davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1903-08-02
he letter into the towns pigeon

toss the letter into the towns pigeon
hc!e.
There are Postal Guides on every car,
of course. but there is no time to con-
suit them. 1t Is a question of memory,
pure and simple.
After the clerk has separated" the
mail for each town he ties it up and
puts little slip into the bundle, stamp
ed with his name. the day and date. and
the hour when he handled the mail.
Should the village postmaster find tina;
the mail clerk has put letter into the
wrong bundle he forwards it 10 the
proper address and informs the division
superintendent of the error. The sI.per-
intendent checks the error up against
| the clerk who made it, and a certain
number of errors in 4 month will mean
discharge.
Some of the mail brought into the car
is already sorted. and this is put into
the storage car"
Tells On Brain and Drawn.
Once The conductor pulls the bell rope
and the engineer throws open the throt-
tie. all the doors of the mail car are
closed. so that the wind may not blow
any letters away. 1t does not take z
phenomenal effort TO imagine how hot it
must be in the car on warm summer
days like these. or what the jolting must
be so close 10 the engine, or the din
when the engine is laboripg up the Mills.
The train pulls slowly out OF the de-
pot, rumbles over the yards, and skirts
round about the city streets. The rail-
way clerk is now plying his trade in
good earnest. Each man stands in front
of his 200 pigeonholes, separating
letters and papers as IL on some tremen-
dous wager. It is a sweep OF the right
hand TO the armful of letters. a crouch
or stretch to reach the proper pigeon
hole. and a jerk of the wrist to send it
in. Think of doing this sort of athletics
while the train is moving at fifty miles
an hour These clerks have no warn
ing when the engine is about to enter a
curve; they get no chance to brace
themselves. as the black and blue spots
on their limbs tell afterward.
Bags and pouches are ready by the
time they reach the Maryland towns.
AMI one clerk throws them out and
works the catcher" too, the giant iron
arm which hooks off the mail bags that
are hung up OF the pole near the rail-
road track
When Greensboro is reached the
clerk has done eleven hours steady work
and is tired out. Still. he does not
complain; he rather congratulates him
self on his good fortune in not having
to do twenty-four hours and in finishing
his separation" when the train gets TO
the North Carolina town. 1t is then
that he realizes why the civil service
papers said that no candidate would be
eligible for this service unless in good
physical health and having no physical
defects Another crew takes the place
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

had one yourself. It's only 2 sharp jar
at first then the pain sets in after two
or three minutes and the only thing you
want is water. water That absurd lit
| tie priest went around and gave each
of us drink of water. Strange to say
I can remember II weII-he called every
one OF US Jack. He might have known
that wasn't our name; il couldn't have
been. in fact. but he didn't care-not he.
He called US Jack and the fellows didn't
mind IL a bit Queer. wasn't il? Ny
aunt, that water was good. Well. Jack
how's it now. EN-? and then drink o.
water. II was delicious.
"He stayed with us all night and die
all man could to help us. When morn
ing came We were carted of to the hos
pital and tinkered up. and here l am"
Honesty of the Mail Clerk.
In the face OF Uncle Sans warnings
people viii continue to send silver and
even gold through the mails They do
not even register their letters. This l.
an excellent chance for robbery, and not
only that. but an excellent chance to
come of scot free II an envelope Is
tempered with on the route from Maine
TO Frisco. where is the man who shall
say who has done It? Despite this fact
the robberies by postal clerks. be it sais
TO their credit, are extremely rare.
There are approximately 10. $50 rail-
way mail clerks N the service OF
these 200 are employed in the way sta
lions and do desk work of some form
he he MI
the rail. In 1902 s4.s57 .s6S.57 was ex-
pended on the service, an increase OF
s24S.72s.04 over that of 1901. At the
close of the fiscal year Of 1902 there
were sol cars in use. 215 in reserve,
2,26S apartment cars in service daily
ana sol in reserve, making a total of
S.7s5 cars and apartments in the rail-
way mail service There were S177,-
So, 2z0 pieces of first class mall matter
handled and 6.ss5, 299. 400 pieces of Sec
ond, third, and fourth class matter dis
tributed. making a total of IL. o62. $50, GAO
pieces. exclusive of registered matter.
which passed through the clerks hands.
1t is Interesting TO read in the report
of the Second Assistant Postmaster
General the descriptions OF accidents
along the lines throughout the United
States One OF them reads: Train
derailed near Exline, the accident being
due 10 spreading rails. The entire
train. with the exception OF the en-
CINE, was thrown down an embankment
and overturned The mail car caught
fire and Clerk Smith was burned to
death Several hours delay was neces-
sary"
In charge OF this immense service
are General Superintendent James G.
White and Assistant Superintendent
Alexander Grant, officers OF tried eff
who have their desks in the
Postofrce building. and who are 10 be
praised for seeing that the service runs
smoothly even 20 its minutest wheel
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

