Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 8.djvu/391

 The Railway Mail Service.

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��pouch is strapped smar. in the middle, resembling an homr-glass, where the catcher-iron on the car is to strike it. This " catcher " consists of a round iron bar across the door of the car, and placed in a socket on each side about shoulder high ; a strong handle, similar to a chisel-handle, projects perpendicu- larly from this bar ; on the under side of the bar projects, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, a slender and strong iron rod, slightly turned at the end to prevent its tearing the pouch, of about three feet in length. As the train approaches the crane, the operat- ing clerk with a quick, steady throw delivers the mail at a given point, usu- ally near the crane ; he then grasps the handle with his right hand, swinging the handle over inward ; the arm when thrown outward, the horizontal bar turning in the sockets, comes in con- tact with the pouch, striking that part of it narrowed by the strap and striking the arm near the vertex of the angle into which it is driven by the momen- tum of the train ; the greater the speed the more securely it is held there ; but the clerk is on the qui vive, and as soon as it strikes the catcher-iron, grasps the pouch to make sure of get- ting it, as sometimes if the pouch is not hung properly, the arm will strike it at such a part as to require the most agile movement on the part of the clerk to secure it and to prevent its falling to the ground or under the wheels of the train and being torn to pieces ; these cases, however, are rare, but pouches have lodged on the tmcks and have been carried many miles.

To return to the clerks and their work. In the meantime, the " through" work continues, when the distance between stations and junctions will allow of it J letters in packages are

��distributed into boxes ■with a celerity and economy of motion which could be acquired only by continued practice and training of the eye to decipher an ever- varying chirography, and of mental activity to almost instantly locate a post-office on its proper route, its earliest point of supply, or connecting line.

The emptying of pouches continues ; package after package of letters roll out on the counter as though they were potatoes rather than the dumb expres- sion of every human emotion, or the innocent touchspring of their awaken- ing. The pouches are labeled to indi- cate those requiring the earhest atten- tion, as are also the packages of letters they contain ; this plan prevents, to a great extent, the carrying of mail past its destination.

The packages of letters to be distrib- uted by routes, post-offices, and States, are taken to the letter-case ; those not to be so separated, that is, unbroken packages, en transit, are placed at once into their proper pouches.

The emptying of sacks of paper mail follows that of the pouches ; the papers and packages of merchandise are faced in a manner to be readily picked up, their addresses read, and deftly thrown into the mouths of the pouches and sacks in the racks ; this is very skilfully done, as the want of space requires that they shall be crowded closely together.

The swaying of the train around a curve makes little difference, as the clerks in a short time learn to follow every motion of the train. A quick decision, ready eye, and economy of movement as a superstructure to a good knowledge of his duties, are the inval- uable qualities of a successful railway postal-clerk ; and one so equipped soon

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