National Republican., 1888-02-26
THE LETTER CARRIERA' LOT
NOTHING BEYOND CONSTANT WALK
ING AND STEADY HARD WORK.
Zen Miles Travelled Daily From Thirty
to s.venty Pounds of Mail Carried
on tn. shouider-How 1t Is Proposed
to Relieve Them

As Il REpunMcNS representative was
passing through the court house recently .
he wa, accostcd by one of our prominent
and respected citizens, who said: ~ have
noticed that the NATIONAL REPUBLICAN |
has become one of the best papers in the
city in looking after the interests of all |
CLASSES Of citizens. and especially of those |
who are unfortunate or oppressed ! have |
been greatly interested in its investigation
intuthc suilcrings of the poor of the city, |
and the wonderful interest its articles have |
aroused among our churity-giving citizens, !
| | would like to call your attention to the
| hard lot of the letter carriers. As was !
/ coming down town this morning met
| one of those faithful public servants stag
gcring along under heavy load of mail.
/ II was all he could do to carry il, and !
/ wondered why it was that 81 much work
was given to these people
This suggested II new theme of invcSti-
cation. and. thanking the gentlemen for
it, the scribe started ont To look the matter
up and obtained interviews with about
twenty ofthc carriers and collectors. From
j them it was learned that the carriers and
collectors of the city have routes averaging
over three miles Ia cover, and that they
are expected to make from three tu five
trips uaN. ne weight oI 'H'Il hhll bI
mail they drag about will uN"rIg" ~ least
thirty pounds, and ON certain days of the
week will 90 uS high as sixty ar seventy
pounds And, to add still more tu their
load the department is about
adopting Il leather bag tu take the
place of the light canvas one now in use.
The carriers all seemed discouraged over
the outlook, and could sec ne way in
which their load would hr lightCncd.
Nearly all of them are ruund-Shouldcrcd
from carrying the loads. and ii did NOT
seem strange to the scribe that ii should
be 50 when he reflected that, ut the lowest
estimate each one of these men covered
over ten miles of territory every day, and
carried II load of at least thirty pounds on
his left shoulder the entire distance: also.
that they were expected to cover their
routes in Il certain time.
The reporter next visited the city post
office. and was cordially received by Jas.
Il. Bell the efficient superintendent of
letter carriers. ON stating his crrand Mr.
Bell gave him u most Thorough
, review of the operation Of the, Sys-
can to expedite the mail service ofthis
,, city," said he "aud we have the hearty
cu.uprratiun ufCol. j. f. Bates the super
!. ntcndcnt of the free delivery system of
4. the country. Mr.. Bates has stated that it
is his intention to make the free delivery
system in this city H. efficient us is pos
iblc. The carriers, like sailors,
are never happy unless they
= have something to grumhlc at They
seem to dislikcthc new bag we are trying,
and would sooner carry their old bag
and trail II canvas sack of mail, aS some
I of them do, than To use the new bag. This
!, new bag is in use in nearly all the large
= cities of the country, and Is pronounced
Il by those who have used them aS the best
4 ,l,,pl,t that
v ricrS will say 50 too when they have tried
il them 1t is true that the lOals they carry
>, are heavy. The statistics in the Ph>toiicc
= Department du not give Washington Il
: high standing on number of pieces of mail
l. handled by each carrier, but it is not con.
j. truvcrtcl that the character of the mai
II handled here is much heavier. We ar,
Is doing all we can to tighten the Labor
!, of our force and on March seven new
Il carriers will be allcd-our for George
l. town, one for East Washington, and iiv,
X for the general office. Besides thi
n. we shall add another horse AN,
N wagon to the collection force in the busi
of ness section. Two years ago, when we pu
t. on the present horse and wagon, we csti
~ mated that by this arrangement one lna
at could cover the territory then covered b.
cr two, but we were mistaken, aS il was to
" much for the horse, and we have lost scvc
I'd horses in the two years. So when we pu
ld ON this new outfit we Will arrange II ;
L. that two men will cover the tcrriSot
is formerly covered by three men on foot
IL and we think this proportion will b
er about right
cr In response to the reporters query rs T.
'h whether the service would not he in
ry proved by having all the collections mad
NJ hy horses, and to use the collectors thu
en relieved in delivery, Mr.. Bell stated thu
liS he thought it would. "Col Bates, sal
,cr he "fivurs the tricycle., and it would |
lac first class in fair weather, but would he
ay no use in the snow There is anutht
tly thing" said Mr.. Bell, that makes ol
as carriers cover more territory than nccc
he Sary, and that is the parking system
i'll Now, for instance, let us take the route Il
mi East Capitol street northeast; SuppO
INT the carrier has II piece of mail for even
nd house, and we find that he trlverscs tw
ny. miles of parking going from the sidcwa
ing To the door and rcturn) ON that sire,
of between Third and Tenth streets east
Mr.. BELL produced a map of the cit
ors with the different carriers routes mnrk'
ad oil, and gave the reporter thorough J.
try sight into the system. Thanking him Il
oSt his information, the scribe withdrew, VT
'rS, satisfied that the lot of the carriers aI
ng collectors, though hard now, would
ais shortly frightened, if Mcssrs. Bates ~
mi Bell could do it.