The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-12-18

seemed impossible to get one who could
do the work and keep it up and gave
me to understand that he thought that l
would not 60 very good work for several
days Ihls put me on my mettle, and
determined to take the run and do the
work as well as it ever had been done.
The run left early in the morning and
returned in the evening. That night /
thought of nothing but my work, and
when l went to bed it was quite late, for
l had been studying the schemes for the
proper handling of the mail. / set the
alarm clock for $50 and dropped off to
sleep. Then my dream began. thought
I got up early. went to a restaurant and
ate breakfast and then accompanied the
mail to the train. I worked in the yards
two hours before the train started and,
as the stations went by, I worked like
beaver and had everything going
smoothly. The local was fast, for the
stations were only a few miles apart-it
seemed feet to me. I seemed to be over
the heaviest and fastest part of the work
and the train had just LETT & IcamOnga
when noticed three sacks of papers la
beled Cucamonga, which I had carried
by that town. My heart went up in my
mouth, for it is a serious mistake to car
~ daily papers beyond their destination,
and besides that I had been trying so
hard to make a good record for my first
trip and had been so elated over my sue
cess. I gazed in a helpless manner at
the sacks, when noticed a trap door in
the roof of the car At the same time
saw a step ladder near the end of the
car, and, through some sort of instinct,
1 placed the ladder under the trap door
and climbed up. There were printed in
Structions pasted by the trap door, which
read that in case any mail had been car
ried by the clerk should take the pole
with a hook on the end of it, put the
mail on the end of the hook and climb
on the roof of the car. He should then
hang the mail on a sort of trolley wire,
which I noticed for the first time ran
along the line of the railroad directly
over the car, much as trolley wire runs
over the street car tracks. was ticlxled
to think that had found a way out of
my mistake without the chief clerk
learning of it, and I at once followed the
directions. 1 stood on the top of the car
and watched the sacks go back to the
station, and they went like the wind.
1 could see the postmaster reach for
them when they were at the station, and
my heart steadied down and lost about
20 beats per minute. Then my troubles
began. I seemed to see the interior of
the chief clerks office, and heard an
immense gong ring. 1t did not stop ring
ing, but kept it up while I watched the
actions of the assistant chief clerk He
grabbed pad and began to write, look
ing at a large dial, which was on the
side Of the room, and which 1 had not
noticed before. It was black and shaped
like half the dial Of a clock, but in place
of the one row of figures, as there is on
the clock dial. there were three rows and
they were not figures. In the first was
the names of all the clerks on the roll
under the chief clerk. In the second was
a lot of numbers and in the third was
the name of the different runs and the
towns located on them. There were three
large hands like the hands of a clock,
working from the center of the DIAL and
the instant the gong commenced to ring
the hands few around. One stopped at
my name, another stopped at the num-
Der 3, denoting three sacks of papers,
and the other stopped at the run and
town beyond which 1 had carried the
mail. 1 saw at once that the trolley was
an electric continuance which not only
carried the mail back to the station
passed, but also registered the entire
procedure in the chief clerks office. 1
attempted to speak to the assistant chief
clerk who sat there with fendish smile
on his face but 1 could not make him
hear on account of the noise the gong
was making I tried SO hard that the
sweat started on my face, and, with a
tremendous effort. I aWoke and the
alarm clock was buzzing like mad. 1t
was $50 a. m, and time for me to get
up and take my run. If you can ex-
plain that electric idea you will be able
to do more than 1 have ever been able to
do. I don't know any more about cleo
tricity than I do of the influence of the
moon on the China sea-