The evening times., 1897-04-20
Railway Mail Employees Will Try
TO Secure Legislation.
BILL HAS PASSED THE SENATE
Reorganization of Clerical Force of
the Railway Mail Service Also to
BE Aimed At Supt. White Favors
Increase OF Salaries-ApplicatiO
for appointment in the Treasury.


l.IIl MAKE vigorous effort TO secure The
lass.a e OF d buI Tor the relief OF nJured and
disabled employees OF the Railway Mail Ser
wee al tnls session oI Congress. q bill Oi
fhis character was introduced at the last
session ana passed the Senate, but did not
AeJ through the House, though the postal
officials said this morning that 50 per cent
OF tue members OF the House favored the
hill
a. is proposed to press the passage Of a
bin which Will not be liable TO objection
ca the ground that it creates a civil
pension list, as all moneys to be paid u
disabled clerks will be paid out of the
relief fund, which is drawn from the
Salaries of all postal clerks who are
elegible to its benefits.
What the Gov eFnHleHt will he asked 60
do, is that it shall accept the trust of
custodian of this fund, and shall dis
burse it in accordance with such rules
and regulations as the Postmaster Gen
cTal shall prescribe. A proposition has
Been advanced that railway postal clerk
may be retired at his own request when
be shall have served for twenty-five years.
but this proposition VIII not be brought
forward by the promoters Of the plan, and
the proposition win be that no clerk shall
be entitled 20 the benefits of the retired
list till he shall have become actually in
Capacitated for further service.
The PoStoffice Department i s favorable
L. increasing the assessment against the
salaries OF railway postal clerks and to
tIrning into the relief fund fines and de-
ductions levied against clerks for minor
violations of rules.
Ga June 80, $50, there were :, ,405 clerks
in the service, distributed as follows: En-
ployed on railroad lines, 6,7U4; employed
on steamboat lines, 40; emplo yed on cable
and electric lines, 10; detailed TO transfer
duty, $40; detailed to office duty, 27l.
In 1896 railway mail clerks were killed.
~ seriously and 65 slight" Injured
A clerk who has been so seriously in
jured while in the disl harge OF his duties
that he is unfit for service, is granted leave
with pay in periods not exceeding sixty
days, aggregating one year, unless he is
able to resume his duties sooner. If, at
the expiration OF one year, he is still an
able 60 return TO duty, he is dropped from
the pa yTdl, but he may be reinstated within
the next year by producing a ph ysiCian's
sworn certificate that he is physically
and mentally sound. The POstoffice be
partment is a bic to extend a small measure
OF relief TO clerks disabled in the line Of
duty, but is powerless to extend aid to the
families of clerks who are killed while in
the discharge OF their duties
james Z. White, general superintendent
OF the Railway Mail Service, in his report
TO the Second A sSistant Postma ster Gen
eral in 1896, urged the creation of relief
Diil which would provide a fund for the
benefit OF those permanently disabled in
accidents, or who, because of long service,
have become incapactated for the perform
aace of efficient work in railway post
offices
another measure which the Postoffice
Department is desirous of putting through
Congress, and which has been several
times recommended by the superintendent
of the railway postal service, and indorsed
lv Postmasters General Wanamaker, Bis
sell and Wilson, is a bill granting the De-
p2rtment authority to IeOTganize and re-
ci1ssify the clerical force CT the Railway
Rail Service Mr. Linton, then a member
OF Congress from Michigan, on December ?,
1895, introduced bin CT this character,
an1 it was referred to the House Committee
0n Postoffices and Post Roads, and ordered
printed. Later, a similar bill was pre-
pared 10y Senator Burrows, of Michigan.
/ Many reasons are presented 10y the de-
partment why the clerical force OF the
Railway Mail Service should be reclassi-
fiei, with a view to the betterment OF the
condition OF those emplo yed in it, cSpe-
ciany with regard to the equitable adjust
Inent OF salaries, in accordance with the
character OF work performed. The occu-
patton is claSsed by insurance companies as
extra hazardous, and the expenses OF the
railway clerk for food and clothing are
considerably greater than the expenses OF
clerks whose homes and places of business
are in close proximity.
Then, the department maintains. tina the
demand made upon his physical, mental
ana nervous systems shortens the earning
period OF his life, and that 1t is not reason
able to base the salary to be paid an en-
pioye uprn his actIal living expenses, thus
preventing him from banking sone.hing
90 meet the exigenCies that arise in every
Family. or to buy the necessities of life
after he has become, through accident or
otherwise, unable to earn living.
Supt. White said this morning that An
y
mail clerk ought to be paid sufficient to
enable him, with due economy and long
period Of useful service, to save enough to
purchase a modest home, TO educate rea-
soHably well his children and TO provide
himself and wife with the comforts OF life
A. their old age"
Applications for appointment TO office
" re filed at the Treasury Department to-
"a as follows
Daniel Mcleod, Chicago, III, to be COM
missioner OF navigation at Washington, d.
&: J. E. Jansen, William II. Ellis and L.
y Kinsey, oil OF Eureka, Cal, to be col
Hector of customs at Eureka, Cal: Samuel
EimOre. Astoria, Ore, to be collector of
customs at Astoria, Ore: George A Reed,
Beaufort, :. c., TO be collector of customs
AZ Beaufort, S c.: E. Robinson, Portland,
Ore, TO be appraiser of customs a. Port
Iaad, Ore; s. ]. Randall, Philadelphia,
Pa, to be assistant appraiser at Philadel-
phia Pa; Thomas Hebron, Cairo, H.. to
lbc supervising inspector of steam vessels
lat Memphis, Tenn; j. @. johnson, Benicia,
Cal, to De commissioner OF immigration
at san Francisco, Cal: W. w Acheson.
Beltview, Fla, TO be collector of internal
revenue at Jacksonville, Fla: J c. Mercer,
Berlin, Kan, to be collector of internal
revenue at Leavenworth, Kan; James A
Clark, Hillsboro, n. c., to be collector Of
tnternal revenue at Raleigh. n. C.
The Navy Department today has issued |
eR order dctaching Commander John |
Schouler, chief OF staff OF North Atlantic |
station, and granting him two months |
leave. Lieut. Hugh Rodman il ordered 10 |
for examination for promo
tion.
Two wears ago R. J. Warren. a druggist |