Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-08-02
How the Government Watches
the Letter Carriers,

| The Washington correspondent of the N. :.
| Evening Post gives an interesting descrip-
| ton of the working Of the watch put on the
movements Of letter carriers by the Post Office
| Department. The letter says;
What the department wanted was judge In
each case who had no prejudices for or
against anybody Commemorative did not even
| know by name the men under investigation.
So corps of secret agents was organized,
made up of picked men of approved character
| and intelligence. Two of these men are sent
| together into city. say, like Brooklyn.
| Their instructions forbid them to go near the
postmaster, or to let any one know their
business, They are furnished with map OF
the city, and their sole business is to patrol
| every part of it in turn, at hours when deliv-
| cry of mail is in progress, and make notes OF
whatever they observe. The object of hav-
| ing them hunt In pairs is to have corroborat-
ing evidence in every case, so that the depart
ment is not obliged to make allowances for
one mans possible lapses of memory OF de-
fects of sight or hearing. Their report at the
end of day contains passages somewhat in
| this style: SAT the corner of Bedford Ave
| nue. and Blank Street, carrier 5,758 met a
| policeman at II :O9 A. NJ. and stopped to con.
| verse for three and One=haf minutes. AT
| II :16 he turned into Dash Street and entered a
liquor saloon two doors south of the corner OF
Bedford Avenue. He had no mail to deliver
| there, but drank two glasses of beer, and
talked with the bartender seven minutes,
| laying his Satchel and strap on the counter
and looking over a picture-paper while he
rested. On leaving the saloon he was joined
by woman, who strolled slowly along with
| him to the corner of the avenue. and stood
there talking to him for four minutes. He
then took letter from her and put it into his
pocket etc., etc.
| II will thus be seen that carrier 5,75S has
the entire history of his midday travels writ
ten out for him, and when he is confronted
with the record its minuteness soon convinces
him that there is nothing to be gained by
concealment. His prompt confession is a
| point in his favor, to say nothing of saving
him from further loss Of self-respect by
following up negligence with falsehood.
1t not infrequently happens that in one of
! the smaller towns, where discipline Is not
strict, carrier will 60 out on his route with
| out uniform hat; there is then no way of
discovering his number and identifying him
for the purposes of the report to Washington.
So the report in such case reads something
like this SAT the foot of Zigzag Avenue,
near the Waggle River ferry. carrier who
wore no number on his hat sat down under a
shade tree and rested for thirteen minutes,
beginning at l:O4P. NJ. This carrier is about
six feet tall; has red hair, blue eyes, and a
ruddy com plexion; is thin, and walks with a
% c1o,r FILL
sandy whiskers, close cropped one front
tooth missing At 1:26 P. NJ. he stopped at q
pump on Seventh Street,, near zigzag Avenue,
and gave his bundle to a boy to hold while he
pumped water for himself and the boy to
drink" ETC., etc.
The best evidence that this system has