St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-10


vinity of the treasures within is once
more lowered into place, a steady stream
of humanity passes in and out of this
permanent monument to the industrial
resources of the great Northwest. Rail-
way magnateS, clerks, messengers and
the general public follow one another
ND the broad stone steps and are lOsJ TO
sight in the depths of the mysterious
interior of the building.
There is pOnderouS mass OF mail to
be distributed every morning; each let
ter must necessarily be con >lgned to Its
respective Office before the arrival of
the presiding genius thereof or his
clerks. The messengers therefore ar
rive shortly after the building is
opened: four carry their burdens to the
company's postal distributing room,
from whence it is taken to its ultimate
destination. The incidental work OF
distribution has been accomplished
with speed acquired by long practice,
but none too quickly. Awakened foot
tails indicate that another day OF labor
has rolled around, and the constantly
increasing arrivals show that punctu-
ality is one of the golden rules Of the
Manitoba service. The officials OF the
road are at their respective desks be-
fore their SubordinateS have had an
opportunity of exchanging comparisons
on the events of the previous evening.
and after ''good morning" of greater
or less cordiality are engroSsed III their
work. obrviouS to the outer world.
First Vice President and General
Manager A. Marvel is among the first
to arrive. His callers are numerous and
importunate, and will begin to arrive
before 10 o'clock. Much of the incl
dental business of his department must
PASS UNDER HIS SUPERVISION,
and the work must be laid out for the
day before constant Interruptions rem
der strict attention to legitimate busl-
ness impossible.
W. S. Alexander, the general traffic
manager, is an early arrival, and shows
that he appreciate the Importance OF a
general supervision Of the passenger,
freight and baggage departments 10y
being early in the field, in order to unite
any knotty problem which may present
itself for solution in any one of these
offices.
General Ticket Agent F. l.. Whitney
is also hard at work before many less
industrious people have finished their
beauty sleep.
The various officials and heads of de-
partmentS follow one another with great
1apidity; each, in his turn, mentally
calculating the work Of the day as he
pulls open the heavy outer door; the
clerks reluctantly throw away their
cigars on the threshold. and by $50
each component part of the homogen-
eOuS whole is engrossed i'll his OF her
respective duty.
The perfection of mechanism and the
ideal in machinery is exempliiled in the
distribution of clerical labor in a large
railway Office. Each individual is re-
sponsble for certain share of the bur
den which it is necessary for all to col,
lectively bear. With the precision of
clockwork the allotted duties are per-
formed. Patient and passionless, obey
ing blindly, but never questioning, the
routine work is disposed of. The click,
click of the busy typewriters keeps pace
with the ticking of the clock: and indeli-
bly, records the passage of time on the
paper stretched beneath the nimble
fingers.
President James J. Hill. when in the
city, reaches his Office between $50 and