Evening star., 1951-12-24
By Howard l. Dutkin

Neither snow nor rain nor heat
nor gloom of night stays these |
couriers from the swift completion
of their appointed rounds u
and a chance to make $1.56 an
hour toward their Christmas ex-
penses.
That. in capsule form, tells the
story of the 5000 temporary post
Office employees, from schoolrooms
and poolrooms and firms and
farms, hired to help hold the line
in the mad holiday mail rush here
that broke all records for the first
21 days of December.
Stalwarts like ElkinS Brothers,
former sparring partner of Joe
Louis; Andy Davis, George Wash
Iington University football star who
will play in the North-South game
in Montgomery. Ala. December
I29: and Carl Butkus. ex-Redskin
player. are lending their Drawn to
the delivery problem.
Mail Receipt Up 17.35 Pet.
Receipt of mail here is 17.35 per
cent above last years record, ac-
cording to Gordon Bell. assistant
postmaster. Outgoing letter mail
is up 2.56 per cent and incoming,
up 1.9 per cent. Twice this month,
the Washington post Office and its
substations have handled daily to-
tails of more than million pieces
of outgoing mail.
In line with post Office dictum
that "the mail must go through" ;"
a call for reinforcements was
sounded through college place
Iment offices and elsewhere and a
large body of rockies responded,
soon to be hardened into profess
sional bearing under the twin
lash of sleet and snow plus that
extra $1.56.
| Heavyweight Boxer Brothers,
who helped Louis get in some sort
Of shape for the Rocky Marciano
fight, and who himself has boxed
such fair belters as Arturo Godoy
and Bob Satterfield, is a tempo
rary carrier at the Columbus
Heights substation. He has found
the footwork tougher than the
kind he's used to.
For the first two or three days
the job killed me-" the husky
Brothers declared. "Oh, my feet!
I was walkin' on nubs!"
Why He Took the Job.
| But he's rounded into shape
now, he says, and soon will be
looking for a nose to punch GnI
a professional way. of course)
Brothers crossed $4,000 in box
ing th. year but netted a scant
S., 900 after taxes, training ex-
penses and the managers cut, he
said. Hence, the post Office job.
Other athletic types you'd bet
ter be athletic-just try to lift
one of those loaded bags) work.
ing as "tempos" include Jimmy
Hutton, 10. a right end on last
years championship Merrick
Boys Club team. now an end at
Wilson Teachers College; Clar-
ence Pendleton, jr.. 81, Howard
University center. who displayed
a couple of damaged fingers.
Inipped by a dog when he stuck
his hand through a mail slot,
and Bob Abbuehl, former second
4 stringer on the Indiana Univer-
sity grid team. Mr.. Abbuehl
picked up the job here while
visiting his wife, a clerk in the
State Department. All work out
Iof the main post Office.
Different Kind of "Hoofing."
On the less muscular side,
there are a night-club master of
ceremonies, Jerry Toronto, who is
doing plenty of "hoofng" out of |
Fort Davis substation; George A.
Barnes. %. a Marine Corps vet
eran who is studying aeronauticall
engineering at Maryland Univer-
sity; Conrad Thompson. 26, of
1921 Nicholson street. Hyattsville.
member Of the District Bar:
Paul w. Sweeney, "a. Of 1504l
Kingman place NV, who received
his masters degree from Colum-
bia University and who is now
studying law at Howard Univer-
sity.
Vincent Mastrovito. personnel
director Of city post offices, and
Vernon B. Dodge. senior assistant
superintendent of the main post
Office, declare that the quality oil
temporary help Is improving and
point to the increase in pay from
the $1.26 an hour offered last
year as a reason.
Christmas eve marks the end
of the job for two-thirds of the
''tempos. The others will be
let out during the week following