The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-27


Bas to Learn nominations That
Pc Pas to Undergo Thousands of
Posto6lce s and Their Locations at
Their Finger Tips.
From the Washington SIR.
The have Ht,l3 expmn ttion of their
own. 50 the railva~ mil ofi,iaI, say, and
ne, are not particularly Interested in the
raeu. statement, that their servica is to be
Gathered within tic f Id OF the civi-service
commission. The ge leral opinion ems to
he nat the President VIII probably direct
This to be done in order to make the civil
service law apply to all departments of the
rubic service. It viii be no particular.
Iog IT. to postal clerk to be obliged to
MSS an examination. In fact, it is said
with good-natured exaggeration, that pos
tai c ERIK rises up in the morning with an
examination and lays down at night with
te same companion When he has
'his day off" lie is apt to spend
!; reading n little book, or rather trying
10 rausfer to his memory long lists 81
names OF places and railroad lines He
NAV lie a IrOEatiCner jut learning hi,
local scheme, or he may he the veteran
Cr many years service, who is cOnquerinr
.'ncw ~chemes' or res,udying old ones for
the purpose of gaining promotion What
ever may he his ade or length of service.
a postal clerk has generally an examination
10 look forward to. The civil service CON
inissi,ners, with the ingenuity born of a
wider experience may be nQlo to deyisa
examinations involving greater mental
agony, bu the ajority of the postal clerks
doubt their ability 10 MAKE life a greater
burden than it is at present Tho worst Of
il IS the clerks shy, examinations and n
lign proficiency are absolutely necessary to
fit them to do the wol k they are expected
TO do.
on BOARD A POSTAL CAR.
The mail matter has now reached such
proportions that it must be distributed on
the car, or not at all The majority ofthe
po-toflices have all they can do to attend to
the local mails. On board a postal car
then, which is a posoilice on Wheels the
clerks in handling the mail matter are
obliged to Rave a full and accurate knowl-
edge not only of The mares of the towns
along the railroad on which they happen to
lie travelling, but also the names Of all the
little towns, villages and cross roads along
the branch lines and star routes. Thev
must of course, know all about the railroad
and steamboat connections, and also about
the roads that the men on horseback aid in
wagons travel when they carry the mails on
Waat Is known rs the star-rOutes The lat
Ter are intended to supply mail facilities to
people who live in The back counties away
from all railroad lines To be able
% do this a postal clerk must, by
sheer force Of memory, absorb the
geography of the country through
which he passes He must photograph n
postal map on his mind and keep it there
with all the lines cleer and distint. A single
deviation. the slightest error as his hand
tosses the letters and papers into the
pouches and boxes of the postal car will
result in carrying the small matter miles
beyond its proper destination and della wing
delivery for hours and perhaps days This
would be an Inconvenience to the public
and perhaps the postal clerk would not
mind that very much, as the public is
rather coldly imDersonal to the average
mind. The real concern over such mis-
take and the anxiety to avoid making one
is due to the fact that tho postal clerk or
postmaster who discovers a letter in the
wrong pouch or any error in the transmits
sion is obliged to report it. In this way it
charged up againsts the clerk that made
the error, and errors stand in the way of
promotion.
SCHEMES TO BE MEMORIzED.
Any one who has studied map showing
the railroad lines in this country will under
stand how postal clerk is obliged to grid
iron" his brain whom he succeeds in memoir
izing his ''schome" Charles w. Wick
headquarters in this city, told a Star re-
porter that when man has mastered his
route, especially if it happens to be one of
the main lines, he has not much room left
IN his mind for anything else. 1t takes
man three or four years to obtain such pro
nclency. Like every thing else, the novice
Ii obliged to begin gradually He is not
given at first list Of the names of 5000 or
5000 offices with all their railroad conaeC-
tons When man enters the service he
does so as probationer. He goes on a
postal car, and is an as istaht TO the clerks.
tie ties up the bundles of mail matter, fast
ems up the sacks, drags them in and out OF
the car, and, in the intervals, he is study
ing little black book This book is, APP
parently, his nearest and dearest friend. and
he becomes so fond Of it that he mentally
chewS 1t all up, and dlgestS it thoroughly,
80 that when an examiner comes about and
asks him question, about the care of mail
matter, the duties and responsibilities of
clerks, and other matters touched upon by
the rules and regulations of the postal
service he is able to give correct answers.
linen the examiner puts his name down in
little book and writes in a column oppO-
ste per cenCage indicating how perfectly
ne knew his lesson.
LEARNING TIE POSToFFICEs.
After that, if the examiner is satisfied, a
Sheet of paper, Gale "a local scheme is
put III the novicC's hand. His work now
begins in earnest. That paper contains
HSto the posrotfices along some main line
OIL railroad, with the star route connections
Inc beginner attempts - make himself
FAMILIAR with portion II the state which
winch re has begun to study. While he
learns no travels, and gradually he be-
comes acquainted with the multitude of
railroad connections. A drummer, Mr.
Ickery said, once entered the ervice, and |
al first he said that ne would not
nave very much to learn, as ne knew
al about the railroad lines and most |
oi the towns. He soon found out that he |
was mistaken, observed Mr.. Vickery qui
GUY. After the beginner has boon suffi- |
gent'y examined on this local scheme and !
= aole to tell at what point to leave the |
mai Tor some cross-road town on Monday, |
ana then again on Tuesday and can give |
o.her interesting and thrilling information |
eo2ut the meanderings of the star routes,
ana above all, when he has attained per
.ehtage OF 90, he is ready to go on. He
niuy nave been six months or more in the
%I,lce, aud during that time the examiner
- @ne 70 Judge whether he has any capa
muueS for the service Some men are not
~ quick and readyas Others, aud for such
.neh longer probationary period than SIX
months Is granted. Some twenty per