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About Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1903-1919 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1904)
PAILY CAPITAL JOTJBNAL, BA3UEM, OBEGON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1C04. 3 8 0 SCENES IN THE LIFE A LETTER CARRIER By Fred Locklcy, Jr. 0 o ' tlio which ffbenlct.ergiComotouBinihopost. in inniu uu jw - e0? L- them by streets in M .i.. .i tho houses , Sr M6 addressed. A little careless , in this preliminary sorting will Jen cause tho carrier to walk many ,!tra Mocks. ' Having "routed" tho mail, wo load c0 our sacks and start out. My routo Lns at tho intersection of two of rte main husincss streets. Taking the letters in tho left hand ill the papers for tho first block over the le" forearm, I can look over both utters and papers easily. Tho papers ,re held in "plnco by a strap with a rering grip, hicb, as tho papers aro Minred, can bo readily tightened to keep the remainder in place. Anv one accompanying mo might think we wcro playing a gnmo of "fol- inorior" nr "hare and low uy ." hounds." I am tho hnro and tho let ters and papers I leave are tho I'fcent." Tho hounds will havo a .maVcI trail to follow. Now a itraightawny stretch, and then I dou He back on my track. Up stairs tho trail leads, through a long hall, whilo I deliver mail to lawyers "and doctors is I goj then down a sldo stnlrway, or , I have mail for tho storo below, down tho back stnirs and in at tho rear door. Ono soon learns all tho thort cuts. My load in tho business districts melts away liko a Walla Wnlla snow bank before a chinook wind. Soon I have reached tho bottom of tho sack mil tbe end of tho trip. I must re turn to tho poatoiflco, load my sack afresh and start for tho "residence i.in it U now n o'clock, nnd I must return to tho postofllce by half i 1 i o iu iluliiinii tlm nnaf pilSl tlCCH, OU HO I.U AW. TV ! vav m mail, which arrives at that time. The first letter is for a young laily whose lover is in Manila. Ringing tho hell and putting tho letter in tho box, I start toward tho gate when the girl's mother recalls me. Sho walks with mo to tho gate. J' Do you remember tho letter post marked Spokano that you brought for Nellie yesterdayf" "Yes. Why?" "Well, I want you to watch out for lotters to Ncllio in that handwriting. Dort't bring them. Tear them up." "But I am not allowed to destroy nny mall whatever, so it would bo out of tho question for mo to do it." "Very well, deliver all tho rest of her mail to hor nnd put those letters in your pockot to hand to mo when you soo mo nlone. I'll attend to them." "I am sorry to seem disoblicintr. but I am npt allowed to deal so with letters." "But sho isn't of age." .. "Then you havo a right to havo all her mail delivered to y6u." "But that will only make matters worse," says tho anxious mother. "I want her to get all- hGr mail but thuso letters from Spokane, which ought to bo destroyed. Sho will think that man has tired of her and has quit writing. Sho is engaged already to a man at Manila. Since ho sailed sho has met this man from Spokano. Ho is worth less;, ho does not pay his bills, and I can't understand how Ncllio can bo so fascinated with him. Won't you help me? I don't want to seo Nellie's lifo wrecked." I tell her how sorry I am, but that the postoflleo cannot help her to de ceive tho girl, even in so good a cause. "Well, put all her mail in the gen eral delivery and I will call for it," is tho mother's parting injunction ns I leave. Wo enrriers sco many signs of hid den tragedies and narrowly averted disasters. Somo timo ago, when I camo to n street letter-box, a man asked me to return a letter which ho had dropped in tho box a fow hours previously. I told him it was impos sible. Ho said that it was very Im portant, and that ho must have it. I said: "Ono of tho sections of tho postal laws nnd regulations says 'car riers aro forbidden, under any circum stances, to return to any person what ever, letters dopdsitod in tho street letter-boxes, but must tako them to tho postofllce.' " , Ho said that ho had written n lcttor under a misapprehension; that, sincq mailing it, bo had discovered that ho was mistaken, and that if it was de livered it might causo