LI B RARY
OF THL
UNIVLRSITY
Of ILLINOIS
383
L85m
cop . 3
111. Hist. 3ur
Mail by Rail
The Story of the Postal Transportation Service
BRYANT ALDEN LONG
Associate Editor Transit Postmark
with
WILLIAM JEFFERSON DENNIS
Author of The Traveling Post Office
SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLISHING CORPORATION
New York
First Printing
Copyright 1951, by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation
Design and Typography by Elaine C. Farrar
Manufactured in the United States of America
^
To my dear wife
:i
CONTENTS
FOREWORD viii
1. STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN 1
2. A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 14
3. "TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 50
4. FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 47
5. VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL ... 81
6. TRANSIT MAIL: FROM STAGE TO TRAIN 95
7. AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 103
8. THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 118
9. PERILOUS DAYS: THE ASSOCIATION AND
THE BROTHERHOOD 137
10. AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 169
11. THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 205
12. R.P.O.S ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 231
13. CANCELS AND CAR PHOTOS: THE R.P.O. HOBBY 254
14. ON FAR HORIZONS:
I-THE BRITISH T.P.O.S 268
15. ON FAR HORIZONS:
II-FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 297
16. TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 324
THE MAIL CLERK'S WIFE (A TRIBUTE) 568
TECHNICAL NOTES 570
APPENDIX:
I. CURRENT R.P.O.S OF THE U. S., CANADA,
AND BRITAIN 386
II. BIBLIOGRAPHY 406
INDEX 409
vi
ILLUSTRATIONS
Making the catch at Shohola, Pennsylvania
How men sort mail at a mile a minute
Cross-section of an R.P.O. interior
Unloading the Albuquerque S: Los Angeles Railway Post Office
A catch out west, on the Santa Fe's Chief
A tiny former two-foot gauge railway post office car
A typical local short-line railway post office
A Postal Transportation Service "terminal"
Owney, famed traveling dog of the mail cars
New York World's Fair Railway Post Office
Replica of the original Hannibal-St. Joe mail car
The long and short of it
Former interurban trolley railway post office
An electric-car railway post office
Old-time city street railway post office
A British railway post office
Clerks at work on a British Travelling Post Office
A Canadian railway post office train
Railway post office car in Germany
The flying post office
Modern highway post office
A famed postal streamliner
The ultimate in modern postal cars
The late Smith W. Purdum: beloved ex-head of the Service
A typical steam railway post office train
vn
FOREWORD
The purpose of this book is to tell the story of the Postal
Transportation (Railway Mail) Service, past and present.
In particular, it is the story of the unsung and highly trained
men who expertly sort your mail and mine on speeding
trains, day and night. The author and his collaborator, both
of whom have worked in this Service, are eager to portray
it so that it will interest everyone who mails a letter— as well
as the railfan, the R.P.O.-HP.O. enthusiast or philatelic
collector, and the postal transportation clerk himself. Above
all, we hope thereby to improve working conditions within
the Service and contribute to its personnel's welfare, as well
as to more efficient postal services in the public interest.
As the first general descriptive book on our railway postal
services to appear in over thirty-four years, this work is based
partly on its small predecessor of 1916, Professor Dennis's
The Travelling Post Office; but it has become a completely
new and vastly expanded volume, covering everything from
the mighty streamlined Fast Mail trains and Highway Post
Offices of today to the ghostly white street-car R.P.O.s of
yesteryear, even though maps had to be omitted.
Young men interested in entering the P.T.S., new substi-
tutes, and railway mail researchers should review carefully
the Technical Notes and Appendices at the back. The great-
est care has been taken to insure the book's accuracy; but
despite intense research in the field, libraries, and by corre-
spondence and re-checking of data, minor factual errors and
inadvertent omissions of certain facts or proper credits are
all too likely to creep in. The author makes no pretense of
infallibility and will appreciate all such points being called
to his attention for rectification in future editions and, if
warranted, by notice in appropriate journals.
A major share of recognition for outstanding contributions
in the preparation of this book is due to the following mail
clerks and officials of the United States and of the British
Commonwealth: Mr. Clinton C. Aydelott, Rock Island & St.
Louis Railway Post Office; Mr. John Brooks Batten, South
viii
West Travelling Post Office; Mr. C. E. Burdick, New York
& Salamanca Railway Post Office; Mr. LeRoy Clark, Office of
General Superintendent P.T.S., Omaha 1, Nebr.; Mr. Owen
D. Clark, New York & Washington Railway Post Office;
Mr. John J. Bowling, St. Louis & Omaha Railway Post Office;
Mr. Frank Goldman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Terminal,
P.T.S.; Mr. Charles Hatch, St. Louis, Eldon & Kansas City
Railway Post Office; Mr. G. Herring, Director of Communi-
cations, R.M.S., Post Office Dept., Ottawa, Ont.; Mr. Dan
Moschenross, Toledo & St. Louis Railway Post Office; Mr.
James Murdock, North Bay & Toronto Railway Post Office;
Mr. Nilkanth D. Purandare, Inspector R.M.S., Retired,
Poona City, India; Mr. Hershel E. Rankin, Editor Transit
Postmark, Memphis 'k New Orleans R.P.O.; Mr. L. Beau-
mont Reed, New York & Pittsburgh R.P.O., Retired; Mr.
J. L. Reilly, Editor Postal Transport Journal, ex-New York
& Chicago R.P.O.; Mr. Ronald Smith, Editor The Traveller,
Down/Up Special Travelling Post Office; Mr. Donald M.
Steffee, New York &: Chicago Railway Post Office; and Mr.
William D. Taylor, North West Travelling Post Office.
Equally outstanding credit is due to the following, not
connected with the Service: Mr. LeRoy P. Ackerman, Presi-
dent, AMERPO, East Orange, N. J.; Mr. W. Lee Fergus,
Glen Ellyn Philatelic Club, Glen Ellyn. 111.; Mr. Robert S.
Gordon, Northfield, Vt.; Mr. Norman Hill, President,
T.P.O. & Seapost Society, Rotherham, England; Mrs.
Dorothy Jane Long, Verona, N. J.; Mr. Earl D. Moore,
President, Streetcar Cancel Society, Chicago, 111.; and Mr.
Stephen G. Rich, Publisher, Verona, N. J.
Additional credit is due to such institutions and publica-
tions as the Bureau of Transportation, Post Office Depart-
ment, Washington, and its officials; the National Postal
Transport Association, the Postal Transport Journal, the
Panama Canal office, the Department of the Army and its
officers, the Post Office Department's Post Haste, its former
office of Air Postal Transport, and numerous embassies and
legations, particularly the Mexican, Polish, and Spanish, all
at Washington, D. C; Railroad Magazine, This Week, New
York Central System, and the Collectors' Club, all at New
York, N. Y.; the Go-Back Pouch, Oakland 2, Calif., for many
excerpts; The Traveller, London; T.P.O. , Rotherham, York-
shire; Postal Markings, Verona, N. J.; Linn's Weekly, Sidney,
Ohio; Transit Postmark, Raleigh, Tenn.; the Philatelic.
ix
Literature Review, Canajoharie, N. Y.; and to Clarence
Votaw's book Jasper Hunnicut. Special help was gratefully
received from Assistant Executive Director George E. Miller
of the first-named Bureau above, from his predecessor Mr.
John D. Hardy, and from publisher A. C. Kalmbach and
Trains. We thank espescially the many present and former
railway mail clerks and officials of this country and the British
Commonwealth who contributed, including:
F. E. C. Allen, L. M. Allen, G. E. Anderson. S. C. Arnold, E.
Avery, D. W. Baker, Harry Barnes, J. F. Barron, A. A. Bell-
mar, J. F. Bennett, C. G. Berry, A. N. Bice, F. J. Billingham,
C. S. Blakeley, San Bias, Supt. B. B. Bordelon, W. H. Bower,
Chas. Brassell, G. E. Brown, T. F. Brown, H. C. Browning,
D. D. Bonewitz, Amos Brubaker, G. W. Bruere, C. P. Buckley,
E. C. Bull, D. O. Brewster, S. J. Buckman, J. L. Buckmaster,
L. W. Buckmaster, Leon Burchardt, B. B. Callicott, Wm.
Carmody. B. F. Carle and M. B. A., W. V. Carter, C. W.
Caswell, Arthur Carucci, T. L. Chittick, Harry Christensen,
Ex-Gen. Supt. S. A. Cisler, C. G. Cissna, H. A. Clarke and
D. R. M. C. Fed., Wm. Cole, R. T. Confer, J. P. Connolly,
H. W. Cook, J. F. Cooper, Sam Cope, W. E. Cocanower,
L. C. Cox, H. C. Craig, W. C. Crater, S. J. Curasi, Geo. Cutler,
Leon Cushman, J. C. Davis, L. E. Davis, Wilson Davenport,
J. F. Daeger, O. T. Dean and Ry. Mail Clerk, Mike Del-
gado, W. M. De Soucy, Supt. R. W. Dobbins, A. B. Dodge,
E. F. Dodson, N. E. Donath, J. F. Donnelly, G. E. Doran,
Barney Duckman, W. Dunn, E. Ellsworth, Ruben Ericson,
Ray Exler, H. A. Farley, P. V. Farnsworth, Supt. F. G. Fielder,
T.J. Flannagan, W. H. Flowers, C. W. Gage, F. C. Gardiner,
R. E. Garner, Supt. L. J. Garvin, Roger Gaver, A. R. Geving,
Sid Goodman, Jack Gordan, G. H. Gorham, F. R. Gossman,
G. K. Greer, C. R. Groff, Isidore Gross, J. H. Grubbs, J. R.
Goodrich, Hugh Gordon, F. W. Gruhn, L. S. Hahn, B. F.
Harkins, R. A. Harter, H. Hammerman, C. M. Harvey, G. E.
Herron, C. C. Hennessy. S. H. Hill, J. A. Hoctor, John Hoff-
man, Earle Hoyer, J. H. Huber, F. A. Huether, Wilburn
Humphries, Al Humpleby, P. T. Jacoby, B. V. James, H. L.
Jeffers, R. G. Johnson, Supt. F. J. Jones, R. E. Jones, Harry
Kapigian, Jack Kelleher, Supt. E. J. Kelly, L. C W. Kettring,
W. F. Kilman, C. M. Kite. Supt. V. A. Klein, J. D. Knight.
Keith Koons, C. E. Kramer, Wm. Kuhnle, John Landis,
Supt. A. D. Lawrence, T. R. Lehman, C. A. Leuschner,
Supt. J. C. Livingston, Geo. Lonquist, E. R. Love, Supt. E. L.
Loving, D. J. Lucas, F. Luchesi, J. J. J. Lundcen, H. J. IMc-
Carty, Jerauld McDerniott, W. R. McDonald, J. G. Mc-
Elhinny, O. R. McGahey, W. R. McDonald, D. C. Mcintosh,
R. V. McPherson, Supt. R. H. McNabb, L. C. Maconiber,
Jas. Maher, R. A. March, Supt. Roy Martin, E. M. Martin-
dale, E. A. Maska, G. S. Mereweather, Earl Miller, J. L.
Miller, W. R. Miller, W. A. Mills, VV. H. Morgan, Russell
Moore, J. H. Morton, Claude Moyer, J. VV. Mullen, J. F.
Mullins, C. E. Natter, E. L. Newton, A. T. Nichols, R. A.
Norris, O. H. Ohlinger, O. A. Olson, F. E. Page, J. A. Parsons,
M. H. Peckham, F. E. Perry, E. Pierce, Arthur Piper, VV. S.
Pinkney, J. F. Plummer, J. C. Presgraves, VVni. Poole, H. F.
Potter, M. A. Priestley, E. W. Purcell, A. R. Querhammer,
F. L. Ray, Paul Redpath, C. E. Rench, VV. R. S. Reynolds,
R. H. Rex, R. A. Rice, H. B. Richardson, J. F. Roberson,
Melvin Robertson, VV. L. Robinson, Supt. VV. G. Ross, H.
Rothe, J. F. Rowland, E. C. Rumpf, Silas Rutherford, F. J.
Schneider, B. F. Schreffler, Dr. E. A. Shaffer, S. O. Shapiro,
Louis Shimek, Harry Shulder, H. VV. Shuster, f. L. Simpson,
R. L. Simpson, E. H. Slayton, D. O. VV. Smith, H. G. Springer,
Alex Steinbach, Ben Steigler, E. E. Stuart, C. F. Swerman, L.
H. Thompson, A. C. Threadgill, Chas. Tobolsky, G. E. Tyler,
E. F. Upham, L. N. Vandivier, Wm. Van Vliet, X. C. Vickrey,
P. C. Vincent, Anton Vlcek, VVm. I. Votaw, L. Wagner, Frank
Waldhelm, J. A. Washington, H. E. Waterbury, C. J.
Waterston, F. M. Weigand, C. J. Wentz, H. C. Welsh, VV. H.
Werntz, G. L. Wester, Willis Wildrick, B. O. VVilks, L. A.
VVilsey, Supt. R. C. Young, L. R. Zarr, and L. E. Zimmerman.
The following persons, not connected with the P.T.S., are
due equal credit:
John D. Alden, Lieut. L. W. Amy, Vernon L. Ardiff, VV.
H. Auden and G.P.O. at London, Donald Ashton and Bur-
linton Lines, Chas. L Ball, Paul D. Barrett, Postmaster Bauer
(Munich, Germany) , Gordon Berry, Phil Bolger, VVm. G.
Bolt and Miami P.O., Carl D. Bibo, C. D. Brenner, L. R.
Brown, John H. Brinckmann, A. M. Bruner, Richard O.
Bush, Secretary, Amerpo, Mrs. VV. H. Buxton, Dep. Asst.
P.M.G. Tom C. Cargill, Dr. Carroll Chase, Chief de Centre
de Tri (Mulhouse, France), Geo. Kenneth Clough, Richard
S. Clover, Sylvester Colby, C. A. Colvin, Eric G. Colwell, H.
T. Crittenden, Mrs. John R. Cummings, Edward [. Curtis,
Stephen P. Davidson, Louis Edward Dequine, L. W. Dewitt,
Heliger De Winde, Frank P. Donovan, Jr., Eugene Dubois
xi
and Pennsylvania Railroad, Carl Dudley, Henry Doherty,
Chas. A. Elston, Mrs. M. Engdahl, John F. Field, Bruce M.
Fowler, Edward A. Fuller, Joseph Galloway, Robert Gear,
G. L. Geilfuss, D. S. Gates and the I.C.S., Margaret Ankers
Gilkey, Philippine R.M.S. Supt. Vincente Gonzales, Ex-P.M.
Ernest Green, Arthur G. Hall, R. L. Hardy, Althea Harvey,
A. C. Hahn, Richard A. Hazen, E. W. Heckenbach, Glenn
Heuberger, R. F. Higgins, Elliott B. Holton, Stephen G.
Hulse, Sistem M. Ida, Lieut. Wm. C. Jannsen, Alan A.
Jackson, Michael Jarosak, Albert L. V. Jenkins, Mrs. Irl M.
Johnson, Eileen Keelln, Harry M. Konwiser, Fred Langford,
Merwin A. Leet, Sven E. Lindberg (railway mail clerk,
Sweden), Geo. W. Linn, Carleton M. Long, Dorothy M. Long,
L. L McDougale, Kyle McGrady, C. M. Mark, Lieut. Marquez
(Spanish Embassy), Dr. W. L Mitchell, Howard T. Moulton,
Barney Neuberger, Allan Nicholson, Scott Nixon, H. R.
Odell, Harry Oswald, L. B. Parker, Dave H. Parsons, G. E.