woven across the country. When you
realize this you Will understand what
| immense trouble and expense is caused
progress of the mails The clerks on
| the Washington and Greensboro
have all they can do to attend to the
daily work put before them: think what
| it would mean If their work accumulated
| for two or three days. One little hitch
| in this magnificent system, which is
/ built to run Ike clockwork, and no end
OF complications would follow. Mail
| bags would pile up at sidings. letters
and important packages be held over.
newspapers kept waiting. and the bust
ness of the country grow more and more
hampered. For this reason Congress
and the President have always been
strict to the point Of severity in deal
ing with the man who attempts to clog
this machinery. His shrift is ever of the
shortest
a few years ago a cowboy cut West
stuck up a letter carrier who was
taking the mail from one ranchero to
another. The cowboy was reckless
enough to think that the mail pouch
would yield him something handsome.
He rified every letter, but there was
nothing in them 10 repay his labor
Thoroughly Disguised. the cowboy rode
of. but posse OF grim and bearded
western ranchmen rode after him and
captured him in a short while. SEN
teEce of twenty years was imposed
The Sea Service
The mail of the United States has be-
come so great in bulk that the delay
OF sorting it in the city postofices has
to be done away with. This necessity
called into being the railway postal
clerk. and he has proved himself an in
valuable part OF the great postal sys-
ten. The railway postoffice scheme has
been found so successful that it was put
into working order on the ocean liner
during John Wanamaker's term as
Postmaster General Staterooms are
now provided and fitted up for the use
of postal clerks on almost every ocean
going steamer. On shipboard these
clerks work from eight to ten hours
every day Of the voyage. Letters are
sorted according to cities and States
when coming this way, and by railroad
lines when on the way to Germany An
American usually has charge OF the out
going steamer and a German of the in
coming. These clerks represent the
best men in intellect and energy of the |
pos tai services of the two nations.
In Mr.. Wananaker's time the Ger
man wore a military uniform and car
ried a short sword. calling himself "der |
reichs post secretaer." The American |
wore plain blue uniform and a natty |
cap, and called himself ''sea post
clerk"
When the big liner Elder went down |
OF the Irish coast in 1888, der reichs |
post secretaer" on board made for thk |
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

laws and English institutions as much
as possible. Not so Seldom.
England he is fond OF saying. "can
only teach US what TO avoid. We must
not allow our country to sink into the
condition of England"
His policy from the start has been "a
tax the big land owners and capitalists
out OF existence by the graduated taxa
tion of land and incomes. and to divide
the land in small lots among the people.
His opponents In the house of repre-
sentatives said such a course was OPP
posed TO English principles.
Il know that" retorted Seldom. .Ir.
England half the people who reach the
age OF sixty-fve also reach the poor
house. and in London one person out OF
five dies in the workhouse, the hospital
or the lunatic asylum.
Well may We question the economic
and social system Of which this is the
procuct! We want to establish our
civilization in this new land on a broad
er basis, in a deeper sympathy for hu-
manlty."
Thus 1T is that New Zealand. under
Seddon-s rule, has become the pet state
or socialists all over the world
Seldom boasts that If he is a Socialist
ne Is also one OF the stanchest of i'm
perialists- 1t is said that when the
Boer war broke out he was dissuaded
with difficulty from giving himself
commission and going TO the front He
had 10 be content with sending 5000
other New 2ealanders TO South Africa
he wanted TO send the Maoris TO fight
the Beers. and advocated sterner meas
ures toward the Beers. The Maoris
he said, in a speech. know how 10 con-
duct war and how to treat their enc
mics They don't trouble about making
prisoners"
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