an estrange ment. I told him if ho described tho leter to mo I would writo on it, "Hold for writer," and that by applying to. tho postmaster and signing a receipt it would bo roturncd to him. It is unnecessary to state that tho person nddrcssed never received tho letter. There is somo ono across tho street trying to attract my nttontion. Sho may havo a letter to mail, and carriers oilght, to bo obliging, so I will go over, even if I do not enjoy wading through tho mud to do so. "Do you want me, Mrs. Smith?" "Yes," she replies. "I am going to nsk a favor of you. I'll do as much for you somo day. It won't bo much out of your way, and your timo is paid for, so I'm going to let you tako tliis noto to Mrs. Gray." "Burit has no stamp on it,"'l ob ject, "and even if it had it mifst go through tho postoflleo to bo canceled and postmarked." "Of courso it hasn't any stamp on it. It isn't important enough to wnsto a stamp on. Just tell Mrs. Gray that I am not going to tho lodgo tonight, and ask her to stop and got the lodgo books." "I wish I could, madam. It's a fact that I am paid for my timo, but tho government is tho paymaster, nnd it roqulres mo to refuse to deliver pri vate notes or messages. Tho locnl pdstago Is designed lb help pay my sal$ry." "Very well. I can send ono of tho children over after school," sho re plies, and I can tell by tho way the door slams that sho thinks 1 lack an accommodating spirit. How thoughtless somo people aro One lady on my routo whenever sho nlcots mo on tho street, although she sees that I havo a heavy load nnd am trying to mnko up lost time, invaria bly stops mo with tho request for her mail. I frequently havo nlmost to empty my sack in order to got the packngo in which her mail is routed. After I havegiven it to her sho will say, "Is that all??" "Yes, ma'm." "Did tho mall all come?" sho asks, fretfully. "You don't supposo you could havo overlooked a letter of mine or handed it to anybody els.o by mis- tako?" Then sho will hand back tho paper which I had1 delivered to her nnd say: "You might ns well tako this to tho houso." I onco ventured to tell her that it Would causo mo a great deal of trou ble to put her mail back in its propor package. Sho asked me if I supposed sho wanted to carry that big roll of paper all round town with her, so I meokly took it back and stuck it in tho sido of my sack, meaning to ro membcr it when I came to her houso. I remembered it only when I got two blocks past tho houso, nnd so I had tho pleasure of retracing my stops thnt far. Whilo thero aro a few such per sons on every route, tho great major ity aro thoughtful and considerate. Frequently on hot days ono lady on my route has a glass of lemonndo or ico water for mo. If I happen to pass her houso in a drenching shower with out an umbrella sho sonds her littlo boy to tho gato with nn umbrella for mo. Upon ono occasion I rapped nt her door when my hands wcro so numb that I could not shuftlo my letters. Sho drew me out of tho rnin into her kitchen. "I know it's against tho rules, but a eiip of hot coffee will do you lots of good nnd keep you from having pneumonia,'" sho said. Sho is tho kind of a person whom a carrier never takes tho notice, "Call for packago; too largo for tho carrier to deliver." no delivers the packngo if ho has to mako a special trip to do so. ' i ' '.(- Another woman on my routo has a largo 'black dog whoso namo is Jack. When sho sees mo coming a block away sho sends Jack to get the mail. Ho rushes up with his mouth wide open, ns if ho wcro only going to mnko ono mouthful of me. I put tho mail in his mouth nnd awny ho goes. Ho novor losses a picco of mall. When ho has tho mail nothing can distract his attontiod until ho hns delivered it safely. I gavo Jnck a letter once, and was' astonished to sco mm bound across the street instead of going homo. I shout ed at him with no effect, nnd followed him to a strnngo house, whero his mistreBt was making a friendly call. Jnck had been taught to glvo tho mail to no ono but hr. Onco ho enmo bounding out' to moct me, but I hail no mail for him. I loft somo at tho next house. Ho barked nnd tried to tnko tho letters out of my hand. Realizing tho hopelessness of getting any mnll from mo ho started for homo