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PART THREE
PAGES 51 TO 28
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VOL. XIX.
Perhaps tou think I have a-snap.
And have no right to kick; '
But look at all the work I do,
Enough to make me sick. t
One thousand plunks a year we get, -v
And now you hear us roar 1
It's worth one thousand plunks a year"
And Just two hundred more. -"
A box of fruit, a horn you toot,
A sample of cus pipe,
A folding bed, a bird that's dead,.
Some eggs that're overripe,
Xilmburger cheese, a chest of bees,
A plank from off the dock; '
But now I'll have to quit In time "-
To Tine the Bundr clock.
C. A. Powell in the Postal Record.
Those who receive mail and who does
not? will be Interested to learn some
thing of the faithful band of letter-carriers
of Portland. There are 44 of these
who make their dally rounds. To their
patient and uncomplaining devotion to
their duties all are Indebted. To their
Intelligence, too. Is due the fact that,
one by one, hundreds of thousands' of'mls
elves are eventually placed In the right
hands. How many wait, sorrowing, with
that "hope deferred that maketh the
heart sick," for the overdue letter. And,
when it comes, with the glad tidings
from the dear absent one that all Is well
oh, then all will subscribe to the senti
ment: "Almost the dearest and hopefulest thine
In the livelong day is the postman's ring.'"
For many there has been, alas! "tho
letter that never came." "While to some,
the postman brings "glad tiding of great
joy," there are, for others, only letters
that add to their grief; letters that add
a little, and still a little more, to the load
of bitterness and of human sorrow. Such
always has been; such always will be.
Real Bugbears.
There Is a curiosity among people 'to
know something of these servitors of
Uncle Sam, who, through rain and snow,
cold and sleet through parching heat,
perform their duty sp well. As one of
these men said the other day:
'It is not so much the strain upon
muscles of legs and arms and back
these we are fully prepared toexpectjhc
&? bagbeafs of-Lour 'wbrkare fcmlsdL
Tected, pborly spelled addresses' of let
ters" which we have to deliver to their
rightful owners,"
It Is generally understood that any
man. to become eligible to the position
of a letter-carrier, can only attain the
object of his ambition an appointment
by examination, under civil service rules.
Political "pull" doesn't help; a man must
be able to pass a creditable examination
in the English branches of Instruction.
Of course, this Includes the "three R's"
"readln, 'rltln' and 'rlthmetlc" These
examinations are more practical and ex
acting than In former years. An appli
cant must be able to show an exact and
definite knowledge of streets, the location
of business houses; he must be able to
tell where business men are to be found;
how their names are spelled In fact, he
must be an ambulating encyclopedia of
local, as well as general geography, in
addition to possessing the other require
ments. He must also have an exact
memory. Starting In with a fair faculty
of recollection of names and localities,
this is greatly strengthened by constant
practice.
Portland letter carriers to whom are
assigned districts in the business quarter,
Teport for duty at 7 A. M. dally, Sun
days excepted. They make their rounds
four or five times, per day. Their dis
tricts are of varying size. Some have
only two or three blocks; other 10 or 16
to cover. Carriers for the residence dis
tricts appear at 7:00 A. M., and generally
finish their first rounds In time to so to
dinner or luncheon, hetween 12 and 1 P.
Ringing "In" and "Out.
"When the carriers report for duty at"
the Postofflce. each man. with his key,
"rings in," and on leaving "rings out."
To the "uninitiated it is as well to , ex
plain, that, as each man turns his Icey,
Is rings a bell, registering his number,
and that a "Bundy" clock a heartless,
but truthful, timekeeper thereupon faith
fully registers each carrier's exits or en
trances. Should the postman forget this
formality well, once may bring a repri
mand; a second offense would mean a
day's lay-off with a corresponding loss
of pay. If a man happens to forget to
"ring" hs comlngs-ln or golngs-out only
once in a month. Uncle Sam, or rather
the local official representing him, us
ually Ignores the fact.
Once inside the Postofflce, the carriers
begin to. throw their mail Into cases for
distribution along their routes. By dint
of practice, they become very expert and
rapid in this work. The mall matter they
thus handle has already been assorted by
office clerks. Once In the cases, the- qar
riers classfy It For this they use the
term "organize." Then"the letters aro
"tied out," or .formed Into bundles, Ac
cording to the streets and numbers. Then
the mail Is ready for delivery.
It is a little surprising to learn 'that
the weight each footman carries is Xrom
GO to 75 pounds. The larger packages
the carriers are not expected to carry.
