The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-10-30
TIE STAMP CLERK.
A GOVERNMENT EM?LoY= TO Es
PlTieO, NOT ENvlEo.
He Must He n Mathematician, Athlete,
Accountant, Encyclopedias and Mind
Reader-And Needs Patience and
nm Iron Constitution.
IChicayo Trihnne.l

regarded rs exceedingly easy, In l"lent and
mechanical. but it Is exa city the reverse
In my opinion it Is the toughb>t AMI most
intellectual job under the roof OF the gov
srnment bull ling The bare fact chat they
wait on so mlny Gust omsrs shows It. The
work. Of ono clerk in the money order de-
rartmsat Is re garlic by some ~ tho harde Sc.
place. tecaule he has to con iutt l,oJ0
money tran factions day. But the retail
stamp clerk deals in dollar, cents and
mill., has to d. ell his ciphering in his head,
like the Eight hing calculator on the street,
ami has from 5000 to 900 Of them day.
That number may 'eem large to you but
we often wait on as many as a dozsn people
a minute. AMI will average from ssvsa to
ten a minut, during the seven or eight
hours that we are on duty"
MISTAKES MADE.
GWhat ara the chances for making mis-
takeS"
"They ar. unrivaleL We have seven
kinds OF stamp. 4, two kinds OF postal cards,
and about twenty nds Of envelopes and
wrappers TO sell. These are dispose around
the clerk, not all OF them within reach, and
when he ins to serve customers he looks
liks champion ballringer playing Fishers
Hornpipe.' with variations The value Of
each envelope AMI wrapper Is so many
cant, and a deci nal fraction, and when
ever he sell, live or seven or them
he must estimate the price within
hundredth Of a cent; and IL the amount
is so many cents and a fraction he
must charge the next higher number Of
cents. This Is extremely interesting. Some
of the envelopes are 22i conts apiece; and,
IL a customer want. ten Of them, it is COM
paratively easy to tell what to charge him.
bu: when he asks for % cents worth OF
them the clerk fesls like resigning his posi-
ton. OF cour.e, when very busy, he is
liable to maks a mistake alb ut IT.
Then tn, sale OF stamps is very danger.
ous Some people want ten stamps and
others 10 cents worth OF stamps, and tht
clerk constantly confu&es these two trans
actions, and gives ten 2-cent stamps for IL
cents, Or fifty for 80 cents Under favor
able circum stances the Q calculations wouk
not mislsad him, but he has to make then
with twenty people at his window watching
him and waiting impatiently for their turn,
and he has to make them after having made
2OOO other calculations and when his facui
ties are completely jade Sometimes wher
Ihave gone through this hurly- burly for
four hour on a strstcl sud lenly all my
senses leave ms, ami coulln'G take nickel
out OF a dime to save my life. just have
70 hold my head with my hand" for
minute until reason returns and then pitch
in again"
CARELESS CUSTOMERS.
aDo the customers always state their
wishes clearlyP
20, my! no. A man Will slap down 2
cents, and then give the clerk contemptp-
Gus glance, as much t. lay, Can't you I'D
derstGnd, you dolt, that want two l-cent
stamr-n D.. hi ;c- 80 De- ,t rfs s9s mn nnHT nv
postal-card, or two postaLcarl'. or a
newspaper wrapper. Another man Will
slap down a nickel, and cry out five He
may mean a scent stamp, or five l-cent
stamps, or five poStalcards, and 1t takes
parley to find out Sometimes l.
will take fore. sner a whole m lute to ex-
plain what he wants for his quarter. You
would hardly believe it, but very frequently
q well-dressed person, generally woman,
will come to the window and say COM
posedly, Give me some stamps, please and
then leaning on her elbow gaze out into the
streets drsamily until the clerk asks her
what sort OF stamp and how many sic
wants. A large number OF customers ask
for Iettsr-stanp.,' as IL that was putting a
very fine point on ii.
@Are these all your dutiesr
@No, these are only small part Of them.
The retail stamp clerk Is a weighma'ter. He
weighs hundreds of letters and pare is d
day. the weight Of which must be determined
within half an ounce. Tnen, the c intent
being learned, he must estimate the postagt
according TO the nature Of the contents and
according to the de stination and max, uI
the amount In stamps This Is very tryin:
to the patience AMI, msy add, to the eyes
So, likewise, Is ths counting OF po -carls
which stick together tightly that mis-
| takes are very easy. While the clerk Is at
tending to all these duties he Is acting as
general Intelligence offi;e People ply hin
| with questions concerning the other depart
naents OF the postofiice, concerning the ar
rival and departure OF mail trains and maj
steamers, and even concerning tbs location
OF the streets and the express offices.
| HAIDBsT OF ALL
THE hardest work Is yet to be spoken Of
and begins when the clerk shuts his window
and when the public supposes that he is er
loving a season OF weil-earned repose
Either then or at some time before he open
his window the next day, be has to cour
his cash and take full inventory OF all h
stock, estimating the value Of every staml
card, envelope and wrapper in his posse
sion in dollars, cents and mills, and aidin
| 10 all together make ~ come OUT SoJV {
$500 according to the amount OF stock he
carrying. This he never can do. Thou2
he makes 10 or Is cents da
by odd mills charged on envelopes.
always loses enough in making change
make his account somewhat short, AMI !
has to go down into his pocket for the shor
are. The best Of clerks win have an averas
loss Of 81 week, and inexperienced clerl
have been known to lose from $50 to $40
month. Very often ome mistake in
figuring. especially when done after da
Of exhaustng work, will bring out an a
parent shortage Of SIS or $50, and then
work Of taking stock has all to be done ov
again, to find out where the mistake Is
aBut then the salary must be good"
@There Is right where you are lame. i
pay Of the different clerks employsi In 9
retail stamp department Is different In ca
case, and ranges from sis to $2i wee
the losses reducing It at least 81 q wee
How any young man with life before b
can think Of seeking such employment
not understand" ...r