fo pama— EE ————— A, Beworraiit {fatwa Bellefonte, Pa., September 20, 1918. Ems DELIVERY OF SOLDIERS’ LET- TERS FACILITATED. Washington.—Captain Frank E. Frazier, U. S. A., assistant director of the American expeditionary forces’ postal service at Tours, France, has been sent to the United States on a mission relative to postal affairs, with authority to furnish information here- tofore, for military reasons, withheld from the postal officials. The mili- tary authorities found it necessary to obtain prompt delivery of soldiers’ mail, to provide the military postal officers in France with complete in- formation relative to the location of troops. The military postal officers at the central postoffice in France have now been afforded access to the card-index directory of the Adjutant General’s department, located in the same building, and on his arrival in this country Captain Frazier furnish- ed, under seal of secrecy, to the postal officers a directory giving the loca- tion of troops in France and a record of those on the way. Orders have been issued to send mail on every boat destined to dock at any port in France organized to re- ceive mail. This and the adoption of a scheme of designation for groups of unattached men sent from the United States to replacement camps in France, which is recommended by Captain Frazier, will, it is belieyed, go a long way toward expediting the delivery of letters to soldiers, MAIL OF 50,000 DELAYED. The mail of more than 50,000 of our soldiers in France is delayed and perhaps cannot be delivered at all. The reason for this is that letters for a greater number than 50,000, in the aggregate, are improperly or inade- quately addressed. Complaints covering these delays are sufficient to give the public the Impression that the soldiers’ mail service is bad. But besides the im- proper addressing of letters, which is woefully common, there are other rea- sons for delay in the delivery of sol- diers’ mail which cannot be avoided by the military postal service any more than it could be when this serv- ice was conducted by the Postoffice Department, These delays affect 2 relatively small proportion of the mail, but the number is sufficient to give rise to a general, if unjust, criticism of the postal service. _ Delays caused by military objec- tion to furnishing the civilian postal officials with information relative to the location of troops are now, in a measure, cured by this information being given the army officers direct- Ing the mail service. Letters could not be properly delivered without knowledge as to where they were to be sent. Military officials also are provided now with transportation fa- cilities which were not provided by the army for the civilian service. But at times there is still delay to the mail after it reaches port in France. Some of these are absolute- ly unavoidable if the safety and wel- fare of our troops are to be given first consideration. Others can be avoid- ed, and steps to that end which were Impossible under military restrictions upon civil authorities have been or are being taken. THREE WEEKS TO REACH SOLDIER. Only in exceptional cases and in circumstances which will be explain- ed, does it take more than three weeks for a properly addressed letter to reach a soldier in France who is at- tached to an organized unit of the ar- my. Most of the mail reaches its des- tination in less time than that. The great mass of letters to and from the expeditionary forces go and come on schedule time, Yet exceptional circumstances may delay a soldier’s mail as much as two or three months, or he may not get it at all. In the extreme case where there are several soldiers of the same name it will be because his letters are Improperly addressed and he has fail- ed to correct the conditions by fur- nishing his proper address. There are no delays, or at most none greater than a few days, when the soldier is located with the organized forces and the letter is broperly addressed. In view of the duplication of names They come from various cantonments and are usually designated simply, Camp Pike August Automatic Re- placement Draft,” or some similar designation, and part of that partic- War det} may be sent to one replace- nt cam in ran Bo p ance and part to Mail now forwarded to these sol- diers who have been scattered among organizations at the front—“floaters’ mail”—goes to the central postoffice at Tours and its distribution there is still further hampered by being mixed up with the accumulation of misdi- rected mail. It is estimated that 300,000 letters a month were delayed from this cause. DIFFICULTIES BEING OVERCOME. This delay in delivery will not oc- cur under arrangements which have just been made to have each replace- ment unit of 250 men or less as it leaves camp in the United States giv- en a distinctive company number which it will retain until it reaches a replacement camp in France. Every member of such a unit will then be ene of 250 men instead of one of 1,- 500,000. The John Jones of the small unit will be easily located. At each replacement camp in France a directory section of the ar- my postoffice has been established, and mail for a replacement- soldier will hereafter follow him to the unit to which he is sent from that camp, the clerks in the directory section of the postoffice using the card records of the statistical division of the camp commander. It still rests with th» soldier to immediately notify his cor- respondents as to his correct address, and with the various cantonments in the United States to see that mail ad- dressed to him at the cantonment is properly indorsed for forwarding to France. It is equally important for the soldier to notify his correspond- ents immediately upon his assign- ment to a definite unit in France. Delays in the delivery of mail, when cannot be avoided, are liable to occur at any time during a period of great activity and secret movement of troops. Where the success of a troop movement on the front depends upon