These latter fall to the lot of the "mount
ed men," as they are called those who
have a horse and a cart that by a stretch
of Imagination, can be made somewhat
to resemble one of the racing chariots of
the old Romans. The mounted carriers
cover the outlying districts. There are
In Portland, 10 mounted men two collect
ors of mail and eight city delivery onen.
There is some difference of opinion as
o which class of footmen does the hard
iMfeSQ,
est work. The prepopderance of evidence
appears to show that those who deliver
mall In the business districts are the ones.
"Wh.en one considers the long stairs they
must wearily climb with their burdens,
day after day, especially in the business
district of tall buildings, their task seems
certainly a treadmill of toll. But the
work is cheerfully performed, neverthless,
and one seldom hears a complaint.
letter carriers are divided into four
different grades. First, there are the sub
stitutes who act for "regulars" in case
one of the latter Is Incapacitated for any
reason. When a. man has served one
year! he receives $600; or $50 per month.
The second year he gets $70 a month.
For the third and succeeding years, his
remuneration is $80 per month.
A substitute begins service with a plain
black band around either sleeve. After
he gets a regular route and has served
five years, his sleeves are decorated with
a plain, five-pointed, black star. After
10 years of service he carries two black
stars on either sleeve. When he has
walked his daily rounds for 16 years, then
comes the red-star decoration. As time
goes on, the mail-carrier finally gets a
silver star. Eventually, after he becomes
a veteran, he Is entitled to a gold star.
Since the first adoption of their bluish
gray uniforms the same all over this
country there has been no change.
Letter-Carriers' Association.
There Is an organization the Na
tional Letter-Carriers' Association with
branches all over the United States. The
one here is known. ns Portland Branchy -No7SrAsHhymltiatIon
fee is only"!, "
.and the dues but 25 cents, per month, it Is
noUtn expensive body teJbelohg" to," and,
practically, every mafocnrrfieT in this city
Is a member. Portland1 Branch, No. S3,
meets once a month. It Is an organiza
tion for mutual helpfulness along the line
of the peculiar vocation fdllowed by mem
bers. If any member has a grievance, 'he
makes it known, and steps are taken to
redress It. On all legal holidays, carriers
are entitled to one-half of .the day. The
Mall-Carriers' Association meets with the
hearty approval of the Postofflce Depart
ment at Washlngtotn. The branch here
sends a delegate to represent It at the
annual conventions In. the East.
One of Portland's oldest letter-carriers
was asked as to the qualifications neces
sary for the position. He said:
"A letter-carrier should possess perfect
integrity and amiability, and should nev
er take offense. He must be strong, men
tally, and physically. He must have a
knack of deciphering Illegible addresses
and, of course, he should cultivate his
memory. A printer soon becomes con
versant with all ordinary and not a few
extraordinary words, as well as the rules
of gramman and punctuation. These re
main practically unchanged. Letter-carriers
must learn the names of from 2000
to 10,000 of the people on their respective
routes. .Then there are from 5 to 20
removals a day, amounting often to from
1000 to 5000 in the course -of a year; in
the lodging-house districts ther are even
more.
Difficulties encountered.
"Some people on removing to a new
number do not notify the postofflce au
. thorltles of their change of address. Oc
casionally mall Is sent to business firms,
located formerly -on upper First or Front
street, 16 years ago, but now removed
.0
wf
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The above Is an example of what la too
which Is self-explanatoiy.
or out of. business, or the members of
which are all dead. There are records
of removals kept columns of them
mounting up into thousands upon thous
ands of names. The carrier cannot spend
the time to look them over, and he has
to depend on his memory.
"Sometimes a man will accost me:
" 'Anything fdr mer
"I reply: 'Yes, I have a circular In my
pocket, but no letter.'
"This doesn't strike the questioner as
anything strange; but when you consider
that the-carrier would probably be able
to instantly and correctly answer's.' simi
lar question from' ahy one or the -numer-
PORTLAND, OREGON, STODAY MORNING,
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ous people on his route, It Is somewhat
remarkable.
"At the present season," continued the
old postman, "a carrier sometimes meets
a man, running for a car, who shouts:
'Send my mall to the office; Lucy's at the
beach, and my wife's dver at our son-in-law's
for two weeks. Asked where his
son-in-law resides, he Is apt to somewhat
Indefinitely reply: 'Ob, I don't remember
the number. ifsvthaty 0.5, hoip nex
"to "tfie Baptist "Church, In Alblnalyou
fihdw .where.'
