Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1944-09-08

are taboo and will not be accepted
for mailing overseas.
A navy postal officer stationed
overseas wrote: During the Christ
mas rush we kept a considerable
force of men busy rewrapping par
GELS and salvaging everything fit for
forwarding. A very great service
could be rendered to us out here if
the widest possible publicity could
be given to these matters.
1.-THE people should be warned not
to send liquids of any kind. They
should use every possible precaution
in packing powder of any kind. Fruit
is not only dangerous to their own
mail, but it causes serious dam
age to the other fellows mail. Warn
them about candy melting, fruit,
cakes and cookies crumble and de-
cay.
"Above all the fact should be
stressed that mail sacks can be
baked in the hot sun and drenched
In transit, all in the same day."
The navy has found that insult
able gifts include: leather goods
(these mold in the tropics); choco-
lates (these melD; cigarettes Cob
tainable more cheaply in ships
stores); cameras Oorbidden); cleo
trical equipment (there may be no
electricity available); food, unless
timed; liquor; clothing, unless re-
quested.
Fragile articles and soft candies
and pastries are poor gifts for OBJ
vious reasons, the army reported.
GIFTS Poorly Wrapped.
The army cautioned that boxes of
miscellaneous gifts should be
packed carefully. Razor blades, for
example. require extra wrapping.
Numerous cases have been re-
corded Of improperly wrapped razor
blades working through packages.
In 1913, approximately Is per cent
of the Christmas mail handled by
the navy was delayed in transit be-
cause of incorrect or incomplete
addressing, the navy reported.
One navy postal officer wrote
from the Pacific theater:
1T needs no considerable stretch
Of your imagination to understand
how mail looks after it has been
shipped for thousands of miles by
water, then worked and shipped
again, reworked and reshipped I'M
til it arrives at Fleet Post office
for directory service. BY this time,
any of the parcel post that was at
all inclined to be perishable is thor
oughly decomposed, causing dam
age to mails adjacent.
"Only today we dumped up a sack
containing the contents of parcel
which had come entirely apart.
There were rotten apples, decayed
oranges, melted candy and stale
cake crumbs throughout the entire
sack. This happens all too fire.
quently.
"a great deal of it was originally
poorly wrapped. Many parcels have
sticker addresses. The sacks may
have become wet in transit, caus-
ing the labels to come off. Ere
quently these stickers have been
hurriedly slapped on, leaving tiny
air pockets beneath them. Friction
in transit causes these to wear off
in spots. All too often addresses are
in pencil, or, if in ink, the ink has
become wet and illegible."
Again this year soldiers overseas
will be able to select gifts for the
folks back home from the mail or
der catalogue operated by the army
exchange service, special services
division. Listed gifts include: mems
toiletries, haberdashery, leather
goods, luggage, games, including
playing cards, books, magazine SUBJ
scriptions, dolls, toys, doll dishes,
stuffed animals, smokers supplies,
candy, perfumes, cosmetics and
lingerie.
on "