New-York tribune., 1893-12-24
TONS OF CHRISTMAS GIFTS.
OVERWORKED EXPRESS COMPANIES.
THIS is A SEASON OF HEAVY TOLL FOR THEM

|
To the rest Of the saying when II comes II brings
good cheer the parcel carriers beg leave to utter
| a vigorous protest Instead Of good cheer II
| brings to them the hardest kind OF work. long
| hours and no relaxation. The holidays are there
| fore looked forward to with dread and sign
! of relief is felt when they are over The normal
volume Of express business begins to increase ABOUT
| the middle of December and continues TO swell
| until Christmas when for three or four days the
amount of matter handled Is trifing The public as
II sees the postman making his rounds loaded with
! holiday presents eXpends Its pity on Uncle sam
servants. thinking they are the ones uron whom
the laborious work incident to Christmas iais
| The volume of Christmas matter passing through
| the postoiiice is perhaps larger than that whicn
| the express companies have charge of. but. owing
TO the many steps of billing. checking and re-
ceptng which must be gone through with before
| express packages reach their destination much
more work is entaied upon the companies
BUSY RAILROAD STATIONS.
| A holiday visit to of the railroad stations
of the city where express companies doing pusi-
ness on the various roads have Offices shows one
lively and animated scene. All the confusion ana
Babel Of voices incident TO the Stock Exchange
when some important fuctuation has taken place
in the value Of certain stocks are mere ana a"ueu
TO the cla,nor is the continual rushing hther ana
h,ther Of freight handlers conveying In baskets.
trunks or on trucks packages bundles. boxes ana
miscellaneous articles of every description
The store-rooms are filed their fullest capacity.
and often necessary passages become so piocKeu
that work is greatly impeded. thousands upon
thousands of articles OF every description are there
and when the work has advanced smoothly they are
saparated into piles arranged in systematic order
A a matter of fact the companies become hope
lessy "swamped' stuck" during the holiday
rush In spite OF their most vigant efforts Ex
press officials take TO themselves considerable credt
II they succeed in Strengthening out the annual
Nth
sort ont properv and transmit correctly this I'M
mense quantity of freight requires superior sss
tenn and an infinite deal OF painstaking Express
companies officials assert that the percentage OF mis-
carriages and delays Is innitessmaily small III
business establishment wishes TO send package II
announces that fact by hanging at It's 'front.' uoor
a plgcard of the company doing business on the
road over which the article is TO go. \ collecting
wagon gathers 1t In. together with many other par
cells which are carried 10 the company nearest
branch office Here articles are sor,eo WIN rete'-
ence to the railroads which they are to 80 ana
partly with reference TO the various runs freigh'
going on express trains which stop only al inc
more distant and important points is hurried 70
the sta ton by the while that destined
for local points may be held for later tram
OF course Christmas presents are for the most
nsr, nrepaid and this Is indicated by the abbrevia
ton .'Pd" marked thereon. and receipts are gwen
by the first express official receiving them
. few are marked -. H." which in express ter
,n,rolocv stands for dead head" signifying that
no charges are made for transmission All matter
belonging 10 the company Is OF course carIleu fee'
also that belonging TO individuals connected WIZ"
the company The courtesy is also extehdeu 10
officials of other companies. to railroads ana d
60 favored persons 1t is a common saying
among expressmen, that dead heads are '"e
heaviest and most awkward frelght 10 na''''''
In IN. ordinary run of business ninetenths OF the
charges are collected at the END of the route
ANOTHER SORTING PROCESS.
When the package has reached the station ex-
nress office together with Its thousands OF COM
nsnlons. another sorting process is gone through
with as the wagon Is unloaded Parcels 10 20 y"
the same train put In one pile. ana there may o
ov. or ten piles representing as many trains linen
comes the work of bing-an important ana me-
thodcal operation Freight TO go out on the irS'
train receives the first attention. and the o'he'
freight in the order Of It's departure.
Here the uproar Of many voices Is heard oozei
calling men may be shouting TO as many pi'-
ing clerks at the same time. These reading clerks
acquire song more monotonous than 'hat oi "'e
announcers Of train departures In raiiroad s,a-
tions Taking up package and placing II on the
scales a man calls on: Package. four pounds going
| TO Smithtown for John Brown At the same time
he marks with brush the weight and applies me
y to s work. it is Necessary for the billing clerk
to possess certain marked qualications Tor i ms
sst Moth and e enpabe @pst oe Of thinking rapy
every station along The line of the road on al
| its branches; also the different runs, and nave
| some acquaintance with parallel and connecting
roads He must write out the bin as iast az Sss, sne
nation and weight must by an almost INSTANTANEOUS
mental process compute the charges. which he adds
When &C. o. D." package is reached there Is a
brief respite. as the clerk has to refer 10 separate
The package is now billed and hustled on board
to perhaps for four hours. but the slowing OF
the has already begun. since 1t takes consider,
he
freight which Is to 60 and here Is sure 10 b be
whole force to get It aboard the outgoing train
WHAT REQUIRES sKILFUL WORK.
The work OF slowing car is trade in Itself and
requires much familiarity with the stations along
the line the par OF those who do this as Is re-
qured OF the messenger. The slower receives In the
the freight fast as It Is brought TO him and
places the articles In piles. according to the mpor-
tant stations or functions where connections are
atically. SO that they viii stand firmly and not tum-
bic down by the joting and swayng OF the car
heavy articles must be placed bottom,
they ell @ not fa and The light FIT ones on TOP where
mission freight" must be kept apart from the dry
freight Lye birds eats nN dogs m and other so AM; AMI
they will smother, ard articles small enough to
fall between the ceats must not be placed on these
Pcrlshable stuff must be kept in a cool place
in heap. Egg crates must be handled with
pecial attention and never piled high
The package having found Its appropriate pile.
the messenger arrives. the car already marked
begins. The messenger VIII first take account OF
arrange them in order OF the stations which he
will reach. placing those destined for the first sta
ton at the top.
Then he overhauls the pile destined for the first
stopping place and checks Of the various articles
same manner with the next pile. sometimes com
pletng. his checking before the first station Is
reached. II he falls TO do this II does not matter
there will be ample time later
The first station Is reached the express matter
destined for that place Is put off with the GORE
spending bills. and another Instalment taken on.
which has to be sorted out. The story at succeed.