Evening star., 1901-07-20
Post Office Clerks in France Have
Plenty to Do.
Many Novel Features Maintained
for the Peoples Convenience.
THRIFT IS ENCOURAGED

PARIS, July 10. 1901.
An American stood in Paris subpost
office He was waiting to mail a letter.
waiting because there was nothing to do
but to wait In Paris there are no lamp
post boxes and druggists do not sell stamps
The tobacco bureau. where this man might
have been attended to. was still further or
so he waited in the subpost Office. as he had
waited before. Two Of the six windows
were closed.
why are they closed?" he asked a
French friend
Because two of the six clerks who ought
to tend them have gone on their weekly
holiday. I am not sure that the higher Of
fcials know 1t. but the thing is done. Four
do the work Of six each day. that two in
turn each day may take an outing"
At each of the four windows there were
half dozen people waiting turn. There
were servant girls with bank books, old
people come to draw their pensions. men
who wanted to telephone to Belleville or
Berlin. clerks with packages and telegram ms,
little capitalists intent on investments,
youths come to pay up their insurance and
foreigners or natives waiting to cash mon
ey orders.
They seem to be doing everything but a
post office business" remarked the Ameri-
can.
Lie pOSt OiHC0 Is complained or Tor Its
sloWness." replied his French friend, land
the reason really is because 1t tries to do
so much. Yet the people have got used to
all these services. They are given gratui-
tousiy and compactly. We are kept wait
ing, yet we save time in the. end And
think OF the security of the savings bank,
insurance and annuity features, the habits
or thrift they favor, and the convenience
TO the little people of their being centered
In the local subpost office. Think of the
guarantees Of state-controlled telegraph
and telephone lines
The Subpost Omce.
They were now standing outside The
Paris subpost office Is always an ordinary
store property, on corner. transformed to
meet the requirements of the service. A
counter cage and wickets fence off the
most OF the room from the public, who are
lett huddled together in the insufficient
common space. To answer the purpose of
lamD-post letter boxes Sits are cut in the
wall Letters for Paris are dropped into
one; letters for the departments and for
elsn countries are dropped into another;
second and third-class matter into a third
and pneumatic cards into fourth.
patent roller that does not always work
pretends to fOretell in each case the next
collection. Two Paris messenger boys,
called little telegraphists." hove into
sight just at the right moment. because
the American had been complaining of
their non-existence
''In America" he said, II have only to
touch an electric button to call a handy
messenger boy. who will run my errands
by the trip hour
Here are the messenger boys" replied
the Frenchman. "although you cannot get
them. by touching a button. Their original
purpose was to deliver kilograms When
the pneumatic tubes were put in the ser
vice was increased for their delivery. Have
you a pneumatic postal card service in
American cities?"
NO" confessed the American.
Then 1t squares us, so far said the
other Come inside and see 1t work"
While waiting to see pneumatic car
sent off the American studied the local
like our own. except that the postal and
telegraph services being united Throughout
France, the proper sum in postage stamps
affixed to a message is taken as its equiva-
lent In cash. The received dispatches are
always printed after the manner of the
stock-reporting slips OF American tick
ers." These slips. torn off at convenient
lengths. are pasted inside a sort Of en-
stitutes the ''petit-bleu," or regular tele-
gram. It's tariff counts the number CT
words employed. with u.s. The ,neu-
matte card service. for Paris only Is more
liberal.
The Pneumatic Cards.
Look, there goes one!' said the French
man.
The American, peering through a wicket
had his eyes fixed on one Of the machines
Occupying large space by itself behind
the counter. 1t seemed to be a great iron
frame with the look and noise of a spas
medically working printing press A boy
and a girl serve 1t. the boy doing the heavy
work and the girl selling. receiving and
handing over to him the "open" or "shut'
cards. You approach the girl, put down a
lO-cent piece and ask for "one carte-pneu-
matfque, closed
Or putting down three 2-cent pieces, ask
for 'an open one" which is a mere postal
card in appearance. Or, putting down 12
cents. you may ask for an .open one with
response or. still more extensively, 20
cents for CLOSED with response"
folding in the middle. with gummed edges