Show RAILWAY MAil CLERKS OVERWORKED AND UNDERPAID Dissatisfaction Among Men of Normal Conditions Which Have Become Infinitely Worse by Recent Train Held Up in Ogden for 24 Hours There is dissatisfaction among railway mail clerks which becomes more and more pronounced each day The low wages paid to the clerks is in a large measure the reason for the demoralization tion which is evidenced by the fact that somethIng like hike clerks have left the service SInce Jan 1 of the present year On an average there is one clerk resign resignIng lug Ing from this the Eighth division each day It Is reported by a railway mall mail clerk employed on the PacifIc that thata a number of clerks running between Cheyenne a d Ogden and Cheyenne and Pocatello will resIgn their positions on March 1 1 This high percentage of resignations from the service has forced the govern ment during the past two years to hold holda a number of special examinations and another has been called by the depart department department ment for Wednesday next Three of these examinations called at Reno Nev failed to get one single person to enter the service ser service vice Tb There re was a time when the dep depart rt meat ment could get plenty of young oung men inca who were desirous of entering this branch of the service but it is becoming generally known that the life is a strenuoUS one oneas oneas as well as being decidedly dangerous the salaries small and the prospects not en encouraging encouraging Union wages for the ordinary laborIng classes are in excess of the average sal salary salary ary paid railway postal clerks Consid Considering Considering ering the intense strain on and body the technical work performed and the danger they are subjected to it is believed they are entitled to more salary They are regarded as the poorest paid In the civil service At the present time eighteen men are wanted on the between Ogden 1 md 1 San F nci co e if l of I f Is evidenced by an advertisement in a San Francisco paper of re recent ent date calling for this num number number ber of men at once something that is seldom eldom heard of The force of clerks on this line cannot distribute the mail received at this point which Is equallY true of many of the large cities of the United States Ogden as it well known Is s one of the main points of the railway mall service en account of practically an all of the trans transcontinental transcontinental continental mall passing through this point and it is here perhaps that the dis dissatisfaction dissatisfaction satisfaction is i t the e most noticeable The general public knows lItte of the railway man mail service and the delays that are oc occasioned occasioned by thA InsufficIent force on rail railroad railroad road trains This condition can be better illustrated by the fact that commencIng Saturday last only such paper mall is permitted to g gc out of Ogden for Califor ala points as cnn can be handled bandIed between here and Hazen Ney Nev The overflow Is placed In a car at Ogden and assorted d the da clay after its arrival thereby a delay or of hours to ay nothIng of the extra duties that fall upon the clerks Notwithstanding that the postal regula regulations regulations provide provida that the of the clerks is for forthe the purpose of rest and study these men after serving hours on duty are required to put in five or six hours in the overflow paper put off at this point This over overflow overflow flow if permitted to go through would be weighed here during the weighing of the malls mails then on ac account or of not be being beIng ing assorted would be hauled through to Oakland pier assorted there and then re weighed for the trip which wo would ld mean considerable in favor ot of the railroad company On Saturday of last week this thi overflow amounted to seventeen truck loads or over sacks from the eastern castern destined to San Francisco and other Cal CalifornIa CalIfornia points ThIs matter was assorted here ad sent out on fast mall train No 9 yesterday afternoon hours late If the number of clerks was In Increased creased d between here and San Francisco and paper car added to the train all of thIs mall mail could go out without de delay delay lay Of course the layover here of hours does not cost the govern meat anything as the clerks who put Inthe in inthe the extra time In assorting it do not re recEive dve any extra remuneration for this s ork Before the fast mail train service was inaugurated on the Harriman lines the clerkS had sufficient time to do thIs work but since the schedule has been made so much faster the time allotted for the work is too short As a result of the wreck where wherein in four z I 1 clerks were injured the pres present present ent forc ut of Ogden will now be re required required tc io o out every third day instead of every fourth day as there are no eligi eligible ble bie substitutes on the list who are fa with the state of California a re requirement requirement necessary under the present rules Since the inauguration of the railway postoffice service between Salt Lake and Malad Ida which was established Feb 20 the tha mali maU has been carrIed by intermediate Intermediate diate points on account of green men inca be being being ing put on this service who are not fa familiar familiar with the distribution of Utah and Idaho there being no experienced men available Within the past few days the experIenced men Who layover lay over In Salt Lake have been ordered out on this run i ifor for the purpose of teaching these men wl which ch works a hardship on the clerks who are supposed to be enjoying their layoff between runs Late yesterday afternoon an order was issued here detailing three of the re regular ular helpers running out of here to remain in Ogden and work up the overflow until the crowded have been over overcome overcome come ThIs means that the other helpers who have been going out every fifth day will now go out every fourth day and those going out every fourth day ay will now be required to go out every third day This order was issued after another large bat h of overflow was landed here by fast mall train No 9 from the east cast |