The Anaconda standard., 1899-11-19

Der who know 10000 postoffices. To
know state. in the language of the
railway mail clerk is something differ
ent from what might be supposed by the
uninitated. Not only must he have
knowledge of the names of the towns.
but he must know what county each is
in and what railroad reaches it. If this
were all the task might not appear a diff
ficult one, but he must know, too, the
schedules on which the trains run and
be prepared to route letter by the
closest connections. There is no knowing
these things in theory. They must be
known in fact. Regular examinations are
made Of the men to see that they are up
on their states.
When man is first accepted in the SER
vice he Is examined frequently and then
eventually gets down to two examinations
each year On his accuracy and efficiency
depend his rise in the different class.fi-
cations. which means increase in salary.
This matter of advancing is not one of
pull but of cold record and mathemat-
fcal calculation. Every time man makes
an error it is checked against him and
counts in the records which are kept of
his average. When the time comes for
filling a vacancy in the class above the
man whose average is highest in his own
class is passed to the next one. The de-
partment allows the men to make mis-
takes which will delay letter 30 minutes,
but If the letter Is sent on wrong route
and delayed longer than that the error is
charged against him. The first time he
makes an error on a route he is notified,
or, as they in the service. it is brought to
his attention "for his information" The
next time he makes the same error he is
notified at the same time that 1t counts in
his average.
Men have to report one another to pro-
tect themselves. clerk who receives a
letter routed wrong must report 1t at
once, giving the time it was received and
from whom and to whom delivered. If he
fails to do so and 1t reaches an office late
it is traced along its route and the blame
distributed among the men who handle
it. All meritorious actions are credited
to man on his averages.
Each man has furnished to him num-
ber of what are called slips" and these
bear the names of towns or connections
to which he must deliver pouches or bags
on his run. The number of slips differs
as the runs differ On some runs only 40
slips are needed. while on other runs the
number required reaches 200. The slips
have to be folded that they will fit
into the slides in the pouches made for the
purpose.
There is erroneous impression that
the clerk works only when he is on his
run. As matter of fact. his longest
"OTklHS ROuTS are in the D!S tram SnedS
before the trains start. A clerk who goes
out of st. Louis on the fast mail at
o'clock in the morning goes to work at
$3.50 in the evening and works steadily up
to the time when the train pulls out. He
receives several deliveries from the post
office and gets mail from incoming trains
routed over his route, which he must
throw or work" as they call the ar
rangemcnt of the letters in the different
sacks
When the clerk reaches his car he finds
all of the racks piled up promfcuousy as
a result of the labors of the car cleaners
He has to first adjust an intricate sys.
TEN of racks. which hold the pouches
with thei: openings as much distended as
possible. Then he sorts his labels into the
cases provided for them and starts after
the mail that is brought to him. In mos
of the big fast mail trains over the trunl
lines out of st. Louis there are three ol
four mail cars, watch carry force O
from II to IS clerks Each man has a Ger
tain duty to perform, and he does it with
out regard to any other man. Each mai
works to the limit of hts energy or h
never would accomplish the task he i
| put to. system of fines and suspen
| sions is provided, which keeps the mel
close to their tasks.-St. Louis Globe
Democrat