Nashua Reporter
Nashua, Chickasaw, Iowa
December 27, 1900

UNCLE SAM'S MAIL BUSINESS
An Interesting Description of the Railway Postal Service
[Written by W.R. Hinman and read before the Isabella Club.]

The first object that greets the eye on entering the Chicago postoffice is a life size bust, in bronze, of a large, intelligent looking man, with an unusually broad forehead, and firmness and decision written in every line of his countenance. An inscription on the base that supports the bust reads thus: "To the memory of George Buchanan Armstrong, founder of Railway Mail Service in the United States, born in Armach [Armagh], Ireland, Oct 27, 1822, died in Chicago May, A.D. 1871. Erected by the clerks in the service." Probably there is no other branch of the public service of which the people in general have so little knowledge as that of the railway mail service. The people deposit a letter, properly stamped, in the mail box bearing the words,
"United States Mail," and there their trouble ceases as far as the safe delivery of that particular letter is concerned. How it reaches its destination is seldom considered. George Armstrong conceived the idea of establishing a railroad postoffice during the war of the rebellion. He found many obstacles in his
pathway. Prejudices had to be overcome and the doubters had to be convinced of the practicality of his ideas. After becoming firmly convinced of he advantage of his scheme he applied to the postmaster general for assistance. On July 1, 1864, a letter was directed to him by the postmaster general authorizing him to
test by actual experiment the plan proposed by him. Armed with this authority he was not slow in arranging for the test service. His first experiment was tried on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, from Chicago to Clinton, Iowa. The experiment was a decided success, and during the two years following the service
was extended to other lines in Illinois. Soon after this the legislature of Wisconsin drafted a memorial to the post master general asking for the benefits of the new service. The petition was granted and on May 1, 1867, the service was put on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway from Chicago to Green Bay. Crude cars
were used in the trial but the value of the service was so quickly demonstrated that the railroad companies furnished more suitable cars for the purpose. As soon as practicable after the traveling postoffices were established it was made to include the whole country in its benefits and advantages. Mr. Armstrong was placed in full control but he had been so devoted in his work and so unceasing in his efforts that he died in 1871. The system as it is today is the finest in the world and it is hard to conceive how any improvement can be made. Distance is not considered in dispatching mail matter, the only thing considered being time. A letter mailed in Chicago at 2 o'clock a.m., addressed to Nashua, Iowa, would get to its destination nine hours before a passenger could make the same trip. The Cedar Rapids fast mail leaves the Chicago & Northwestern station in Chicago at 3 o'clock daily. The train consists of an engine and four mail cars only. The
letter for Nashua, leaving on this train, would be taken to Cedar Rapids, to Manchester, to Waterloo, arriving at Nashua about noon. The clerks themselves are strictly under civil service rules. They are appointed after a civil service examination and the best man wins. No amount of political prestige will help an aspirant to the position of railway postal clerk, and this is a grand, good thing for the public. The examination consists of a test of the aspirant's knowledge of the common school branches , such as geography, spelling, arithmetic, etc. To these are added a test of his knowledge of the railroads of the United States and his ability to read addresses. This test consists of reading the addresses on fifty envelopes and he is marked on time and accuracy. Each subject has a relative weight, geography, reading addresses, and a knowledge of the railroads and other means of transportation ranking the highest. Any American or naturalized citizen of the United States between the ages of 18 and 35 yeas is eligible to take the civil service examination, provided: He must weigh over 125 pounds; he must be able to pass a severe physical examination; and be recommended by two good business men in the place of his residence as a proper person to be trusted with large sums of money and the care of United States mail. The highest in standing are appointed, ten substitutes being always available for each 100 regular clerks. When there is a vacancy on any line, the substitute living nearest on the line where the vacancy occurs, is generally appointed to this line for a probationary period of six months, at the end of which time, if his examinations and car record are first-class, he is given a permanent appointment. However should he show unusual aptitude for the work, his residence is not considered, and he is appointed to what is termed a full railroad postoffice. The difference between a full railroad postoffice and a route agent run I will explain later. There is no salary in the appointment as substitute. When at work for other clerks he is paid at the rate of $800, about $68 a month, or $2.20 or thereabouts per diem. His probationary appointment carries with it a straight salary of $800 annual
compensation; his premanent, a salary of $900. This is increased to $1,000 to $1,200 and $1,400, which is the extreme limit. The clerks on route agent, or one man runs, never receive a salary in excess of $1,000 annually, although there is a bill to be presented to congress at its next session authorizing an annual
