Washington sentinel., 1901-06-08
r,.,1a nrt.n Postal service.

easy re II dhGl9 1I~-A "a
strain and is subject to unremIt-
ting mental and physical hardship.
He is always overw orked, but he
must be ever alert, expert and acc-
curate. The business OF q CONT
nent depends on the correc, ness
OF his instantaneous mental pro-
cesses and his rapid manipulations
"a letter "nisthrowu" may break
a heart or burst a bank or ruin
railway corporation.
Vigor, vitality and resolution
are essential in a beginner as well
as keenest intelligence and un-
wearied spirit Of application. But
the physical qualities are slowly
sapped and undermined by such
steady exacrions of duty and the
mental qualities are proportion
ately deteriorated,
The lurching Of cars going at
tremendous speed around sharp
curves; the continued succession
OF efforts 70 maintain equilibrium
the monotonous vibrations terri
bly, destructive to nerve tissue, to
spinal column and to brain tex
ture, are the daily and hourly CON
comitauts OF his ordinary work.
Practitioners often relent and go
back to their lCTmer duties. One
aspiraut for employment in this
field was assigned to a notably
vigorous route. He never finished
his first trip; ne went halt way,
bought a ticket home, and re-
turned as a passenger. Replying
afterward to s3me questions as TO
the labor involved he replied:
Lifting and unlockinP two hundred
pound pouches, shaking out con
tents, arranging same, removing
pouches, locking same, carrying
same away, jumping on and stamp
inc on mail matter, rearranglng
sacks. then going over same work,
continuing same seventeen hours,
without rest, with trains flying
round curves and singing you
against everything thatis slung
against you"
Hence, the railway mail system
is a huge Gorgon, incessantlY,
cruelty deyouring specimens oithe
best manhood Of the nation.
Under present conditions it must
continue to demand and devour,
in order that the currents Of trade
and the tides OF civilization may
continue TO flow. Suspend the
man wrecking process a single
week for needed, universal rest
and social chaos would ensue. A
cold blooded table in the last an
uual report o the Superintendent
Of the Railway Mail Service tells
a dreadful tale. It's the Casualty
Column OF the system Tor twenty
SIX murderous years.
a briet resume oI some OF the e
cases will give an inkllng Of their
| peculiar nature. though they are
| BY no means the O. ost destructive.
On line ia northern Ohio, train
containing four postal cars was
derailed and two cars thrown from
the track into the waters Of San
du5ky Bay with ten clerks shut up
in them, whose escape from drown
ing was Little short OF miraculous,
On one of the lines Between Chi
| cago and Cincinnati, a clerk in de.
| ivering mail at a local station
where the train did not stop lost
his balance through a sudden lurch
OF the car, Tell through the DOOR
way and was instantly killed. In
two cases during the year, one in
Kansas the other in Florida, trains
we're struck by tornadoes and
blown from the track. The mail
car in each instance was badly
damaged and the clerks we're seri
ouslY injured On the Denver and
Fort Worth line, a train ran into a
washout, the mail car was thrown
down an emOankment and tele-
scoped by the baggage car; the
wreck caught fire and the i'm.
| prisoned clerk was burned to
| death, On route near Memphis,
Tenn, the mail car was thrown
| down an embankment, turned
| partly over, and catching fire from
| the lamps, the interior Of the car,
| including a large quantity OF mail,
was entirely burned. but the clerk
| escaped with slight injuries by
breaking his way through the glass
| door. In several cases mail trains
have been held up by robbers and
the mail car perforated by bullets;
| in one OF these the clerk was shot in
the lace and seriously injured.
Official records show that great
| heroism and devotion are shown
by the route agents in protecting
their special trust. Over and over
again, Notwithstanding severe in
| juries received by them in train
wrecks, the scattered mail matter
has been collected and transferred
20 another train or the nearest post
Office before they would pause to
have their wounds dressed. In
one case where a train was thrown
over an embankment near Omaha,
the postal clerks hands were
severely burned BY seizing a lamp
and holding it to prevent 1t from
upsetting and firing the mail mat.
ter.
And so ,he work Of destruction
| goes on, apparently without miti-
cation or remedy. The MANNED
victims and the dependents Of the
slain are even deprived Of the poor
recompense Of such provision for
their iuture as is vouchsafed 10 the
officers and men OF the army and
navy.
kelieL has been re-eatedlU asked