, "From, thet distributing postofflce clerk
the carrier (ascertains the man's office
number, the whereabouts of 'Lucy,' and
that of the1 carrier at Station B. This
sort of thing often happens from five to
a dozen times a do'."
Wasted Sympathy.
"All this condoling with the postman
over his long tramps," said another car
rier, "and his performance of duty, rain
and shine. Is clearly wasted sympathy.
Many another worklngmen does as much
walking as he. A quarter of his 8-hour
day Is passed In the postofflce, and fully
one-half of the remaining six hours is
spent under cover. The greatest burden
Is the responsibility."
Very few people realize how much
money belonging to others a mail-carrier
actually handles. This is in sums from a
cent to thousands of dollars. One carrier
of many years' experience, declares:
"We have Actually handled packages of
greenbacks where the wrapper was en
tirely worn off at the corners. In one in- '
stance, I delivered such a package that
contained "3000, all plainly exposed; yet.
It reached Its owner without a cent be
ing missing. We also deliver. In a year,
many packages of Jewelry and other val
uables." Correcting the mistakes of other people
Is a constant source of trouble to car
riers. Foreign mall is the most bother
some in this respect. For example, a let
ter was addressed:
"Poloa U. S. San Fran Amerika
"2. 0. 0 7. 4.
"stlt bekery"
This was finally tanslated to mean:
"Portland, Or., 274 Baker street." Caru
thers street, in Portland, has been' spelled
23 different ways.
That the Portland letter-carriers are
llppi
YoT Zfiifivt tm b&r
, . a CctA,
wn among" mall carrlera-as a "Nlxle," a term
effldent, is beyond dispute. One man who
does a large retail business here, says
that he has not once missed receiving all
his letters in 12 years. It is the carrier's
business to leave letters where they be
long, no matter how difficult the under
taking. Should he do otherwise, they
would accumulate at the postofflce to an
alarming degree, and it would constantly
require many columns in The Oregonlan
to advertise them.
Mall-carriers should be proud of the
confidence reposed In them. Not only in
postal affairs, is this true, but In do
mestic matters, as well. It Is amazing
how many people pour their private griev
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ances Into, the mall-carrier's ear. It was
urged, In Congress, as the great objec
tion to free rural delivery, that the 'car
riers might be the 'means of spreading
gossip and scandal. It Is strange "tlmt
no one ever thought of applying the same
objection. to city carriers. Rut they are
discreet and worthy 'men.
and Hoyt streets, are of the ft atf;fow
Letter carriers have many peculiar ex
periences. Not long since a little girl
gave .a local postman a letter to malL
On looking at it, he found it waj di
rected to a person inVancouver. It had"
for a stamp, one of the Canadian variety.
The carrier looked up the child's mother.
He showed her that there was no state
named 'and told her that "Canuck" stamps
wouldn't do. "
"Law sakesl" said the woman; "we're
strangers here, and I didn't s'pose it made -any
difference." ,
Wbrlc of "Sunset" Cox.
All letter-carriers bless the memory of
Hon. 8 8. Cox, the famous New York
Congressman. One writer, in the Postal
Record, himself a carrier, tenderly de-,
scribesa Visit made to the grave of tho
dead statesman, at Greenwood Cemetery.
Brooklyn, ,N. Y This was on the occasion
of the anniversary of Mr. Cox's death,
and the writer says:
"As we stood beside the flower-covered
grave of" our departed friend, our -thoughts
went back to a morning In the
long ago,' when, like a clap of thunder
from a clear sky, came the notification
telling us, of a reduction of salaries,. of
letter-carriers from $1000 to $800 a year.
It waB then we needed & friend, and we
found 'him' in "Sunset" Cox; and he never
wavered In , his friendship during the
twentyjfwp years which Intervened be
tween, that time and the day of his death.
Through, his efforts a bill passed both
houses of Congress and was signed by
President Jlayes, fixing' the maximum sal
ary of a letter-carrier at $1000 per year.
"A few years later, and under his lead
ership, an,annual vacation of fifteen days
was provided for. A few more years pass
by, and again he is battling for the wel
fare of, the letter-carrier, and again he
Is successful, and It Is decreed by law that
eight hoiirs shall constitute a day's work
for lettercatrlers."
In anteclyll-servlce days, application
was made at the "Portland postofflce to
Lyman' Chlttendon, there for 18 years, '
and whom the men long In service fond-'
ly term '"the grand old man,w'bj; a" woman.
