The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1905-12-21

TEams: 81 sosRs1 Months Ssas; g ia sssss advance
work, and at the end of six months is
either promoted to the second grade or
dropped from the rolls if he has failed
to make good. All railways look alike
to the postal clerk-he figures time,
not distance, and If he can make one
hour or more by using these four diff
ferent lines, he is justified in doing 1t;
in fact if his connecting clerk does his
duty, he will be reported if he fails to
take advantage. Let me say in passing
that every pouch, every package Of
letters inside that pouch, as well az
every tie-sack Of papers, bears print
ed label containing the name of the
clerk making it up as well as the date
and number of the train in which his
railway postofice Is running. The
connecting clerk takes off these slips,
the count of which shows his days
work and is reported daily together
with other information to his super
intendent. If any errors are found,
they must be noted or checked" on
the back Of the proper slip. If the clerk
who made up the pouch, package or
tie-ssck checked" or reported you
during the preceding month the care
with which you work, his mail looking
for missent stuff is positively painful.
If clerk becomesslack and too many
errors are noted against him, be re.
ceives a friendly warning from the
superintendent, and If he pays no heed
to that, he is suspended withoutp pay for
about ten days.
The painful part of this proceedingis
that, Notwithstanding the loss of about
thirty-fve dollars, you must keep up
your run as we'll. In railroad work
when a man is laid off his pay and his
work both stop, but in the mail service
it is different. For each state plan Of
distribution is made up by an exper-
fenced man at headquarters. This
plan is called a "scheme," and contains
the name of every postoffice in the state
in question, while on signboard i'm
mediately at the right of the Office, are
all the postal lines which run through
that town or supply it, and in foot
note are given all the stage lines which
may supply the town in question.
Every man who works that state must
have this entire scheme memorized so
he can make ninety mine per cent or bet
ter in the examinations which, for be-
glnners, occur four times year; after
three and under ten years twice q
year, and after ten years in the service
one is called in but once year.
Some inventive genius devised card
bearing on its face the name of the
postofices, and on its back its supply
from the standpoint of the clerk who is
studying. One keeps looking at the
face of the card, and then turning it
over and studying the back until he
can tell from the face what is on the
back without turning it over. He also
has practice case which is a miniature
car letter case, each pigeon hole about
one and one-half inches square. These
pigeon holes are labeled with the names
of all the mail lines and distributing
postoffices in the state, and the prob
lem is to get all the cards in their
proper boxes without looking at the
backs. At headquarters an examiner
, has similar practice case which he
, labels up for you; he also has pack OF
J cards such as we had at home, but the
; backs are dead blank. One must
make ninety-nine per cent or better or
) come back in thirty days, and as rule
{ clerks have but one or two extra trials.
, To make this plain, take state like
! Wisconsin with two thousand offices.
: If one misthrows or does not know
F; twenty cards, he must either try it
l again or miss an honorable mention
. and take lambasting from the super
!, intendent that causes him to take to
s the alley for more than week on his
way to dinner. In addition to this, one
a must know the time of every train,
q which concerns him, at junction point,
q and know what lines he can connect
J. scross lots," as it were. There is also q
r formidable "bIack book" or book OF
!. rules on which he must pass annually.
: All this sounds, and is, very formidable
& but careful study, an active mind and
Q good memory, and constant road duty
q brings one to an amazing degree Of
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