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Show THE LETTER CARRIERS. "Hot enough for you, John?" "Well. I manage to keep warm," said the good-natured letter-carrier, as he mopped his neck and face with his handkerchief, gave his shoulder bag a brace-up, and started down the sunny side of the street on his second delivery. John was too busy to stop and talk about the particulars of his office, but later, when off duty, he and another of the carriers were willing to tell some of their experiences. "Yes, one sees lots of life, "observed one of the boys, in answer to my inquiry, "but the law requires secrecy in the postoffice, and, therefore, we can give nothing away in--." "Well, for instance, if a man should stop and ask me if I left a letter at such and such a number, I would decline tell him. Or, to better illustrate, here is a circumstance that happened yesterday, which will explain: I had a letter for Mrs. A___, No. 777 Hudson avenue. (That wasn't the street, of course, but it will answer.) Taking the letter there, I found it was Mrs. Z___'s house. It so happened that Mr. Z___ was home late that morning, and came to the door. I handed in the letter. ‘No Mrs. A___ lives here,' said he, ‘it's a mistake,' and handed back the missive. Just then his wife came to the door, and she chirped in, ‘That isn't for here, of course.' Now you see, I might have made it pleasant for the pair by just saying, ‘Well, why did you, Mrs. Z___, take letters so directed for the last three months? But I didn't, and just waltzed away, and in the afternoon down came Mrs. Z___ to the office and demands that letter and gets it, although, in her husband's presence, she denied all knowledge of it a few hours before." "That's the shady side of life?" "Exactly. Then there's girl's who get letters every day, and if they miss a day they are all broken up, and think the young man has gone back on them completely. Sometimes they get postal cards, covered over with written taffy, and the other morning a young lady said: ‘That postal you brought yesterday wasn't for me I want you to understand.' Now I suppose there was something on it she did not want me to see, and tried to excuse it - as it the carrier ever bothers himself with reading postals! Why, people may write all the blessed secrets they want, the postoffice folks will never read ‘em." "How many miles does a letter carrier walk a day?" "Well, that depends. The carriers up in the Paigeville route had to get over fully twenty-five miles of ground every day before the route was divided. Cain, the carrier did that for quite a while. What's that? Must be pedestrians? Well, I should smile. And, by the way, we are going to have a walking match between two of the postoffice men on the 5th of July for a purse of $25, the distance to be twenty-five miles. You must come out and see the boys. Van Wie will represent the carriers." "Thank you. Do you have any humorous experiences?" "Yes, plenty, although it wouldn't do to laugh at the people who make funny mistakes, you know. But in the early morning delivery we often see strange sights. The well-dressed, blooming girl of the afternoon mail is frequently the middle-aged sloven of the morning delivery. You wouldn't recognize the extremes, unless you were well acquainted about town, as we are. Sometimes we come across a woman waiting for a letter from her husband, or a mother looking for a letter from her son, which does not come. Why, on my route I had last fall a lady who was expecting a letter. Morning and afternoon she would wait at her door for me in her eager expectancy. But I had nothing for here. After a month or two it used to make me nervous to meet that anxious face, and I hated to pass the house. Poor woman! She was very weary with long waiting, and her gentle face grew wan and sickly. One day in sorting out my mail I came across a letter for my anxious friend. It was thick and newsy in appearance and postmarked away out West. Why I was so glad, do you know, to get that letter that the boys, I guess, thought I had hit it hard at draw poker or something, for I showed my pleasure. Well, I took the letter and hurried to get there, and when I handed it in a look of delight on that lady's face, and the gratitude that beamed in her eyes, did me just as much good as though Garfield was elected and had appointed me Postmaster-General" -Albany Express. |