JULY- 29, 1900.
in
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JC JIDXQ
wanting a Job for her son She was told
that a young man was needed, and what
wages he would get and the kind of work
he would be required to perform. The
woman then asked:
"What hours will my boy be required
to work?"
"Oh," 'said Mr. Chlttendon. drily, "he
will be expected to get here at 9 A. M.
and work until 9 A. M. next day."
-, jbeujgomandeparted, Jn supreme dis
gust.
Oslgtn of Porta Service.
As to the exact time when the system
of carrying messages, news or private
letters from one person to another had its
origin, there Is no reliable ecord. The
idea seems to belong to lio one country.
Jn the Bible references are made to run
ners in several places. II Samuel xvlli:19
23, Is an instanco in point.
Ovid, In his "Metamorphoses," makes
mention of carrier-pigeons being utilized
for tho transmission of messages. He
cites tho Instance where Taurosthenes,
after staining a pigeon purple, allowed It
to fly away to his father at Aeglna, where
it arrived the san e day, proclaiming to
his father that he was victor at the
Olympian games. Ancient Assyrians had
relays of mounted couriers at stations, a
day's Journey npurt, for the carrying- of
messages. -
In China there has been a postal sys
tem for nfany centuries. The great
traveler, Marco Polo, who visited that
country In the litter part of the 13th
century,, reported that the "Great Khan"
had 10,000 post rtatlons established, with
300,000 horses. From 400 to- 500 miles, he
stated, were covered In a day and night.
HIS WAY OF
Miss Border I've just received. a letter from my sister, who la In London. She says she
expects to be presented at court next week. ,. k
. Si Harraka Wftli ldo bopagUier'Jury will acqolthw.- .
i
' Hi w
the couriers riding: in -relays, at a dis
tance of from 25 to'SO miles apart.
In Peru, in yziX the time of the
Spanish invasion, "pizarro found estab
lished a regular system of posts between
Quito and Cuzco. The runner carried,
wound about their bodies, the "qulpu"
a cord tied In knots, which was a species
of sign writing.
There, fs a distinct record of riding
posts In Persia, established by King Cy
rus, 509 B.C; The first recorded postal
service among the Romans was that
founded by Emperor Augustus, a B. C.
In Europe.
The first letter-post system In Europe
was that adopted by the cities compris
ing the Hanseatlc "League, In the early
part of the 13th century. Charlemagno
organized a postal system 807 A. B. Louis
XI founded post-houses In France the
first of their kind In Europe in 1470. The
past system in Italy arose in 1560 at
Piedmont.
It is Interesting to note that In France,
during the reign of Louis XTV, post
paid envelopes were first used. One au
thority says that they originated in
Franca with M. de Velayer, who estab
lished, under royal authority, a privata
penny-post In Paris, placing boxes at
the principal street corners to receive let
ters. There Is an express record of a
postal system in use 'in Spain and Ger
many, as early as April, 15L
Thomas Randolph was England's chief
postmaster In 15SL The postal service
tliAPa nilni T"i ntlmVi Wr l Vflwon
-4f, Sir Brian Tuke. In 1545T WillTanf
.. . . . ...., ..
Fflget and John Mason jointly succeeded
him, and, after them, Thomas Randolph,
In 1567, first assumed the offlco with the
tltie of 'Maglster Ciirsorum slve Post
arum." iames I. created the offlco of Postmaster-General
of England, for foreign
ports,- by letters patent. In 1619, appoint
ing Matthew de Quester to the office.
The first regular system of an internal
post was established by the proclamation
.of Charles I., In 1635. In this, the King
commanded his Postmaster of England
for foreign parts, "to settle a running
post or two, to run night and day be
tween Edinburgh and London, to go thith
er and come back again In six days."
During Queen Anne's reign 1710 the
postofflce was remodeled by the act of
settlement. One Ralph Allen, the Post-
master of Bath, projected! cross-posts
under royal license. He paid the British
Government 6000 per year, and annually
cleared for himself a profit of 10,000.
After his death, the Government added
his 'cross-post scheme to the general post.
In 1839, England introduced the penny
post, and in 1840, the postofflce order sys-
tem.
James Chalmers, of Dundee, on May
LOOKING AT IT.
S K
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I t N
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NO. 30.
6, 1840, Invented the postage stamp. Thera
is an inscription on his burial tablet,
which reads as follows:
"To the memory of James Chalmers,
Bookseller, Dundee. Born 1732. Died
1S53. Originator of the Adhesive postage
stamp, which saved the penny postage
scheme of 1840 from collapse, rendering
it an unqualified success, and which has
since been adopted throughout the postal
systems of the world. This memorial
wa3 erected by his son, Patrick Chal
mers, Wimbledon. 1SSS."
