Evening star., 1939-12-24
Christmas Sales,
Mails, Travel
Hit New High
Even Lush Days Of
192Os Fail to Match
Records of Stores

The 1899 Christmas buying, mall.
ing and travelling season reached
the greatest heights Washington has
ever known, a survey conducted last
night disclosed
Nationally, the Associated Press
reported that good business was gen.
eral. with the Department of Com
merce declaring the holiday buying
was the best since 1929
According to businessmen, even
the lushest days of the rich l920's
failed to match the sales records of
Washington stores since December /.
Railroads, planes, buses and pri-
vate automobiles took ITS 900 WASH
ingtonians out of the city for the
three-day holiday. The Washing
ton pos office handled more mail
last week than in any pre- Christ
mas week in his history, and Christ
mas is the post Offices busiest season.
Buying Wave General.
The buying wave was general
Shops on Connecticut avenue, F.
street and Seventh street alike
shared in the prosperous December.
The heavy purchasing was not only
gratifying but surprising to the store
managers. The merchants thought
that this season they might fall
behind their 1888 records because
the calendar provided one more
Sunday between December and
December 25, or one less shopping
day than 1898.
But by the middle of last week
the stores passed the 1888 records.
BY midafternoon yesterday the
shopping was practically completed,
although there was a last-minute
jam in the morning from pur-
chasers taking advantage of the
Government holiday.
Actual figures on 1895 Christmas
commerce in the stores are not yet
available Merchandisers saw ir
the buying a reflection not only OF
the prosperity of the city, but O.
its growth and of the expansion OF
its Government pay rolls. In 1929
the city had $1,000 Government
employees: in 1899, 10000.
Transportation at Peak.
Railroads, bus lines and air routes
found this Christmas as great a
commercial success as did the stores.
The Washington Post Office han
died a greater volume of Christmac
mail than at any time in its history.
Tomorrow there will be a package
mail delivery, but the postman with
flrst-class mail will not arrive until
Tuesday. There is no mail delivery
except special delivery-today.
The post Office peak was reached
on Tuesday Yesterday. Vincent
Burke, the postmaster, visited each
of the city's 36 branch post Offices
and congratulated the employees on
their good work
The combined estimates of pas
senger agents of the railroads serv-
ing Washington Pennsylvania.
Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake
and Ohio, Seaboard. Southern;
Richmond. Fredericksburg and Po-
tomac and Atlantic Coast Line-in-
! dlcale tnat the christmas travel In
to and out of Washington during
the last few days exceeded the 1888
traffic by 25 per cent One official
said that the exodus from the Union
Station Friday. the peak day. was
the largest on any single day since
the World War.
The officials were astonished, be-
cause they thought the mild weather
would reduce the rail traffic.
Every train on every line leaving
here between Wednesday and early
yesterday morning carried extra
cars. Almost every train ran in
extra sections. Trips westward, to
Pittsburgh, Chicago, st. Louis,
Cleveland and Detroit, were the
most popular. The Pennsylvania
(See PIISTNECC Dooo A21