, 1891-06-21

ApH NAAg NlAAOuA lal VI - tx AIoAAN .
carelessnoss BY dismissal. Then, too, the
clerk in charge has a trip report to make
out, voluminous enough to war
rant a bookkeeper's services. The
number Of papers and letters
handled on the tnp, the errors
made by other clerks in putting up the
mail, the number OF registers handled,
the failures to make connections and the
causes, and a long list Of similar statistics
must be made out and sent to the chief
clerk of the division.
The Ogden and Cheyenne men have a
days lay-off at Ogden and two days at
Cheyenne. But this does not mean that
they have no work u do during these
vacations. Every few months they are
called upon to pass examinations as to
their proficiency in distributing mail for
various states. and it is during the lay offs
they must study up the big schemes on
which the proper separation of these of.
fees are designated. A clerk on the
Cheyenne and Ogden run to hold his
position must be able when called upon
for examination to distribute at least 95
per cent OF the cards on each OF which is
the name Of a postOfhce, tor the offices in
Idaho, Oregon. Colorado. Washington,
Wyoming, Utah and Nebraska. As those
states contain nearly 1000 postofices and
a thousand functions, and star routes, the
task is an enormous one and unremitting
study is the only thing which will enable
the clerks to master the schemes and hold
their positions.
The details of the service are so system
affixed that ever with the vast amount of
mail handled an error made by a clerk in
the dispatch of a letter or paper can be
located and the blame fixed upon the per
son committing the mistake. Every pack
age OF letters is faced with a slip on which
is printed or writted the name of the post
Office, railway postofice, distributing of
fee, or state TOR which all the letters in
the package are intended. The clerk max
ing up the package has endorsed upon
the slip his name and the date upon which
he made it up. The clerk working" the
package, that Is separating it and dis
tributing it for the immediate destination
of the letters, notes the errors an l records
them pom the back of the slip. signing
his name. This is also done by the post
masters at the final destination of the
packages. These slips are sent In daily
by the mail clerks and postmasters to the
superintendent of the division, where a
record of the errors is kept and clerks
charged up with them. Too many errors
and the clerk is dismissed. a short list
and he stands a good chance for promo
ton.
But while the clerks have all this work
the means aud facilities for doing it are
admirable on the fast mail. The cars are
models of convenience aud comfort. They
are built by Pullman, and ride as easy as
a pullman sleeper. The cars are Ga feet
long, and to insure steadiness and strength
are loaded under the floor tor the full
length with railroad iron. The frame
work is OF the heaviest material. and with
stanchIons and braces across the cars from
side to side and from roof to floor, make
the cars strong enough to go through any
ordinary railroad wreck uninjured. The
interior wood work is pure white. Light
comes in from windows in the roof and
along both sides of the car. At night
twenty argsnd lamps make it light as
day. At the windows and doors are iron
bars and frames, and these with a net
work Of steam heating pipes and air COM
pressor pipes around the sides of the car
gives the visitor an idea that he is travel
ing in an iron cage. In the part of the
cars where the letter mail is handled are
500 boxes in which the letters are dis
tributed. The paper racks will hold l2S
sacks for papers, and there are IS boxes
also into which papers are distributed.
Racks are provided for twenty to thirty
letter pouches used for the local work.
Of the two mail cars on the train one is
used exclusively for papers and the other
for letters and papers, A third car is
usually taken on the train for storage OF
through mail. This is the California and
foreign mail which Is worked between
Ogden and San Francisco.
While the mail cars are strong and sub.
stantlally built and the dangers of the
work thereby lessened, still the work is
hazardous. Travelling at an average of
so miles an hour by day and night across
stretches of bad road, up and down heavy
grades and around short curves is neces-
sarily dangerous. A broken rail
or wheel, or the mistake of an
operator, may at any time plunge
the fast mail into an accident
which is almost certain to prove fatal to
the clerks. shut up in their iron-barred
cage next the engine.
Surrounded by a mass of in1ammable
matter an accident by night when the
lamps are all lighted is certain to be fol
lowed by that most horrible form of rail.
way accident-a burning car. The ques-
ton of p~ensioning the families of clerks
who meet with accident is being agitated,
and considering the arduous work and
small pay of the clerks, and their constant
exposure to danger, the project certainly
seems reasonable and Just.
The only weak point in the service,
which in detail and systematic work is
almost perfect, that is apparent to an out
slider is the lack Of ~precaution against
robbery while crossing the plains. The