The adhesive postage stamp was adopt
ed in America In 1847.
Since the earliest settlement of the
United tSates, there has been some sort
of a postal system in use. The general
court of Massachusetts, in 1639, passed the
first legislation on the subject. Virginia
followed. In 1657. One authority says the
postofflce originally consisted in the colo
nies of "a receptacle In a coffee-house,
where letters arriving from abroad were
deposited, to be taken by those to whom
they were addressed, or carried to them
by their neighbors." New York Coloney
founded "a post to goe monthly from
New Tork to Boston," In 1672. In 1683,
William Pcnn established a postofflce In
Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin, the
first Postmaster-General in this country
1753-74 Instituted numerous reforms.
Postal System Organized.
The first organized postal system in the
United States was that established by
the English Parliament in 1710, referred
to herinbefore. A general letter offlco
was opened In London, one In New York
and others In each of the colonies. The
postage was 1 shilling for a letter from
London to New York, and If destined be
yond, for a distance of 60 miles, or less,
there was a charge of 4 pence additional.
In 1790 there were but 76 postofflces In
this country, and only 18(75 miles of mall
routes. In 1891 one hundred years later,
there were 64.329 postofflces and the
miles of mail routes had reached 439,027.
J"1" tho countrjr to !nt-
due noatal cards. Thev were first oro-
duce postal cards. They were first pro
posed" by Prussia, in 1865.
The postofflce business was formally as
sumed by the United States Government
as a regular department In 1759. Bouviers
Law Dictionary states that, by the act
of March 3, 1851, as shown by the United
States statute-at-large, 591, the appoint
ment of letter-carriers in cities and towns
Is provided for. Chapter 21, paragraph 2,
of tjie same act, provides for the appoint
ment of letter-carlrers in, Oregon and
California. '
First Free Delivery.
Free delivery In the United States be
came generally established about 1861-62;
and In Portland, October, 1S79. The
names of the original carriers In this
city were John R. Coker. J. N. Bristol,
J. R. Duff, F. Mathews and J.E. Court
ney. Of these, two are dead, and three
living. Up to the Fall of 1S33, Portland
received mall by steamer every three
days. Carriers and clerks were com
pelled to work during those early years
from 10 to 19 hours per day.
A worthy clergyman once said: "The
postman Is the most looked-for, mpst
longed-for person In the city. He Is ad
mired by all business and professional
men, klnd-of-loved by all young women,
all married women and all old women,
and the quicker he makes his rounds tha
more he Is respected."
QUEERED BY HIS COLORS.
Princeton Runner Excites the Ire of
Hibernians.
John Cregan, captain of the Princeton
track team and holder of the Intercol
legiate record for the mile run, started
In his athletic work at Princeton, and
the first time that he ran under Prince
ton colors was on August 5, 1897, in
the Ancient Order of Hibernian games
at Albany. Johnny was very proud of the
Princeton colors, and the band of orange
ribbon across his athletic chest was a
wonder In width. This In Itself would
have been enough to make him an object
of suspicion to the members of the An
cient Order of Hibernians, but It was not
a marker to the rest of his decoration.
The Princeton Athletic Association had
Just bought new caps, and on the front of
them was embroidered the monogram of
the association. To the person who
viewed the cap the monogram looked like
this: "A. P. A."
When that monogram was discovered It
confirmed the suspicion that Johnny was
a full-bred Orangeman. The crowd
greeted him with Insulting remarks when
he lined up for the start of the mile
run. At first Johnny lay back and took
things easy. The crowd howled with glee
when they saw the supposed Orangeman
fully 100 feet In the rear, and shouted
and yelled to their champions to dis
tance the Interloper. The result was that
every other man In the race ran his legs
off, and Just as Johnny put on his spun,
when they started on the last lap and be
gan to forge ahead, the trouble broke
loose.
Johnny came down the track like a
whirlwind at least 50 feet ahead of his
nearest competitor. Tho crowd hung
over the fence; and fsuch cries as "Kill
the Sassenach!" "T'll with the Orange
man!" and "Throw him off the track!"
were hurled at him as he sped across
the tape a winner. Men were shaking:
their fists at him and cursing him, and
Johnny discreetly made a retreat to the
dressing-room. There he Innocently asked
what was wrong and why the crowd had
It In for him. New York Sun,