The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-19

AANti uSutlk lAldb Vie new man goes out on
a one-man route. In that case he must
have tutor. Sometimes the man whom
he IS replacing will stay and make the run
with hlm-if heis sufficiently 'lnsulted"
sometimes one of the substitutes on the
regular force can be hired TO coach him.
Whoever the instructor is, the pay he re-
celVes comes out of tthe new clerk
pocket.
At the end of the first month of his ac-
i've services comes up for examination at
the case. Then at stated intervals he is
examined again. These case examinations
are one Of the regular features of the
service. As many as 1900 of them are
held IN year, at which $4,000 900 cards
representing addressed letters are
handled, and remarkable as the record
may seem, nearly So per. cent of these
cards are distributed correctly. If you
nave ever seen a mail clerk throwing
mail matter, take an ordinary pack of
cards, shuttle them and then try to dis
tribute them TO certain points on a
card table as rapidly as he handles the
mail. You will get some faint idea from
the difficulty in placing properly these
thirteen different cards what a mental
effort IS required to keep the r.n of 1900
schedules.
THE LONGEST ROUTE.
A clerk serves a probation of six
months. If his record is good he then re-
celves an appointment to regular route
He cannot choose his hours of work. He
does not come to his desk at o'clock in
the morning, like the department clerk
at Washington; he does not go away at
o'cloek in the afternoon on cool days and
in the afternoon when it is warm More
than likely he begins his labors at 2 or 8
o'clock in the morning, and he may keep
going steadily until the next night, or
even longer. There is one route-the
longest route in the railway mail service
on which the clerk works from 20 o'clock
in the morning until o'clock of the morn
ing following, and then, after twelve
hours rest he returns TO the car to make
the trip back. After this he lays off for
four days. But think of the mental and
physical strain of that seventy hours
stretch with only a twelve hour intermis-
sion for sleep! This long route is between.
Washington and Charleston, S. C. 1t is
1,O3O miles, and the railway mail clerks
are glad that it is the only one of it's kind.
On this route, as on any through routes,
much of the mail is in CLOSED pouches
that is, is intended for one city and is left
untouched during its journey IN the car
But most of the mail is distributed in the
car en- route. If it is intended for a point
on the line, it is pigeon-holed for that
point. II 1t IS intended for point far be-
y package,
hapS, it is distributed to one or two state
packages-as for Upper or Lower Cali
fornia. Mail for distant points is redis-
trlbuted further along the line. So for
distant points the clerk does not have to
90 more, perhaps, than to divide a state
into upper and lower parts: but the nearer
the point of letters destination the
more he has to know of the ex-
act route by which it must be delivered.
F1,a 4 f.%,. a1,V,4S yNE, .
is now so perfect that between the large
cities in many cases even the carrier dis
tribution is made-that is, the mail for
the point of destination is made up into
carriers bundles just as it would'be sorted
in the local postoffice You can mail a
letter from Kansas City TO st. Louis, go
down on the same train with the letter,
and if you are not in a hurry, the letter is
very apt TO be delivered before you have
time to call on the man to whom you adj
dressed it,
Mail for New York on all of the through
routes is separated to the different sub
stations, and ouly small proportion of 1t
is handled In the general postoftice. Mail
for banks and newspaper offices is made
up separately, and 1t is the first mail TO
reach its destination. Then there are
registered letters, which are handled
quite apart from other mail, and for
which receipt is given by each man into
whose hands they pass. And finally
there is the special delivery mail, which
goes in the regular mail packets, but
which is always put on top. of each
packet to which it has been sorted, with
a colored slip to draw attention to it., so
that wnen the mail is thrown out on the
distributing table at the point of destina-
tion the clerks eye will fall on it i'm
mediately, and it will be handed to a
messenger promptly for delivery.
MISTAKES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES.
OF course the greater part of the mail
handled on railway mail car comes from
the terminal point where the car starts
But great deal is picked up en- route,
some at stopping points, where perhaps it
is all local some at junction points where
it is made up Of local matter and mail
from the surrounding country; some
at small stations where the train
does not stop and where the mail
bag is caught by the swinging arm
al the side of the car. The railway mail
clerk in flannel shirt and overalls,
with uniform cap on his head, opens the
bags of mail as they come aboard, sorts
the letters into the pigeOnholes of the
cases that run along the side of the car
and the newspapers into the bags which
hang in frames ready to receive them
of mail is made up, the letters being
fastened together in packages, each sup
piled with slip on which is stamped or
written the name of the clerk who handled
and the date of handling. BY this record
every error can be traced to the man re-
sponsible.
Quick work it is to deliver the mail
bags from the train. Often the stopping
of the trail is for a minute only. Often
the train does not stop at all and the bag
is thrown flying to the station platform.
The clerk must know the stations pretty
well or he will deliver his mail at the
wrong place. One clerk was discharged
from the service for delivering every bag
of mail on long route one station ahead
of it's destination. He made a mistake at
the first station and repeated it at every
station that followed. His case was eX-
ceptional The number of clerks dis
missed is very small, though the rules of
the service are extremely strict. The
losing of a small bag key is considered a
good reason for dismissal. The clerks
may not use liquor at all while on duty
and they must not use it to excess when
OFF duty.
They must pay their debts promptly.
They must not leave their cars except to
get meals, and then only if the cars are
securely locked. They must not take
newspapers from their wrappers to read
them or for any other purpose. And,
finally, they must admit no one to their
cars without orders from headquarters.
II was a custom not 50 long AGO for a clerk