The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1872-01-26


Postal Service-AS Short Ride with
the Distributors.-Retuu from the
Eastern part of the Safe, on Saturday last, we
accepted an invitation for ride in one Of
Uncle Sans travelling pOst-oiices, and wit
ness little of the workings of the postal SER
vice. The patents catchers used are certain
traps for unsuspecting mails, but not being
very particular about formal introduction,
We concluded not to be gobbled up in such a
preemptory manner. We were ushered into
the presence of pouches, sacks, bags and boxes,
piled upon the floor. giving one the impression
at first sight that he had stumbled into the
midst of colony moving y st. Approach
ing station the catcher takes the mal bag
that is to be thrown out, and places it on the
floor where he can push it out with his foot.
We are running at the rate of forty miles an
hour past station, he grasps the handle of a
patent fork, turn and another mail bag is
taken from the hook, the process being much
the same as fishing, except that in this case
| they never fail to haul in whatever swallows
| the hook. The bag is at once opened in one
end of the car, the letters assorted out, and
taken to the other end where three men are
busy distributing. The boxes in the front end
of the car are for papers, and one man works
steadily throwing these forward into boxes
and bags where they belong by virtue of the
location to which they are addressed. The
letters and papers of certain cities, lines of rail-
road, &c, are classified and sent forward
from this car direct TO their destination, by
such route as will deliver them the earliest.
We did not learn the lesson sufficiently well
to give in detail the whole matter, but the
plan which governs this system of service is
simple and effectuaI. 1t does away with dis
tributing Offices about the country, which
oftimes caused package to travel many miles
out of direct route, causing delays in general
distribution beside other delays which were
unavoidable. The letter now travels as fast
as the writer can travel, and as direct.
! This system of postal service has been ocea-
sionally criticised, and the clerks censured Tor
carlessness or neglect. Whoever watches the
operations in postal car, with fair knowl-
edge of the plan, will wonder how SO few mis-
takes are made,w when so much is accomplished.
The way mails have to be assorted and made
up between stations, and in many cases the
time for doing this does not exceed four min
utes. Here are letters addressed to all parts
of the world, to be sure we have only about
thirty thousand post Offices IN this country, but
for q man to have the state, county and vari-
Gus railroads to them in his mind, requires
study and memory. Railroad connections are
continually changing, and he must keep ad-
yised OF this and have the new time table fresh
in his mind. Here is a letter addressed to a
post-otice that may be reached by two routes
one route is much shorter than the other, but
on account Of connections, the letter viii trav.
Ell the quickest by the longest route. But this
lis q fact which the clerk must know. People
usually address letters by naming only the
town and state, apparently presuming that the
postmaster ought to know just where Fucker
town, Texas, Is located, on what railroad OF
river, stage line, or other thoroughfare ira
vsrsed by the U. S. Mail. In such cases the
distributor unless he is familiar with geogra-
phy to an unheard of extent, must stop and
ferret out the location of the crossroads to
which the letter is addressed. Miss Katie Nc
Gee, % Main Street, America, As definite
enough when one is not in haste, but if time
is precious, and one has but q few years to
live, there is but little hope of finding Just
where said Katie lives. 1t would be better
for all, if there was law compelling the name
of post-ofice, county and state to be placed
upon ali articles sent by mail. Mistakes will
sometimes occur, in the present manner OF
distribution. They are inevitable in all sys-
tens and operations. 1t is impossible to re-
duce human agency to perfection. The
government employs capable men in the dis
charge of the duties of postal clerkship, and
the clerks employed are for the most part
careful and diligent, il not, then designations
are accepted without formal proceedings The
number of letters handled by three men, be-
tween Buffalo and Toledo, is often as great as
fifty thousand, and it would not be surprising
if one or two strayed into the wrong box and
went on a round about jurney. The compari-
sons between this system and the old one are
so much in favor of the new, that the virtue Of
censure is destroyed. We think if people will
be as careful to start their package properly
addressed in legible manner, as the distribu-
tors are to keep them on the right track, there
| will be but little trouble in needless DELAYS