The Pittsburgh Press (December 2, 1942)
Mail delivery slowed by war
Pouches make way for plane passengers
By Fred W. Perkins, Press Washington correspondent
Washington –
Herodotus, about 550 BC:
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
This, the slogan of the Postal Service, has been made to apply to every obstacle that might discredit a companion motto, “The mails must go through.” It is not true today.
Herodotus had never heard of Hitler or Hirohito.
A high official of the Post Office Department today confirmed reports that sacks of airmail are frequently thrown off mail planes to make way for priority passengers.
This official said:
It has happened many times. And undoubtedly it will happen again so long as winning the war is the first consideration.
Mail frequently late
This helps to explain why regular patrons of the airmail service, such as banks and newspapers, are getting frequent reports that their mail is delivered later than it was expected – and in many cases, so late that its usefulness has been lost.
The mail thrown off a plane may wait in the air terminal for the next plane, subject to another possible delay. Or it may be put on a train.
Changing to train mail frequently means more trouble because when mail sacks are thrown off airplanes, this occurs at airports – usually miles from main post offices and central railroad stations.
The Post Office Department’s explanation to airmail patrons is short and conclusive – that the War Department’s control of domestic airplane service is practically complete. In the case of international air traffic, it is absolute.
Other troubles cited
Much of the trouble with airmail has been experienced with letters mailed out of or into Washington, which is a center of airplane travel, much of it holding war priority.
This is only one of the troubles now confronting the Post Office Department, which has pointed out that 25,000 of its experienced workers have been taken by the armed services, and that replacements are hard to get and inexperienced.
In past Christmas seasons, about 2,500 delivery trucks have been borrowed from the Army and about 10,000 from private owners. This year, the Army needs its own trucks and private owners want to save their tires.