Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-04-02
GRATEFUL FRIENDS
Present Captain !. S. Weaver With a Fine
Cans

Yesterday afternoon at 8 o'clock those
of tho railway mail clerks In the city met
In the Office Of the superintendent OF the
Eleventh division railway mail service and
presented to the late superintendent OF
The division, Captain j. =. Weaver, q
magnificent gold-headed walking stick.
Tic handle Is crook. and on an oval
on the side Is inscribed -. y. Weaver.
from employees of the railway mail SER
vice. Fort Worth, Tex. April l, 1893
The speech Of presentation was made
by j. w. Saintclair of the Fort Worth
aud Denver railway postothce and was
chaste ia diction and brenthed the ele-
mcnt that gives greatest charm TO al
talking, sincerity. and beyond doubt V
was true expression of the feeling OF
those present, and these reflected the
sentiments Of all the employees OF the
division
The rules Of the service prohibit any
Gift TO supcriors. but that relation being
now severed Il was not improper for the
postal clerks 20 give this token of esteem
for one who had always been the friend
of the worthy, the adlnonisher OF the
urwaiy. and just alike TO all. Though
the Official superior never an putOcrat ana
the pleasant even cordial relation that
existed between the postal clerks ana
the division superintendent, was severed
with sincere regrets. IL was Only a
grpt, but as an honest expression of sim
cere feeling, II was offered TO one who
had becu bound TO the clerks by Official
aud was still bound by friendly ties.
When Captain Weaver arose 90 reply
he struggled to express his sentiments for
n little time and then gave up for lac
could net find the betting words with
which TO respond to the unexpected mani
Hesitation. Finally the captain got TO
talking Of the improvements made IN the
service IN the Eleventh division that had
raised it from the lowest In merit 20 the
highest In some respects and second TO
but two Ia others. Then he was at home
and gave some very interesting details
ln this division embracing Texas, Ar
kansas. Louisiana and the Indian Terri
tory, there were IN 1889, when the di-
vision was established siNty-one lines Of
railway service with 2O6 men and H.
323 miles Of runs. Now there are sixty
three lines, 1890 miles and 3Ol clerks.
These clerks in 1850 handled over 3I6,-
500, 600 pieces Of mail matter aud Ia last
year 470,OO00OO Also not enumerated
Ia this, they handled 1.1O3,0OO registers
and J2,GOO registered pouches in lSe9,
while the last year they had l,llB,O0O
registers aud $500 pouches registered.
The railway mail service has no super
vision over the local postoiiices, but when
Il finds errors the local postmasters are
advised. In 1852 the postpasters made
over $1,000 errors Ia putting up or mis-
sending mhil matter and the result Of
this was q letter 10 each pOstOiiice in
error. Gradual Improvement was made
and last year with an increased number
of postotices aud an increase in the mail
matter the errors had fallen 10 less than
one-half OF those Of 1889.
The clerks made an average of 100
miles q day IN 1850. but by last year
the increased demand on their services
10 secure greater eihcencyran this mp to
1Ol miles, which is more than the aver
age,
From time TO time whnt are called
case examinations are made. a test 90
the knowledge OF the clerks of the
schemes for the proper distribution Of
the mails. In 1889 the average OF all the
permanent clerks WAS 06, while last
Ing made by but two divisions and one
Of them differing by only few hum
draths per cent The probationary clerks
average In 1850 was S4.0O. last year
0T9O. and this placed the Eleventh a.
vision az the bead of Rll Tho errors
made by the clerks fell Of nearly one
half In the time named.
This improvement has been made pos
slble by the loyal devoted aid Of the
clerks, and having had this through hia
four years Of service he was the more
grateful that his efforts 10 do his full
duty 10 the government, the people aud
the clerks bad met with such sncfess
that Il was evidenced by those most In.
tlmRtely in contact with him Ia this sub
stantinl way, II was hence token
that he would prize 20 his dying day
and transmit 20 his son as one az his
priced possessions when that day np
proaches.
Captain Weaver win be in the city
FOR few lQys 20 10 San Antonio ana
then 70 his Kansas home