Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-14


them are held in a year. at which 5000 600
cards representing addressed letters are
handled, and remarkable as the record may
seem. nearly SO per cent Of these cards are
mail clerk throwing" mail matter take
an ordinary pack OF cards, shuttle them and
then try to distribute 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 mem
tai effort Is required to keep the run Of
1900 schedules.
The Longest Route.
A clerk serves a probation Of six months
If his record is good he then receives an ap-
pointment to a regular route. He cannot
choose his hours OF work. He does not
come to his desk at 9 o'clock in the MORN
ing. like the department clerk at Washing
ton; he does not 60 away at O'Clock In the
afternoon on cool days and O'Clock In the
afternoon when II Is warm. More than
likely he begins his labors at 2 or 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 o'clock In the morning until
O'Clock Of the morning 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 twelve-hour IN
PERMISSION for sleep. This long route is be-
tween Washington and Charleston, s. c. 1t
is 1880 miles, ard the railway mail clerks
are glad that IT is the only one Of its kind.
On this route. as on other 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 II all is distributed In the car
40 I'M AAd fnr ak,,%
the line il is pigeCnboled for that point. II
II is intended for a point far beyond IL is
Tut In a state package. or, perhaps IL is
distributed to one OF two state packages-as
for upper Oh lower California Mail for dis
tant. points tc redistributed further along
the line. So for distant points the CLERK
does not have TO do more, perhaps. than to
divide a state into UPPER and lower parts,
but the nearer the point OF letters desti-
nation the more he has to know OF the ex-
act route by which IL must be delivered
The distribution of railway mail matter is
Tow so perfect that between the large cities
in many cases even The carrier distribution
is made-that is. the mail for the point of
destination Is made up into carriers bundles
just as II would be sorted in the local post
Cfhce. You can mall letter from Kansas
City to ST. Louis, go down on the same
train with the letter, and. IL you are not In
a hurry. the letter Is very apt to be de-
Hvereu before you have time TO call on the
man to whom you addressed it.
Mail for New York on all of the through
routes is separated to the different sub
stations, and only a small proportion of IL
Is handled in the general post office. Mail
for banks and Newspaper Offices is made Up
separately and IL is the first mail to reach
Its destination. Then there are registered
letters. which are handled quite apart from
other mail and for which a receipt is given
by each man into whose hands they pass
And finally there is the special-deliyery
mail. which goes in the regular mail packets
but which is always put on top OF each
nk tn lsaA st
colored slip to draw attention to it. SO that
when the mail Is thrown out on the dis
tributing table at the point of destination
the clerks eye will fall on II Immediately
and 1t Will be handed to q messenger
promptly for delivery.
Mistakes and Their concurrence.
OF course the greater part of the mail
handled on a 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 ii
Is all local; some at junction points where
II 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 swing
ing arm at the side of the car. The railway
mail clerk. in flannel shirt and overaIls.
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 waiting to receive them Then as
each station is neared the pouch OF mail is
made up. the letters being fastened together
IN packages. each supplied with a slip on
winch 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 responsible.
quick work IL Is to deliver the NAH bags
from the train. Often the stopping Of the
= n mi 81.
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 mall at the wrong rlace
one clerk was discharged from the service
for delivering every bag of mail on a long
route one station ahead OF it's destination
He made a mistake al the first station and
repeated il at every station that followed
His case was exceptional The number of
CLERKS dismissed is very small though the
rules of the service are extremely strict
The losing Of mail 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 IL to excess when of
duty.
They must pay their debts promptly.
They must not leave their cars except to
get meals. and then only IL the cars are
securely locked. They must not take news
papers from their wrappers TO read them or
for any other purpose. And. finally they
must admit no one to their cars without
~ u
tom not so long ago for q clerk who was
eff duty TO ride with a fellow clerk IL he
wished to travel from one station TO an
other. Even this is forbidden now. unless
authority Is given by the division superin-
tendent. And, by the way, an or.ier from the
superintendent to travel In a mail car IS
not pass on the railroad hauling the
car. The railroad agrees to haul the neces-
sary clerks and supplies: but any one other
than clerk travelling in a mail car must
pay fare.
4 Life of Peril.
The life OF a railway mail clerk is NOT
only busy; II is hazardous Every year
there are 800 to $50 accidents TO railway
mail cars. The percentage OF accidents is
larger when there are strikes. and the
tracks are blocked or switches are turned
for the purpose OF ditching trains. Five or
six railway mall clerks are killed each
year. Fifty or sixty are seriously injured
and perhaps 100 or more are partly disabled |
The railway mail car Is considered the
most dangerous place on a train in case Of
accident. The engineer has a chance to
jump and save himself The postal clerk
Is shut up in a box which is more than
In front and the heavy train behind. The !
hazardous nature OF the work has been the /
subject OF several appeals to Congress for
years past. The clerks would like TO have
an increase in their salaries, which now 4
range from $50 to 81. 40O a year They |
would like to have a pension list for those |