The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-01-30

While ins Chicago last week the editor
went by invitation to visit one OF the
large shipping stations of the American
Express Company. 1t was about seven
in the evening when we reached the
large barracks like building where the
work is.done A steady stream of wag-
ons was pouring into the entrance way
each piled high with all kinds OF pack
ages. The wagons had been at work
all the afternoon collecting from every
part of the big crty. The loads were
backed up against the high platform
and unloaded. According to Caeser,
all Gaul is divided into three parts; &C
cording to the American Express office
in Chicago, the United States is diviced
into four parts New England, New
York and the East, Illinois and the
South, Iowa and the middle west, Wis
consin, ST. Paul and the great north
west. The packages were first heaped
in great pile on the floor and then
sorted into the divisions named. On
the platform were four little cubby hole
places, largesenough for one man to sit
and write. and in these were located the
bill clerks Out side each of these little
houses was platform scale, and a row
of paste pots under which a gas jet
blazed. The process of billing then
commences and it is done so quickly
that our previous wonder that Chicago
bill clerks wrote SO poorly was changed
to wonder that the writing is legible at
all. The helper outsi' e the little house
grabs package out of the heap, tosses it
on the scales, dips a tag i'll the hot paste
and slaps it on any where and at the
same time bowling through a small
opening in the little dolls house contriv.
ance / . the bill clerk. We CHANGED by
when package to Denison was billed,
it sounded like this, "Denisoniwa, pack
age Huff & K weighs seven pounds,
weight seven, and before the words
,vere cold another package was under
v;s. We explained to Mr.. Wells the
bill clerk that it should be Haugh q
Kemming. The bill clerks, by the way
must be experts and specialists. They
must know the exact rate to every point
in the territory and the exact charge to
make. For instance the rate to Deni-
son is $500 per hundred and a seven
pound package costs fifty-fve cents.
All these rates and charges the bill
clerk must know without a. moments
hesitation; if he does not he will be
helplessly stalled. After the packages
have been billed they are hauled away
in large baskets and again sorted; firstly
according to the different routs and
then the small packages are placed in
chests. This 'chest" system is COM
paratively new and Mr.. Buchanan the
agent at this Chicago shipping station
has carried it to perfection. For instance
all small packages going to points be-
tween Clinton and Cedar Rapids are
| pldCOu Ill Ou0i Cu0SL, U0UWO0u S6udl
Rapids and Boone in another, between
Boone and Council Bluffs in another.
In this way the messenger does not
have to touch the basket until he reach,
es the first point named on the chest.
Some idea may be gotten Of the extent
of the business when we say that one
hundred and fifty of these chests are
sent from this one Office every evening.
Again to illustrate the rapidity of the
system, it is told that few weeks age
a man in northern Iowa broke piece
of machinery and wished new casting
made as quickly as possible. The order
was received early in the afternoon, ii
was telephoned to the foundry, special
wagon was sent to get it, it was made
during the afternoon brought to the ex-
press Office, billed and sent out the same
evening, while the casting was still
TOO HOT TO HANDLE WITHOUT GLOVES.
We wish to thank the company's EN-
ployees for their courtesies and to as
sure our readers that the busy hum OF
industry, bringing order out of confu.
4 sion was sight worth the seeing