The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-12-21


gram. which. they say. is wrecking
them physically and mentally
There is now one substitute TO
twenty clerks. Postal regulations pro-
vide one to ten clerks.
Clerks are resigning. Regulars
double up on runs to save expenses
of substitutes, working at intense
pressure.
Congress provided s250o00 for rail-
way mail clerks expenses. This d.
vided among over 5000 clerks be
tween congressional sessions is unap-
preciable.
One clerk Saturday hurled back
across the counter in the federal
building s275 offered him for three
months expenses.
Clerks on the indianapolis and
Louisville run get no expense money
Clerks on the Chicago and Roodhouse
short run get five cents "A day.
Four days "on" and four days of"
is no longer the rule. Railway mail
men are doing brain and body
wrecking stunt daily.
BESIDES, each mus, study distribu-
ton" which means keeping posted on
-, 900 to 81. 900 offices in five states,
the roads to reach them and the
quickest way TO them.
David Rosenbaum, aged war veter-
an and clerk compelled TO do run
between Indianapolis and Louisville,
and an additional one between Indian
apolis and Kankakee, tainted on the
street in Cincinnati and was carried
TO the city hospital suffering from ner-
vous prostration.
George Birr of New Albany. clerk
on the Indianapolis and Louisville
line. was hurt on duty. His work is
being done by men from the Indian
apolis and Michigan City run on their
of days.
Chief Clerk Ball says ten additional
clerks will be allowed the railway
mail division for the Christmas rush.
six at indianapolis. two at Terre
Haute and two at Richmond. Travel
ing clerks say there will be no relief
for the men on the cars.
An indianapolis mail clerk leaving
NuIS WY ou Sdi bii>S Wv
of bed long before dawn, gulps cup
of coffee. kisses his family good bye
and makes dash through dank, dark
streets for the postofiice. The night
before he has stamped up" thous
and or 1900 letter and paper slips for
six day run. to label his packages
lie shoves them in his pocket.
When he reaches the postoffices he
calls for his registers and signs for
them and shoulders the responsible
ity. Then he jumps into Gathering
mail wagon and is whirled Off to the
station. He enters his car, usually
about two hours before time for the
train to start But previous to this
he has signed a book at the station
and If he fails to sign it, he is liable
to lose a days pay.
Work begins at once. He hangs his
pouch rack with about eighteen OF
thirty pouches. according to his run
and from thirty to one hundred paper
sacks. He faces stall of working
mail" which has arrived ahead of him
He fumbles at the pouches, opening
| JIIcul ny q AMY INV hS"e' -
has slipped into an old pair of pants
one would hardly call them trousers
and has dotted his coat. With hi:
breath freezing in chunks, he start:
to work in his shirt sleeves. for h
cannot be hindered by coat. Unles:
he gets all the mail for the first "bit
stop" sorted before the train starts HI
stands fat chance" which in Sian;
expression means poor chance, o
keeping clear with his work, which
grows like an inverted pyramid dur
ing the run.
One man works on the papers ant
one on the letters and there is usual
sacks. Before the train starts eacl
man will open and distribute ffteel
or twenty packages or letter mail an,
fifty or sixty packages Of papers. o
about 5000 letters and 2.40O papers
The clerk forgets at this time tina
he will have handled $4,000 to 1906
letters and 10000 to 5000 papers be
fore the end of the six days task, az
cording to the run he is on. But h
gets away with such amounts befor
he sees home again.
II depends upon the time of de
parture of the train whether he |
swamped with advance mail befor
the train starts. At least half of tn
mail for the No. l big stop must b
: reworked before No. l big stop
reached Otherwise mail will b
: carried by" the station. newspape
subscribers will miss their papers an
: in the words of one clerk. genera
hell will be raised
The shrek of the whistle thins {
wall as the mail train speeds up t
its sixty mile gait. About twenty-tiv
miles out from Indianapolis the locf
postofiices begin to be met and ar
represented by hanging crane. lik
giant arm, bearing a mail sack Th
train dashes down upon them. hidde
in fog or the CRAVING morning ligh
The door of the mail car is wide opel
: whether the temperature be one hui
dred degrees in the shade or forty b.
low zero. Two clerks. coatless. stan
by II. a dim lantern light appears O
the crane as they draw close.
Crash! goes the giant arm. With