secrecy mail cannot be sent to mem- bers of a mobile force until they are established at the selected destina- tion. Whatever delay is involved in this, whether twenty-four hours or several days, must be accepted as a military necessity. The same is true when shipments of supplies, muni- tions, fresh meat, etc., are such as to make an extraordinary demand upon transportation facilities from: the French ports. Such delays, however, are but for a few days at most. When a divisional postoffice is moved in con- nection with a big troop movement great secrecy has to be exercised. No word, even to the army postal author- ities, is permitted concerning the se- cret troop movement until the troops have been located permanently enough to permit the sending of mail. Under these conditions a week’s de- lay in the delivery of mail is possible. Every care is taken in expediting the mail for wounded men in hos- pitals. The only delay in the deliv- ery of such mail is that which is ab- solutely unavoidable. A wounded man may be sent from one hospital to another and even to several before reaching a permanent base hospital, and if detained a day or two at each of the hospitals through which he passes in transit his mail will pe de- layed until he is at a hospital long enough for it to reach him. If he should be but slightly wounded, not being at the hospital long enough to get his mail, and then should be as- signed to a new organization, there would be some further delay, but in none of these cases is the delay great. The hospital authorities are re- quired to notify the central postoffice as well as his company commander immediately on the arrival of the sol- dier there for treatment, and mail is sent to him at once. There is no de- lay whatever in mail sent home by or for the wounded man. It is only that addressed to him that may be slight- ly delayed prior to his permanent lo- cation. Only two causes of delay have oec- curred at the port of embarkation in this country. One is the posting of the letter just too late to make the transport, when a week might pass before another sailing. The remedy for this does not lie with the postal service. The other is the limitations placed upon ocean transportation fa- cilities and lack of information as to the destination of the ships. Unless the military port officer at the Ameri- can port of embarkation knows that an outgoing steamship is to land ata French port organized to handle the mail, it cannot be sent by this steam- ship, as she might be bound for a port where there is no American postoffice and no postal employees to handle the mail. This difficulty has just been cured by a War Department order which directs that this informatisn be furnished the military port officer. PUZZLING POINT EXPLAINED One of the most puzzling things to the public has been the frequent oc- currence, both as to mail delivered in France and mail received in. this country, of a letter of a later date being received before one mailed per- haps a week or more earlier. One ex- planation of this is that the postmas- ter of the port of embarkation has been assigned by the War Depart- ment a definite limited space for mail, and when the amount of mail has ex- ceeded this the excess has had to be held over until the next steamship. If there were, say, 2000 bags ready for shipment and the postmaster was notified that only 800 bags could be handled, the surplus, 1200 bags, would have to lie over, being included in the mail accumulating for the next setamship. Such an excess of mail might oc- cur several times and some of the bags missing the first mail might also be among those left over from the second. This situation will be reme- died by an order from the War De- partment that upon proper notice in advance from the postal officer at the port of embarkation as to the number of sacks to be handled the entire vol- ume shall be cleaned up at each sail- ing. i The possible delay that would be unavoidable, though unusual, in the transportation of a letter from New York to a divisional postoffice at the front in France might be twenty-one days—one day in distributing in New York, seven days on account of just missing a boat, three days on account of shortage of freight cars for car- load transportation from the port of debarkation in France, seven days on account of secret troop movements and, in case of severe fighting, a hold- up of trains carrying mail of perhaps three days. This exceptional delay would increase the normal time of from two to three weeks for the de- livery of mail to from five to six weeks. Normally it takes from two to three days to deliver a letter at the front after its arrival at a French port. Delay that has occurred in the de- livery in the United States of soldiers’ letters mailed in France is sometimes due in a slight extent to the censor- ship. Usually the delay from this cause is not great, but there have been cases, under exceptional circum- stances, where it has been as much as three weeks. 1,000,000 WETTERS A DAY. A complete postal system corres- ponding to that in the United States is now in operation in France, with a central postoffice located at Tours. is service in France, except the distribution and dispatch of mails to the United States, is entirely under military control, the director and as- sistant directors being commissioned army officers and the entire force be- Ing a part of the military service. It is estimated that a million letters per day arrive in France for members of the American expeditionary forces. There is also a large volume of mail for soldiers—about a third as much as that from home—mailed locally in France, The War Department has now un- der advisement a proposition to stop ! First Aid Lessons FOR BOYS and GIRLS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA VAAANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, By Ruth Plumbly Ledger. HICCOUGH—I wonder if you know that the great muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen is cailed