The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-06-05
GLAMOUR Of MAIL
SERVICE ON TRAINS
PICTURED BY BELK
Clerk Of Railroad Branch Of
Postoffice Tells Rotary Of
Holdups and Wrecks

The glamour Of the railway mai
service, in which the clerks stand II
hours in a swaying car. sometimes gel
injured and even killed, in wrecks
and at other times are held up b,
train bandits. then if lucky. retire al
50 on $85 a month pension. was pic.
tured to the Rotary club luncheon. a,
noon today, by Ben Belk. one OF tho
shippers Of the service. He made al
intensely interesting story of the life
Of the clerk in this branch OF the
postal service.
incidentally. conditions arc such,
said Mr.. Belk. that Bismarck is at
some disadvantage in the matter OF
the mails as related to business. The
towns along the south tier. he said,
are more readily served through Abcr-
deem than from st. Paul by way Of
Bismarck. He mentioned Mott as an
example. Some merchandise ordered
by q Mott farmer gets to him quicker
by way of Aberdeen than through
here. The same conditions apply to
the branch Tires leaving the main
trunk of the N. p. he said. Train
service would have to be considerably
changed to put Bismarck OH like &C
commodations as Minot and Aber-
deem now enjoy.
Missed Wreck That Killed Seven
Mr.. Belk said he has been in three
minor wrecks. Once he missed a
big wreck. Seven mail clerks coming
from the other direction were killed
III that crash. He missed two hold
ups. In the one a bandit got drunk
at Terry and talked. The result was
that the chief Of police at Miles City
shot one Of the gang dead. On one
run. he said. he had SIS bars" to pro-
tect. That msant gold. He got them
safely through scattered through the
ordinary mail end there was no hold
UP.
There arc 13. 1000 men in the rail-
way mails service. he said. He usually
works 500 packages Of mail daily on a
ten-hour rum. There are an average
OF 20 letters to the package, SO that
l 5000 pieces OF letter mail. The
same mail will mean handling Of 100
to 400 pieces OF registered matter
also.
The clerk works in a a 80 feet
long and nine feet wide. This is cut
in half. Is feet for distribution and
Is feet for storage. In the letter Sec
ton bulkhead there are POI pigeon
holes for sorting the letters.
Smell Where They Arc
Illustrating a run out of here on a
blizzardy night. Mr. Belk said the
keep contact with location as
the train speeds through the dark
night by the sensations Of the car
movement, by the blasts of the
whistle and by the smells. A mine
near New Salem used to be n Of
the distinguishing odor landmarks.
In his "a years Of service, Mr.. Belk
he has travelled $500. 900 miles
his feet in ten-hour shifts. This
often SO benumbs a clerk that he will
walk several blocks at the terminus
Of his run before he regains the SEN
of possessing feet and legs.
Speaking of the deficits Of the mail
Mr.. Belk said theoretically
is no deficit. as the ranked
nail OF the various governmental de-
more than absorbs such
as revenues and expenditures
show.
Alice Slater Sings
The luncheon vas attended by a
number of guests. Alice Slater. of the
Indian school. sang the Indian
love CALI and the "Skyblue Water
Mime. Hermann Scheffer,
accompanying.
Gets Scholarship Prize
Thelma Anundsen was present to
eceive the Rotary scholarship award
Q q high school student. 1t was
Hines Pages book. The
training of an American
Anoth.. guest. introduced by E. j.
WIS Paul Register. lieutenant
\ the y. S. Navy, who left the High
chool graduation Of 1917 to at once
inter- Annapolis naval academy.
Other guests included Nels Bystrom.
fiss Elizabeth Jones. Mrs. Grace
Otto Bauer. Mandan. Victor
Fred Traynor. Devils Lake.
Fricke.
Leonard Bell read a letter from
horn Dickinson. written on the liner
[a.jestic. He met some Of the for
gn Rotary delegates on the way to !
alias. and L. K. Thompson an :
that one OF these delegates,
cunt Roberto Simon. of Italy.
the international convention ]
70 hours before closing. and was at
ace put on thu stage to speak. I
DR.. G. A. Re wings was chairman
the day.