Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-15
THE PEOPLES SERVANT.
The RAILWAY @All SERVICE.
A Few Facts Relative 10 rs Early His
tory. Gro~lh and Present Magni-
tude- Something OF the EN-
ployes and Their Duties.
81 A o RosA


lAolsl&l~uAt ttNaL AN--tta& A@t-tAaAl
one Of the most prolific sources Of annoy
anee 70 postal clerks is the sipshod manner
IN which many newspaper publishers put ap
their mail. From the WAY they dump II into
their respective post Offices. one would think
that some OF them are wholly indifferent as
To what becomes of Il. The publisher who
is anxious that every subscriber should not
only gel his paper bat receive II promptly,
will do has part toward accomplishing thai
result by securely wrapping and ieglbly ad-
dressing his mail. Some publishers don't
DO this. They use worthless paste, and a. a
result. many Of their wrappers come open
and labels peel Off labels are used-in
handling. They enclose large packages with
a single sheet OF common newspaper, and
the first time they are thrown into box or
pOoeh, or perehance IN emptylng upon the
table, they are apt 10 break open; then the
postal clerk must waste valuable time IN ty-
ing them up with string--must do work that
belongs to the pcbiisher who pat up and sent
out the packages. Ia the writer experience
he has had three large packages come out of
the pouch broken open when II was emptied
upon the table, the papers being so mixed
that nobody unacqualntssd with the names of
the sub bscribets could assort them properly.
The only way out of the dilemma Is TO return
them 10 the pablisher. When old newspapers
are used for wrappers, there IS no reasonable
excuse for not using them IN sufficient abun-
dance TO make them strong enough 10 with
stand the rough usages 10 which the mails
are subjected for old papers are always
plenty about every printing Office. Postal
clerks don't walk about and carefully deposit
the mail in boxes and pouches, az
though they we're handling glass
in
and throw papers, sometimes a distance of
ten or fifteen feet, continuous practice max
ing them expert IN landing packages where
they want them. Instead of using ink IN
addressing packages, or using a label print
ed IN bold type and securely affixed with
good paste, some put on the address with a
lead pencil. Writing in pencil Is very apt TO
become obliterated by the chafing To which
newspaper mai Is liable to be subjected dur
ing its transmission. 1t Is not an uncom-
mon thing TO find IL 90 erased as 10 be
wholly illegible, hence it is always better TO
use lux. The best newspaper mail put up IN
Northwestern Michigan, (and We venture
the opinion that 1t Is equalled nowhere else
in the State.) comes from the offices of the
Traverse City Herald and Big Rapids
Pioneer. Their larger packages are secured
Dy liberal use OF wrapping paper, and the
Pioneer wisely adds II string 10 protect them
against possible breakage of the wrappers.
lney are duufteeeu Will itDtls pr1uteu III
bold type upon yellow paper, aud affixed
with bookb.nder's paste. The addresses
upon their single wrappers Are printed III
bold poster type, directly upon the wrap
pers. They are not only easily read, even IN
dim light and under the most unfavorable
circumstances, but they never peel off, as
slips put on by mailing machines often do.
The worst and most sloyenly put up news
paper mail anywhere in this part of the
State, comes from the Herald office at Big
Rapids. The larger packages are not only
insulhciently wrapped, but are usually adj
dressed with hard lead pencil, and in the
Horace Greeley style of penmanship.
Many people put mp merchandise and
other truck" packages as though they
pected them TO be transported and delivered
on a server. They are sometimes wrapped
in tissue paper, and tied with a scanty al
lowance of thread, perhaps, which accounts
for their demoralized condition when they
reach their destination. The rough
usage to which the mails
are subjected cannot well be avoided
Pouches and sacks are thrown from and into
wagons and cars, and are piled upon each
other till the lower ones sometimes have
ton weight upon them. Any thing liable TO
suffer damage from this usage should be 80
put up as to protect II as far possible. For
example, If II be a large-sized photograph,
or any thing of that nature, put on each side
of ita heavy piece of pasteboard, or tar
board, cut the proper size. 1t may take a
little more postage, but il will be a JUdlcIous
expenditure. Right here we are reminded
of the variety of stuff sent In the mails.
Duiy few days ago-iust before the last
Eater Sunday-the writer had quantity
of boiled eggs in the mail he distributed.
They had been enclosed in a common paste
board box. which had been badly crushed:
and when the sack containing 1t was emp
tied some of the eggs rolled out on the table
They had been crushed, too. Honey bees
and other insects are frequently sent IN the
mails, and reptiles have sometimes been
transported that way. A few years ago, one
of the clerks on the Chicago q West Michi
gan had horned toad from Florida in his
mail. Ii escaped from the box and jumped
off through an open door, while the train
was in motion. Ii was found by some sec
tion men, who kept il az a rare curiosity,
and the clerk from whom il escaped subse-
quently secured and delivered II to the man
for whom il was intended. Many other cari
ous incidents occurring IN connection with
the Railway Mail Service might be related.
but we forbear for want of space and time.
In summing up, we venture tfe assertion
that Railway Postal Clerks are, az a class,
the hardest worked of all the Governments
civil service employees. Az we have shown.
they are required to perform vast amount
of both mental and physical labor. Nearly
all in other branches of the civil service OF
the Government have daylight hours and
generally not over eight of them. for work,
and sleep with she same regularity that the
rest of the world enjoys But large propor-
| ton of the postal clerks not only eat irregu
larry, but work at unseasonable hours On
| almost all the through lines, there is mail
| service on the night as well as the day trains:
and every night in the year. while she mas
ses are enjoying refreshing sleep, hundreds
upon hundreds of postal clerks are working
with al their might tD accomplish the task
before them. People who think the position
/ Of postal clerk soft l0b-tbst be has moth
| ing 90 do buf 20 put Of and receive mail
I pouches, and smoke cigars and gaze upon
/ the corsnfry between stations are among
these vho have few things Jet 20 learn.
1 =