Payne, Postmasters at Bills Place (Pa.) Frankfurt-am Main
(Germany) and Skaneateles (N.Y.), W. C. Peterman, W. J.
Pfeiffer, Alden L. Randall, E. H. Redstone and Boston Public
Library, Bob Richardson, R. W. Richardson, Mike Runey,
Rev. D. B. Russell, Gideon G. Ryder, Arlene R. Sayre, Edwin
Schell, Don E. Shaw, T. J. Sinclair and Association of Ameri-
can Railroads, James C. Smith, Jessica Smith, John Gibb
Smith, W. R. Smith and Fairchild Aircraft, Clarence E. Snell,
Gunter Stetza, Mrs. H. W. Strickland, Walter L. Thayer, J.
G. Thomas, Gerald F. Todd, Robert A. Truax, Jas. H.
Tierney, H. T. Vaughn, C. W. Ward, W. S. Wells, Robert
West, Mrs. John S. Wegener, and Wilkins, photographer
(Brooklyn).
B. A, L.
January 1, 1951.
Xll
MAIL BY RAIL
Chapter 1
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN
The Railway Maill Ah, how my mind goes ranging o'er
the years
When, in old Number 31, the mail piled to my ears,
I showed the world, along with all the others in the crew.
Just what a bunch of mail clerks in their fighting clothes
could do . . .
— Earl L. Newton
— Courtesy Postal Markings
Framed tensely in a door-
way on a speeding train, roar-
ing through the night past a
tiny village on a curve, he
stands alert— a postal transpor-
tation clerk. His eyes are fixed
upon a tiny light on a track-
side crane; his hands grip a
strange, huge hook on a cross-
bar; his faded denims flutter in the wind, held to his waist
by a big belt carrying a grim six-shooter and a long key chain.
He has just stepped away from a "blind" mail case into
which he had been flipping letters for several thousand post
offices to the exact proper routes— without even a mark on any
of his 150 pigeonholes to guide him!
As average Americans, we know about as little concerning
this grizzled mail-key railroader and his amazing, vitally im-
portant job as anyone could deem possible. These expert
superpostmen of the rails, who sort America's mails in transit
at mile-a-minute speeds to save precious hours and days in
1
2 MAIL BY RAIL
delivery, are seldom heard of or even noticed. Except, per-
haps, by their co-workers of the railroad and post offices; by
occasional bystanders at stations 'who suddenly notice their
car marked "United States Mail— Railway Post Office" and
peer through the barred windows, fascinated, to watch them at
work; or by the small-town resident to whom the flying tackle
by which our veteran clerk soon hooks a pouch from that
trackside crane is an old story, and to whom he's known as
a "railway mail clerk. "^
Weird are the misconceptions as to who this man might
be! For example:
"You just take on and unload the mail, don't you?"
"What railroad company do you work for?"
"How long have you been with the Railway Express?"
Such are the never-ending questions that in time may irk
even the best-natured clerk. Many persons still believe the
mail clerk starts out with a pouch ready-locked for each sta-
tion. Others remark, enviously, "Those chaps only work
every other week; the rest of the time they loaf. And they
ride all over the country free, seeing the sights. I know— I
read the Civil Service school ads."
Far from that, America's thirty thousand postal transpor-
tation clerks are trained experts employed solely by the
United States Government. Their richly earned time off is
spent largely in required studies, label preparations, and
scheme correcting. With their officials, they constitute our
nation-wide Postal Transportation Service— known as the
Railway Mail Service until late in 1949— and handle 93 per
cent of all non-local mail matter. It is small wonder that the
Postal Transportation Service is famed as "the backbone of
the postal establishment" or "the Arteries of the Postal
Service."
And these "arteries" are indeed manned by red-blooded,
keen-minded men of good physique and uncanny intellect.
Aged eighteen to seventy, they work night and day in con-
^The railroads still officially designate P.T.C.'s as "railway mail clerks," and
this popular terra will be frequently used here,
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN S
necting mail trains, called Raihvay Post Offices (R.P.O.s),
from Halifax to Los Angeles. Still other railway mail clerks—
to give them their popular title— work in terminals, highway
post offices, boat "R.P.O.s," airfields, transfer and field offices,
and even (experimentally) in airplanes.
With the gruff self-deprecation so characteristic of these
clerks, we can well imasjine some veteran of the rails at this
point as he snorts and emits the classic remark:
"There luere days when we used to have wooden cars and
iron men. Now we have steel cars and ..." And his voice
trails off into mumble of good-natured exasperation.
But we who have really come to know these men, as they
are today, hold to the conviction that we must say "steel cars
and iron men"— for it is still true, as Postmaster General
Jones said in 1888:
"There is no position more exacting . . . He must not only
be sound in mind and limb, but possessed of above-ordinary
intelligence and a retentive memory . . . He must know no
night or day. He must be impervious to heat or cold. Rush-
ing along at the rate of [now, 60 to 90] miles per hour, in
charge of that ^vhich is sacred— the correspondence of the
people— catching his meals as he may; at home only semi-
occasional ly, the wonder is that men competent [for] so high
a calling can be found."
The whole purpose of the P.T.S. is to speed our mails by
sorting them iji transit instead of while lying in a post office.
In the 1850's a typical letter mailed to Florida from a town in
Maine would require one to two weeks for delivery, because
it had to wait its turn for sorting and resorting at Boston,
New York, Washington, and so on.
Today five speedy R.P.O. lines carry the letter continuous-
ly southward, while all necessary sorting is done en route. A
clerk on the Bangor k Boston R. P. O. (MeC-BRrM)-, running
through our Maine town, receives the letter and probably
puts it in a "South States" letter package in his case. Tied
with string, the package is addressed by means of a slip to
•Maine Central and Boston & Maine R.R.'s. Similar standard or easily-recog-
pized railroad abbreviations will be used following all R.P.O. titles as needed,
4 MAIL BY RAIL
the next R.P.O. connection, the Boston &: N.Y. (NYNHScH).
That line will probably make up a "Florida State" package,
and the next clerk, on the N. Y. R: Washington (PRR), will
probably put it in a pouch of Florida "working" packages
made up for the Wash, k Florence R.P.O. rRFR:P-ACU.
A clerk on that line will make up a "Flor. R: Jacksonville—
Fla." package, containing our letter, for this next line. If the
Florida village is directly on the Flor. R: Jack. (ACL) , the
clerk on that line makes a direct package for the to^vn and
puts it off there in a pouch; if destined for a connecting line,
the letter will go into a package pouched to that route in-
stead. Within two days after mailing, it can be delivered.
This ingenious work is done in over three thousand
R.P.O. cars (on passenger trains) and highway post offices,
operated on over eight hundred separate routes covering
over 205,000,000 miles annually. Routes are usually named
from their terminals— such as the "N.Y. R: Chicago R.P.O.,"
famed as the New York Central's "Fast Mail" route. Postal cars
are usually sixty to seventy feet long; but in all cars, except
the "full R.P.O.s" used on the trunk lines, clerks and mails
are restricted to a fifteen- or thirty-foot "apartment." ^Tain-
line R.P.O. trains containing two or three sixty-foot cars with
twelve or fifteen clerks in each are a sharp contrast to the
tiny one-man branch-line and suburban facilities.
In addition to the lettering mentioned, most R.P.O. cars
may be recognized by their low, continuous windows contain-
ing prison-like vertical or horizontal wooden rods, and by a
catcher hook or a safety bar in each sliding door. Inside, the
busy clerks work in strictly utilitarian surroundings, usually
finished in drab brown paint and plain varnish, except for
the newest cars, which feature green-enameled cases and
walls; ceilings are white. If a typical car is entered through
its "end door" from the car ahead, we find first of all a small
closet into which the clothes and wraps of a full crew can
barely be jammed. Doors, usually nine to 18 inches wide, as
well as closets, are wnder in newer cars. Front hooks, soon
completely covered for easy pocket access, are a particular
bane to those due to arrive later.
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN i
There follow in quick, succession a tiny lavatory opposite,
steel-pole stalls or bins ("stanchions" out West) for stacking
bag mails, sliding doors, a water cooler, pigeonhole cases for
sorting letters, tray tables and steel racks in which pouches
(for letters) and sacks (for newspapers) are hung, and then
more sliding doors and storage bins. Letter cases, which in
some cars are at the center instead, are built fiat asrainst the
walls, with a ledge and drawers underneath. Each "letter
man" handles a case section eleven or twelve holes his:h and
four to sixteen columns wide; case holes are just four and
one-half or four and one-quarter inches wide. The canvas,
leather-strapped pouches are hung squarely open in their col-
lapsible steel-pipe rack; pouch clerks are busily flinging letter
packages and first-class packets {slugs) in front, behind them,
and above into auxiliary overhead boxes with sliding gates.
The "paper man" does exactly the same thing with his news-
papers and occasional parcels; his sacks, loosely hung with
dangling cord fasteners, are usually at the rear of the big
sixty-five ton car. Each car costs the railroad up to $85,000—
and Uncle Sam up to fifty-four cents per mile for its use.
Working at a mad pace in his speeding, swaying train for
nightly nine- to sixteen-hour stretches, the railway mail clerk
is a fascinating study in human psychology. His steadfast
attention to duty, superior intellect and memory, stamina,
and sterling honesty are all proverbial. Less known is his
typical, good-natured deprecation of himself and his job; he's
loath to admit that he does have a quiet, hidden determina-
tion to speed the mails home— to never "go stuck" (leave
mails incompletely sorted). He usually detests that hackneyed
saying "The mails must go through," and few clerks will
admit, as M. E. Peebles did recently in The Postal Transport
Journal,'' that "1 personally believe we have one of the finest
jobs in the country." And yet, should their expert teamwork
cease for only twenty-four hours, national chaos would result
and business and commerce grind practically to a standstill.
But in their personal ideals and special interests mail-car
*Then the Railway Post Office.
6 MAIL BY RAIL
men are as startlingly different as they are otherwise alike.
They run the whole gamut from stag-party-and-hot-swing
devotees to poetic symphony lovers, from avid horse-race fans
to musicians or creative artists, and from fervent Gospel-
declarers to revelers in wine, women, and song! Nearly all
clerks, however, like hunting and card games.
A surprising number of college men enter the Service,
including scores of former underpaid male teachers. Seventy
out of 150 typical new substitutes were found to be college
graduates, and many are likely to rise to the top— as did one
clerk, a Princeton man named John D. Hardy, who became
the highest official of the service.
Occasionally, however, a somewhat unlettered youth who
nevertheless makes excellent examination grades is appoint-
ed. Clark Carr tells how enraged one Civil Service commis-
sioner was when former General Superintendent Bangs of
the old "R.M.S." showed him an atrociously ungrammatical
and misspelled letter received from such a clerk— until Bangs
revealed that that clerk was the best in the United States at
that time, making faster time, fewer errors, and better test
grades than any other employee!
To let off steam amid their trying working conditions, most
clerks indulge in a good bit of healthy "griping" against "the
office" and against their own fraternal union, the National
Postal Transport Association (RMA); actually, their loyalty
to both ranks close to perfect. A second "escape" is provided
by their universal sense of humor.
The typical clerk is a clean-cut, healthy chap with few dis-
tinguishing features when in street clothes, unless he is going
to or from his train, carrying his "little grip" and heavy key
chain. But in his head he has retained the exact names and
routes of from three thousand to ten thousand different post
offices, and, often, the exact train connections for most of
them. Some P.T.S. men have a keen natural interest in the
geographical routing of addresses and rather enjoy their stud-
ies and duties, and some have yielded to a seldom-admitted
lure for serving on speeding trains. But our typical railway
mail clerk just regards it all as part of a grind— a job he carries
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN 7
on faithfully, unknown and unsung. What matters it that in
his most important periodic "exams," passing is 97 per cent,
and in all others, 85 per cent— far higher than the best uni-
versity requirements!
Postal transportation clerks and their predecessors (route
agents) have been publicly cited for their honesty and loyalty
for over one hundred years. With no officials to observe them
at work, clerks handle billions of dollars on their honor-
ranging from an occasional unwrapped silver coin or bank
note labeled to destination with stamp affixed (or even a letter
with a nickel sewed on for postage) to whole cases and bags of
currency, bonds, or coin which they must keep protected at
gun point. All are promptly delivered in safety, while the
smallest loose coin or the largest bill is scrupulously turned
in. Statistically, the P.T.S. is 99.87 per cent honest!
Many a loyal clerk thinks nothing of paying out of his
pocket for costly geographical lists, keved city-distribution
case labels, special stationery, knives and thumbstalls, and
other supplies, none of which is required equipment for
doing his job according to minimum standards. He purchases
them voluntarily— solely in order to sort mail more quickly
and accurately. Even when ill he sometimes makes his run,
if no substitutes are available, rather than default the job.
But there are more dramatic examples of loyalty too. . . .
Before Beardstown, Illinois, built its sea wall, the Illinois
River often flooded the entire vicinity of the Burlington sta-
tion. One night as Rock Island k St. Louis (CBR:Q) R.P.O.
Train 51 was ready to leave over the flooded track, a man in
hip boots came rushing up to the door with a revolver and a
bag of mail. It seems that a long stretch of track over which
a connecting train was due to come in had completely washed
out, and this man— Clerk R. E. Glenn, off duty— had hired a
rowboat and brought the mail over miles of rough Avater in
the dark to make a last-minute connection, preventing the
delay of thousands of letters. Oddlv enough, the risky deed
was not officially approved at the time.
Similar floods often maroon R.P.O. trains in isolated places
or force them to detour many miles, thus requiring clerks to
8 MAIL BY RAIL
work sometimes twenty or thirty hours without a break. In
some cases the mail is soon worked up and the weary men
can doze or rest during tlie extra time; but, like as not, de-
layed or unexpected extra mail connections will be received
in the train from all directions. Schedules and routings for
best dispatch change sharply with the unexpected lapse of
time, adding to the complication and often requiring rework-
ing of mail. Lunches are fast exhausted, and any bits of eat-
ables cherished by the crew members begin skyrocketing in
value— at least so the stories have it— as the hungry men bar-
gain for them. (Actually, clerks are usually generous sharers;
a new "sub" without lunch is often quickly provided for.)
Such major emergencies as train robberies and serious
wrecks are pretty rare in these days of safety devices, eagle-
eyed inspectors, and armed clerks. Rut when they do occur,
today's "mail-key railroaders" still live up to their proverbial
devotion, alertness, and courage. They yet have a share in all
the tasks and traditions, the risks and romance, that float
upon the smoky breath of the "high iron." (See Chap. 11.)
There ^vere, for example. Clerks Karl Boothman and Guy
O'Hearn, who beat off desperate bandits (in open gunplay)
who had attacked Chic. R: Carbondale (IC) Train .81 at
Onarga, Illinois, in 1939; badly wounded, they saved a 556,000
pavroll, shot a bandit to enable his capture, later received
official commendations and $1,000 each from the insurance
company. Years before. Clerk Alvin S. Page planned a suc-
cessful trap for the desperadoes of "Indian Charlie," whom
he'd heard were to hold up his Texas R.P.O. train and seize
$300,000; Page risked his life defending the mails as G-men
closed in, and later refused any of a $5,000 reward offered
him by Postmaster General Hayes.
