The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-08

with robbng the express-car. The con-
ductor was so badly scared that he climbed
into bed with the colored porter.
Some people seem TO think that postal
clerk has nothing to do but stand in the door
ana receive letters handed to him. l have
been frequently called to the door when
busy asserting mail by some one knocking
loudly and handed postal card. Some
will throw handful of letters In the open
door on the floor. But / fixed one fellow.
He was life insurance agent. full of cheek
and very important. Instead Of mailing his
letters at the postOffice, or placing them IN
the letter-box in the side of the car, he had
a habit Of walking up TO the open door
while the train stood at the station. and
firing them in on the floor Well.
one day | laid for him. 1t was raining
hard. and the water had beaten IN the
open door making the floor very wet and
muddy. He walked boldly up to the door.
pulled % or 80 letters out from under his
rubber coat and threw them all over the
wet floor. / was mad. and calling to him,
said: Look here, you will please get III
this car and pick ND those letters. lie
said: You impudent puppy, l VIII do
nothing OF the kind. Wannamaker hires
you to do that kind of work. and you can
pick them up yourself / was boiling. but
had learned by experience that l must hold
my temper and be civil. no matter what
the pr0yocaton. / replied: III you
don't get right in here and pick
those letters up l will walk over
them from here to Oakland, and then have
the porter sweep them up with the waste.
The Government does NOT pay me for pick
ing letters up when thrown down In this
manner, ms it provides box In the side OF
the car for the convenience of the public.
The train starts In just one minute, and II
you care anything for your letters you had
better see 10 them He swore ard tore,
but he saw / was in earnest, ard had the
cpramhia
on his hands and knees on the wet floor,
feeling very cheap. But do you believe 1t,
that fellow had the cheek TO come around
the next day and ask If l carried any lnsur-
ance?
Every trip clerk meets with letters
whose destination cannot be deciphered.
On some letters no pOstJffice is given, per-
haps postoffice and no State. Some
letters are addressed to place which is
not postoffice. All these are called
mikes and are sent to what is called the
inquiry department., where special facili-
ties enable them to supply the missing
Office or State. Letters thai cannot be for
warded from this department are sent TO
the dead-letter Office. Sometimes money or
articles is found loose In the mails and is
forwarded with a statement 10 the division
superintendent. Often people will tie up
valuable articles in a thin pasteboard box,
with only one weak string around 1t. and
expect it TO travel thousands of miles.
Many time have l stopped and tied up
packages which had broken open and were
losing their contents.
New clerks have all manner of tricks
played on them A wag told one new re-
cruit on our line that the mail-pouches ON
all lines were TO be scrubbed out and 10 go
to the superintendent and get a scrubbrush
and cake of soap. lie did so, and tho
superintendent has never got over laughing
at the joke, and to this day tina. clerk Is
known as Scrub
'Olce, while l was still fresh in the serv-
Ice, an old clerk was 'deadheadng' over the
line with me. He carried fine g0ld-headed
umbrella, which / very much admired. i
asked him how much IL cost him. Why
he said, haven't you got one of these yet?
The department is furnishing them TO the
clerks 10 keep the registered mail dry in wet
weather while they are going to ana from
the poStoffice. You must make requisi-
ton for one at once wrote to the super
intendent for a gold-headed umbrella that
same day. 1t would have been dangerous
for that clerk il had met him again.
"a railway postal clerk must be man OF
superior intelligence and capacity, In the
prime of life, and must possess many such
qualifications as absolute honesty, energy,
activity, faithfulness and good moral char
acter. lie would make q valuable man In
any branch Of business requiring dis
cipined mind. an active brain and rapid
execution. Consequently not over 10 In
every 100 who apply for this position are
fitted to discharge the duties Of the railway
mail service. The inefficient are not toler-
ated, for they are sure TO be found out by
their mistakes and blunders. The depart
ment has system of checking errors and
record is kept of each clerks mistakes as well
as his case examinations.
II have few figures here, taken from
the general superintendent annual report
for 1891, which may interest you. There are
6032 railway postal clerks in the United
States. Each clerk travelled on an average
over A, 900 miles during the year, or nearly
twice around the world. The clerks on one
route averaged 273 miles each day, or &c.
64j for the year. Only one error 10 4195
pieces of mail distributed by the clerks was
made, while the public, as evidenced by a
report of the mike department, made 255
per cent more errors than the clerks