The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-06-01

dies more than 10000 pieces Of
i mail each day, and yet, with
q small force of clerks. so pro-
ficient is the distribution of mail and
So perfect the system, that seldom is a
letter missent. Daily the carriers col
Get about 5000 letters and packages
rom tho letter boxes throughout the
city, and ten times this amount Of mail
comes In from other postoffices to be
distributed here, some of 1t for city de-
livery and some to be forwarded to 9TH
er places. A small force of less than
dozen clerks in the postoffice keep all
this mail ION the 60" distributing It
as fast as collected. and in nearly ev-
cry instance sending It to the right
place.
The life of n postal clerk Is siren
Gus ono. Those In tho Birmin CHAM Of
fee do more IN proportion to each man,
than any other office In this section of
the United States. They have to keep
their wits about them and carry In Their
memories a vast number Of facts appcr-
tanning to the location of the postcffices
throughout the state and adjoining
states. This information must be pos
sessed by each mailing clorll, and the
distribution clerks must know every
street in the city, practically every bus
mess house and most of the names Of
thoce who receive mall A mailing clerk
must carry in his head a mental map of
the United States. and distributing
clerk likewise must keep before him
mental picture Of the city's streets and
alleys
The chief mailing clerk In the Blrming
ham office is Mr.. S. D. Harris, who has
been III the postal service for twenty
years. lie has filled nearly every position
in that time and for the past three years
has held his present position. H knows.
and must sec that the other clerks I'm
der him know. every postofYice in Ala
| bama, what railroad 1t Is OH. what coun-
| ty 1t is in and tho time that ench train
leaves birmingham carrying mall for any
| part OF the state A mailing clerk must
| also know the different routes that mail
| goes Mail for tho same city often goes
| by different routes, at different hours
| Thus ono mail for Savannah goes via
Atlanta, and another mail goes over the
Central via. Macon. There arc 35 mail
trains leaving Birmingham daily and the
same number bring In mall. There are
twelve city collections daily and two
extra collections from tho hotels. This
mail is separated by the mailing clerks
into two lots. that for city distribution,
and that for foreign distribution. The
former is turned over TO the city distri-
buting clerks and the latter Is sorted by
the mailing clerks into packages for diff
ferent points. The Birmingham office
makes 442 separations of mail. About half
of this number is for points In Alabama.
Mississippi gets more mail from here
than any other state and next to Miss
issippi comes Georgia and Tennessee.
Much of the distribution of mail Is
done by the railway postal clerks. Mail
for West Virginia and Virginia is sep
arated by the Birmingham office into
different packages according to whether
1t goes by the Louisville and Nashville
or over the Alabama Great Southern
Mail for large cities Is put up in a pack
age which goes through without being
opened. Mail for small stations along
the lines of the railroads is put up In
bags, which are opened by the railway
mailing clerks. There are always two
bags known as bags No. l and No. 2.
In going west over the Frisco System for
| instance. all mail for Alabama points,
| which would of course have to be distri-
| but first, is put in bag No. l. In this
| b there are two packages known as
No. l and No. O. Package No. 1 contains
| mail for the county. Thus the clerk opens
and he knows he has the mail which
| must be distributed first
| Before mailing clerk or any employee
| of the postoffice gets position he must
| first undergo civil service examina-
ton He is examined in the usual studies,
such as geography, mathematics, his
tory etc. If he wishes to become a mail
ing clerk he begins by stamping letters,
opens and closes mail bags and assists
the other clerks until he learns the
routes A bright clerk can usually learn
them in 80 days. After he becomes n
mailing clerk he must each year undergo
a card examination" to test his profile
iency. This is a local requirement by
Postmaster Hughes, who is one of the
strfctest postmasters and closest observ-
ers of postal matters in the country,
and. who with a small force, has made
very proficient service. At this ex-
animation cards are filled out with names
and addresses and the clerk is required to
| distribute them just as If they were let
ters If he shows he Is not proficient he
is reduced to a minor position.
Mr.. C. l.. Stapleton is the chief distri-
| buting clerk. His duties are to act as
| superintendent of the city delivery and
| superintendent of carriers besides his
| duties as distributing clerk. He has been
| in the Birmingham postoffice six years.
| He served two years as substitute car
! rier, one as a carrier and the balance of
the time as distributing clerk He has
been promoted under Dr. Hughes adj
ministration from assistant carrier to his