department is prepared to say that
3,770,000,000 stamps of all denomi-
nations will be used this Christmas,
which undoubtedly sets a new all
time record.
This figure is based on reouisi-
tions that have come in from post
masters, and they are not guessing.
When the postmasters received
their annual orders to get this in
formation, they turned to reliable
sources in their respective commu-
nltles-boards of trade, chambers OF
commerce and other commercial
g'o''Cs-who were asked to fix their
likely needs. Interestingly, the 1888
stamp total will run about a billion
more than for 1887.
Even before this check had been
taken. however, the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing was turning
out extra stocks that it was certain
would be needed for Christmas, for
In that establishment, too, the work
must be spread as much as possible
to avoid log-jam
The Scent stamp for first-class
letter mail will be the denomination
most used, and 1,248, 900 900 of these
are due to be sold. In order follows:
1-cent, 760,0OO,0O0; 2-cent, 6S5, ,00O,-
600, and IL cent, 677, 7,000,0 900. The
total for the denominations ranging
from cents to IS will approximate
100000, ,OO0
Then there is the problem of
equipment. AS early as possible the
Railway Mail Service gets line on
the anticipated volume of mail that
will be moved, and every railroad in
the country is advised just how
many cars will be required, so there
will be no congestion in terminals.
At the same time, arrangements are
made with other Government
agencies to supply extra vehicles
where necessary for local service
The additional man power that
must be recruited every year runs