Official mail comes to the Department addressed to the several Bureaus. It is then opened, assorted to the various divisions and redistributed to the clerks according to the subjects named or special duties assigned to each. The divisions are supervised by the official in charge, under whose direction the work is done and by whom the responsibility is assumed. He advises with and suggests methods of operation, and in important matters involving special correspondence, assumes direct charge himself. Letters written by clerks are submitted to the chief for examination before being initialed for mailing, or for the signature of the Bureau heads where such signature is required. Letters are answered according to date of receipt all reasonable promptness being enjoined. Filing is done according to the nature and duties of the various bureaus and the character of correspondence and papers in use. Approved systems are followed and metal filing cases generally employed. In the Bureau of the Fourth Assistant where monthly reports are received in connection with the regular mail, during the month of January, 1917, the amount so received aggregated 72,000 pieces, and 46,000 pieces of mail were dispatched. Ordinary hand work could not dispose of such amounts with the force assigned, therefore mechanical devices for opening and sealing mail are employed for the purpose. Messengers gather the outgoing mail by regular rounds and it is dispatched as soon as brought to the mailing room. A work of considerable magnitude in this Bureau is now being conducted, viz., the purging of the accumulated rural and star route files and correspondence which had so grown in bulk as to make both search and handling difficult. It was a much needed reform and will be found of especial value in filing operations. Cost Accounting By means of an accurate cost-keeping system devised for the equipment shops, but which can be adapted to any form of clerical expense, great improvements have been made and savings effected. All mail equipment is now supplied at a greatly reduced cost and in improved form. Supplies for post offices are judiciously and economically handled under the system now in operation, all discoverable waste checked and the service greatly benefited. The direct, the indirect and the overhead charges can now be clearly ascertained in any form of manufacturing enterprise and the cost in any direction definitely known. It was a long felt need in economical administration and its introduction in the Post Office Department has been of decided advantage. Cleansing Mail Bags