Fate struck twice in quite a different way, recently, to call
forth two magnificent examples of quick thinking courage
on the one-man "Harry R: Frank" R.P.O. — a P.R.R. run
from Harrington, Delaware, to Franklin City, Virginia,
just discontinued. Clerk C. E. Adkins, incapacitated bv a
sudden stroke when on duty southboimd. refused medical
aid until the conductor could secure a replacement for him,
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN 9
meanwhile trying to work his mail left-handed on his hands
and knees clear to Franklin City and back to Snow Hill,
Maryland. There he was relieved by an off-duty clerk, called
through the quick co-operation of Mrs. Adkins. Shortly after-
wards (March 1946) Clerk C. R. Thorsten saved the lives of
seven passengers on the same train at the same spot (Snow
Hill) when a gasoline truck hit the mail train— creating a
blazing inferno from which he barely escaped alive!
As recently as March 20, 1950, a clerk paid the supreme
sacrifice through a train accident— Ira J. Donald of Terre
Haute, Indiana, fatally injured making a dangerous "catch"
February 1 at Caledonia, Ohio, on the Cleveland &: St. Louis
(Big Four); and three years before, six clerks were killed in
a terrible Pennsy tragedy. But such mass fatalities are now
extremely rare; it had been thirty-seven years since a worse
tragedy had occurred— the snow avalanche which crashed into
Spokane 8; Seat., now Williston & Seattle (ON) Trains 27
and 25, February 22, 1910, at Wellington, Washington,
killing 101 riders and 8 clerks (including Clerk-in-Charge
J. D. Fox), when the snowbound trains plunged three hundred
feet into a canyon. (Just three years before, a train of the
same R.P.O. had been marooned very close by in a snowshed
for ten days, with no harm done.*) In most recent years only
one or two clerks have been killed.
What is a wreck usually like? Ask retired clerk Theodore
Wheelock, whose mail car on the Tucumcari Sc El Paso
(SP's Golden State Limited) plowed into the far bank of
Brazorita Canyon in New Mexico as the rest of the train
plunged through a trestle. The only head-end survivor, he
dug out and waded through water up to his chin, with a
broken shoulder, until he secured help for the trapped pas-
sengers from a ranch house, and protection for his mails. Or
ask Dan Moschenross of the Toledo & St. Louis (Wabash),
who recalls ^^•ith grim humor:
" A wreck is usually caused by one train trying to meet or
^Railroad Magazine, March 1940— "10 Days in a Snowshed," by Clerk Fred
Wightman.
10 MAIL BY RAIL
pass another on the same track. It has never been done suc-
cessfully . . . but the railroads keep right on trying. Some-
times a train will get ofT the track and run along on the
ground. 1 hat has never worked very well either . . .
"Only two people ever get to a wreck ahead of the mail
clerks: . . . the engineer and fireman. Next comes the bag-
gageman, then the passengers— and then the ambulance
drivers.
"When you are in a mail car and suddenly see all the
letters flying around like pigeons, and there are ties and
broken rails going past the windows, you can be sure there's
going to be a wreck on your line. And, that you will be in it."
In one such wreck, nine pouches of loose letters Avere gath-
ered up from the resulting jumble of mail, equipment, and
broken fixtures. And while the engineer and fireman do
"get to a wreck" first, they can often see danger in time to
jump; but the clerks have no way of knowing what lies ahead.
There are other evidences of the typical clerk's innate
loyalty, less spectacular, but just as remarkable. On a simple
letter case for a distant state where he is required only to pick
out letters for the largest towns, he often voluntarily learns
the proper R.P.O. routing tor its many offices and rearranges
his case accordingly. Transferred to a new, unfamiliar assign-
ment, he pitches in, with the aid of a standpoint list perhaps,
to "work" the new State with amazing accuracy until he
qualifies on its examination; many a clerk has become expert
on an assignment by "picking it up" without ever taking a
test on it. A good clerk watches those about him, and hastens
to render assistance where needed without being told. And
instead of hoping for the train to speed up, so he can get off
duty early, he usually breathes a petition for a few slow-downs
so he can complete distribution in A-1 style.
What character sketches could be drawn of many a loyal,
respected veteran of the mail car! Who could ever forget
popular "Cappie," for example— a pleasant, tall, curly-headed
clerk on an Eastern line— who for years wore t^vo guns on
duty (P.T.S. revoher and a big "horse pistol") and always a
brace of pencils as wide as his broad smile, and who eats huge
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN 11
DagAvood sandwiches? Or a certain efficient clerk-in-chargc
who demands that all "toe the mark" in no faint tones, but
who goes hunting and treats his crew— down to the newest
sub— to roast venison? More power to them.
And speaking of sandwiches and game, our mail-train men
are champion eaters indeed. Many take three or four big
sandwiches or a whole pie for lunch, while others, who eat
lightly on duty, may be true trenchermen at other times, espe-
cially at the popular banquets and celebrations staged bv the
N.P.T.A. With pheasant and deer hunting rated as the clerks'
top field sports, at least one branch holds an annual pheasant
feed famed for its food consumption; perhaps it was here that
a clerk named "Paradise" was reported in the old R.P.O. to
have eaten seven helpings of barbecue and seven ears of corn I
Despite claims of one official to the contrary, there are
quite a few fat fellows in the Service, as one would expect
after hearing of such astoimding gustatory records. We read
of colossal "eating contests," a clerk Avhose byword was "Don't
throw anything out!" and embarassing incidents of clerks
missing their trains by lingering too long at a way station
beanery (one of them had to catch it at the next station,
hiring a taxi!).
Few champions have arisen to give railway mail clerks a
bit of deserved recognition, as did one New England congress-
man who was invited to watch a tvpical clerk at work. He ex-
claimed, "You fellows earn your salary by your physical labor
alone!" then, on learning of the stringent study requirements,
"You earn your pay through your mental work alone!" More-
over, big mail-order firms and magazines like Time and Life
buy full-page advertising space in the Postal Transport
Joiirnal to express gratitude for the excellent service rendered
by postal transportation clerks. "We express our appreciation
of the splendid co-operation which makes this service possi-
ble," advertised the Reader's Digest one Christmas.
In Union, South Carolina, a businessman does his part in
remedying this lack of recognition— taken for granted by the
average clerk— by sending a Christmas message to all clerks
through the medium of those running through his town on
12 MAIL BY RAIL
the Aslie. 8: Columbia (Sou). Published afterwards in the
clerks' Journal, a typical recent message of Mr. Nicholson's,
sent despite illness, read thus:
Happy Christmas greetings to you, my friends of the
Railway Mail Service: To your steadfast devotion to
duty, regardless of physical feelings and exhaustion; to
your quickness of thought and hand . . . which brings
pleasure . . . help . . . and hope with the Christmas greet-
ings and packages, I pay highest tribute. Without your
untiring efforts . . . the world, in a sense, would stand still.
Thank you . . . for what you have done for me the
past twelve months, and many years; . . . and I add a
most fervent God bless you, this . . . season, and every day.
Your friend,
Allan Nicholson
Similarly, clerks on San Fran. Sc Barstow (Santa Fe) Train
23 were pleased to receive the following card one day in
April 1947:
... I want to pat you guys on the back. That niece of
ours, Dolores, received letter April 3, mailed April 2 . . .
addressed "Hinkl, Calif." You fellows are artists. I've
read some bad ones, being a telegrapher, but this one got
L. B. Parker, Hinkley, California
And Uncle Sam's engravers once paid tribute to the R.P.O.
clerk by picturing a train and mail crane on the old five-cent
red parcel-post stamp, as well as a clerk on duty, shown on
another stamp of this long-forgotten series.
Such men are the men— known officially as "railway postal
clerks" before 1950— who speed your mail and mine home in
doid)Ie-quick time. Small wonder it is said that "It requires
as much mental, and more physical, labor to become a first-
class postal clerk than it does to become proficient in any
other . . . profession." They almost never know regular day-
light hours; holidays often mean just another workday; they
are always subject to emergency call.
Yet at Chicago, nerve center of our mail-train operations,
these postal experts connect 95 per cent of all transit mails.
STEEL CARS AND IRON MEN IS
from individual letters to whole through storage cars (super-
vised by P.T.S. transfer clerks), direct to the proper outgoing
train without involving the post office there. And so speeds
onward the vital correspondence of a great nation, come dark-
ness, deluge, or disaster.
Chafitr 2
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY
That Texas case is all gummed up, and so is the Rackensac;
The Daily Sun put out a ton ot single wraps, by heck—
If we can't get through with that "Old Missoo"^ the
Chief will tramp my neck. . . .
—Robert L. Simpson
On the train platform of a great East-
ern railway terminal a group of neatly
dressed men are carrying bags and appar-
ently waiting for a train like any other
bunch of travelers. But what a rail jour-
ney these men are destined to make— in
the R. P. O. car of a great express train,
manning a strenuous trunk-line mail run
of hundreds of miles! And they well earn their hardly lucra-
tive pay— it's really a "run for their money."
From all directions and distances they have come— some on
foot, from lodgings hard by the station; some by trolley, bus,
or auto from city and suburbs; some of them on commuters'
trains, and particularly on incoming trains of their own line.
From town or farm residences all along this route clerks can
deadhead to work free on their travel commissions, some
from points over one hundred miles away. (These passes are
restricted to business travel on this one line.) Other clerks
in the group will hail from the line's other end, or from
far-distant midway points— the latter circumstances often re-
stricting home life to layoffs.
'Missouri letters.
14
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 15
Because they must prepare their cars and sort the mails
already accumulated locally, clerks put in several hours'
advance work while their car is still in the station. A different
(but fixed) reporting time is set by the District Superintend-
ent for each run out of that station; it may be morning,
evening, or night. If it is a heavy run, there may be two or
three full R.P.O. cars with a storage car between them and
usually others attached. (There are only 606 of these full
R.P.O. cars— but nearly 2,600 cars with R.P.O. apartments.)
Sooner or later a puffing switch engine backs the R.P.O.
unit into the particular track where the crew awaits it. If
it is late, there may be a bull session until it comes, and at no
loss of pay— but the clerks may have to work twice as hard
later to catch up. They clamber into the car over the short
door ladders, and one clerk quickly turns on the lights. In
some cars he must fish around in a dark fuse box to do it, and
let's hope he can distinguish between the switch handle and
the shiny copper bars adjacent!
At about the same time arrives the grip man, who is not a
cable-car motorman, but a baggage porter or elevator man
hired by the clerks to bring down their "big grips" of heavier
supplies to the train, at five cents per grip each way. It saves
wearily lugging these via stairs, ramps, or elevators from a
distant grip room in the station or post office.
Inside, each man throws both handbag and grip on the
case ledge and flings them open. Out of the bag comes a
wicked-looking revolver and holster, a lunch, schemes of dis-
tribution (showing the mail route for each office in a given
state), mail train schedules, various personal belongings,
stamped slips and labels or slides (furnished by the Depart-
ment, printed for that train) used for identifying packages and
bags of outgoing mail, and perhaps his clerk's name dater
with pad and rubber type to fit. pencils, and so forth. Pouch
and sack labels, cut or torn from ribbons or strips of five labels
each, look like this:
16
MAIL BY RAIL
(Actual size, on
buff cardboard "slides")
ALLENTOWN & PHILA Tr 40
Pennsylvania Newspapers
Fr N Y Geneva & Buff Tr 7
His slips are printed on paper like newsprint, like this
(dis means "mails distributed from"):
(Printed)
Size 3 14" X 4"
(Rubber-stamped)
BALTIMORE MD DIS
Maryland A to D
Fr Buff & Wash Tr
BUFF & WASH RPO
Tr 554 - Jun 30, 1950
JOHN D. DOE
The big grip is usually a large, sturdy metal or vulcanized-
fiber suitcase (leather and its substitutes seldom stand the
gaff). It contains a weird assortment of extra schemes (book-
lets about 41/^ X 81/2 inches), labels, blank slips, official forms,
a "Black Book" of Postal Laws and Regulations, work clothes,
soap and towels, coffee cup, headers (cardboard letter-case
labels), knife, registry supplies, and so on.
Instantly the mail slingers disrobe and don work clothes
and shoes, guns, badges, and small caps in a quite literal
"overall transformation"— although many prefer denims or
aprons to overalls. Some gay whimsies are tossed about as
multicolored BVD's are momentarily exposed; then guns are
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 17
loaded and all hands proceed to han^ pouches and sacks in
the racks after unfolding them from the wall. Space is limited
in most R.P.O.s; eight to ten pouches may be squeezed into
each rack row (normally divided for five), although seven arc
usually hung. Extra pouches or sacks may be hung in aisles
and under tables until even the thinnest clerk can barely
crawl "down the alley," and dragging a big sack or shin-peeler
down the aisle becomes a nightmare of barked ankles and
frayed nerves. Still more mail bags may be crammed in little
"pony" racks called crabs or jacks.
Letter clerks hasten to their cases to insert their headers
(or face up the proper case label on the revolving stick in
each hole). Potich clerks place their labels in neat visible
holders fastened inside each pouch's back edge, while "paper
men" place most of theirs in special holders on the rack
frame— unless a "blind-case expert," who places all labels in
the hidden sack holders instead, is at the rack, to the exaspera-
tion of any perplexed assistant assigned to help him!
Pigeonholes, pouches, and sacks are seemingly arranged in
a confused helter-skelter order, which is almost never alpha-
betical; but there is method in this madness— the heaviest
separations are closest at hand (see Technical Note 1). There
is at least one letter case for each state distributed on the
train, and headers show much colorful variation— from those
neatly printed at clerk's expense to hand-lettered Gothic, and
from penciled scrawls to colored cutout letters and advertise-
ment headings. Oddly enough, the top pigeonhole in each
row will not hold a header, and the one below it must do
double duty, divided into two parts— although most cars have
many a title scribbled on walls above the top holes by less
painstaking clerks! All other headers are placed over the
box designated, as new substitutes have discovered to their
chagrin after working considerable mail according to the
headers beloiu— much to the rage of the case's owner. Skip-
ping each header designating a single post office (called a
direct), the letter clerk inserts his stamped slips within the
remaining line and dis boxes {Note 2), and meanwhile the
rack clerks set up their tray tables between the rack edges and
18 MAIL BY RAIL
Stretcher bars (supported by pedestals). The "grip man" will
poke his head in the door about this time, and the pile of
nickels near by will be counted.
"Who's light on the grips?" the clerk-in-charge will bellow.
One or two absent-minded culprits will hasten up with
their nickels, and the "poor old grip" man departs. One clerk
will be sent out as an armed convoy for the first incoming
load of "mail of value" from the post office and is jokingly
ordered to bring back "a small load." If he returns, as he
usually must, with an overflowing truckful, his innocent ears
will ring to echoes of "Oh! heartless son of a gun!" and "We'll
never sf nd you again!" Such repartee, not always printable,
continues all the way "down the road." A little bag of locks
and twine is opened and the balls of string distributed; it is
a rather weak, linty jute, but many clerks insist on it, so they
can snap it with the fingers— despite the irritating fuzz which
fills the air. Other clerks use a twine knife, worn like a ring,
to cut the twine after tying knots; it also cuts open working
packages. Every clerk has a knife of some sort, from ornate
carved hunting blades on down; many get sharpened to a
curved remnant.
A brief bull session may await the first mail, or it may come
flooding in with the grips. Direct bags for large towns on and
beyond the line are often loaded in a separate storage car,
supervised by a certain clerk among other duties; he must
sometimes load and unload it. And going through a dark,
bouncing vestibule on a freezing night into a storage car a
dozen times is no fun, especially since its big sliding doors
usually stick like sin.
But there are mountains of mail coming into the R.P.O.
car, too; and to the cry of "On the belt!" or "Battle stations,
men!" the clerks line up to pass working pouches to the tables
in fast bucket-brigade style. Storage mail for smaller stops is
separated into bins at the ends, while working newspaper
sacks are piled at the paper table; excess working mails may
be piled on and under the tables and even in aisles and bins.
