Good Deed No Good

A little before Christmas one Benjamin Minturn of Chicago heard that, because of lagging stamp sales, the post office at Florence, Kan., his home town, would be reduced to third class, and that his old schoolmate, Postmaster Shamus O'Brien, might have his salary cut. To Schoolmate O'Brien he sent $1,000 for stamps, to make Florence seem like more of a post office (TIME, Dec. 30). Last week this kind deed was nullified. Postmaster O'Brien was informed from Washington that the $1,000 order would not count in his year's business. Postmasters were warned that those who induce stamp purchases "for the purpose of increasing their pay or affecting the allowance of facilities at their office" were open to suspicion.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.