The morning call., 1895-01-18
DISGUSTED POSTAL MEN.
New Rules Causing Trouble Among
the Carriers.
The Clerical Staff Cannot Handle the
Great Mass of Mail and DeliV.
cries Will Be Late.

The system of handling the mails at the
Postoffice is in the throes Reconstruction.
Hitherto the carriers were allowed to assist
the clerks in distributing the matter and
getting it ready for delivery. Now they
are absolutely prohibited from doing any
thing except "routing their mail' and de-
livering it and writing up their logbook."
When not occupied in these duties they
cannot even remain in the building but
must make their headquarters at some
other place and there await the time when
they must again report for duty.
The change throws all the work on the
clerks, and it is impossible to get through
the work with the present staff. In conse-
quence number of radical changes have
been made, and the mails will not be de-
livered with dispatch. Under the old
regime all the mail matter for stations e,
K, ] and D was sent there direct and dis
tributed by clerks who were there for that
purpose. In future the mail matter will be
sent to the main office, and the clerks will
be gathered at that point. The overland
mails will be made up for stations A and G,
but the letters and papers for all other
stations will go to the main Office. This
naturally entails a great deal of extra
work upon the distributing clerks and in
order to assist them Postmaster McCoppin
has called in all the distributors on the
Oregon, Los Angeles and southern trains.
These men will help out considerably, but
still the staff of clerks is short at least
fifteen men.
1t will only be day or two before the
business men will begin to notice the
change in the state of affairs. Letters that
arrive on the Oregon and Los Angeles
trains were formerly sent out on the first
delivery, but under the new order of affairs
they will not leave the Postoffice until the
second delivery, and thus several valuable
hours will be lost. With the exception of
stations A and c it will be the same with
the overland mail, and people who usually
get their mail matter from stations T., j, K
and will not receive their communica-
tons until about II instead of M.
The Postoffice officials anticipate a gen.
eral protest all along the line, but as they
are doing the best they can in the circum-
stances they hold themselves blameless.
eff they would allow me fifteen extra
clerks, said Postmaster McCoppin yester-
day, 81 could manage to send out the mail
as usual. AS things are at present it is
simply an lmpossibility, and the public
Will have to put up with the Inconvenience.
The letter-carriers and collectors are
thoroughly Disguised with the new rules.
Overtime is thing of the past, and it is
estimated that Uncle Sam will save at least
S., 100000 year by the new system. The
section which prohibits carriers from re-
naming in the building while awaiting the
next delivery or collection is particularly
obnoxious, and its hardship was plainly
noticeable yesterday. There are twenty
nine collectors, and according to the new
rules they must leave the office upon de-
livery of their collections and "return
again on schedule time" During yester-
days storm where could they go?
Not into saloon, for a letter-carrier,
in uniform, seen entering saloon except
on duty is instantly dismissed Their
homes were too far away, so they were
thrown back upon little weather-board
lean-to near the distributing-room. There
was no fire in the place and wind whistled
through hundred crevices. In this place
the wet and shivering carriers and col
iectors had to possess their souls in patience
until 1t was time to again face the rain
storm.
Some change will have to be made"
said prominent Postotfice official, cor
otherwise the best men on the force will
leave the service. If they are not allowed
to remain in the mailroom the Government
should at least provide decent waiting
room for them"