In a colorful ceremony, working pouches are recorded by
the clerk-in-charge and his "pouch caller," whose opening
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 19
cry is "On the hanger!" (the official check list often being
hung up). Incoming pouches are checked on this clip-board
list or checkboard by means of an amazing gibberish:
"From the Madhouse with a two— Tom Cat— Rockin' Chair
Line— Pennsy from the Doghouse— Win an' Bridge with a one
—West Working Holy Smoke— City of the Dead 3-X— Chat
438 Directs— Working on it— Forty-six— the other Chat— Em-
pire State with a six, Gyp— Ohio Working from the Grand—
the Far Rock"— and other strange nicknames and numbers,
until the welcome words "Hang it up!" indicate a temporary
lull. {Note 3.)
Huge piles of mail are dumped up at both tables, especially
at the pouch rack, where the key man or dumper is lifting,
unlocking, emptying, and setting up the mail— a most strenu-
ous job, usually done by a junior clerk or substitute. The
large and small letter packages {bales and skins) and slugs or
fiats must be all set on edge facing the same way, so that
pouch clerks can instantly fling them to the proper separa-
tion. Each pouch and sack must be thrown open and exam-
ined for stray mail after emptying, and then bagged (in the
same fashion in which the original "empties" were received)
or piled for hand access; they are used to replace full pouches
later locked out. Labels are removed and placed in a box.
"Working packages" of letters for local offices and nearby
states are thrown directly (or via temporary pouches or boxes)
to the letter cases for sorting, instead of into the outgoing
pouches which are labeled to the towns along and beyond
the line and to connecting R.P.O.s. Similarly, packages tied
out from the cases are tossed on the pouch table to be thrown
off like the "made-up" packages. The head pouch clerk must
have a general knowledge of the routing for ten thousand or
more post offices in the distribution area and beyond— and
usually without a single chart or list to guide him!
Mail is now flying in all directions. Newspapers just pub-
lished are rushed to the train w'xxh. wrapper paste still wet,
and they are, of course, speedily handled exactly like the
pouch-rack mail. Some publishers include a complimentary
copy addressed to the clerk-in-charge, but there's no time to
20 MAIL BY RAIL
glance at it now. There is often so much mail that separate
paper racks (and, rarely, pouch racks) are maintained for each
state handled. Meanwhile, incoming and locked-out pouches
and sacks are constantly being passed along to the tune of
"Up the alley!" "Down the alley!" or "Alley Oop!" Mail then
sent the other way is heralded as "Return Movement!" (offi-
cially, a reverse space shipment).
When extra or delayed connections not ordinarily due are
received by our train, the whole car becomes a madhouse on
wheels as frantic clerks try to get "up" (finish sorting all mail
at hand). Conversely, it may be that some connections due
our train are missed due to late running, and the pleasant
prospect of a light, little-to-do trip looms forth— despite the
tinge of regret at the resulting delay to the mail. Tense is the
excitement as leaving time nears, when a connection is often
made or missed by a split second.
The pouch-table "key man" and the paper-rack "end man"
have the most thankless tasks. The pouch dumper must con-
tend with insecurely tied letter packages which break and
shower the table and mail with loose letters which he must
stop and separate, face together, and tie, watched by the
impatient pouch clerk; and must stop and lock out pouches,
many ^vedged behind piles of under-table mail, just as an-
other heavy connection comes pouring in. The end man,
besides his usual heavy distribution and tie-out, mtist usually
drag and pile all mail coming down the alley, on the high-
stacked storage bins; and must unload, load, and often pile
all mail passing his door at every stop.
Serenely presiding over the car, the genial clerk-in-charge,
or chief, usually works a letter case just inside the first door,
which keeps him busy when not supervising. The other
"letter men" are busily flipping letters all over the eight or
ten other cases at high speed. It is no easy job, although they
are often dubbed cose admirals, especially if any are canvas-
sliy or afflicted with sackolifis (i.e., averse to locking out
pouches and sacks). As each pigeonhole fills up it is quickly
tied out, using a special knot requiring a real knack to tie.
Throughout the car the weird jargon of the Service re-
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 21
verberates, and while many terms have been or Avill be ex-
plained esle^vhere in our story, the follouing are typical
general or regional slang terms often used in the P.T.S.
A-C— Actual count of mail worked.
Angel— Extra, label found in bag of mail (not supposed
to be taken credit foi).
Appleknockers, knuckleheads, the boys— Crew going up
road as we go do^vn.
Balloon— Huge sack or pouch of mail, expanding vastly
when dimiped.
5^r7o— Prohibitory order ("There shall be no").
Bladders (German "blatter")— Ne^vspapers.
Braiyis-Chart or list of mail routes.
Bridge-rack, crab, jack— A small "pony" rack.
Butterfly— Wingnut used by railroader to set up pedestals
in car.
Buttons—Snap-on mail locks.
Catch— hocal exchange; the mail caught.
Civil-service— To thumb through a package of letters,
seeking errors, et cetera.
C/7/6— Correspondence file on mishandled mail.
Cripple or tr;???— Damaged pouch or sack.
D's, hickies, sinkers, mopics, miniLS points, brownies—
Demerits.
Dress a rack— Hang pouches therein.
English— New England (States).
Fly-paper, ivind-mail-Air mail.
Hash or house mrt//— Miscellaneous bag mails.
Hards— hetters whose route is unknown.
High-xvheeler, hy po— Highway post ofHce.
Hitting mail, virgin, one for the knocker— hetter to be
postmarked.
Jumbo— To put mail in a jumbo pouch for reworking
down the road.
Jack-pot, swamp— A jumbo pouch.
LA /oc/{— Snap-on lock or "Lock, Andrus" (from name
of inventor).
Miid—^la\\ matter.
Nixie— An unsortable, misaddressed letter.
Pilot— Mail piler (i.e., "pile-it").
22 MAIL BY RAIL
Prill a rock— To remove and lock all pouches.
Red (from abbreviation "reg.", or from former red-
striped pouches)— A registered piece.
Red man, money ma??— Register clerk.
Rob a 6ox— Collect from station letter box.
Sleeper— Vnoliserved letter left in car.
Stringer— Vouch (sack) hung on rail.
Sxuindle sheet— Trip report; balance sheet on registers.
Trunk, Jog— An exceedingly heavy parcel.
Wnrt—An extra trip.
Way clerk— 'Loc^A clerk (who makes catches).
By this time the switch engine shifts our car to the regular
train consist. There is usually at least one new clerk on
board, and some wag is sure to holler, as we move, "We're off!
Missed everything!" (i.e., all connections due). But the
greenhorn's visions of an easy trip are sharply shattered as
the car backs in again to receive mountains of connecting
mail as well as more from the city post office. The engineer
is jerking the car fearfully, and someone yells "Why doncha
go back to school and learn how to drive an engine!"
"Seventy-six in the house!" yells the pouch caller, and the
chief checks off a score of pouches from Train 76 as they are
called "—with a one . . . Avith a two ... a three-X" as before
(serial numbers indicating the first, second, and last of three
identical pouches). Work continues feverishly; a big road
engine is now coupled on ("We've got a horse!"), and leaving
time is almost here. Sometimes the clerks' hours of duty are
by now nearly half over. The local city dis pouch, containing
what little mail was missent to our train, is flung out, and an
air of tense expectancy pervades the whole car.
"Throw the bums out!" comes the cry, and startled by-
standers, expecting to see some tramps ejected from the car,
are unaware that bums are only the sacks of empties often
thrown off before leaving. Then comes the conductor's wel-
come cry "O.K. on the mail!" and his two short whistle blasts.
"We're off!" It's the real thing this time, and we pull out
and gather speed as the red man on his stool yells for a helper.
We are fast approaching the first station at which mail is de-
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 23
livered, and letter, pouch, and paper clerks must have all the
"No. I mail" (tiiat for first section of the line) worked up by
then to keep from "carrying by" a letter or a paper.
At the engineer's signal, the letter man on tlie local state
case ties out the package for this station from his row of
"locals" and throws it in the pouch with its other mail; the
local clerk locks it and rushes to the door. If it is a non-stop
exchange, he quickly throws the pouch in the designated area
and catches the incoming pouch off the crane with his hook.
This pouch must be completely distribiued before reach-
ing the next station, so that the local letter package and
pieces from the first office to the second one can be gotten
into the next pouch (along with the letter man's tie-out)
before it is locked out. Arms work like pistons, and the job
is done just in time. This ingenious process is repeated all
down the road, while mails for far-distant states are simul-
taneously being sorted out to the finest degree.
Anything can happen on an R.P.O. run. Lights may fade
out, necessitating tying out all cases and working the pouch
mail by the feeble glow of candle lamps. The car's under-
pinning may go haywire, requiring it to be "shopped" for
repairs— with every letter package, pouch, and sack to be tied
out, unloaded, transferred, and installed in a new car amid
much delay.
Most prominent stations along the line, as well as leading
distant points, will be identified by special nicknames. Thus,
on the N.Y. & Washington R.P.O. (PRR), New Brunswick,
New Jersey, is "Once-a-week" (from porters' abbreviation
" 'Runsweek"); North Philadelphia is "Longest Straight
Street in the World" (Broad Street, crossing the P.R.R.);
Perryville, Maryland, on the wide Susquehanna is "The
River"; and Middle River, Maryland, of Martin Bomber
fame is "The Airplanes." Down South, Savannah, is "Yam-
a-craw" and Miami, "My-oh-my"; while Boston is sometimes
"Boss-town" and Chicago "She don'-go."
Somewhere along here comes the welcome lull of "coffee
time," the clerks' brief fifteen- or twenty-minute lunch peri-
od; on long runs, two or more may be allowed. A typical
24 MAIL BY RAIL
mail-car "coffee man" (see Chapter 10) provides a fragrant
brew to accompany the lunches brought in bags, or occasion-
ally purchased at way-station restaurants (i.e., at a Harvey
House out West), or bought from the coffee man or some
other clerk who may operate a "commissary" of sandwich
ingredients, pie, and sometimes even hot dishes.
On heavy-mail trips, conscientious clerks olten eat with one
hand and stick mail with the other, or simply postpone lunch
until the end of the trip. Lunch time has its pranks, too,
when jokesters substitute raw eggs for someone's hard-boiled
ones, or dust crullers with plaster-of-Paris "sugar." But road
life is usually at its best at lunch time— clerks relax comfort-
ably on ledges, tables, or mailbags and eat amid a friendly
chat or while reading a paper or viewing passing scenes on a
daylight run. Some clerk, celebrating a family addition or
promotion, may treat all to refreshments or cigars; a real party
may be thrown. During World War II most R.M.S. coffee and
commissary men had their R.P.O. units listed as "institutions"
to secure necessary rations.
Through tunnels, over great trestles, and aroimd sweeping
curves the train roars on. As it approaches each junction sta-
tion where other R.P.O.s intersect, letter men quickly tie out
all packages due to be dispatched there and toss them in the
proper pouches, which are locked out and unloaded as soon
as the train grinds to a stop "in the house," the door clerk
calling the pouches to the chief in his usual jargon. A few
mail-car Romeos meanwhile eye the station-platform girls
through the Avindows with a fond and delighted gaze, whist-
ling to their companions "Boy! Will you look at that!" But
mountains of mail are being loaded, and soon the station,
luscious blondes and all, is speedily left behind. Occasional
unscheduled operating stops or delays sometimes bring forth
the accusing remark, "Never stopped here before!"
The stacks of working pouches surrounding the pouch
table gradually disappear, and the exhausted key man is likely
to give a pleasurable sigh as he anticipates a well-earned
breathing spell. He dumps the last pouch and waits. But
all too often the head pouch clerk then calls:
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 25
"Send down that next bin now!" Then the disillusioned
dumper discovers that stacks of reserve pouches were stored
in the end of the car for lack of room! Only after countless
miles of toil will the pouch men finally get "up"; then all
full pouches must be locked out before a few minutes of
relaxation can be enjoyed— unless, as often happens, there are
other assignments then requiring assistance. Clerks who are
"up" are usually needed to tie out cases or run out directs of
letters on the pouch table.
There are more catches "on the fly" which the local clerk
dare not miss, for any pouch not caught nets him five de-
merits. Some "hot runs" have less than a minute between
certain catcher stations, such as between Berwyn and Branch-
ville, Maryland— two adjacent Washington suburbs on the
N.Y., Bait. R: W^ash. (BR;0); the cranes are just four blocks
apart, with long stretches of other suburbs on both sides. A
pouch clerk must work like lightning to serve two such towns
in time for them to exchange mails.
Clerks are given lists of landmarks by which to recognize
their approach to each mail crane. But at night these arc
invisible, whistle signals are obscure, and a veteran clerk
must go by the sound or "feel" of the tracks as he passes over
switch points, trestles, and other structures. At station after
station he promptly delivers "mail for the local inhabitants,
whose day would be ruined if you carried it by . . . going
through tOAvns when everybody is still in bed, the farmers'
lights beginning to show up as you get down the road . . .
moonlight across the fields, and all that sort of thing . . . even
getting whiffs of what you think is ham and eggs cooking,"
as one clerk writes us.
Some clerk is sure to liven up the journey by suddenly
staring out a window and crying, "Oh, see the big wreck!"
"Wow, cars strewn all over the track!" "Whew, what a fire!"
or something equally startling. New men present hastily
crane necks trying to see, only to bob back and forth in con-
fusion at the howls of "Other side! No, other side!" until
they catch on to the trick in considerable embarrassment,
after beholding nothing unusual whatever.
26 MAIL BY RAIL
Now we are approaching the end of the trail. "Every turn
of the wheel, now!" we hear. There is often a shirttail finish,
trying to get "up" on the heaviest case or rack. Perhaps the
red man has gotten "up" a bit early and is busy balancing
his records— his ninety-mile balance sheet, someone will slyly
call it, with the joking insinuation that he tries to keep occu-
pied thereon (on his handy little stool), while other clerks
are locking out racks and hoping for help, during the last
ninety miles of the trip! But he has a tough, responsible job.
Tiie "grand tie out" is now under way, and the letter men
leave only a few main pigeonholes in, for handling mail
from the last few stations. Identical separations in adjacent
cases are massed out on each other (combined), and very light
directs are massed into the proper R.P.O. boxes. (Last-
minute mails may be sorted flat on a table.) Then the pack-
ages are handed to helpers to tie; the big tie-out spreads to
the pouch rack as the letter packages are thrown in, and the
pouch man cries "Come on, you case lizards!" to letter men
hesitating to assist. Overhead boxes are emptied into the
proper type bag, and all pouches closed with the standard
lock ^vhich snaps shut under simple pressure. Only a few
pouches for last-minute mails are left in the rack. The end
man, his papers tied out earlier, drags and piles the pouches
in the proper bins; tray tables are detached, iron pedestals
knocked down by stretcher bars, racks are folded back, and
bag mail piled in their places.
Now the last station has been served and the last pouch
locked out and piled by the weary end man, who sinks into
a stupor on a pile of bag mail. Wastepaper and twine must
be bagged in a special sack and sent to the terminal office; all
outgoing pouches are checked. Some clerk, with gay cries of
"Geronimo!" (battle cry of World War II paratroopers), may
threaten to "parachute"; i.e., jump off at one of the last few
stations— especially if near his home— without doing any un-
loading. But this is forbidden except in special emergencies,
and persistent "paratroopers" really get into trouble.