In the old days political life was siren
uous in New Zealand. Oftentimes. when
addressing public meetings or canvass
ing for votes. he was obliged TO prove
Fhis doctrines orthodox by apostolic blows
and knocks"
New Zealanders are fond of telling
how he descended from the platform at
enc rowdy meeting, walked through the
yelling crowd up to couple of the ring
leaders, seized one with each hand
dragged them from their seats, kicking
and fighting, and threw them down
stairs without any body's help. Then
ne went back to the platform and calmly
finished his speech amid respectful ST.
lence.
Seldom soon became recognized as one
OF the strongest men of the Radical
party. When Premier Balance died, in
1893, everybody said there was no one
who could succeed him and hold the
party together as he had done. But
Seldom stepped into the vacant place and
soon led the Radicals TO triumphs they
had never dreamed of under Balance.
Since 1898 he has been prime minister
of New Zealand. Last November his
party was again returned to power by a
large majority. which will keep him at
the helm until the end of 1905.
But he is not only premier. He is the
lord high everything else OF the colony
postmaster general, minister of labor,
minister for native affairs, minister for
electric telegraphs. colonial treasurer.
etc. And for all these Offices he draws
salary only of 6 1000.
When Seldom and his colleagues came
into power thew determined, as one of
them has put it, to be thorough paced
revolutionists.' England's colonial
statesmen, as a rule, try TO copy English
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

I remember. way back in 1865 said
an old colonist, hearing a man in Sed-
don's saloon make a foul remark about
woman in the settlement. Digger
Dick vaulted across the bar. took hin.
by the throat. threw him to the ground.
and nearly shook the life out of him.
Three OF the mans friends, who were
drinking at the bar, caught hold of him,
but Dick shook them off as a terrier
shakes off rats, and held the man down
until he took back his words.
Dick was always ehivaIrous toward
women They were safe from insult
even in the toughest mining camp il he
happened to be there
But though he was a great fighter, he
was always on the side OF law and order.
They say he prevented many a riot and
lynching in the old Iawless days. and
did everything in his power TO civiIize
the mining districts"
As the years passed by he grew rich
and became the most popular man in the
place. The workingmen swore by him.
for he had been a workingman himself;
and he did not forget his old friends when
he became prosperous. Even TO this dav
when he goes down to the country where
he made his money. the chums OF his
mining days call him Dick, and talk TO
him as If here still one of themselves
Seldom increased his popularity by
warmly advocating the interests of the
miners in their frequent disputes with
the government officials. Incidentally
he was elected to several local offices
and in 1879 was sent to the New Zealand
parliament as the representative of one
OF the ming districts. He has held his
seat since then without break, winning
every election.
The Washington times., 1903-08-02
OWN go the gates as the gray
haired flagman turns the creak-

ONN' go the gates as the gray
haired nasman turns the ereah-
ing handle, and with a long
drawn screech, a swelling roar, and the
'chick-a-chickt, chick-a-chickt," of the
steam in his cylinders the big passenger
locomotive sweeps by. A train of Pull
mans clatter behind and in a moment
he has whipped round a curve and is out
of sight. If your eyes are good you may
have caught a glimpse of the passengers
reclining easily in their chairs. looking
calmly out of window or eating break
fast in the superb dining car.
There is a car right behind the tender,
however. which may have escaped your
notice. This car carries passengers, but
they do not recline in the embrace OF
easy chairs nor eat tempting breakfasts.
They are railway mail clerks
The Railway Mail Service.
The railway mail service-the words
call up a picture of active men. in shirt
sleeves, working hard and working ac-
curately, sorting letters. parcels. pack
ages. papers; picture of fast trains and
fiving mail pouches. of silent clerks IL
blue uniforms to whom half past two IS
never half past two. but two thirty.
There is no error as TO the hard and
fast worl1-judge for yourself.
One Of the most important routes in
the middle East and South is the one
reaching from Washington TO Green's
boro, North Carolina, and known in
the department as the "Wssh. and
Green's" There are four crews of half
4 dozen men each to operate this route
and they work eleven consecutive hours
on each trip. Each two crews works
six days at stretch with a couple OF
hours rest between each shift of eleven
hours, and then rests six full days while
the other two crews take their place.
These nimble fellows handle during
their eleyen-hour trip from seventeen
to twenty tons of mail matter, and dis
tribute TO the thousands of postofices
in Virginia. North Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama. and South Carolina.
How II Is Done.
If you want to pose as an expert, how
ever 90 uOt Sptdh 70 d runway mai
clerk of distributing" mail. He knows
at once that you never saw the inside
OF car Say separate" and he viii
offer you his tobacco pouch. The
Wash. and Greens" leaves the city
about tSo hours and a half after the
railway mail clerk has reported at the
car and entered his name on the book
70 show that he was on hand at the
proper time. The three cars, each sixty
feet in length. are backed into a siding
and the clerks jump aboard. 1t often
takes them those two hours to get things
IN shape for the reception Of the mail
from the City Postofice. This comes
in big vans from the city office on Penn
The Washington times., 1903-08-02
Ger. SALOON KEEPER, STATESMAN. PHlLO

