If Smith happens to be an unimportant employe, there will be no question about the communication being personal; but if he is a department head, there may be reasons for doubt. Large business organizations are divided into departments, each in charge of a manager. The correspondence of each department is signed by the head, over his official title. A reply may be addressed in the name of the house, to _Smith, Sales Manager_, or to _Smith_, without the title. The letter addressed to _Smith, Sales Manager_, belongs to the house, but if his title is omitted, it belongs to Smith, and to open it without permission is a violation of the law. When the departmental correspondence is heavy, a considerable number of letters addressed to the manager, but without his title, may be received, and it is the custom in many houses to secure written permission from department heads to open all such letters. This protects the clerk in case a personal letter is opened by mistake, and insures prompt attention to correspondence received during the absence of the department manager. =Distributing Incoming Mail.= After the mail is opened, it should be carefully distributed. While it is not necessary to read every letter, the incoming-mail clerk should read as much of each letter as may be necessary to determine to what department it should go. Frequently, a letter addressed to one department refers to matters requiring the attention of another--a letter ordering goods may be addressed to the advertising manager, or a remittance to the sales department; or a letter may require the attention of more than one department. In a large organization it is a very good plan to designate the departments and executives by numbers, that is, the president might be _No. 1_, the general manager, _No. 2_, the sales manager, _No. 3_, etc. When a letter requires the attention of two or more departments, these numbers should be placed on the letter in the order of their importance. On a letter containing a remittance and asking for a quotation, the sales manager's number would follow that of the cashier. Such letters are sent to the department whose number appears first, and the numbers indicate to the correspondent that the letter is to be referred to another department. For distributing the mail, the clerk should be supplied with baskets labeled with the names or numbers of the departments. Mail can then be distributed quickly to the proper departments. If the number of baskets exceeds six, a rack should be provided for them at the side of the desk. In some offices, the incoming-mail clerk makes a record of all orders received, before sending them to the sales or order department; in most concerns, however, this is done in the statistical department, after the orders have been passed upon. If the business is strictly cash and not too large, the statistical work can be done by the mail clerk.