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Show Numerals Added To City Addresses ! The new method of speeding up ! mail deliveries, through addition : of a branch post office number to the address on mail for delivery in large cities, is being placed in j operation rapidly. Reports from iimany cities indicate that it has been received enthusiastically by the press, postmasters, business concerns and the public. Within a few days after initiation initia-tion of the plan, under instructions instruc-tions of Postmaster General Flank C. Walker, nearly all the postmasters post-masters in the large cities affected affect-ed had assigned postal unit numbers num-bers to their branch offices, millions mil-lions of residents had 'been advised ad-vised of the number to be added to their addresses, and a considerable volume of mail already was carrying carry-ing the numbers assigned. By June 1, it was expected that practically all whose addresses are affected would have been notified of their postal unit numbers. The new system speeds up the separation of mail for distribution to branch offices and permits much more rapid handling of mail by inexperienced postal clerks, thousands of whom have been employed em-ployed to replace personnel who have gone into the armed forces and into war industries. Rapid increase in volume of mail and the loss of some 30,000 postal employes to the armed forces made it necessary to adopt the plan, in the interest of accurate, ac-curate, efficient mail service and for the relief of postal personnel who are carrying an extremely heavy burden of work. The average ave-rage work week in the service now is about 52 hours, and in many post offices, employes are working work-ing 10 and 12 hours a day, seven days a week, because of local shortages of personnel. An example of the new type of address is: John C. Smith 222 Mattapan Ave. Boston 8 Massachusetts The number after the name of the city indicates the branch post office (or "postal unit") through which delivery is made. Each resident of the large cities is asked ask-ed by his postmaster to add the postal number to his return address, ad-dress, and to notify all to whom he writes that his address is not complete without the number. Residents of small cities, towns and rural regions should inquire of their correspondents in the large cities concerning the number assigned to the city residents' branch post office so that the mail may be expedited. The degree de-gree to which mail will be speeded depends upon the extent to which the numbers are used1 by mailers. Under the new plan, mail that is sent to large cities, carrying the postal unit number, will be distributed more quickly than is possible now with much less strain on postal clerks. While mail which does not bear the number will be delivered about as rapidly as at present, it will not ; receive the benefit of the speedier distribution and may not avoid ! possible delays caused by inability of the depleted force of experienced experi-enced employes to handle all the mail. j |