at the age OF eighteen. He meant to be
rich and successful man, instead OF
working for small wage in overcrowd-
ed England.
When he arrived in Victoria in 1863
the gold rush was beginning. Seldom
Joined il and tried his luck at the Ben
digo diGsings. but gained little except a
great reputation as a man able and
ready TO use his fists.
r. was not that he was quaErelsome
for he is mar of calm judgment and
good temper; but he has a strain of
chivalry in his nature, and. therefore.
made himself the champion OF any miner
who was being bullied by a rougher,
stronger man.
In 1866 gold was discovered in large
quantities along the west coast Of New
Zealand. and thither went Seldom. little
richer than when he left England. But
he had learned one thing-that digging
for gold is not the best way of making
money at the gold diggings. He started
a saloon at a mining camp and soon be4
came the most popular man in the place
First OF all, he ran a small shanty on
the roadside and dispensed a little
cheap rum and whisky. Money rolled in.
and he was soon able 10 run a better So
loon. and TO establish a big mercantile
business when the diggings became more
settled and civilized.
AS at Bendigo. Dick Seddon's fist was
a powerful ciyilizing influence. Although
a saloonkeeper. he had a horror OF
drunkenness. Any drunken digger who
entered his saloon was speedily gathered
up IN his muscular arms and thrown,
neck and crop, into the street.
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

of the retiring shift, which goes into the
dormitories of some hotel for a cou-
pie of hours rest.
The return trip has the same features.
except that the clerks must separate
the Washington mall as far as possible,
| by carrier routes. II the run down to
Greensboro. with it's incessant de-
mands on energy and memory, is great,
truly the return north is little short of
marvellous. Think OF separating" mail
! for the Washington carrier routes-by
each postman's number and territory.
The nlegible Address.
great many of the letters which
pass through these mems hands are
fearfully and wonderfully addressed.
This is especially the case with those
from darkeys or Europeans of the poor
er classes who have relatives or friends
in this country. Yet it is rarely that
any OF these letters go astray. Letters
bearing addresses which the railway
mail clerk is unable to read are tied I'D
in a bundle and sent to the general
postofice. where experts are set to
work on them. The expert has an ex-
pert name for this sort of address, but
the railway mail clerk discards accu-
racy and elegance and calls them
'stickers." Very often the address
which one clerk cannot make out his
neighbor can; such addresses are called
mixes" The "sticKer" which battles
the expert is sent to the Dead Letter Of
fee.
Clerk r. S. Walter. in charge of car
No. %. Of the Wash and Green's"
showed a letter the other day which the
layman would have pronounced indie
cipherable at the first glance. II read:
wAsHNUN UNKLs.
virginyuh,
Nicely County.
That's written to a darkey by 4
darley," said Clerk Walters. How do
know? Well you may be sure that the
darkey always spells exactly as he pro-
nounces. 1 sent that letter to Mr.
Washington Uncles. Amelia county, Va,
and I am positive that I'm right about
the address.
Here is another which came from
Australia 1t fioored me for a minute.
but then. of course. 1t was easy and
only wondered why it had come this
far South:
NJ wIsYNTY PRYBULSKI,
Indiana Polls
Haughwile.
Ksunty Marian.
That letter was intended for some
one in Haughville, a suburb OF Indian
apolis. in Marion county. 1 can't think
how II came 10 u.s."
No matter how illegible an address |
may be no clerk is allowed to change |
il for the benefit of the next man. Each
must read 1T for himself and on his
own head be it IL he read wrongly.
The Washington and Green's oro Is |
only part OF the vast network of lines
which the railway mali system has
The Washington times., 1903-08-02

