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Show LOCAL MAIL CLERK IS ELECTED In tho election held by tho members of tho Railway Mail association of the Eighm Division, comprising the statea of California, Nevada and Utah, and the territories of Arizona and Hawaii, the victors In the most exciting contest con-test of the kind in years aro Frank W. Joesten, of tho Ogden branch, and Harry W. Glover, of the San Francisco Francis-co branch, who were elected dole-gates dole-gates to tho national convention of tho Hallway Mall association to convene con-vene at Syracuse, N. Y., early In June, and Plummer E. Vestal, of Los Angeles, and H. A. Swaney, of Oak-laud, Oak-laud, who were re-elected as division president and division secretary-treasurer, respectively. " The spirit of "Insurgency," so popular pop-ular In national and other affairs of late, has spread to the railway mail clerks, and permeates a majority of the members of the R. M. A., as Is Bhown In tho result of this election. Delegates Joesten is outspoken and firm In his stand for betterment of present conditions in tho railway mall service, such as enforced use of steel mall cars in trains carrying other oth-er cars of steel construction, better hours for clerks, an adequate rest period on the long trunk lines, and other just demands, and tho victory of the ogden candidate Is attributed entirely to the firm stand he took in espousing these "progressive" measures. meas-ures. There are eight othor candidates for delegate in the field and, though most of them were 'standpatters" and represented the old order of things, yet they conducted a strenuous canvass can-vass for votes and carried on a spirited spirit-ed compalgn by circular letters and the familiar placards and smaller cards commonly used In regular political poli-tical campaigns, yet few took any definite stand in matters affecting the clerks all over the country. Tho Railway Mail association has been only luke-warm in its policies in the pa8teevoral years,, and, as Congress Con-gress Is guided by Its recommendations recommenda-tions to a largo extent, It has accomplished accom-plished but little in presenting tho needs of the clerks in the service or voicing their true sentiments, but now the "progressive" element bids fair to control the association In the June convention at Syracuse, N. Y., and It is expectod by the big majority of the railway postal clerks, who number over 18.000 in the United States, that much may be accomplished in the good work already begun, and recently recent-ly taken up by Senator Robert L La Follotto of Wisconsin, toward bettering better-ing tho status and working conditions of the clerks. Handicapped In various ways, tho railway postal clerks of the country have noer enjoyed the publicity and public support that has been given tho postofllco clorks and tho city and rural carriers but the recent shake- up to the personnel of tho highest officials of-ficials of tho railway mall service, following fol-lowing the general dissatisfaction among the thousands of clerks, principally prin-cipally In the middle east and northwest, north-west, and the consequent demoralization demoraliza-tion of the service, have served to compel public attention to this Important Import-ant part of the postal service, and to the large body of public servants who have been laboring under considerable considera-ble inconveniences. The duties of a railway postal clerk are arduous and exacting. He enters the service after a strict iuqntal and physical examination. He must learn "like a book" several thousand post-offices, post-offices, nnd many of the clerks must perform "city distribution" which requires re-quires an expert knowledge of streets and street numbers, blocks, firms, ets.. In a metropolitan community, and distribution of the malls must bo done on swiftly moving trains at all hours, and away from home, and one must be familiar with train schedules and connections, and stage and othor mail routes In varying areas, according accord-ing to different lines, sometimes covering cov-ering several states. And at Intervals of thirty or sixty days there are the nerve-racking "exams," on which clerks are required to attain a percentage per-centage correct of 99 or over. The strenuous duties on moving trains, the continual shaking and jarring, jarr-ing, tho dust, and above all the exacting ex-acting and efficient standard that has been set calls for a high grade of skilled workmanship, and Just nnd proper recognition of such service. |