The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1906-02-23
A Travelling Postoffice.

- ANAAVAJ AA1st-r NOx Al LCCAulCdkly III
"R. p. O." or Railway Post Office. i
runs between stated points, receiving
and distributing mail through posi-
offices along the line. It is d govern.
ment post Office on wheels, and IL
United States territory, though owned
by the railroad. It is as well built
and as completely equipped for its
purpose as Pullman. Iron racks for
Above are tiers of open boxes and pig.
con holes. "Work tables" 81 > On
the racks. There is neither plush nor
Is the abode of workers.
Let us imagine that this car is the
r. 2. O." leaving Pittsburg, Pa, for
Cleveland, Ohio, over the fennsylva-
mia road. The Pittsburg city post Office
delivers to the car mail for points east
OF Cleveland called local mail'D and
through maip' for Cleveland and
points west. The train rushes out Of
Pittsburg. The whistle blows for a
station. No stop here. A "helper,"
opens side door, swings out the mail
Catcher" and picks up mail sack
from a crane by the track. Now the
work begins. This sack contains mail
from the station just passed. Some of
1t is for the next Office, some for
Cleveland, some for the for west.
The mail is dumped on table and a
clerk pounces on it like wolf on
lamb. He losses letters in all direc-
tons. He throws papers and pack
ages hither and yon, this way and
that, as fast as an expert card player
can distribute a deck. But every piece
Of mail finds its mark in a particular
sack or box. The sacks and boxes are
labeled; but the labels are unneces-
sary; his quick eye catches only the
name of the Office, ignoring that Of
the addressee. Though the work p
pears mechanical 1t calls for high
degree Of training. Note the marvel
lous accuracy-less than two per cent.
of errors in the work Of the Whole
force for a given year.
The whistle blows for another way
station. The door is opened, a sack 10
thrown of, and the catcher yanks an
other sack about for distribution. And
60 it goes without cessation. The
whole scheme Is SO arranged tat
there is just time, working win the
utmost speed and accuracy, to make
connections. 4
Skill Needed to Throw Sacks.
Throwing of sacks calls for anoth-
er kind Of skill. The expert knows
from the weight of sack, speed Of
train and pressure of w',d Just when
and how to let the sack 60. He can
drop 1t on a mark. If a platform be
crowded or Uttered with baggage he
must pick a clear spot lest his cannon
ball Of leather and mail re0H up
against some unsuspecting r1aveIer. II
have seen a mail clerk drop a sixty
pound sack from a train going mile
a minute, landing it lightly on a truck
twenty feet from the track.
or course there are accidents, and
danger is always present. Yet in ten
years past but SO clerks have been
killed on the road-an average of ten
q year, with force numbering up to
11,OO0. The legal representative #
each clerk So killed receives $1,000
from the government. Arrangements
are contemplated for payment of an
annuity to every clerk permanently
disabled in line Of duty.
The mail car is usually next the
tender and runs greater risk in &C.
cidents than a passenger car. But
the position is sometimes advanta.
geous. An instance is cited Of q pecu- |
liar wreck near Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
The train was crossing a bridge when