The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-15
BOY MAIL CARRIERS.

New York Times.


New York Times.
A small boy in the official gray uniform Of
the Postoffice Department, with the words
Special Delivery on his cap. was sitting
in the corner Of a Brooklyn downtown car.
He was apparently. fourteen or fifteen
years old. the youngest of the carriers OF
special delivery mail attached to the Brook
lyn Postoffice.
On being asked whether he and the other
boys were obliged to pass civil-servtce ex,
animation to obtain the position, he looked
up With twinkle R;sd In his y eye inst vet recom.
mended to it by some one holding a respon-
sible position, not necessarily one Under the
government, though a member OF Congress
matter who stands for a boy, the boss Is the
one who sizes us fellows up. He can tell by
Just looking whether we are smart enough
for the job. and OF course , ne mas c,o out
hand and know a few other things. 1t don
take him long. either, to pick out the chap
that is inclined to give back talk BE cour-
teous to every one he says, and You bet we
have to mind him. too.
There are about seventy-hve or us In
Brooklyn, and our ages range from fifteen
to twenty-0ne years. We are distributed to
the different stations all over the city in
numbers varying according to the business
capacity of the locality and subsequent de-
mand for specials. In the general postoffice.
employed, and every month between 5000
and 5000 special delivery letters pass
through our hands.
morning, and as rule get through work
by in the evening. On an average we each
take out from ten to twelve letters every
day. and 1t often happens that two or three
of these letters will arrive at the office at
one time for the same district, so that the
same boy can deliver them all on one route.
OF course we have the same privilege as the
or~fov 80 LING fro in hn nf.r
vided we have this leather bag slung across
our shoulders.
I'VE have very little chance and certainly
no no inclination to play the he trrant; in fact.
1t Is for US, for, considering that every let
ter means a matter Of cents to the boy
who delivers 1t, and as we have to wait
quicker we are back the sooner we are like
ly to be sent out again, besides which We
are timed from the moment we take down
our bag and receive our book with the letter
to be delivered to the minute we report our
return at the dispatcher's desk.
"As general thing we get from SIS to $50
a month. Up to only short time ago. how
even though we might have made more,
reckoning by the number Of letters we had
delivered during the month. But that is all
changed, and now we are entitled TO draw
as much as we can make. After all I think
that is only what Is right. for we have to
provide our own uniform, which, by the
way, taxes quite a little slice ouS or the
months pay. 1 don't know just how 1t is.
even though we have not to buy new one
every month or so, you would be surprised
to see how they shrink-or. perhaps. IL is
that we grow so terribly fast.
lis there any time lost after letter gets
to the office? / guess not. If after tion has
been paid to the mailing of the spccial let
ter, so as to make a good connection right
through, then there Is no delay on our side,
let me tell you. A letter can be sent from
the Grand Central Station and be delivered
in Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn, in twenty
minutes. 1t takes barely five minutes for a
letter to come through the pneumatic tube
from Forty-second street. New York. to the
Brooklyn general postofhce. and we do the
rest.
Sunday? We are generally pretty busy
Sunday mornings. The convenience Of a spe-
cial delivery is better appreciated on Satur-
day night than at any other time In the
week. i guess great deal Of urgent bust
ness is transacted on the Sabbath day, and
certainly great number Of engagements
are made and broken.
what do we do while waiting To- be sent
out? Nothing much He looked trifie en-
barrassed and shuffied his feet 1.-The truth
is" he at last blurted out. 'rt comes awful
hard for US boys 10 have to sit still. We
sometimes we try to play ball on the side
street, but-"he shook his head despond-
ently-'fun spells trouble at the Office
Lots Of the boys do some hard studying
while waiting around, and we are sll on the
lookout for better job we grew older
The position of special delivery boy is often
the stepping stone to good clerkship I'm the
Postoffice Department, IL we only Get ABOUT
1t in the right way"