sylvania Avenue. The railway mail
clerks have to open the iron pouches
which are folded up alongside the cars
and where the letters and papers viii
be placed after they are sorted.
Then they lay out the tables where
the letters are faced up" and from
which the separation Is made. By
this time the first of the great wagons
has rumbled and iolted up to the side
of the car. 1t is backed up to the door
Of the car. and with much chuckling by
the clerks and unsolicited criticism of
the drivers way of handling his horses,
with deal of saving on reins and cIat-
ter of horses hoofs. the mail sacks and
pouches are unloaded.
The Interior of the Car.
The first car is usually devoted to the
handling Of letters. AT the forward end
there are hundreds of pigeonholes. built
up against the wall. and over each is
the name of a city, town, or postal
route. There are many more pigeon
holes on the other sides of the car, and
in the middle are the larger ones fer
newspapers. In front of each 200 pigeon
holes is the table on which the mail
clerk ties up the letters and sets them
face upward for separating"
At the other end are sections reaching
the entire height of the car and staked
of for the reception of bags and official
envelopes for the use OF Dostmasters IN
the South and Southwest. The space
along the side of the car not taken I'D
by the pigeonholes is fitted with iron
racks three feet high. from which sacks
and pouches hang open mouthed, wait
ing for their meal OF newspapers and
parcels.
AS soon as the letter pouches arrive
they are opened over the tables in front
of the Digeonholes. Then the mail clerks
face the letters uD in long rows These
letters have been done up in rough bum
dies, two and three inches thick. and
the clerks have TO undo them before they
can be properly faced up"
The preliminaries arranged. each clerk
takes a sheafOf envelopes, piled face up.
and held along the left arm between the
shoulder and hand. As the quick fingers
of the left hand push each letter UP. the
right hand seizes it. and pops 1t into the
proper pigeonhale.
A Feat of Memory.
An expert railway mail clerk can
close his eyes and run over the names
OF the pigeonholes in his section as an
other man might count up 10 200. He
could almost sort his mail with his eyes
closed.
But this is not all-there is something /
else besides remembering the location |
OF every pigeonhole- For example, there |
may be letter addressed to some one |
In little backwoods village in the wilds /
OF Maryland, near no railroad. but /
reached by canal or stage line. The
railway mail clerk must know what is /
the nearest town to that village and /
The Washington times., 1903-08-02
:.PLANETS THAT STEAL, :.
JUPITER is much the biggest mem
Der OF the family OF stars which

7 JUPITER is much the biggest mem
Der of the family OF stars which
revolve around our sun. COnse-
quentIy, says London Answers" the
power of his attraction is greater than
that possessed. for instance, by the
earth. Jupiter's exploits as burglar
have caused very considerable annoy
ance and inconvenience to astronomers
in the days before his powers were fully
recognized.
In ITO there appeared a fine comet
which was found 10 have an elliptieal
orbit round the sun of so comparatively
small a size that Mr.. Lexell, its dlscov-
erer. calculated It would return in FIVE
and half years. But in 1775 telescopes
were vainly focused on the spot where
it was expected 10 reappear. and again
in 1871 ii disappointed all observers. Mr..
Lexell plunged into fresh calculations.
and after much research found that
Jupiter was the culprit. The unfortunate
comet had been rash enough to plunge
into the sphere OF the giant planets
attraction, with the result that IL had
80" SNNiPiSteiy uANSIt Su from us IOr-
mer orbit. and flung off into quite a diff
ferent one OF a twenty-years period. II
has never been seen again by anyone
on this earth. and probably never
will be.
Jupiter was also responsible for the
delay which occurred in the return OF
that splendid visitsnt known as HaIIey's
comet HALEY found that he was not
the first discoverer of this big comet. IL
had appeared at least twice previously.
once seventy-fve years before, and again
sevenJy-six years before that. The as