very dejectedly. Suddenly j up' went his hend and tail. Ho had nn idea. With nn excited bark ho rushed back to tho houso whero I had just stopped, put his foro foot ngainst tho door, seized with his teoth tho paper I had placed abovo tho doorknob, and triumphantly boro it home. I had to recover tho stolen proporty and return 'it. I With few exceptions tho dogs on my J routo greet mo with wagging tails. I nm fond of dogs nnd thoy know it. On my present routo I havo been bit ton only onco or twice. When tho owners of a vicious dog rofuso to keep him chainod, tho car rier is not required to deliver tho mail thero. Not long ngo I had a letter for a family which hnd just moved into a houso on my route. As I walkod up to tho porch I heard n low growl. Looking over my shoulder I saw a big black dog coming for mo. Tho hair on 'his back and shoulders was eroct, his , upper Up was tightly drawn back, ox- posing his gleaming whito teeth. T sprang bnck just as ho jumped at mo. With n deep growl ho camo for mo ngain. 1 struck him with my too fair ly under tho jaw. Taking u heavy roll of pnpers from my moil and keeping my sack of mail toward him, I struck him over tho head with tho" roll of papers as ho jumped next timo. Mean whilo I shouted loudly for tho man to como out nnd call off his dog. Tho owner camo to tho doqr. "What do you -Jiienn. by boating myidogrovssr tho head liko that?" was tho remnrfc. "Call him oft! Call him off!'? shouted, "nnd I'll toll yon!" . "You must havo begun tho fight Ho never bites nny ono but tramps' and Chinamen unless bo's bothorod." I was backing away from tho dog, which was leaping at mo furiously Jo splto of tho blows from tho heavy roll of papers, and ns tho owner made no effort to call him off I stopped, picked! up a stove-wood length of oak nnd struck tho dog. Ho droped in a heap. In nn instant ho jumped up, stnggareS n little and ran under tho porch. His owner said ho would report raer to tho postmnstor, havo mo arrested, and do various othor despornto things-, none of which ho did. Instead, ho very manfully npologizod when ho heard from n neighbor who had wit nessed tho wholo affair how tho fleg: had attacked mo without tho least provocation. Thereafter his dog, wao kept chained, and has given no furth er trouble. Thero aro plenty of nmuslng inci dents to mnko up for tho linplcnsant ones. When you walk unsuspectingly up to a door, ring tho bell nnd aro greeted with tho romnrk, "Go nwnr,. you old nuisance or I'll tnko tho broonr to you. ;You can't fool mo! I know who you aro!" and when, with your curiosity fully nrousod, you ring ngnfr nnd seo tho door thrown open violent ly, whilo a young lady thrusts hor hca dout and shouts "Bool" nt your it is, to say tho least, surprising. You think lifo is well worth living whilo you listen to her cmbnrrassod expla nation that sho thought it was her lit tlo brother, who had been ringing tho bell nnd then running nway, at inter vals through tho morning. Horo is a letter and n paper for the faithful Bwcothoart of a soldier boy nt Manila. Ho has bcon spondlng n good part of his pay for postngo stamps nnd express charges. "Another from Jnck!" sho says, in triumph. "Havo you timo to stop just a moment to seo what was in that registered packago you brought mo the othor day?" "I havo ft minuto or two to spare, for I must wait five minutes for open ing timo on tho lettor-box on tho noxfc corner." "Hero it is," and sho hands mo ft littlo velvet box. I open it, nnd thero- (Continued on fourth pago.) i ft miF Sl M WHEN FRANKLIN Luted the Electee spark of Heaven to Earth he bat Hewed the Way for Those Who Followed On 'ji ftV " , tfe3 WHEN THE OLD SALEM LIGHTING COMPANY Erected poles and strung the wires around the town they hut paved the way for the more modern and -.4 ? ' ef¢ system that is now in vogtie. - - 1 I1 Every Dollar spent in a City for comfort or convenience helps that much to the prosperity of the place We are here to spend money as well as make it. We have had to spend many thousands of dollars at a chance of making any We giv e yoa a chance to spend a few with an ASSURANCE that yom will save in the long rtn ' CITIZENS LIGHT & TRACTION CO. A. WELCH MANAGER ?W T ,, h i p 25 ft r!')ffi3frtur iSI-.i?-u (tJ$