The sun., 1902-12-21

EXTRA PAY WITH THE WORK AND
EVERYBODY GLAD TO IO 1T.


StOreS, Bhnhs. fuCtOr1es hnO Every
where Ese-This season . Record
breaker for Presents and Prosperity.
1t isn't all play at Christmas time. For
n aorly everybody the play time ceases when
the boy or the girl grows up and goes
to work. and this week i'm every store and
Office and factory it is work at top speed
and till late at night making the holiday
that everybody will enjoy on Thursday.
But it's worth while. The weariest shop
girl In any of the big stores seems to think
so. II is a charac sri 10 Of the spirit Of
Christmas. whicl fls everybody. which
nobody has adequately described since
Charles Dickens wrote a Christmas Carol
that this is a holiday when nobody seems
TO mind the work very much and every
body joins in to AXE it really merry time
For one thing there are mighty few OF
those who are willing to work who can't find
q job In the Christmas rush. There is
greater demand for folks who want to earn
something than at any other holiday in the
year. and for those in employment already
there are more opportunities for making
a little more money for the Christmas stock
ing. Christmas time seems to make every
business brisker and every employer open
handed.
So, If it isn't the children. who are every
where and pervade everything at Christ
mas time. it must be the capacity to earn
more that makes all the grown-ups cheerful
And this Christmas is q record breaker in
that respect
Never were 30 few people out of work.
never were the shops and the factories 40
busy and never were folks so prosperous
and presents no many. Consequently. every
worker. from the men in the post Office to
the girls at the ribbon counter. is buster
than ever before.
Its hard to tell who are the busiest
A Sun reporter tried TO find out in the last
few days and everybody he saw vowed
that his job was the heaviest. If any one
seemed to have the right to say that, though,
maybe ii was the folks in the Post Office
The Christmas rush there is only beginning,
but there il no doubt about that smashing
all previous records.
They can gauge the Christmas traffic
at the Post Office almost a week ahead Of
time by the departure Of the foreign mails
They carry TO the old folks at home the
gifts Of their sons and daughters. brothers
and sisters and cousins. who are making
their way in the new country. and the
amount Of these gifts, in money and in
other tlings, is sure indication of tie
prosperity or the reverse on this side Of
the ocean.
Ills year is on the top wave Of pros
perity. -Four big ocean liners have sailed
with the Christmas mails in the last week
They are carrying abroad more than a
million dollars of American money 10 the
countries beyond the sea
The big Kronprinz Wilhelm and the
Lii in
alone The st. Paul and the giant Oceanic,
which sailed on ednesday, carried nearly
half a million mole in international money
orders, payable in fifteen European
co, ntries. The st. Paul's share alone was
Si8o.8'5.
The first despatch of cash was only a
few hundreds less than 100000 in excess
of last years first shipment, or almost
double. The later mail made it sure that
this years Christmas gifts money for
al road will lie at least one-tl. ri more than
last ChristInas's. which in itself was
record breaker.
In the foreign money order department
of the Post Office 1850 clerks have been
working day and night getting the orders
ready and keeping the cunts straight
Christmas week Ia no sinecure for them
In every other department in tho Post
Office il is the same story. The foreign
mail pouches are jammed full Of packages
as they never were before. The mails are
thousands Of pounds heavier than last year.
The domestic mails are filing up earlier
and carrying more matter
The domestic money order business
shows as great an increase 6s the foreign
business On one day, Tuesday Of LIST
week, the total transactions at the Post
Office reached the record-breakng total
of q 1884, 74l.
Scarcely WIS the outgoing European
mail out Of the way when in came the mail
from Europe-more than 5000 sacks o. il,
They are hustling this mail yet ana the
rush will continue through the early days
of this week
Then will come the domestic Christmas
letters--bushels Of EN-. You couldn't
have harder worked citizens than the Post
Office clerks and the mail carriers this
week. and if il were any other season YOU
probably wo"ldn't have any more wasp
ish and inn lent ones
But are they AT Christmas time? Take
look At the mail carrier the next time
he staf & ~ around under his pleasure Civ
ing loao!
One of the interesting things they tell
ebout this years Christmas business at
the Post Once is that the mail for the Philip
pines has been wonder this year-at
least double IA big as it has ever been before.
while the mail for Cuba is normal and tha,
for Porto Rico slightly larger than last
year.
Then there ia a miscellaneous lot of mail
matter, with many big and promising look
ing parcels III II, gone CHASING tllS North
Atlantic squadron 10 the West Indies, this
year, That went out early last week and
from the loois Of II there won't he many
men in the feet with the wherewithal
from howe to enjoy a merry Christmas.
Uncle Sam does his part TO increase the
general prosperity by engaging extra
helpers for his work at Christmas time, but
the express companies do a greater share,
for they need 30 many more workers. With
the express companies a normal months
business is all jammed into the ten days
before Christmas.
Thcytry all sorts Of schemes to get folks
to send Christmas presents a few days
ahead Of time. Announcement is even
made that the company will hold pr ,sen,s
marked for that purpose at it's delivery
Office until Christmas Day and will take
the greatest care OF them iii then
Blu, it all goes for nothing, so the COM
panies have to hire hundreds Of extra clerks,
drivers, helpers and stablemen. not to
speak Of horses and wagons, to hustle the
piling up Christmas presents along, TAX
ing its chances Of securing as efficient help
~ possible. Such help Is so hard to secure.
though, In a technical business like the
express business that II Ia found better
TO lay aside routine Office work wherever
possible and TO press every available per-
son from soon after daybreak until long
after dark into dealing with the Christmas
arrela