Show t 1 J I IN CONSTANT PERIL THE RAILWAY MAIL CLERK P PERFORMS RF HIS DUTIES Death or Serious or-Serious Serious Injury Almost Certain Certain Certain tain to Follow Disaster to Train Train- Marvelous Quickness of H Hands and Brain in Demand If It any ambitious author is on ona a still hunt for material l teeming with frank flank melodrama Uri dripped pp d of theatric tinsel tin tinsel tinsel tin tin- sel let him 5 tudy the life and hardships hardships hard hard- ships of the the- railway mail mall clerk Public Public Pub Pub- lic knowledge of his bis usefulness ness Is Is restricted restricted re re- to very meagre generalities and the average man has a scanty Idea of the hazar hazards s perpetually perpetually com com compassing passing Uncle Sams Sam's In the flying railway post offices all over the United States He Is ever at the post POt of danger from a phys physical caf sta standpoint dp I Right behind behind be be- hind the ponderous pounding locomotive locomotive loco loco- m motive with with his mind tensely con concentrated coneen- coneen ten on n the work in hand ho hI heis Is ex exposed exposed ex ex- posed to any disaster which may assail assail as as- sail the speeding train The engineer engineer engineer engi engi- neer the fireman the train crew at large as a general rule have warning warning warn warn- ing of approaching danger and andare are given at least a a fighting chance for their lives The clerk is behind locked doors most of the time Doors that open slowly and heavily too The fact that all his senses are centered within the narrow confines of the car prevents his catching the danger signal and about the first Intimation intimation in In- he lie has has- of f a catastrophe Is Isa Isa Isa a terrific collision with the lo locomotive locomotive om tive an abrupt stop from high speed which throws him the length of the car or the crushing In of the carshell carshell car car- shell to b be followed frequently by fire from which escape Is made impossible Impossible im Im- possible by confining timbers Agility Is not an adequate definition definition definition defini defini- tion of of what is required of this clerk mentally and physically He must be I almost superhuman Stations large large and sm small ll are constantly being reeled off by the g galloping train train and and they each pour a varying tide of letters letters letters letters' let let- and papers into the car It is highly probable that a large percentage percent percent- age of this mail mall is Intended for the next next stop next stop stop a distance possibly of ten I miles more frequently four or five five eve Like lightning he must sort must sort out ut this varied heap reading scrawling Illegible illegible ible In n a car car car- swaying violently violently vio vio- from side to side side S Sometimes the the light Is poor sometimes the address address ad ad- dress given dress given is a little strange to him being a new and obscure post office but as the service demands demands' of him something approaching infallibility his l list st of must be trimmed down to the minimum m. m At the holiday season season- or any time of national stress stress the work of the railway mail mall clerk is immensely multiplied mul multiplied mul- mul consequently his difficulties Periodically his train or another is late no matter how how punctual thes the s schedule In in the m majority of cases and there is an accumulation of mall mail to be made up in shortened time with with the drawback of a footing uncertain uncertain tain from the jump iu lu speed by which the conscientious conscientious' engineer er tries to regain regain re ref gain a portion of the lost minutes or hours These are only a few of his trials The t chronicle could be prolonged until until un un- til it filled three times this space space recording re reo cording the simple truth In each line Enough has has' been said t to show that the clerks clerk's life is spent literally in inthe inthe inthe the midst of alarms His Is one of the hazardous callings which receive such scant scant- s sympathy because so little little lit lit- tle understood He is the modern modem Mercury in Ina a more literal sense than the postman since his work is broader and done under infinitely more parlous conditions and he should rank very ne near near- r the top of the list of men who are bona fide heroes in peacetime peace Atlanta Atlanta na Constitution |