Show W to bo be ono of an army of to travel by rall railroad roal miles every year to stand in a car forming part of a siva eway lug ying rushing train surrounded by openmouthed open mouthed sacks and pigeon holes letters and papers at the ibe rate of 2500 per pl r hour knowing that every error goes against your record i to work sometimes sixteen to twenty four hours at a stretch often sleepy and hungry those aro are some borne of the daily experiences of tho the railway mau mall clerks then add to these the constant possibility of being knocked into eternity or crippled for life in ft a wreck yet they are a contented lot thesa thes 0 ir railway allway mall mail clerks happy only when on the road but it Is not tho the environment for a man nor dor for him who has passed tho top lot lf the lall of life and Is jogging jog rans down tuto into tho the dark valley beyond thus a majority of the clerks aro are young men ahm are arc preferred by tho the post OMCO office department for far they havo have fewer cares carea are more active and can woric faster aster and with greater accuracy uncle sam barn la Is proud of tho the personnel of this expert erpert force orco and takes bevery pree precaution nution for their safety and comfort their hours are arc blied flied and overtime ov e dilme la Is required only in cases or oc jtb solute necessity A traveling Tra velinir A railway milway niti mi car la is technically nn R P 0 11 or It hallway allway post office it tuna between stated points an end d distributing mall mail gli 11 post along the line it Is a government post office on wheels and la IB united states territory though owned by the railroad it la Is na as well built and as completely equipped for its purpose as a pullman iron racks fot fog adil sacks edtl citone nd along each cach side above are tiers of open boxes and pigeon holes work tables sa s1 51 on the racks there la Is neither plush nor mahogany inaho gany it Is built for work and Is the abode of korkem work cra I 1 lat t us imagine that this car Is the R P 0 leaving pittsburg pa for Clev cleveland elaud ohio over tho the pennsyl reno sylvar tila rifa road tho the pittsburg city posit office ce delivers to the car man mall for points east cast of cleveland called local mall and through mall mail for cleveland and points west the train rushes out of pittsburg ritts FItts burg the whistle blows for a station tat lon no stop herp here A helper opens a side door endings out tho the mall catcher catch ce and up a mall mail sack from a crano crane by the track now tho the work this sack back contains mall from the elation just passed some of it Is for the next office some for cleveland some borne for the for west the mall la Is dumped on a and a n clerk poux pounces ices on it like a wolf on a lamb lie he tosses letters in all directions lie he throws papers and pack hither and ancl yon this way and that ris ns fast as an ail expert sard eard player can distribute a dock deck cut but every piece of mall finds its ita mark in a particular sack or box the sacka and boxes are labeled but the labels ard mary oary his bla quick eye catches only the name of the office ignoring that of the addressee though tho ihu work p pears mechanical it calla for a high degree of training note the marvel lous accuracy less than two per cent of errors in the work of the flolo force for a riven given year tho the whistle blows for another way station tat lon the door Is opened a sack eack to ie thrown off and the catcher banki another sack eack about for distribution and so BO it goes without cessation the whole scheme Is so BO arning pd tint there Is 18 just time working wi a the utmost speed and accuracy to make skill needed to throw sacks throwing off sacks back calls for adoth ier kind of skill the expert knows from the weight of sack speed of train and pressure of w wid id just when and how to let the sack go ire he can drop it on a mark it if i 4 platform be ba crowded or littered with he ba ast enst pick a clear spot lest bl ahli i cannon ball of leather and canil recca up against some borne unsuspecting traveler I 1 have seen been ft a mall clerk drop a sixty pound sack from a train going a mile a minute landing it lightly on a truck n twenty feet from tho the track y of course there are accidents and 1 danger Is always present yet in ten years yeara past but 90 clerks havo have been killed on tho the road an average of too ten a year with a force numbering up to tin legal representative t f each clerk to sy killed receives 1000 from the government arrangements Arrange menti are contemplated tor for payment of an annuity to every clerk permanently in line of duty the mall mail car la Is usually next tho tender and runs a greater risk in noil il dents than a passenger car the position po is 13 sometimes advantageous an instance la Is cited of a peculiar wreck near le K X Y the train was wais crossing a bridge when tie tho the comparatively light tender nud and mall car responded instantly while the heavy baggage and passenger 1 as Benger coaches a drag that broke tho the coupling Iteli relieved eved of 0 this burden the engine t ader anti and mail car shot ahead and leaped the twenty foot draw landing on the iho other side elda in safety lie enalla ca enca nud and side wiped the iron bridge w we le testing tearing its ita jacket to tatt rs and knocking the cab into the riv tue the rest irest of tho the train with brakes set automatically camo came to a stop without a 0 foot to spare r 1 I A F A the engineer saw that the aw aria open HIS hia awed ang roch that ho I 1 leonid not stop but hb be ana a a inter the engine for u t lie be suddenly throw threw tho av |