Then comes washing-up time, and the grimy mail slingers
await their turn by the collapsible, potbellied washbasin
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 27
{Note 4). Most clerks-in-charge try to allow the last twenty
or thirty minutes or so of each trip for wash-up and for
counting slips from mail worked (for the trip report), chang-
ing clothes, and relaxing a bit. There may even be time for
a friendly little game, seated in a circle on the handy wooden
boxes used for receiving case mail from the pouch table.
Other clerks may read a paper, stamp slips, chat, or even doze
a bit (mailbags make a dandy couch). Pranksters play their
usual tricks, like nailing down someone's shoes or filling his
"little grip" full of locks.
But if it has been a really hectic trip, with the car choked
with extra mails, there's no time for such as that! To keep
from going stuck, many a crew has worked right into its
terminal and locked out afterward. If it is still impossible
to get "up" even then, the crew must reluctantly go stuck on
its heaviest distribution, anyway. Then the unworked (or
uncooked) mail must be placed in "emergency pouches" and
sent to the local terminal, P.T.S., for sorting. (If some of
the unworked mail is in residue packages from which the
directs only have been picked out, they are marked with
kisses— X X X— to indicate it.)
Now our train is in the yards— it pulls up to the platform—
and watches are compared as we hear the welcome words
"We're in!" Usually we arrive on the button, but in case of
late running (sometimes paid for as overtime), a tiny fraction
of a minute may spell the gain or loss of an extra item of
travel allowance— an additional $1.50 for each clerk!
The clerks quickly unload all mail onto the hand trucks
brought up by the station porters, while the clerk-in-charge
lingers to the last as he fills out his many reports. Valuable
mails are convoyed to the post office (or another train) by an
armed clerk. One clerk is assigned as X-man to examine all
parts of the car for stray sleepers, and following him, a trans-
fer clerk double-checks every case and box. Last to be un-
loaded is the dog load of sacked empties (bums) and coffee
outfit or pie box.
it is usually in the gray hours of dawn that the weary
clerks finally stumble towards the "Railroad Y," dormitory.
28 MAIL BY RAIL
or small hotel where they customarily secure their sleep— or
toward some all-night restaurant, first, for a bite. Some clerks,
living at this end of the run, will make for home as best they
can via owl car or auto. Most large cities and important rail-
road towns have a Railroad Y.M.C.A. operating twenty-four
hours a day and located upstairs in the principal station;
dormitories containing several beds each, plus washrooms
and recreational facilities, are available there for all railroad
men. In New York, Pittsburgh, Chicagro, Boston, and other
cities there are special dormitories operated by and for rail-
way mail clerks only— such as the Railway Mail Club in New
York's Hotel Statler; and spacious facilities, formerly in the
Fort Pitt Hotel, in the Smoky City.
Even if a quick turn-around permits only five or six hours'
sleep, most clerks still insist on time out for a good meal and
often for a pool game or other recreation as well. On the
other hand, a long layover will permit several hours of movie
going, visiting, or sight-seeing in the terminal city before
reporting for duty. However, quite a few clerks have run
into a certain city for decades without ever bothering to look
it over. One man may visit relatives, another do some shop-
ping, a third make for a tavern, a fourth ride streetcars or
what not, until time to go to work.
Their grips, meanwhile, have been stacked on shelves in
the station or post-office grip room. Strange things can hap-
pen in grip rooms; in one case a suitcase of valuables was
stamped, labeled, and sent as air mail by a postal patron, only
to lose Its label when in an R.P.O. car, get unloaded along
with grips and mail at the end of the run, and be deposited
on the grip-room shelves to gather dust for years (as do many
old grips, full or empty, left there by retired or deceased
clerks). It wzs discovered long after the patron had been re-
imbursed for his loss after a fruitless search! Another clerk,
whose grip was always being moved to an obscure corner by
a second clerk (who coveted its proper spot), finally nailed the
offender's grip securely to the shelf— and eventually took it
with him and threw it off a bridge when the practice con-
tinued! A mail thief, prowling in a post-office basement, once
A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY 29
Stole a valuable ladies* suitcase en route to Asbury Park, New
Jersey, carefully removing the tell tale tag bearing stamps and
address; to avoid detection, he retied the latter to an old piece
of luggage on a truck near by. It happened to be a truck of
mail clerks' grips, and the tag ^vas placed on that of Roger
Gaver of the N.Y. &: Wash. (PRR). This piece of "mail"
was soon discovered and promptly dispatched to Asbury Park
—to the mutual ire of the lady addressee and of Gaver, wno
had no supplies for his runs until he got his grip back six
months later!
When several men sleep in one dormitory room there is
often at least one first-class snorer. In one Railroad "Y"
several regular patrons who are thus unfortunately afflicted
voluntarily (and most considerately) segregate themsehes in
a special "snorer's room" furnished to them. There are many
snorer stories, but the best probably comes from Washington,
D. C., where a very loud-snoring clerk always registered for
a certain dormitory at the "Y" in Union Station. A clerk on
the opposite crew, who usually used the same room on alter-
nate nig;hts, was once assigned to run extra on a Christmas
trip Avith the first man, and crew members warned him of the
snorer. The extra clerk promptly reserved all four beds
(they were only twenty-five cents, then) in that room. But
the snorer was tipped off about this effort to exclude him,
so he used one of the beds anyhow, slept free, and made the
rafters grroan with his noise while the harassed extra man
tried to sleep! Such is life at the outer terminal; then comes
the busy return trip, with new duties for all.
Chapter 3
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST
While I am taking hours of rest in my big white bed each day,
My thoughts, they get to wandering, and wander miles away . . .
To the grand old gang on Tour 1, at the "Cleve Term" R.P.O.;
At times it seems but yesterday, but 'twas long, long years ago. . . .
— Guy Streby
— Courtesy Postal Markings
Like a gigantic spidenveb
sprawled across the living map
of tliese United States, a net-
work of over seven hundred
busy Railway Post OfTice lines
on 165,000 miles of route is
speeding our mails in all directions twenty-four hours a day.
For example, there's the famed transcontinental "Fast Mail"
route which includes the New York Central's great 20fh
Century Limited (a train of the N.Y. R: Chicago R.P.O.V the
C&N W's Chic. Sc Omaha, the Union Pacific's Omaha Sc Ogden
and Ogden R: Los Angeles, and the SP's storied Ogden & San
Fran, or "Overland" route.
They are typical of the 7,666 mail trains operated daily
by our vast railway mail system and involving 600,000 miles
of daily travel. These railways rush well over forty billion
pieces of mail each year to our 41,500 post offices and their
branches— ranging in size, with the same impartial type of
designation, from New York, New York (population 7,84 L-
000) to Huntley, Virginia (population 3)!
Fewer persons are employed in the Postal Transportation
Service than in the New York City Post Office— yet the P.T.S.
sorts or transports the vast bulk of all our mail matter with
30
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST SI
amazing efficiency. It is truly the lifeblood of the "world's
biggest business" (the U.S. P.O. Department; annual turnover,
$16,000,000,000). Its living flow of transit-sorted mails are
expertly handled by only 71/9 per cent of our 400,000 postal
employees; distributing far more mail per man-hour than the
average post-office clerk, railway mail clerks put in over four
billion miles of travel annually to sort the staggering total of
twenty-one billion pieces of mail each year in 2,620 R.P.O.
trains! {Note ^.)
R.P.O. trains range from the famed streamliners like the
Century down to tiny branch-line or suburban locals, mixed
trains, or "Galloping Goose" diesels— even suburban electric-
car trains. Some major roads have exclusive all-mail, non-
passenger trains, such as Boston & New York Train 180 (see
Chapter 10), N.Y. &: Chicago (NY Cent) Train 14, or Chic. &
& Omaha (C&NW) Train 5. Most R.P.O. lines are named
directly from the terminal towns, but there are about one
hundred of them in which actual R.P.O. trains do not reach
one or both termini— usually because former R.P.O. service
has been partially replaced by closed-pouch train or truck ser-
vice reaching to the former terminus. If two or more R.P.O.s
terminate at the same cities, the name of an important inter-
mediate town is inserted; thus, the N.Y., Scranton &: Buff.
(DL&W) and N.Y., Geneva & Buff. (LV) both connect New
York and Buffalo. The only lines not named from two or
more towns are apparently the Boston S: Cape Cod (NYNHScH)
in Massachusetts and two R.P.O.-equipped New Hampshire
lake boats. R.P.O.s are normally named from north to south
and east to west, regardless of the relative importance of the
termini. Current lines are listed in Appendix I.
In most large cities the main post office (or an important
annex) is adjacent to the principal railway station, with con-
veyor-belt or hand-truck connection direct to the train plat-
forms. In Los Angeles mail porters unload sacks from stor-
age cars onto the belts at such a frenzied pace that alternate
fifteen-minute shifts are required. Special facilities, such as
rooms for accommodation of clerks and their baggage (grip
rooms) separating platforms with overhead signs for bulk
52 MAIL BY RAIL
mails, and train-mail boxes, are installed at most large sta-
tions; and the P.T.S. Transfer Office is usually there also.
Chicago, birthplace of the P.T.S., is the biggest hub of
R.P.O. operations in America and probably in the world.
Nearly forty different R.P.O. lines, most of them carrying
from four to fifteen daily mail-sorting trains, converge there
from all directions; the huge Chicago Terminal, P.T.S. (con-
solidating many earlier ones), six transfer offices, an airfield,
one division and nine district offices, and large railway mail
dormitories, orsfanizations, and national memorials are all
centered there. New York, although boasting the largest
P.T.S. terminals, does not even rank a poor second in the
number of R.P.O. routes centering there— twenty-three, to
be exact; Kansas City and St. Louis have as many or more.
Philadelphia has but fifteen; Washington, sixteen.
Perhaps the typical "railroad town"— a small city or village
which is nevertheless an important railroad (and R.P.O.) di-
vision point or junction— plays an even more vital part in the
life of the railway mail clerk; its streets, small hotels, and
"beaneries" are often alive with P.T.C.'s. In Martinsburg,
West Virginia, on the Wash. Sc Chicago— Wash. &: Grafton
(BR:0) and Harris. S: Win. H.P.O., clerks' wives often meet the
train with forgotten work-pants, baked goodies, hot lunches,
or what not; Crestline, Ohio, with its famous Pennsy shops
(on Pitts. Sc Chicago R.P.O.), even has its own district office
and N.P.T.A. branch.
Miles City, Montana, on the St. Paul & Miles City (NP)
and other R.P.O.s, is famed for its "Tool House" Restaurant
run by "an ageless Chinaman named Toy Ling" who has
been host to the clerks for over thirty-five years. Adrian C.
Austin relates that nearly seventy clerks from four trunk-line
R.P.O.s "lay over" there, but no clerks live there. He de-
scribes a typical Christmas morning at three-thirty, the town
swarming with doubled-up cre^vs, when fifty clerks were eat-
mg at one lunchroom "half of them tired but glad the trip was
over, and the other half grouchy and bleary-eyed at having
to get up to go to work." Ashfork, Arizona (on the Santa Fe's
Albuquerque & Los Angeles), writes T. M. Bragg, is merely
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 85
"a small unincorporated village perched atop a malpais rock
formation, where drinking Avater is brought in in tank cars"
but with comfortable Harvey House lodgings.
Most of our great trunk-line R.P.O.s have a fascinating his-
torical background. The two big routes from New York to
Boston; the PRR's vitally important electrified N.Y. & ^Vash-
ington (connecting America's metropolis and capital); the
great New York & Chicago on the Central; and the Pennsy's
"Pitts" (N.Y. & Pittsburgh) could all tell stories of great in-
terest to the researcher or postmark collector. The evolution
of these lines has been summarized in the Technical Notes
(Notes 6—8); but Western lines like the Santa Fe's famed
"Ashfork" (Albuq. & Los Angeles R.P.O.), traversing the vast
desert country of New Mexico and Arizona as a southern
trunk route to Los Angeles, are just as worthy of historical
study. Most such lines carry six to twenty or more daily
R.P.O. trains!
There are great chains of R.P.O. trunk lines along the
Pacific Coast and through the Southern states, too, in addi-
tion to the transcontinental and Atlantic Coast link-ups
already described— as this Florida-Washington state itinerary
reveals:
THROUGH THE SOUTH
Atlanta 8c Jacksonville (Sou) in Georgia and Florida.
Atlanta R: Montgomery (A&WP, Western Ry. of Alabama),
Georgia-Alabama
Montgomery k New Orleans (L&N), Alabama to
Louisiana
New Orleans 8: Houston, (TexRrNO), Louisiana-Texas
Houston R: San Antonio (TexR:NO), in Texas
San Antonio R: El Paso (TexR;NO), also in Texas
El Paso 8c Los Angeles (SouPac), Texas to California.
AND UP THE PACIFIC COAST
Los Angeles k San Diego (Santa Fe), extreme south end
of route in California
54 MAIL BY RAIL
San Francisco Sc Los Angeles (^ valley route), in
California
Portland R: San Francisco (SouPac), in Oregon and
California
Seattle & Portland (NP), in Washington and Oregon
Blaine Sc Seattle (ON), in Washington State (through
trains to Vancouver, B. C.)
In common speech, clerks usually refer to trunk R.P.O.
routes by single-syllable abbreviations, such as "The Chic"
(N.Y. Sc Chicago-NYCent), "The Ham" (Washington R: Ham-
let, North Carolina, on the Seaboard), "The Pitts" (N.Y. &
Pittsburgh-Pitts. &: St. L.-Pitts. R: Chi. on the PRR, also BR:0's
Wash, k Chic), "The Wash" (N.Y. Sc Wash.-PRR), etc.
The latter R.P.O. is likewise also dubbed "The Wash-Line,"
much to the embarrassment of a staid young substitute who
once told his girl that he worked thereon, whereupon she de-
cided he must be employed in a laundry! (Other abbrevia-
tions and nicknames will be found scattered throughout the
book, as well as following R.P.O. Titles in our Appendix I;
while nicknames in particular are dealt with in Chapter 10.)
Supplementing the R.P.O. trains are many "closed pouch"
or "C.P." trains on routes not having R.P.O. service; for
example, there was the picturesque Ridgcway R: Durango C.P.
(RGSou) on the famed narrow-gauge lines of the Colorado
Rockies. According to V. A. Klein and Eldon Roark, this
route used old Packard or Pierce-Arrow autos fitted with
flange wheels and sawed-off cabs, which sped their way pre-
cariously across creaky wood trestles spanning gaping can-
yons; dubbed "The Galloping Goose," each was manned by a
nonchalant flagman-brakeman-conductor-operator who wired
the throttle wide open for the whole trip— even if hauling a
boxcar of mail, freight, and express! Another roughhewn
Western route is the old Tonopah Sc Mojave CP (SP) and star
route, called "The Jawbone" and formerly an R.P.O.; it
begins in the old Tonopah (Nev.) gold fields and winds up
in a thinly settled part of California, and now uses railroad
trucks to haul mails via highway instead of over the old rails.
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 35
A typical longer route is the current Buffalo Sc Cleveland
C.P., 184 miles (Nickel Plate).
At the other extreme are many small C.P.s on busy subur-
ban railways too short for R.P.O. service, in our big metro-
politan areas, with as many as fifty mail-carrying trips daily
—often using electrified service, like the Jamaica R: Brooklyn
C.P. (LIRR) in New York City; but no C.P. lines carry
clerks. Many C.P.s are trolley lines. New metal storage con-
tainers (with special cars to accommodate them) are now being
introduced to handle bulk mails in C.P. service. Thousands of
"star routes" or mail-truck lines connect outlying post offices
with offices or junctions on the R.P.O.s, and the latter often
"pouch on" each office on the route. (See Chapter Ifi for
H.P.O. and air lines.) Most R.P.O.s have C.P. trains also.
