CATCHING THE MAIL

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21972, 22 December 1936, Page 5

CATCHING THE MAIL

Growth of Christmas Posting STAFF INCREASED TO HANDLE RUSH More money here and there, and more optimism almost everywhere, mean more Christmas gifts. Many Christmas gifts and letters must be posted, and the result is an increasingly heavy burden on the staffs of the Post and Telegraph Department. Thousands of letters and packets come in each day to be sorted and delivered, and as many thousands are sent away. The mailroom at the central post office, and the postmen's branch, become infernos of activity —assistants tossing the mail at a furious pace into the dangling bags. This year, by one of those freaks to which the public is given, posting of Christmas mail has begun in earnest several days earlier than last year. This is appreciated by the toijing post office workers, who are also helped by the occurrence of Christmas Day at the end of the week, without a week-end to shorten the time in which the rush has to be dealt with.

So far the number of bags sent out from the postmen's branch is greater by 170 than the total sent out for the corresponding period last year, according to an official's estimate. The total of more than 200 bags on Saturday showed an increase of approximately 130 over last year. The size of the increase, and the effect of early posting, may be judged by cc-nparison with the normal daily total of approximately 30 bags. Extra Employees The mailroom, where letters and mail are received and sorted, is working, in the phrase of the superintendent, "right round the clock." It is literally not closed during the 24 hours. A total staff of 95 men is working, including 20 extra employees taken on for the Christmas rush; most of the men are working from 7 a.m. till 10 p.m., with short reliefs for meals.

This spate of work is not by any means peculiar to the mailroom, where the efforts are only typical of those demanded in every department of the post office. Heavy mails are arriving to-day by the Awatea from Australia, and to-morrow by the Niagara from England; and apart from these there is the considerable increase in local'mails.

As the permanent staffs of the post office have been increased during tjie year to handle the increast of normal business, the figures available for additional Christmas staffs indicate only the greater part of the additional Christmas mail. In al] branches approximately 200 additional men have been engaged this year; the corresponding figure for last year is not readily available, but it is stated authoritatively that the needivfor extra assistance in eVery branch has grown considerably. Hard Work for All

The largest number of extra men has been taken on for the telegraph operating branch, where the work has been swelled by the extensive patronage given to the special Christmas greeting telegrams. In this branch the extra men will be increased to 112 by Thursday. There are 30 extra men in the postmen's branch, 20 in the mailroom, and 44 lads and 10 clerks in the telegraph delivery section. To assist the postmen in their work a great deal of "second-class" matter is sent out in vans carrying the "overflow" bags; it is expected that as many as 12 of these vans will be used this Christmas. In the post office it is just a matter of taste which branch is preferable by a worker at Christmas. There are various kinds of worktapping telegraph keys, sorting letters, and pushing loaded bicycles round the suburbs—but in hard work they are all equal. The perspiring postman, being closer to the public, usually gets the sympathy which is his due; but a share of credit should -be reserved for the men behind him.