Daily Yellowstone journal., 1885-10-14
TIE STAMP CLERK.
A GovERNMEN sMPLoYE TO BE
PITIeo, NOT ENWEo.
He Must he Mathematician, Athlete,
Accountant, EncyoIopedIs aud Mind
Readsr-And Needs Patience and
an Iron Constitution
[Chlca1n Tribunal

chicago Tribunel
ITAe employment Of the clerks in the re-
tail stamp department OF the po,toffice,'
said one Of them the other day. SIS generally
regarded as exceedingly easy, INCIDENT and
mechanical but it Is exa city the reverse.
In my opinion il i the toughest aud most
intellectual job under the roof OF the gov
eminent Hing. The bare fact that they
wait on so many customers shows IL Ths
work of one clerk In the money-order de-
partment is regarded by some AZ the harde It
place, because he has to conduct l,OOO
money transactions day. But the retail
stamp clerk deals in dollars cents ant
mills, has 10 do all his cipherins in his head,
like the lightning calculator on the street,
aud has from 5000 10 900 Of them day.
That number may seem large to you, but
we often wait on as may as dozsn peopls
a minute, ami will average from seven To
ten a minute during the seven or eight
hours that we are on duty"
MISTAKES MADE.
SNYhat are the chances for making mis-
takesf7
~They are unrivslsi. We have seven
kinds OF stamp, two kinds OF postal cards,
and about twenty kinds Of envelopes and
wrappers TO sell These ars dispose around
the clerk, not all of them within reach, AMI
when he Lezins to serve customers he look
like a champion bsll-ringsr playing 'FiShsr's
Hornpips,' vita variations The value of
each envelope AMI wrapper Is so many
cent and a decimal traction, and when
ever he sell, live or seven OF them
he must estimate tue price within q
hundredth of Il cent; and If the amount
is so many cents and fraction he
must charge the next higher numOsr Of
cents This is extremely interesting. SpIne
of the envelope, are ,. % cents apiece; AMI,
il customer wants ten Ut them, it is COM
parativsly easy to tell what TO charge him,
but when he asks for % cents worth OF
them the clerk lesls like rssigning has posi-
ton Or course, when very busy, he is
liable b make a mistake alb ut it.
Then th1 ,ais of stamps is very danger.
Gus Some people want ten stamps and
Others 10 cents worth OF stamp. and the
clerk constantly conIuSes these two trans
action, and gives ten 2-cent stamps for 10
cents, or fifty for 50 cents Under favor
able circumstances these calculations would
not nIisleal him, but he has IT, make them
with twenty people at his window wItcning
him an waiting impatiently for their turn,
and he has 10 make them after having made
1000 other calculation, and Wien his tacul-
ties are completely jadei Sometimes when
have gone through this hurly- burly for
four hour; on stretch. sud lenly all my
senses lssve ms. ami couldn't take nick !
out OF dime to ave nv life. ju,t have
O. hold my heal with my hand, for a
.,,s. mi tfah
in aga n"
CARELESS CUSTOMERS.
DO tho customers always state their
wishes clearlyT
20, myi NO. A man Will slap down
cents and thSn give tue clerk contemptu-
Gus glance, as much to lay, Can't you UNI
derstand, you dolt, that want two l-cent
stampsr But the clerk does not know
whether be wants that or a 2-cent stamp. or
q postal-card, or two postal-carlS, or
newspaper wrapper. Another man will
slap down a nickel, and cry out I've H
may mean 5-cent stamp or five l-cent
stamps, or five postal-cards, and It take,
a parley to find out Sometimes IL
will take foreigner a whole M .te TO ex-
plain what he wants for his quarter You
would hardly beleyeit, but very frequently
well-dreSsed person, generally a woman.
will come tU the window and say COM.
posedly, Give me ZONE stamps, please aud
then leaning on her elbow gaze out into the
streets drsamlly until the clerk asks her
what sort o. stamp and how many sue
want A large number Of customers ask
for 'letter-stamp',' a IL that wa, putting a
very fine point on it,
"Are these all your dutiesI7
"No, these are only a small part Of them
The retail stamp clerk is welgbms ter He
weighs hundreds Of letters and pare Us a
day, the weight Of which must be detsrmins ID
within half an ounce. Then, TIE contents
being learned, he must estimate the postage
according 10 the nature Of the con.ent' and
according TO the destination AMI maks up
the amount in stamps This j. very trying
10 the patience and, may add, 10 the eyes
So, likewise, is the counting OF pc tai carls
whicA stick together so tightly that mis-
takes are very easy. While the clerk is at.
tending to all these duties be is acting as a
general intelligence offiHe People ply him
with questions concerning the other depart.
ments Of the postoifice concerning the ar
rival and departure OF mail trains and mail
steamers and even concerning the location
of the streets ami the express offices
HARDEST OF ALL
~The hardest work is yet u be spoken Of,
and begins when the clerk shuts his window,
and when the public supposes that he is en-
jOying a season Of well-eArned repose.
Either then or at some time before he opens
bis window the next day, be has 10 count
his cash and take full inventory Of all his
stock, estimating the value Of every stamp,
card, envelope and wrapper in his posses-
sion in dollars, cents and mills, and aiding
IL all together make IL come out $500 or
500 according to the amount Of stock he Is
carrying This he never can do Though
be makes 10 or Is cents a day
by odd mills charged on envelopes, he
always loses enough In making change o.
make his account somewhat short, and he
has b go down into his pocket for the short
age. The best Of clerks viii have an average
loss Of 81 week, and inexperienced clerks
have be n known 70 lose from $50 10 go
month Very often some mistake in his.
figuring, especially when done after day
Of exhausting work, will bring out an ap-
parent shortage Of tl5 or eco, and then the
work OF taking stock has all 30 be done over
again, 10 find out where the mistake is"
Slut then the salary must be good"
There is rigtf where you are lame. The
pay OF the different clerks employed In the
retail stamp department Is different In each
case, and ranges from tls 10 eel week,
the lossss reducing IL AT least nj weak