Second only in importance to our R.P.O. net^vork are the
sixty-odd terminals, P.T.S. (formerly terminal R.P.O.s),
usually located in important large post-office buildings or
railway stations; but local postmasters have no jurisdiction
over them. Terminals, P.T.S., have two important func-
tions: to sort the vast majority of all not-so-urgent bulk mails
(magazines, parcel post, circulars) which would otherwise
congest the R.P.O. lines intolerably; and secondly, in many
cases, to "advance" letters and newspapers for heavv suburban
R.P.O.s or other R.P.O.s converging at points of congested
mail traffic like Harrisburg or Atlanta, sorting out letters
between trains into direct separations for all sizable post
offices on these lines. Only when an outgoing R.P.O. train
is directly connected are incoming mails for such lines sent
to the train instead of to the terminal first— which may also
handle all mails for some areas without R.P.O. service.
Terminal clerks work an eight-hour day, five days a week,
and are often dubbed "termites" in fun. In each terminal
there are cases for circulars (and letters, if worked), parcel
racks, and paper racks (handling magazines), for all states
assigned to be distributed. The unit for each state is divided
into a primary (city and large town), secondary (small town),
and residue (R.P.O. line and dis) case, with individual boxes
or sacks for every town of any size. By first "straining" their
S6 MAIL BY RAIL
mail through the primary and secondary separations in order,
then sorting mails for the tiny hamlets into packages or sacks
for R.P.O. lines (or distributing offices) at the residue case,
the terminals accomplish an amazing amount of distribution
in a very short time. A terminal railway mail clerk sorts up
to ten thousand circulars, or other mail in proportion, daily.
If a terminal advances letters for particular R.P.O. routes,
there is often a case for each line in addition to general
primary cases; then packages addressed to some particular
suburban R.P.O. are at once diverted to the proper terminal
case whenever there is sufficient time between trains. Such
terminals usually pouch on most towns involved via all
available C.P. trains and star routes as well.
In nearly all terminals clerks work in three shifts: Totir
1 (late night or "graveyard" shift), Tour 2 (daytime), and
Tour 3 (evening), with night work paying 10 per cent extra.
There is usually a raised and railed (or enclosed) platform
for the clerk-in-charge's desk, dubbed the bidl peyi; a time
clock for recording arrival and departure of the clerks; a
desk with a well-filled "order book," and a clerks' mail case
to accommodate time slips and official mail, all located to-
gether. Out on the floor are wheeled canvas baskets, officially
listed as gurneys but always called "tubs," for conveying
mails from primary to secondary, residue, or other racks;
small hand trucks (or nulling trucks, derived from a manu-
facturer's name) for conveying bag mails; and large four-
wheelers with wagon tongues, in terminals without belts,
which require them to receive and dispatch bag mails to
and from the trains. Overhead there may be inconspicuous-
slits at the tops of certain walls, tiny "peepholes," looking
out from secret passageways used by postal inspectors to
detect the very rare postal clerk who is tempted to lift some-
thing; from the mail; but there is seldom need to use them.
Outside of the terminal workroom are locker, "swing"
(lunch), and wash rooms.
The largest railway mail distributing unit in the country
happens to be one of these terminals— the huge Penn Ter-
minal in the G.P.O. Building, New York, with over eleven
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 87
hundred clerks. It not only "advances" Florida and Texas
letter mails but also works ordinary bulk mails for most
New England states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and
for other states— but noL for New York State (except Long
Island). Similarly, the Washington, D. C, Terminal works
bulk mails for Pennsylvania and nearly all Southern states
from Virginia on down, but not for the adjacent state of
Maryland; each terminal is arbitrarily assigned certain states
only. Important Eastern terminals advancing letters for
suburban R.P.O.s include those at Camden, Hoboken, and
\Veehawken, New Jersey; the Central and Erie terminals at
Jersey City, New Jersey; and the Reading Terminal in Phila-
delphia. Westward, the Chicago and Los Angeles terminals
and others do likewise.
The Philadelphia Terminal or "Dog-House," in the
G.P.O. Building opposite Thirtieth Street Station there, is
one of the most modern in the country, with its conveyor
belts and floor-level trap doors for dispatches direct to trauis;
no piling or trucking of mail by clerks and porters is neces-
sary. The great Chicago and Cleveland terminals are both
in the Main Post Office buildings; the Pittsburgh, I-os An-
geles, Atlanta, Boston, Portland (Maine), Detroit, and Omaha
terminals are other large ones. Metropolitan New York alone
has seven.
The first "Terminal R.P.O." was the old Jersey City (New
Jersey) Register Terminal, established in 1903 by Super-
intendent V. J. Bradley. A clerk from Courtland, Illinois,
named W. H. Riddell, was appointed a chief clerk about
1907, with the duty of organizing the Union and other rail-
way station terminals at Chicago, and a Union Terminal
R.P.O. later appeared at Omaha. However, regular termi-
nals first appeared throughout the country in 1913-14, as
explained later, and by late 1914 nearly one hundred ter-
minals had been hurriedly set up wherever there seemed to
be the slightest justification.
Since then there has been a steady reduction of over 30
per cent in the number of terminals, with much of the mail
assigned thereto being restored to the R.P.O. lines, until the
38 MAIL BY RAIL
last few years. The number was down to eighty-eight by 1915,
and to seventy-one by 1942— and of these, nearly twenty were
(and are) small part-time units in transfer oflTices, without any
employees and seldom a postmark of their own. Historic term-
inals which have folded up in the meantime include the old
Grand Central Terminal R.P.O., New York; the Broad Street
and Sears Terminals, Philadelphia; the Columbus (Ohio)
Register Terminal; the La Salle and other railway-station
terminals at Chicago; and those at Long Island City, Toledo,
San Francisco, and Sacramento. Our newest terminals are
those at Jamaica, N. Y.; Indianapolis; Toledo (just re-estab-
lished); Greensboro, North Carolina (previously existing,
however, as a part-time T.C. -manned unit as in the Indian-
apolis case); and Los Angeles (Sears Terminal, 1949)— both
the latter necessitated by mail-order expansions. There were
about fifty of these full-sized units when they became
terminals, P.T.S., on November 1, 1949. Two new terminals
are planned (at New Haven and at a northern New Jersey
location).
Most substitutes begin their careers in the terminals,
and some decide to stay. Mimeographed "bid sheets," listing
assignments, and periodic "reorganizations," as on the lines,
offer all a choice of jobs according to seniority. Men who
tire of "the road," with its strenuous and irregular away-from-
home duties, often transfer to a lower-paid terminal job,
especially if nearing retirement. Occasionally a clerk, unable
to perform exacting road duties, is thus transferred arbi-
trarily. But more often a terminal clerk literally lives for the
day when his seniority will permit him to succumb to the
lure of the trains and transfer to them.
Colorful and humorous sidelights of terminal life are hard
to dig out. But from the Los Angeles Terminal— whose out-
side U.P. parcel-separating table is called the "pneumonia-
platform"— clear to the Washington, D. C, Terminal, where
the boys voted to present roller skates to the clerk-in-charge,
"with which to cover the terminal in a hurry" (after a nice
speech he gave them to his son!), one can unearth a few tales
and tidbits. At Penn Terminal, New York, Arthur Carucci
•'TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 89
tells how a young lieutenant tumbled into the terminal
on an incoming belt, mixed with pouches from the LIRR
trains; he couldn't find the train-platform exit, chose
the belt as a last resort! At the same terminal one super-
visor would ask each new clerk his educational qualifications;
then bellow, "Well, you lawyers, dump the parcel sacks; the
college grads push the tubs around; you teachers lock out the
full sacks . . ." and on on.
At another Eastern terminal, old "Tony" was the butt
of all jokes. One day a few fun-loving co-workers, who were
(unkno^vn to Tony) in league Avith his principal tormentors,
offered to help Tony to get even with the latter.
"At lunch hour, get inside this big No. 1 sack and let us
lock it up," they proposed, "and we'll label it and put it on
those guys' parcel table with their other working mail. Then
when they come back to work and unlock the sack, you jump
oiu and scare them!"
The naive old chap agreed, and sure enough was locked
in the sack and placed on the right ^vorktable. But when
his tormentors returned and one started to unlock the sack,
the other cried out:
"Hey!— watch that label— it's a direct sack for ChicaG:o.
And we've only got ten minutes to make Train 43 with it!"
And poor old Tony was quickly trucked to the elevator and
down to the train platform, despite his ragings, before they
let him out.
W^ishington Terminal is famed for its daily "Florida War
Cry" on some occasions, announcing completion of distri-
bution on the Florida letter case, its only regular first-class
mail assignment. Long led by veteran ex-navy clerk Frank
Fccles, it was designed to call a mail handler to truck away
the locked-out pouches, but sounds more like a combined
fire siren and Hopi battle veil !
The historic old San Francisco Terminal could perhaps
tell the grandest stories of all, prior to its discontinuance, as
noted above. The Go-Back Pouch tells how it was one of the
very first terminals, located directly over the water of the
bay between the ferry slips. Wide cracks and holes in the floor
40 MAIL BY RAIL
inevitably invited the installation of fishing lines while clerks
were at work at the letter cases directly overhead. Sometimes,
dining a feverish tie-out to make connections, a clerk would
vainly eye his line jerking with a couple of fish on its hooks
and nearly getting loose! Crab nets were also hung on the end
of the ferry slip and brought in many rich hauls— except when
the ferry captain discovered them first with his searchlight.
Another poor old clerk in this terminal would plod on board
the ferry to go home, not knowing that pranksters had tied
the end of a ball of twine to his coattail— to watch it unwind
and trail liim clear over the pier and halfway across San
Francisco Bay! The faithful old distributor never objected;
devoted to his work to the very last, his heart gave out one
day as he leaned against his case, his last package of letters
in his hand.
There are lesser incidents galore: The district superin-
tendent at one ne-^v terminal who tried out its spiral chute in
small-boy fashion; the wags ^vho string "circ" cases witii twine
running behind the mail in each vertical row in such a way
that a sly tug from behind sends two hours' work flying into
the aisle; the unorthodox and inconvenient places in which
mail locks can be attached, in letter cases or on paper sacks,
to the great annoyance of anyone trying to sort mail or to tie
out sacks. (Locks are always plentiful; they are used in such
huge quantities in some terminals that they are literally
sho\eled out of tubs like coal.)
Terminal men are definitely "railway mail clerks" and are
usually proud of it. Steeped in the traditions of the iron
road, they refer to the daily time record (showing amoimt
of mail worked) as the "trip report"; each day's work is a
"run," which is "exchanged" (using road-service forms) or
"defaulted" just as on the trains, and there is often a race
agninst time to dispatch to some outgoing R.P.O. Highly
train-conscious, they must separate direct sacks and sort
residue mails out to definite R.P.O. trains; and they must
take examinations from the same schemes as road clerks do.
Some very strict sets of Terminals Rules and Regulations
have been issued in past years; some have included rules
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 41
forbidding clerks to wash up, change clothes, or even
approach the time clock before closing signal, or to so much
as step inside the terminal to speak to a clerk wh( n off duty.
Hon'ever, the more humane terminal heads have endeavored
to have such rules relaxed as much as possible in recent years;
until the privilege was unfortunately withdrawn, officials
even allowed clothes changing and eating lunch on duty for
a considerable recent period, permitting a true eight-hour day.
Terminal cases and racks are permanently labeled with
printed headers according to official diagrams, mostly al-
phabetically. (Header holders provide storage space for extra
strip labels. Although the practice is frowned upon, most
headers become helpfully annotated with the names of small
dis offices which are included in certain separations, for dis-
patch from a larger post office). Low tables or moving belts
with high rims are used for dumping up the parcels and papers
to be sorted or "thro^vn off," and small bags of locks are
hung at one end (or on the rack) (Note 9). Clerks must turn
in a "count" of mails worked (represented by the slips and
labels ttirned in) ^vhich is at least up to the daily average
requirements of the terminal— and they are supposed to
dutifully discard any angels or spurious extra labels found
enclosed inside the sacks by sympathetic clerks at the point
of origin. Since a "skin" sack containing only a couple of maga-
zines counts just as much as a huge "balloon" sack crammed
with tiny hard-to-'work papers {squealers) or samples, some
laughable scrambles for the more desirable sacks often occur.
Some "balloon" sacks, strangely enough, seem to remain
around for the next tour!
And we must not forget the transfer clerks— postal trans-
portation clerks assigned to the important duty of supervis-
ing connecting mails between trains, among many other re-
sponsibilities. They are stationed at about two hundred
transfer offices at important railway stations or junction
points all over the country; and large cities may have several.
The office is usually in some nondescript, smoke-begrimed
alcove of the depot, containing a desk for the clerk-in-charge,
tables, files, and usually order books and an official-mail case
42 MAIL BY RAIL
for road clerks. In one corner is a box of the long strip-
metal "seals" used to close storage car doors. Transfer clerks
must meet all incoming trains and see off all outgoing ones,
in all kinds of weather, often scrambling across a dozen tracks
from train to train at considerable risk; and must keep a
detailed statistical record of the mails carried and other facts
regarding each. They must keep informed as to mail dis-
patciies and authorizations on all outbound trains, be famil-
iar with all hours of arrival and departure, issue complex
requests for additional space, notify the office of schedule
changes, furnish substitutes for emergency runs, take sup-
plies out to R.P.O. trains, and must often distribute connec-
tion mails between trains or for offices on C.P. or star routes
by means of a small case and rack. They are required to col-
lect mail from station mailboxes before departure of train
and sort it— at some stations it's done in a little case inside
the mailbox door. Letters are usually taken direct to the
proper train, but sometimes to the transfer office, for cancella-
tion. Transfer clerks must take special case examinations
from standpoint schemes; and while on duty, must carry a
notebook and pencil at all times to record statistical data for
transfer to their report sheets. The Register Transfer Office,
Kansas City, Missouri (for registers) is the only one of its kind.
Transfer clerks are much maligned because of their sup-
posed "soft snap" of a job. "My father doesn't have to work;
he's a transfer clerk at Union Station!" They are pictured as
sitting around with nothing to do except meet occasional
trains: but we have already shown the unjustness of any such
concept of their duties. Transfer clerks must busily dash
across tracks to record data of four or five trains all arriving
at once; messy "bad-order" parcels must be written up in
trij)Hcate on complex forms, through storage cars carefully
locked or sealed, car-floor diagrams drawn up and supervised,
sorting done in the small part-time terminals often housed in
the transfer office, and what not.
In one case transfer clerks were instrumental in appre-
hending a mail thief stealing from numerous pouches,
resulting in great benefit to the reputation and financial
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 4S
Standing of the Postal Service. In another, a new one-man
transfer office was established at the suggestion of clerks them-
selves, resulting in savings equivalent to three transfer clerks'
salaries in view of the "padded" railroaders' mail-count re-
ports thus unmasked. William Koelln, one of our leading
P.T.S. historians and authorities, was a transfer clerk at
Penn Station T.O., New York; so was the late Lillian V.
Woods, the only female transfer clerk in the Service, capable
and efficient. Yes, transfer clerks earn their salt!
