Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-29

sacks. SO that tie clerks on the next r,,r
can handle It conveniently. The sacks ar.
is reached s sasP .m "trip the w msT
1 1lle out OF the car and 80 to their rooms tC
Drop down on the bed and sleep for ter
hours the sleep Of the exhausted. They
nave worked for twenty-four hours ana IN
I. .nat Tune have handled 5000 letters "a
SACKS OF papers. 100 registered packages. II
registered pouches and 6 registered cases
WE'VE hours after arriving in Charleston
this same crew report at the depot for SER
vice on the return trip. They come to the
car two hours ahead Of leaving time in or.
Ger to distribute the mail originating 81
charleston before the arrival Of the CON
hecuhs 1rain bringing the mail from the
south: The car is arranged in a difYeront
way FOR the northbound trip, that is every
pouch and pigeon hole is relabelsd. The run
TO Washington is to be ten hours shorter
ana very little local business is to he trans
acted Mail will be received and dispatch-
gu az 1nnctions, but there will be no Wsy
station distribution ~'
The pouches and pigeon holes are labeled
with the names Of northern cities between
washington and Boston, and along tho
~ Tucson river and others with the names
OF states In the west and northwest One
section OF the letter case Is devoted To New
York city, and Is arranged SO that the mail
Wnen ~ reaches that burgh. is already dis
trfbuted for the local carriers to handle
Each branch station of the New Yorl, citv
post office Is represented by a different mig
con hole. and label describes the area fed
Dy that office. The clerks, in distributin 2
the letters put them into separate pack
ages, 30 that when the mail arrives In New
YORK city each package will go direct to its
proper station without handling again
There Is another pigeon hole for letters sd
dressed to banks and newspapers. and this
mail Will find its way to the addresses i'm
med1ately upon arriving at the city Mail
for the western states will be ready pouch
ed upon the arrival of the train at the CON
meeting junction, and will be dispatched TO
De properly distributed on other railway
post offices.
Leaving Charleston at 4I2 o'clock %. m.
the work of the men Is practically cornplet-
ed three hours later, and they can relay for
rest, as half the crew can handle the in
termediate business. Fourteen hours rim
brings the train to Washington the next
morning, and the clerks go home having no
work to do until four days later when they
make the same trip. Every man will have
to put in certain amount of time study
ing his route, for that is a portion Of the
postal clerks business He will want a
promotion some day, and will undergo a
civil service examination. in which his abil-
ity to quickly remember the stations along
his route will form the main feature
You will probably agree with the claim of
these men that their work, professional
work it is. almost, is very poorly recon-
pensed at salaries of $500 and $500 per year
You will think that an ordinary clerk in a
department at Washington, who works
eight hours day in safety and comfort
writing or copying. having hardly enough
to keep him busy, and in the main perform
ing a duty which seems of little practical
value 70 the people at large, although it is
of course, receives $1,000, 81 400 per year
These men, doing work which is Of vital
interest to every man In the country, and
intrusteS with the most sacred busine ss re-
sponsiblhties. laboring night and day under
all manner of hardships and In constant
momentary danger of their lives, draw a sal.
airy which Is beggarly in it's meagreness
They have appealed to Congress time and
again. and they probably truthfully saw
that il Congress could take a run In a rail-
way postal car and suffer a short spell with
the clerks they might heed the cry of
the oppressed
When you step from the car on the re-
turn to Washington and are asked II yo,
would like another trip Of that kind, what
VIII you say?
mo, thank you; once is enough for me. -