Post Office

The term "post office" refers to one of two things. Its first definition is the federal department of Usland entrusted with the collection and delivery of mail; in this sense, the postal service. Its second definition is a local office where letters are dropped off, sorted, and received, and postal materials purchased.

Cape Suzette residents receive their mail from postal carriers (mailmen) who also collect mail to be sent. Some residents, however, travel to the city post office to send parcels and important letters. Staffed by postal clerks ready to assist, the post office center keeps pace with a day-to-day stream of customers, bearing envelopes and packages destined for places near and far.

POSTAL RATES

The post office department covers its operating expenses by selling postage. Postage is the charge paid to mail an item; the evidence of payment comes in the form of a postage stamp or label attached to the item. Adhesive stamps are printed for various amounts of postage, designated by class according to a postage classification chart (sample below). The class marked S.S.T.I.S.D.D. guarantees same-day delivery for letters of any size; first class mail takes one day, and lower classes may take a few days or weeks.

EIGHTEENTH CLASS POSTAGE

No postmaster under the age of 40 (except maybe one) can recall anyone sending a letter by 18th class postage. The reason is very simple — the last time that happened was before he was born!

Eighteenth class mail was not always lowest in the postal order, some believe. Forty years ago, rising costs of delivering mail faster and better than ever (through an innovative fleet of boats, trains, even horseback riders) took a toll on the postal service's revenues, until the postmaster general decided to broaden the postage class spectrum. The change dropped middle-rate services to the bottom rungs of the newly-ordered ladder and jacked up prices everywhere else. These classes were still available, but ignored in favor of speedier, more attractive services.

The head postmaster of the 18th class division.

Unwilling to lose good workers to the restructuring, many offices permitted these men to remain at their posts, which they have faithfully done for the past four decades. The 18th class division operates out of the post office basement; its procedure is to sort and stamp letters by hand, then pass them by conveyor belt to a mail boat, which transports them across the harbor to the air mail station for the final leg of the journey.

Allowing for the workers' advanced age and barring unforeseen interference, 18th-class delivery takes about 7 to 10 weeks. No telling what shape the letter will be in on arrival, but its rare, 2-cent stamp would be an instant collectible, worth $100,000!

Grindstone Griff, captain of the S.S. Rocket.		"Right Stuff" Ralph, air mail pilot.