Omaha daily bee., 1893-10-15

80 49, NAaNA
ent parts of the United States.
governed by the bulletin from the capital
The headquarters of each division issue n
weekly bulletin to the subordinate branches
lying the changes is called making u
scheme. And the, scheme" makers are as
sharp and brainy n set of men as one would
care TO meet. No sleepy, half done task is
admissible with them, for their important
work demands positive accuracy. They are
provided with postal mapsH of each state
and can tell by referring TO them in the
space OF three minutes what length OF time
III VIII take Tor q letter TO pass from a given
point in the United States to another. Upon
the postal mans every postofice is located,
with its connecting lines of railroad and
stage routes. The latter are known as
star routes" and are marked on the maps
IN various colors which denote the number
OF times per week the mail is delivered by
stage at those points. a red line shows one
delivery per week, yellow 9, blue 3, black
standing for six or seven.
Lewis l.. Troy Is the general superintcnd-
ent at Chicago. He is assisted by "A number
OF scheme makers, chief clerks and superin.
tendents of mail routes, besides 964 men and
W postal and department mail cars.
The Clerks.
The railway mail clerks are those who
nave in charge the working and delivery of
the mails on the travelling postoficcs. When
Il man wishes to become u candidate for the
position OF postal clerk he must pass eNami.
nation before the civil service committee,
which meets four times per year. An appli.
cant Is expected to make a pretty good
showing after six months of study and 1t Is
a common thing for Il mail clerk to know the
names of the postofiCCs in from five to
twelve states, and as they average from
2,OOo TO 5000 per state New York having
the largest number), it will be seen that tho
task is no easy one, for he must also know
the connecting railroad lines and the latest
time tables. He commits to memory by
writing the names of each postoflce on one
side of Il small card and It's railroad lines
ana star routes on the other side. The
same Kind of cards are used in his
examination and tho clerk works
them US If he stood before his
case in the car. A record is kept of the mum
Der of cards handled and the errors made.
The average determines the applicants pro-
fciency. Should the examination prove
favorable the candidate is selected as u GER
TINED substitute pending n vacancy and re-
ports accordingly. TO tho division superin.
t%endent, holding himself in readiness to fiji
a vacancy at a moments notice.
When a new beginner finds himself on a
mail coach for the first time he may think
he knows considerable. But he has much
yet TO learn. He must do the most of the
hard work, such us handling the heavy mail
sacks and attending to the catcher" In
fact he is a sort of a porter, and as one of
the head clerks laughingly remarked to me,
III he stands the racket he Will make Il good
CLERK"
Work in the Car.
BY recent order of the government all
visitors are excluded from the postal cars.
But ! was SO fortunate as to receive permis-
sion to inspect the model mail car in the
government building at the Worlds fair,
where all the mail to and from the grounds
is handled. On the day of my visit Mr.. G..
K. Scott, with several assistants, was the
gentleman In charge of the car. Postal
clerks from all over the United States are
there alternately detailed to work the mail,
each remaining a certain period of time. To
watch them at work and hear them explain
at the same time is to gain a practical, if
limited knowledge of the system. Beside
the track, at stations where the Fast Mail'
does not stop, a stationary crane is erected
which has Two arms containing n spring and
extending toward the track. They hold in
place the stations sack of mail, and as the
tram dashes past ut the rate of forty to fifty
miles an hour the iron catcher adjusted on
the side of the mail car sweeps from it's
mornings the bag of mail and holds it safe in
It's huge clutches, while at the same time Il
clerk pushes out of the open door the sack of
bundles, papers and letters comprising the
Incoming mail. .
Delays in taking the mail are sometimes
caused by the men forgetting to readjust the
catcher when the train reverses it's direc-
tion. The difficulty could be overcome by an
automatic catcher, which could be changed
the moment the whistle of the locomotive in
Dictated another station. Such u catcher is
a late invention. But it is feared by postal
men that the mechanism placed in the small
arm is too intricate to stand tho heavy Jar
incident upon capturing the mail bag, owing
to the strong current created by the rapidly
moving train, which Is very powerful con
sidering the weight of perhaps "a, 900 tons.
The contents of a sack of mail is of course
mixed, and the first thing to be done is to
state the mail, placing the letters in
pigeon-holes, over which are the names of
the states. 1t Is often done by a beginner.
The more expert work is that of separating,
distributing and asserting letters and papers
according to the railroad time tables, so that
the destination may be reached at the earli-
est possible moment. working the mali
it is called, and is done by two schemes, the
general or state scheme and the stand
point scheme
The former embraces all the postofices
and railroad lines in the state, while in the
standpoint scheme the mail is "massed' on
the main lines running out of important
cities or functions and then left for the men
to work by the state scheme. Postal clerks
say that the mail on their regular routes be-
comes familiar to them, the co rrespondencc
being for the most part between the same
parties. They are thus compelled to see
similar addresses over and over again until
the letters grow to have friendly faces.
They become experts in reading all kinds of
chirography. Outlines the mistake in a
lame or the address on a letter is very
funny, and in some instances quite indie
cipherable.
During my visit to the mail car | reck-
lessly remarked that | thought stating"
the mail a very simple thing and | believed
| could do 1t. | was by being pre-
sented with a letter and the question,
Where would you put this"
pride goeth before u fall" That writ
ing was Greek to me. But the expert read
the name and address without a moments
hesitation. 1t was bound for Texas.
Checked Up.
When a clerk ties up a package of letters
he places in 1t a slip of paper ON which is
written his name, the date and run. Should
"A mistake be made, it is discovered by the
next one who handles the bundle. The
error Is charged up to the offender as u
mike" all OF which are forwarded to head
quarters, where they are checked up
against each clerk as SO many stumb-
ling blocks in the way of his
future advancement. He receives a notice
of them every fifteen days ana is expected to
profit thereby. / asked Mr.. Scott if u man
could become so expert in handling mail as
to be able to detect money inclosed. mo"
said he, ''none but n thief" "We promptly
discourage any curiosity in a new beginner
and choke IL at birth"
Postmaster General Bissell, in a report
concerning the amount OF mail distributed, |
states that ''for the year ending June 80 last,
"A 7-D n7E SDD piapaa Of mail ,papa 1iafrihntaI !