Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-03-28
HEROES OF THE MAIL.


HEROES OF THE MAIL.
Congress Grants $1,000 For Each
i Clerk Killed on Duty.
Congress. after much hesitation on
the subject, has at last granted a lump
sum Of $1,000 to the family Of every
railway mail clerk killed in the line Of
duty, says Washington letter. The
law will extend it's first benefits to
those who lose their lives during the
present year, and from that time on
will bestow an equivalent pension,
small though 1t be, upon the widows
and children Of q class Of Uncle Sans
employees which Is exposed to extraor-
dinary perils. Indeed there are no 9TH
er government servants (barring SOL
diers and sailors In war time perhaps),
whose occupation is nearly 80 danger
GUS.
There is no, other occupation In the
world that is so perilous as that Of our
railway mail clerks. They number
about 5000 and ordinarily they get
something like $1,000 year, though
their pay varies somewhat with length
Of service. It is not much, considering
the fact that they are constantly ex-
posed to chances Of death. During the:
last year, which broke the record for
casualties, they were mixed up In 800
accidents on the rail-. Nine Of them
were killed. eighty-nine Of them were
seriously injured and 302 Of them were
slightly injured. This, record was
nothing very extraordinary, however.
In 1901 mail clerks were caught in S25
accidents, In which seven were killed,
sixty-three seriously and. 229 slightly
wounded.
The variety Of perils to which these
brave men are exposed is astonishing.
A short time ago, In northern Ohio, g.
train of postal cars was derailed and
two Of them were thrown into Sam
dusky bay, with ten clerks shut up In
them. Their escape from drowning
was almost miraculous. On another
recent occasion, near Oswego, Kan, q
train was blown from the track by
tornado and the postoface employees
were seriously hurt. Another train, on
the Denver and Fort Worth line, ran
into washout; the mail car was tel
escoped by the baggage ear, the wreck
caught fire and the imprisoned clerk
was burned to death. In several re-
cent cases postal cars have .been held
I'D by robbers and riddled with bull
let's. 40
/ Fire, water, wind and robbers pis-
tolls are all dangers to be encountered
by the railway mail clerk. Inasmuch
as they spend their lives in travelling
they are bound to be mixed up in acci-
dents occasionally, and whether they
suffer or not is q mere matter OF,
chance. Quite commonly they do suf-
fer, partly because the mail car is
placed usually behind the tender,
which Is reasonably sure in case Of col
lision to be mashed to kindling wood
between the tender and the baggage
car. Recently, however, an effort has
been made to alter this arrangement,
placing the baggage car between the
tender and the mail car, and thus 1t is
hoped that the number Of casualties
will be lessened.
It is a very strange and interesting
fact that liability to accidents has
greatly increased on the railroads OF
the United States and is today greater
than ever before, notwithstanding the
marked improvements In methods OF
operating railway lines. The reason Is
simply that lines have multiplied, grid
ironing the country in every direction,
while the trains run faster and more
frequently. So, In spite OF superior
construction of road-bed. improved col
lision-proof cars and the protection az
forded by the admirable block system,
the number of accidents per mile OF
| railroad has actually increased.
OF this striking fact the record OF
casualties in the railway mail service
affords proof. the percentage OF killed
and injured among the travelling pos
tai clerks having steadily risen. Last
year, as already stated, 1t broke the
record with total Of 399 killed and
wounded, or just about 4 per cent. OF
the entire personnel. At that rate 1t
would appear that railway postal
clerk in twenty-five years OF service is
practically certain to be injured at
least once in an accident on the rail,
while his chances Of being killed dur
ing that period is about one in forty.
Hence the importance Of providing
some equivalent Of pension for the
families of clerks who lose their lives.
The law now provides that the $1,000
shall be paid to the widow or children
of any such employee killed In the line
of duty or who dies within one year
after an accident in which he has SUI
fered disabling injury. Supposing that
he is disabled, but is lucky enough not
to die, he receives full pay for twelve
months after the date Of the injury.
Few railway mail clerks last more
than twenty years in the service, their
work being done under such high ten
sion that, even If they escape death
or disabling injury, they are soon
worn out. At all times they are ex-
pected to defend the mails with their
lives, attacks upon postal cars by rob-
bers being not infrequent. II the clerk
refuses to open the door Of his car IN
response to demand by highWaymen
he must be prepared for an Immediate
fusillade Of bullets, followed, perhaps,
by an explosion Of dynamite. OF course
It is always the registered mail that
the robbers want particularly.
Mail cars today are very different We