the diaphragm. You can feel it press down when you breathe deeply. Well, hiccoughing (which usually | Thompson, in Public comes from overeating or indigestion) is caused by a contraction (and that means “a drawing together”) of this big muscle. Holding the breath as long as possible will often cure it be- cause it forces the diaphragm down and holds it there. Drinking a large glass of water in small sips without taking a breath will do the same thing, or scaring a person will stop the hiccough by forcing him to take a long breath. If none of these methods cure the hiccoughing, get rid of the irritating material in the stomach by drinking lukewarm salt water. If, in spite of everything you can do it 1s still as bad as ever, vou had better see a doctor, for while it is usually harmless, people have been known to die from the effects of a long spell of hiccoughs. all incompletely addressed mail at New York, returning it to the send- er A letter for an American soldier in Europe should be so addressed as to show his rank, his full name, includ- ing his middle name, his company or battery and his regiment, as well as the branch of service. : The First Aerial Bombs. It may be remembered that Garros. came to the United States in 1911 and amazed vast audiences by his au- dacious flights. From here he went to Mexico to entertain the populace there. It occurred to him on arriving that, since fighting seemed to be the favorite pastime of his Latin broth- ers he would be making a lasting “hit” with them if he could only ar- range for an aerial sham battle. To his good luck, he found the general | in command of the army, then in Mexico city, a willing listener. Ac- | cordingly, one day he was seen fly- | ing over the Mexican batteries arm- | ed with baskets of juicy oranges that the quartermaster had given him. Suddenly the batteries opened fire and sent shot after shot at him. The immense crowd became wildly enthu- siastic, although they knew, of course that only blank cartridges were being used. Garros then started to let go the oranges upon the artillerymen. To his surprise almost immediately they began to scatter in every direc- tion. The quartermaster had not re- alized that a juicy orange dropped from so great a height would rival a small bomb. The first aerial fight un- questionably was won by bombs of ripened oranges.—Popular Science Monthly. ——Subscribe for the “Watchman.” A postal employee, on his hon- orable discharge from the military service, no matter how long it has been, will be permitted to resume the position in the postal department which he resigned to enter the mili- tary service without a new civil serv- ice examination or other formality of any kind. This amendment to the Jon laws was adopted July 28, 1916. Keeping Warm With Less Coal a Rayo Lamps For perfect results, al- ways use Rayo Lamps. The ideal light for all purpeses. Made of best materials. Designs for every room. Ask your dealer. you use That is what everybody wants to do this winter. And it is exactly what you can do if you have a Perfection " Oil Heater. With this additional heat you will be comfortable all winter and burn from one to three tons of coal less than before. Perfections are safe and they burn an eco- nomical fuel —kerosene. However, be sure ATLANTIC Rayolight instead of some unknown, unbranded kerosene. Use it in your Perfection, your lamps and lan- terns. Ask for it by name and be sure to get the genuine. Highly refined and purified, it burns without smoke, smell or charring the wicks. Get your Perfection Oil Heater now. There is going to be a big demand for them this year. They are reasonably priced—$5.65 to $10.00. THE ATLANTIC REFINING CO. Everywhere in Pennsylvania and Delaware Your best friend on dark, stormy nights. Never blow out or jar . out. Construction in- sures perfect oil com- bustion. Ask your dealer. WILL DO ALL YOUR HAULING 3-4 Ton for Light Hauling Big Truck for Heavy Loads “Greatest Distance for Least Cost” PNAS GEORGE A. BEEZER, BELLEFONTE, PA. 61-30 DISTRIBUTOR. MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Fall Clothing ) FOR ( x Men & Young Men arriving daily. You will find an excellent assortment ready now. rum The New Fall Stetson Hats Emery Shirts are here and ready for your in- spection. LET US SHOW YOU. RRR FAUBLE’S, Allegheny St. ss. BELLEFONTE, Pa. LURE RCC Come to the “Watchman” office for High Class Job work. FINE GROCERIES LL GOODS in our line are thirty to sixty days late this sea- A son. Prices are somewhat, but not strongly above the lev- el at this time last season. It is not safe to predict, but it does seem that prices are just now “passing over the top” and may be somewhat more reasonable in the near future. We Have Received New Evaporated Apricots at 25¢ and 30c a Ib. Fancy Peaches 20c and 22c lb. Very Fancy Evaporated Corn at 35c a Ib. or 3 cans for $1.00. Fancy Sel:cted Sweet Potatoes 5¢ a Ib.—some grades at 3c to 4c a Ib. Very Fancy Cranberries at 18c per quart or pound. Almerin White Grapes, Celery, New Paper-shell Almonds, California Walnuts, Finest Quality Cheese. INCLUDE OYSTERS IN YOUR ORDERS oe au deliver fresh opened, solid measure at cost with other goods. WE MAKE OUR OWN MINCE MEAT. No item is cut our or cut short on account of cost—it is just THE BEST WE CAN MAKE and is highly recommended by all those who have tried it. If you have used it you already know—or try it just now. SECHLER & COMPANY, Bush House Block, - 57-1 - - - Bellefonte, Pa. — Protect Yourself Against Illness! You may be enjoying the best of health today. There may come a siege of illness. ARE YOU PREPARED FOR IT? «Doctor’s bills and enforced idleness are expensive. bank account you are prepared to combat illness, Can you conceive of anything more tragic than a long period of illness without any funds? Ne mw nm Ae. amu, When you have a Therefore, if You Haven't a Bank Account, Start One Today THE CENTRE COUNTY BANK, 60-4 BELLEFONTE ee “- Sar
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