increase of $200. The full R.P.O.s and the route agent runs may be likened to a great river and its tributaries. The clerk on the one man run simply "states" his mail-that is, makes it up in packages by states, with a printed label on the outside of the package indicating its contents. This slip also contains the date, train number, name of the line and name of the clerk making up the package. This package is thrown to his proper connecting line. They are obliged to be thoroughly acquainted with the state or states they run through, and be able to determine instantly the proper disposition of any letter which may be consigned to their care. In addition to this they have the local work to attend to, registered mail to properly care for, and a thousand and one details it is not the province of this article to describe. On the full R.P.O. lines, there are two or more clerks assigned to a crew. On the line between Milwaukee and Chicago, on train No. 14, leaving Milwaukee at 4 p.m., there are five clerks assigned to the crew, one man being designated "a clerk in charge," who has the entire charge of the car. The mail received from the tributaries, or side lines, is received "stated" as I described before. The clerk in charge has the care of the registered mail and also "works" the states of Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Another clerk on the letter case works Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, and Nebraska, and makes a separation of the states of Colorado, California, Texas and Kansas. Another clerk works the miscellaneous mail which does not require reworking, such as Mississippi,
Louisiana, the New England states, etc. This mail is then "stated" and thrown to connecting lines. The clerks on this full R.P.O. are obliged to learn nine states. They are examined on a different state each six months until the nine have been learned, and then they begin over again and so on until they cease to be railroad postal clerks. It takes about three months of good, hard study to commit a state to memory, although the time varies as some states naturally have more offices than others. One of the states these clerks have to learn is Iowa with 1,907 offices. The name of each office is written on a separate card, and on the reverse side
is the name of the county and the line on which the postoffice is located. The lines on which the towns are located are named from their terminal points. Thus Nashua and Plainfield are on the Lyle and Waterloo. Waverly is a junction of the Minneapolis and Dubuque. Charles City is a junction of the Lyle and Waterloo and
North McGregor and Chamberlain. A postoffice not located on a railroad would be what is called a 'dts" of the office supplying it. Thus Bradford, Iowa, would be Nashua dis." A few days ago a clerk working Iowa on the Milwaukee and Chicago line came across a letter for Bradford, Iowa. He failed to find it in the official guide as it had been discontinued. under ordinary circumstances this letter would have been consigned the box labeled "nixies," and sent to the superintendent's office for final disposal. But it happened that another clerk in the car had been favored with a ride early in the autumn by "The Little Brown Church in the Vale," so the letter no doubt reached the person addressed through the medium of the Nashua postoffice. The other two clerks in this crew of five work papers exclusively. Every available foot of space is utilizes in some way.
Nearly all the floor space is occupied by open mouthed tie sacks, properly labeled, and there are rows of boxes over the paper rack occupying space clear to the roof. These boxes will hold about a half bushel each and are utilized by the small "make ups," such as Alaska, British Columbia, Philippine Islands and small lines in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Nebraska, etc. The clerks working these papers are thoroughly familiar with a good big percentage of the nine states they are required to learn. On the examinations it is a frequent
occurrence for the clerks to attain a percentage of 98 and 99, and it is absolutely necessary that they secure an average of 90 per cent to be retained in the service. They are required to be on duty from 12 t0 18 days per month, working 12 to 17 hours per day. The work is very arduous and it taxes both mind and muscle. A man staying in the service for any length of time is practically unfitted for any other kind of work as there is no business yet discovered where he can put his knowledge to practical use. There is a great deal of what outsiders consider "red tape" connected with this branch of the service, but the clerks themselves have a great deal of respect for this red tape, as they get used to the demands of the service. One rule is that no one be allowed in the car except clerks on duty, the only ones being exempt from this rule being chief clerks, postoffice inspectors, and the division superintendent. A clerk during his lay off is not allowed to enter his
regular car, and clerks violating this are liable to suspension. One clerk in a crew is detailed for station duty. On the train spoken of above-the run from Milwaukee to Chicago, a distance of 85 miles, but three stops
are made-at Racine and Kenosha, Wis., and Waukegan, Ill. From the latter place to Chicago is a straight stretch of 35 miles, and no stop is made till the Windy City is reached. up to this time the clerks have been working about as fast as brain and hands can work, but this is the home stretch and a greater effort must
be made. The engine pulling this train is the Christopher Columbus of World's Fair fame, and the engineer recently refused the position as master mechanic at an increased salary to stay by the Christopher Columbus and train 14. From Waukegan to Chicago, although no stop is made, eleven stations are taken care of while the train is going at the rate of 60 miles an hour. At this time of the year it is very dark-from 5 to 6 p.m. One clerk stands in the door, with his hands on the handle of the mail catcher, his cap drawn over his eyes, gazing through the glass cinder guard into the distance ahead of the engine. There is a gleam of light from the headlight shining on an object suspended from a mail-crane. There is a crash-bang, and the catcher securely holds a pouch of mail. At the same time another pouch is thrown from the train for the local postoffice. The contents of the pouch received are dumped on the table and separated according to the way labels read. Then this operation is repeated at the next station, and so on. Towns of 5,000 to 18,000 are passed with only a warning toot from the engine. Meanwhile two clerks are working letters and tying out packages, and the other clerks are pulling down the paper case and piling the sacks according to the depots from which the mail is to be dispatched. All this work must be accomplished before Chicago is reached. The clerks are grimy with dirt, perspiration, and smoke from the engine. But when Chicago is reached there are about four tons of mail in the storage end of the car, and 28 pouches locked up, ready for dispatch to the several railroad postoffices leaving Chicago between 7 and 11 o'clock p.m. Five men are busy washing up and their days work is done.