Supervising the whole P.T.S. setup is the Assistant Execu-
tive Director, Bureau of Transportation at Washington-
better known by his long-time popular title (until 1946)
of "General Superintendent, R.M.S." He, and sometimes the
Assistant P.M.G. (Transportation) himself, is nearly always
a former P.T.C. who has worked his -way up through the
ranks. At this writing, capable and respected ex-clerk George
Miller holds the office, which places him in charge of most
mail transportation and all distribution of transit mails (ex-
cept international mail transportation). In a handsome office
at the new Post Office Department Building in Washington,
he holds forth at a big flat-topped desk, surrounded by green-
upholstered chairs and by famous paintings or photos of great
mail trains and planes. Interested visitors— or clerks— are
warmly Avelcomed to the offices. Fifteen big loose-leaf books,
giving details of current operations in each division, lie on
a table in one room for instant reference; while a long row
of file cabinets contains an individual folder for each R.P.O.
or H.P.O. line. A library of schemes of all forty-eight states,
books on the Service (such few as there are), and much related
material is on hand. Just down the hall is the office of
"Charley" Dietz, sympathetic head personnel man. whose
glad-hand of help to any clerk with a real grievance is pro-
verbial everywhere. The offices are designated as the Bureau
of Transportation.
Outside, the south side of the building contains a circular
sculptured frieze featuring notable dates in our postal his-
tory, including "RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE, 1862." It
overlooks the great Mall which is only two blocks north of
44 MAIL BY RAIL
the PRR-RFRrP tracks carrying five great trunk-line R.P.O.s
to the Souih; and trolleys which later carry P.T.S. "C.P."
service pass the front entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue.^
The country is apportioned among fifteen divisions, each
with its own general superintendent. ^ Assistant general super-
intendents and a faithful staff of office-assigned railway mail
clerks are assigned to the various "sections" at each head-
quarters. Each division is composed of several districts, with
headquarters at key cities, which directly supervise from one
to a dozen R.P.O. lines and terminals each. A district super-
intendent ("chief clerk" until 1946) heads each district, with
a few office clerks and others to help him (including an assist-
ant district superintendent). P.T.S. offices are located in large
post-office buildings but are, of course, independent.
The division general superintendents have great authori-
ty; they not only supervise the operation of the P.T.S. and
clerks assigned to their divisions, but also prepare the general
schemes and instructions which all first- and second-class post
offices are required to follow in sorting their own mails. The
district superintendent must carry out all the multitudinous
duties of direct supervision of each of his lines and the clerks
thereon, including the reporting of all observed cases of
"insubordination, inefficiency, and lax morality" among
clerks. Division and district superintendents are promoted
exclusively from the ranks, although clerks allege that some
>The Wash. X: Suburban CP. (CTCo) to Cabin John. Md.
•Numbered and located as follows: 1— P.O. Bldg., Boston 9 (N. Ens^l. States);
2-G.P.O. Bldg., New York 1 (N. Y., north N. J.); 3-City P.O. Bg., Washington
25 (Md-DC-Va-NC-WVa); 4-Fed. Annex, Atlanta 4 (Ala-Fla-Ga-SC-Tenn-
PR); 5-P.O. Annex, Cincinnati 35 (Ohio-Ind-Ky); 6-Main P.O. Bg., Chicago
7 (Ill-la); 7-P.O. Eg., St. Louis 3 (Mo-Kans); 8-P.O. Bg., San Francisco 1
(Calif-Ariz-Nev-Utah); 9-P.O. Bldg., Cleveland 1 f^firh.; Cleveland. Ohio;
N. Y. Cent, main line area); 10-P.O. Bg., St. Paul 1 (Minn-ND-SD Wise..
N.P. of Mich.); II-P.O. Eg., Fort Worth 1 (Tex-Okla-NMex); 12-Fed. Ofc. Eg.,
New Orleans 6 (La-Ark-Miss and Memphis, Tenn); 13— P.O. Eg., Seattle 11
(Wash-Ore-Ida-Ala.ska); 14-P.O. Eg., Omaha 1 (Neb-Colo-^Vyo); 15-Fed.
B?., Pittslnirgh 19 (Pa-Del, .south NJ, E. Shore Md-Va, PRR main line area).
Address ''Div. Genl. Supt... P.T.S."
Important District offices are located at Philadelphia 4, Pa. (309a G.P.O.
Bg.); Detroit 33, Mich. (329 Roosev. Park Annex); Los Angeles 52, Calif. (226
Term. P.O. Annex); Denver 1, Colo. (410 P.O. Bldg.) and at many other points.
"TRAINED LETTERS" FROM COAST TO COAST 45
"pull" is usually needed. Clarence E. Votaw describes in
humorous fashion a typical day of a district superintendent
in his book: "Seventy letters to answer . . . Transfer clerk
wants man to fill run in fifteen minutes . . . Four clerks want
their study scope revised . . . Extra clerks wanted to work
ninety-five sacks of "stuck" train mail, at once . . . Clerk-in-
charge running too late to return on his proper train; what
to do?" and so on. Daily visitors include: "An old patron
of a tiny post office insisting on two daily deliveries from the
R.P.O.; a superintendent of mails on a big newspaper, with
new problems; a 'distinguished visitor' who turns out to be
a magazine salesman; a railway superintendent desiring a
conference on mail handling; a patron whose mail arrived
late, to bau'l him out; a messenger from the general super-
intendent, who wants a list of all stations on all lines . . ."
and so on. His is no bed of roses!
In normal times mails are distributed in transit not only
on land but on the high seas as well— by the Seapost service,
in United States and foreign vessels. This colorful service is
closely linked with the P.T.S., which has itself operated or
reorganized the Seapost on three different occasions and
which supplies most of its personnel. But, alas, space require-
ments forbid discussion (Note 10).
And our general survey of America's vast railway mail net-
work remains incomplete without mention of the unusual
private "R.R.M.," or "railroad mail," system, by which rail-
roads carry their own company mails over their own connect-
ing lines— completely apart from the United States mails and
the R.P.O. facilities. It is our only sizable arrangement for
handling of mails outside of the government's monopoly on
letter carrying provided by the strict Private Express Statutes.
Only a few other exceptions (other transport-company
mails, special-messenger facilities, employee distribution of
bills, and so on) are thereby permitted to the Post Office De-
partment's exclusive right to transport "letters for others by
regular trips at stated intervals over all post routes." The
statutes do permit the carrying of "railway letters" for the
public by conductors (if regulation postage is affixed), just as
46 MAIL BY RAIL
is done on a large scale in England and elsewhere; but the
practice has never become popular here, probably because of
the excellent R.P.O. facilities.
The companies* own "railroad mail" is usually handled in
large-sized brown envelopes franked with the letters "R.R.S."
or "R.R.B." (railroad service; business) in the corner; it is
sorted in private station mail rooms and in small cases (with
large boxes) in baggage cars. In small quantities, it is usually
carried by the conductor. But for the general public our vast
R.P.O. system— which in areas like the Chicago and Duluth
regions and North Dakota includes a network of main and
branch lines unequalled anywhere— provides the finest and
most extensive facilities in the world for speedy transit-sorting
and delivery of our ordinary mails.
Chapter 4
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN
It's "Hang up those pouches" or "Pull down that rack,"
It's "Tie out these boxes" or "Hand me a sack."
It's "Sandy, get busy, don't go to sleep yet,
Here, sack up these empties before you forget."
It's "Hustle up, Sandy, what makes you so slow?" . . .
The shacki takes the blame, on a full R.P.O.
— Earl L. Newton
In many varied ways, young "hopefuls"
over the country first hear of the P.T.S.
and dream of being a clerk on the trains.
Perhaps they've watched one at work on
the local at the depot, seen the flying ex-
press make its "catch," read about the
Service or heard of it from employed
friends or kin or from Civil Service
announcements. Many, however, are first attracted by the
lurid "Travel Free for Uncle Sam" ads of the private
civil service schools (non-go\ernment connected); and there
are quite a few "Franklin grads" and "I.C.S. men" in the
P.T.S. , though definitely a minority. Advertisements no
longer show a clerk in natty uniform leisurely leaning out
the car door to greet his girl; but they do emphasize the
travel, layoff, and salary (not the lack of sight-seeing opportu-
nities and the arduous dtities, conditions, and home recpiire-
ments!). One is reminded of the uninformed friend in
Votaw's Jasper Hunnicutt who told an applicant, "The R.M.S.
would suit you. It is such nice clean Avork (!), sorting letters
as you fly along and tossing out bags as you go. There is really
no labor about it!"
*All-around "sub."
47
48 MAIL BY RAIL
The young examinee must make a sworn application on
a long form secured from the nearest office of the Civil Service
Commission, which recruits nearly all government employees
through non-political competitive examinations. He does
not need to take a civil-service course, though some are help-
ful; he can practice up on the sample questions in the exam
announcement. But he must meet stringent physical require-
ments: a minimum height and weight, freedom from all dis-
abling disease or defects, and an aptitude for "arduous
exertion," all confirmed by two medical examinations. Final-
ly he receives his official-looking "IMPORTANT ADMIS-
SION CARD," announcing the exact time and place of the
next exam for Substitute Postal Transportation Clerk; he
must paste an identification photo thereon. At the examina-
tion, which is held at intervals of several years at about six
hundred cities, the applicant sees the examiner solemnly open
and distribute the sealed examination papers, which include
a General Test (on mental alertness, geography, arithmetic,
and so on) in multiple-choice form, and three Mail Tests on
following instructions, sorting, and routing. The latter is
done by studying sets of imaginary post-oflice names, route
symbols, train numbers, and related data, and by checking off
the routes on a long list.
Few applicants are able to "finish everything" in any part
of the stringent four-hour test (not realizing that this is sel-
dom expected). Passing is 70 per cent, but our examinee is
in a fortunate minority if his grade is high enough to insure
appointment— usually about 90 per cent. In this case he is
finally notified of his grade on a form outlining the strenuous
duties of the position and the system of "registers" of eligibles
by state of residence. Occasionally a few clerks are accepted
by transfer from other government units under very exacting
requirements, the P.T.S. enjoying so high a reputation that
senior clerks with ideal hours in a post office Avill sacrifice
their pay and comforts for a chance to become a lowly railway
mail "sub" under the most trying conditions.
After a wait of months or years, possibly broken by a little
temporary government employment, a P.T.S. vacancy may
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 49
occur. The Commission reports the three highest names on
the appropriate state register to the proper division officials,
who will select one or more names as needed and mail out
inquiries to "advise if you will accept" a vacancy— with the
cautious notation: "This is not an ofier of appointment." But,
barring irregularities, our ne-^v man is eventually given his
final physical, his oath of office. Black Book (Book of Instruc-
tions condensed from Postal Laws & Regulations, hence, The
PL&R) a scheme of his first study-assigned state (with map),
and a Schedule of Mail Routes (timetables of all R.P.O.
trains and- other routes in the division). He may also receive
a mail key and revolver. The new substitute's starting salary
is now $1.41 i/C per hour.
Most substitutes are first assigned regularly to some termi-
nal, P.T.S., on a straight five-day week when mails are normal
(classed either as "acting additional" or "vice"— in place of—
clerks on leave). In some cases a self-confident new "clerk"
has entered a terminal the first day, asking:
"And ^vhere is my desk, sir?"
"Right here," the clerk-in-charge wall usually reply, escort-
ing him to some big parcel-dumping platform where per-
spiring men are violently shaking mail out of huge sacks!
The disillusioned neophyte then has to "dump up" parcels
the rest of the day for the convenience of the others.
"A doQfSfone baboon could do this work!" has been the
sentiments of more than one sub after weeks of such back-
breaking labor requiring almost no thinking. Most terminal
clerks are helpful and sympathetic; but there have been ex-
ceptions, as witness the plaint of one newcomer:
. . . They guided me through a maze of racks, trucks,
mail sacks, and chutes ... It was a strange and alien
world ... no friends about and few smiles ... A job:
"Here's something you can do. Anybody, even a grade-
school boy can do it." It was working circulars in a
secondary case . . . But what a welcome! They looked me
over like I was some strange species of animal ... By my
side was a young sub who was as quiet as I. We discovered
one another . . . We "picked to pieces" the Mail Service
50
MAIL BY RAIL
in our room after a hard clay's work . . . There was no
explanation as to why a certain job is performed . . .
Kindlier relations ... a pat on the shoulder, and a friend-
ly smile would be life-savers to a new sub . . .
From 1946 to 1950 a new official, the counselor-instructor,
was assigned to each division to see that new subs got a friend-
lier sort of welcome as well as organized instruction in job
fundamentals, often including classroom talks, demonstra-
tions, and instruction trips; this program is now operated by
other officials. The new man must secure a rubber stamp
showing his name, date, line or terminal, and train or tour
number (with necessary type and inkpad). Plain straight-line
stamps are furnished free on request after considerable delay,
but most clerks prefer to buy theirs from postal or rubber-
stamp supply houses, who design them to order in myriad
styles. Clerks have used them since well before 1890 for
stamping slips and labels (in lieu of postmarking) and occa-
sional records or pieces of mail (that foimd without contents
or consisting of fluff —soh, easily damaged packets). Some
early and current styles are shown herewith (operating lines
are listed in Appendix I:
Balto & Cln. R P
Tr. 43"~ Kay 30 Sth
1890
Prederlclc B. Hoffinan
Soon the sub is acclimated and wearing his long key chain
like a veteran, fearful only that it might be mistaken for a
zoot-suiter's watch chain. He learns to "tie out" packages of
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 51
letters or circulars with the quick, special, hard knot— on
back of the bundle, to leave addresses unobstructed, and with
short letters tied both ways and long ones sticking out below,
tied singly. He gradually catches an unspoken spirit of quiet
determination.
His strenuous work may include, if there is a shortage of
mail handlers, heaving whole piles of sack mail up onto
outgoing trucks or separating incoming sack mail, and at
heavy-mail periods twelve- to eighteen-hours stints and
more are common. Al Humpleby, now of the N.Y. &: Wash.
(PRR), reports having had thirty-six hours* continuous
duty in two North Jersey terminals years ago, except for inter-
terminal commuting; then the "sub shortage" that caused this
changed to a surplus, and he received only one day's work for
a month. Assigned that day to the Wilkes-Barre (Pennsyl-
vania) T.O., where no mail was distributed, he received a
check for nine dollars for the month (including allowances
and held-back pay)— plus ten demerits, levied despite protests,
for not checking any mail-distribution errors that month!
Other new subs are assigned direct to the trains, filling in
for various trips irregularly; and the "first trip" is usually a
nightmare (see next chapter). A bewildered new man is often
assigned to stack incoming bag mail in the bins, much per-
plexed by the absence of any signs or other indications of
which is which— a sympathetic paper smoke (newspaper clerk)
may enlighten him. After dumping up the paper man's mail
and helping at the pouch table the whole trip, he's very sure
he has handled every one of the 1,600,000 pouches and
14,000,000 sacks in the Postal Service.
Stories about new subs' inexperience make laughable
reading. There are many versions of the tale in which the
newcomer is told to stack numerous important bags of mail
in a storage car or bin "with the labels out" (for quick perusal
from the aisle); the sub reports to his chief with a whole
pocketful of labels, necessitating opening and examining
every pouch. Another classic: A sub is given a row of labels
in proper order and asked to "put them in" a row of pouches
to be locked out; not knowing about label holders, the young
52 MAIL BY RAIL
innocent drops them inside each pouch, locks the unlabeled
pouches, and usually has them all in a heap just as the first
throw-off point is reached! Then there was the sub instructed
to "take down" a row of overhead boxes of mail, being given
an empty pouch for the first box's contents as an example.
Of course he puts the mails from every box into the one pouch,
necessitating a frenzied reworking of the contents: Subs have
sometimes made up a "junction box" for letters for all points
which are R.P.O. junctions, just as they are required to do
with junction cards on their examination practice case.
