The record-union., 1894-08-18
OCEAN MAIL SERVICE
Conducted on the Principle of the
Railway Mail Service
How the Work is Performed on the
Great Ocean Steamers Running Be-
tween New York and German Ports
-Interesting Details.

BREMEN Germany, July l9.-Ihe sea
Postoffice is the latest addition TO the ar
rangements that make an ocean steamer
so interesting and complete structure.
All these great ferry-boats carry mail,
but until last year the bags were dumped
aboard in the port of departure to lie in
| the hold untouched until, at the port of
arrival, they were piled in upon some
postal force TO be sorted under heavy
pressure. The idea of using the period
of the voyage to sort the mail should
have been suggested long ago. For it is
merely an adaptation of the railway mail
service, and in over-worked Offices like
that of New York the foreign or at least
the European mails were the hardest
work the force had to do. 1t was always
dreaded, for it had to be done at irregular
hours, often at night, and sometimes
at the time when the domestic mails were
pouring down the chutes into the cellar.
At Christmas in New York | have been
in the basement of the central office when
the floor was covered, the chutes choked,
the men in despair, and heard the word
given that two steamers had arrived with
| 5000 bags of letters, presents and pa
pers. The men dropped on the bags and
stared at one another; then, though they
laughed at their own feelings, they went
| to work with less speed and energy than
before. 1t was hopeless mess.
| Now the steamers add only the letters,
etc., for New York to the work of the
/ central office. In fact, that Office does
not see all the mail addressed to the city.
For the assortment on the steamer is car
ried out in such detail that New York,
! for instance, gets its mail Subdivided for
the branch offices. So throughout the
country the European mail when put
ashore in New York is bagged for the
largest cities, for many central State
cities, and is piled according to railroads.
! Within the bags. the mail is again as
sorted for railroad stations and towns.
This letter, for instance, will be in bag
for Sacramento, in package for Sacra-
mento City, with other packages for the
country round about, and the bag will be
piled with other Central Pacific bags.
The railway mail service, as we'll as the
city and town Offices, are thus relieved Of
more or less of the work they formerly
performed. "a
This assortment is done easily by two
men. On the North German Lloyd
steamers Havel and Kaiser Wilhelm If,
where 1 got my facts, there are three
mon, an American and German post
office clerk and laborer. They work in
small apartments, nearer the keel than
the deck, half below the water line.
Their outside wall curves under the bags,
but conveniently and comfortably for the
bags. They have small office for the
sale of stamps to passengers and for
desks where they make up their reports.
In the larger compartment the bags are
stored and there the sorting is done in
the usual way.
When | sought out the mail-room l met
first stiff, mportant-looking individual
in uniform with "See Post" on his cap.
That was the German clerk, whom l
found cold and distant. He would not
be very communicative, so l passed him
by in search of the American. He was
sitting in his office in a gray suit of citi-
Zen's clothes, with q straw hat on the back
of his head. In a pigeon-hole was a cap
with the words ''Sea Post' over the visor.
The difference between the labelling on
the German and the American caps was
much less than that between the two
men. My countryman was glad to tell
me all he knew about his work, and spent
an hour showing me the books, reports
and his methods.
He said he had charge going to Bremen,
while the German was in charge coming
back. That is, the American is in charge
of the American mail matter, the Ger
man of the German. 1t makes some
small difference in the business of the
Office. For eastward bound the compart-
]
! our stamps are sold and where letters
mailed must bear the United States
stamp. Likewise on the return voy-
age, German stamps must be bought and
used. At southampton, however, SO
soon as the port is entered the mails
close, ex cept for letters bearing the
British stamp, which can be obtained
from the ships steward. The American
clerk has some TO sell your for you con-
venience, if you take them as personal
favor.
Though the American clerk is post
master till the mouth of the Weser is
entered, practically he is only the assist
ant. The German knows best the to-
Biography of his own country, and really
| superintends the assortment In the
same way the American has TO do the
| greater part of the work when westward
bound, while the German helps all he
can. The average amount of mail
handled on trip is not enough to make
the task hard one. On the Havel, which
sailed from New York, there was carried
about 100000 letters, of which 1,l73 were
| registered. and seventythree bags of
papers. This, A. T. Shinn, the clerk,
said was an average cargo, and could be
assorted by working leisurely eight hours
day. During the month before the
holidays the mail per steamer increased,
he thought, in proportion with that of all
parts of the land service.
1t would seem that this branch of the
mail service would be very attractive to
those men who have any taste for novelty.
The places are few, there being as yet
only sixteen steamers on which the mail
is assorted between shores. These are
the eight North German Lloyd steamers,
four of the Hamburg-A American Packet
Line, and the four fastest steamers of the
American line; the English and French
Governments have not yet agreed with
the United States to join in the Office at
sea. Despite the small number of places,
there Is no great demand for them and
those who have them do not apparently
exert themselves to remain. Unfortu-
nately the appointing power in our coun-
try does not select men who are particu-
larly we'll prepared for the work.
Some of our clerks | found could not
speak or understand German, and one of
them who could Ia German -American).
did not know the continental railroad
rates as well as a tourist did. AS the
clerks are appointed from our own rail-
way service, however, they know our
topography pretty well, and with the
| thorough training through which the
German clerks are put by their mail de-
partment, the work is pretty we'll done.
The clerks are lodged as first class passen-
gers when the traffic is not very heavy,
| and are given first class fare always
They mess with the officers, and generally
do not go beyond the mess for their ac-
quaintances. On deck, though. all parts
of the ship are free to them, / noticed
that they generally lounged with the sec
ond cabin. On shore at both ends of their
journey they have a few days vacation,
which they employ variously, as men
will.
One clerk met had made a study of
the German railway service, using his
few days ashore at Bremen to ride in the
mail cars on trains going in all direc-
tions from that point. He had picked