Harassed substitutes are sent from one clerk to another, in
search of a sack stretcher, case scraper, or similar weird arti-
cle, or are put to work counting locks when they've nothing
else to do. But such jokes can backfire. When Boundary Line
& Glenwood (MStP&SSteM) clerks used to run through to
St. Paul, Minn., on Train 110, the second clerk would set a
green sub to sandpapering the rust off locks as they ran into
Minneapolis and St. Paul, giving the observant transfer clerks
at both places a good laugh. But one day the district super-
intendent greeted the train on arrival and asked the sub what
he was doing. Answered, he remarked, "Do a good job of it,"
and walked in for a quiet word with the clerk-in-charge. There
were precious few locks sandpapered on that line after that.
One gag was to require a new sub to get off the train at
each stop to announce its arrival in loud tones. W. F. Kilman
tells how, on a MoPac train stopping at Poplar Bluff,
Arkansas, he dutifully leaped to the crowded platform to cry
out, "OH YES, OH YES, ST. LOUIS & LITTLE ROCK
TRAIN 7 HAS NOW ARRIVED." On the same trip he
learned that all sacks were to be "thoroughly washed and
sacked twenty to the bundle with each layer sprinkled with
talcum" before arrival at Little Rock. Fortunately for him,
the basin and talcum could not be located.
Hazing new clerks has declined considerably following
such tricks as that once played on the Rock Island Sc Kansas
City (Rock Island) years ago, when a sub, awed at the huge
piles of working mail, asked what would happen if it was not
sorted in time. An old clerk cracked, "Oh, if we have a few
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 55
left at the Mississippi, we just heave 'em overboard"— and a
few mornings later, when the sub went stuck on an "East
States" sack, he did just that! It was rescued by a fisherman,
and the old clerk guarded his joking after that. (When the
writer- asked the same question as a sub, the old "head clerk"
just straightened up and announced with set jaw, "Young
inan, this crew never goes stuck!")
On the old Davenport & Kansas City (CM&StP), in the days
of "sack time" when clerks could sleep on duty, a clerk-in-
charge asked a sub to awaken him at Dawn (a small Missouri
town) to finish his reports— and, of course, was not awakened
until daylight, at the very end of the run. Jokes about subs
and others distributing mail "nice and evenly" among all
sacks in a rack, withcfut regard to destination, date back to
the pre— R.M.S. "route agent" days; in the 1850s, W. H.
"Hoss" Eddy (CB&Q agent, Chicago-Burlington) boasted of
"the fairest distribution of mail ever made. As it came into
the car I piled it all on a big table; when the engine whistled
for a station, I looked ... to see how big the town was, and
poked into a mailbag what I thought was the town's share
and put it off."
F. C. Gardiner tells of a soft-spoken Dixie sub trying to
snitch a ride to New York on his commission, accompanying
some Northern clerks on official travel to Jersey City, who
was abruptly rejected by the conductor when he couldn't
growl "Jarsey!" on displaying his pass, as they did. And
Thomas Chittick tells of a sub on the run just mentioned in
our sandpapering incident, who was assigned as a mail weigh-
er there back in 1904 and not required to assist with distri-
bution, although he did. When they reached the Boundary
Line one trip badly "stuck" the Canadian clerks who took
over at that point to run on to Winnipeg were greeted by
the crow of a rooster in the baggage car and the sub's joking
remark, "There he goes again— I couldn't sleep all night on
account of him." The Canucks, feeling much imposed upon,
reported the incident; and the regular clerk had a lot of
•Professor Dennis, here.
W MAIL BY RAIL
explaining to do. Also there are other tales of a sub out-
smarting a regular/
In his first few months of service the sub must correct his
schedules, scheme, and Black Book to date; study them at
length; and take one examination each on the last two. The
scheme or case exam consists of memorizing all post offices,
and their routes, in a given state or section thereof by means
of miniature practice cards representing letters (there are also
"city" exams— see Chapter 10). Unless he is a rare genius at
memorizing, the sub must buy (or write) a set of from three
hundred to eleven hundred separate cards for the state in
question; they are the size of business cards. Practically all
printed P.T.S. cards, and many cases and supplies, are fur-
nished by a widely known specialized printing house in Am-
sterdam, New York, established by former railway mail clerks.
(Another ex-clerk established a large postal-supply house in
Chicago, now a flourishing business.)
His scheme contains all the state's post offices, arranged by
counties, with the R.P.O. or other mail routes serving each;
and after intensive home practice the new clerk is ready to
pitch or throiu his exam (Note 11). The examiner furnishes
him cards for the test— minus the routes on the back by
which he checks himself at home— and a practice case (the
sweat box) which, like his own, looks like an egg crate set on
edge with its tiny pigeonholes. Many P.T.C.'s dread exams
•One of the best, "Lunching on the Santa Fe," is told by Professor Dennis
on page 110 of The Travelling Post Office. (Still in print; see Bibl.)
SPECIMEN PAGE OF A STATE SCHEME ^->-
Indicating routes for Yonkers, New Rochelle, et cetera, in New York's
famous Westchester County. Post offices are listed in the first column, and
R.P.O.s or other mail supplies in the second. Reference letters after individual
offices refer to train numbers or other information in the second column;
many offices (like Purchase and Fort Slocum) are not on the railroad, so mail
is put off at station indicated for the inland town. If no letter follows an
office name, then all trains dispatch mail there. The asterisk (*) means an
R.P.O. junction or its dis (see Chapter 2, also Notes 1, 2); the triangle, or
delta (^) indicates a recently discontinued post office. "Stamford to N.Y.",
et cetera, indicates division of RJ*.0. line.
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN
55
Fig. 1
193
WESTCHESTER
WESTCHESTER COUNTY (A)
Castle »
(Sta. New Ro-
chelle).
Fort Slocum & .
(Ind. Br. New
Rochelle).
Harrison b
Bos. Spgf. & N. Y.
Stamford, Conn, to New York,
a New Rochelle.
b Trs. 263, 266, 283, 292, 296, 362, 379.
c Trs. 263, 266, 283;, 292, 362.
- --- 292, 296, 362, 379/.
Tarr-V,mf.r,tc i d Trs. 263, 266, 283, 292, 296, 362, 379;
Larctimontc ^ rj,^^ 55 7j gg^ 263, 266, 283, 292. 296
Mamaroneck d 362, 374, 379.
New Rochelle « ' ^ Tr^^^_263. 266, 283, 292, 296, 362. 379.
Port Chester f \
Purchase e
Rye b
Amawalk
Ardsley
Chauncey »
■^Croton Lakeb . . . .
Eastview
Granite Springs .
Kitchawan
Millwood
Yorkto^vn Heights
Pelham
(Br. New York)
Brewster & N. Y.
a Tr. 101.
b Yorktown Heights.
•New York (New York Co.).
Brewster & N. Y.
Elmsford I N. Y. & Chi.
Nepera Park »
Yonkers
via M. M. from Tarrytown R. R. Sta.
Trs. 14;', 32r, 39t.
Bos., Spgf. & N. Y.
Mount Vernon via M. V. S.
Lv. 12 noon (;') ; arr. 45 min.
Chat. Sc N. Y.
Via M. V. S. from Mt. Vernon R.R. Sta.
Tr. 438;".
N. Y. & Chi.
New York to Peekskill.
Trs. 14, 26fc, 32, 38, SO/, S6, 103, 112.
154, 156, 161, 199, 207, 216, 235, 237.
238.
a Yonkers (only supply).
Abbreviations:
Br.— Branch P.O.
Ind. — Independent.
j,r,t, et cetera, after train numbers —
Letters indicating frequency of service.
M.M. — Via mail messenger.
M.V.S. — Via motor-vehicle service.
Sta. — Postal station.
Tr.. Trs. — Train or Trains (Train Num-
bers).
(R.P.O. line abbreviations — See General
Index).
66 MAIL BY RAIL
Fig. 2 (a)
Larchmont
New York
(b)
Westchester County
Bos, Spgf & N Y
(c)
ELMSFORD
New
York
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN
(d)
57
Westchester County
Brewster & N Y |X
N Y & Chic
TYPICAL PRACTICE CARDS
(Based on Scheme illustration in Fig. 1, showing two of the same post offices
and corresponding routes.) Fronts of cards are lettered a and c, and backs of
the same cards are lettered b and d respectively (printed or homemade). Routes
on cards are printed exactly like routes shown in large type in scheme, with all
detailed data omitted. The clerk must throw Larchmont, by memory, in his
"Bos. Spgf. & N.Y." pigeonhole only; he can throw the Elmsford card in either
the "Brewster & N.Y." or the "N.Y. &: Chic." box without being marked wrong
by the examiner, but he is advised to indicate the preferred route from his
standpoint by a check mark as shown, and hence should throw it to that box
only. Any post office at which two or more R.P.O. lines* connect mails is called
a junction and is marked (•) in the scheme and on back of card; and in gen-
eral, the cards for each post office must be correctly thrown to either a certain
R.P.O. line or to one of these junctions or dis (distributing) offices. Schedules,
crammed with complex symbols and data, must be used to determine preferred
route.
'Important offices reached by only one R.P.O. but served by other leading air-
mail or closed-pouch routes may sometimes be arbitrarily schemed as junctions,
and thus designated.
as much as the poor clerk (in Carl Lucas's verses in the Go-
Back Pouch) whom Satan turns a-^vay, saying:
. . . "You go to the gates with gold agleam
And learn new things from Heaven's scheme."
The poor gink turned a ghastly shade.
And reeling, this reply he made:
"If another scheme I've got to learn
I'd rather stay right here and burn!"
68 MAIL BY RAIL
Grades are determined from secret symbols on the exami-
ner's card backs, and passing is 97 per cent; higher grades
bring the clerk up to fifty merits on his record. Clerks must
average sixteen cards per minute, and most of them are two
or three times that fast and make at least 99 per cent; because
of "case errors," 100-percenters or pats are not too common.
All R.P.O.s supplying each junction office must also be
named from memory at this time. (See Chapter 10 for infor-
mation on outstanding examination records and on memor-
izing systems.)
After two beginners' tests of comparatively few simple
questions on the Black Book, clerks must take annual exams
involving knowledge of exactly 284 complex questions and
answers from the same volume; some single answers have
twelve to fifteen parts! A few sample questions and answers
will be most revealing:
Q. What are the conditions governing the acceptance of
special-permit matter without stamps affixed?
A. A small number of pieces of metered first-class matter
may be accepted by postal-transportation clerks or transfer
clerks direct from a permit holder, who has been authorized
to mail such matter in R.P.O. trains, but only upon the pre-
sentation by the permit holder of a statement on a form pre-
pared by him showing his name, his meter permit number,
that the pieces offered at the train conform to the conditions
governing the acceptance of metered mail, and that the num-
ber of pieces, or value of the impressions thereon, will be
endorsed on the regular statement of mails, Form 3602-A,
furnished the postmaster in accordance with regulations.
(Some are much longer. But just listen to this one:)
Q. What insects, fowl, and live animals may be accepted
for mailing?
A. Honeybees, day-old ducks, day-old geese, day-old guinea
fowl, day-old turkeys, day-old chicks, and harmless live animals
having no offensive odor and not likely to become offensive
in transit, which do not require food or water in transit. All
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 59
must be properly crated; the day-old fowl can be sent only
to points to which they may be delivered within seventy-two
hours from time of hatching, and animals only within a
reasonable distance.
Another annual exam is that on space regulations (under
which the railroads are paid for carrying mail)— also a com-
plex set of queries, but totaling only forty-five. Passing is 85
per cent in both examinations, but merits are awarded only
for one hundred per cent grades.
After one year a substitute's probation is up. His clerk-in-
charge will grade him, subject to checking by officials, on
some twenty-three points of ability and behavior dealing with
his eyesight, memory, speed, industry, neatness, carefulness,
obedience, personal habits, sole attention to the Service, and
so on. If all is well, his appointment now becomes perma-
nent. Although quite proficient by now, recognition of his
ability is sometimes begrudged by old-timers, as in the case of
one sub who wrote that after finishing his own work he
"tied out the C.-in-C.'s letter case and helped the second man
rack out his papers— yet the C.-in-C. reported we went stuck
due to 'inexperienced substitute'!"
Gradually our new man nears the head of his state substi-
tute seniority list and, if in a terminal, begins to get a pre-
ferred tour and a Saturday-Sunday layoff. The top man is
called the king sub. As vacancies occur, senior subs are gradu-
ally appointed "regular" to lines of their choice at from
$2,870 to $3,870 a year, depending on their length-of-service
grade; but in a terminal the highest automatic salary is
$3,670 (Note 12).
The newly appointed "regular" may be assigned to any
imaginable type of R.P.O. It might be a local mixed train
in the mountains of Washington State, like the Oroville &
Wenatchee (GN), crawling up to the border of British Colum-
bia ... or a pair of all-night trunk-line trains, like N.Y. & Sala-
manca (Erie) Trains 5 & 10," where they kid him about being
on "the Woolworth train" ... or temporarily, a busy inter-
^Service just now on Trains 5 and 8.
60 MAIL BY RAIL
State local, like the "Ma & Pa"— the York & Baltimore (Md&
PaRR), a scenic rural run, usually reserved for senior clerks.
Usually the new "regular" must return to undesirable hours.
He knows, at least, that he'll not get one of the few remain-
ing small, rural branch-line runs with ideal hours and not
much to do. They are fast disappearing into oblivion, as has
(for example), the sleepy little abandoned Tuckerton & Phila.
(TucktnRR-PRR) in New Jersey. Its lone train stopped at
each crossroad to flag the autos, and if the clerk missed a
catch, it would back up for him I On the old Bowie & Popes
Creek (PRR) in southern Maryland, whose daily mixed trains
became so slow that all mail service was pulled off, one
clerk was due to get on daily at Bel Alton— but often didn't.
The other clerk would shut the door on him, knowing he
could easily run ahead and catch the train at the next station
(the irritated short-stop clerk eventually refused to do it, and
this train had to back up too!). But some branch lines are
still found in most states— in New York, for example, the
NYC-West Shore's 104-mile Kingston & Oneonta or "K.&O."
Some, like the Franklin & Cornelia (TalFlsRR,N.C.-Ga.),
are now freight lines only— the R.P.O. is sandwiched between
express and box cars. In sharp contrast are many feverishly
busy suburban runs (see Chapter 12).
Assignment to one of the heavier one-man runs is an inter-
esting possibility for a new regular clerk, but it is an unusu-
ally responsible job and sometimes a tough one. The lone
worker is clerk-in-charge, red man, letter clerk, paper man,
and pouch clerk, all rolled into one. Perhaps the all-time
record for holding down such a run goes to Roy "Kit"
Carson, an authority on Arizona lore, who went on the Santa
Fe's Ashfork & Phoenix there in 1912 and just retired from it
—a relative of his famous namesake of 1863, he personally
coaxed the government into creating the Carson National
Monument. E. M. Martindale (later an examiner at Des
Moines, and now, at eighty-one, in retirement there) tells of
his old one-man run, the Newton k Rockwell City (NewtSc
NW), in Iowa, which lasted just about four years (1905—09);
long abandoned, large trees now grow in the right of way.
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 61
The best one-man runs are those within one state (usually
requiring exams on no other state) and with good hours and
layoff. The hours often permit a clerk to be home each night
—a privilege impossible on the long lines— even though layoffs
may be confined to only every fourth or sixth week. On a
typical run the clerk first calls for his registered mail; then
he consults the "order book" of latest district regulations, and
reports to the car with his usual work clothes and supplies.
Changing clothes, he records the reds in his manifold-bill
book, checks his arriving pouches, and hangs his small pouch-
and-paper rack.
If his mail has been well made up, and most mail is, the
clerk should have a good trip. Mail for the first town or two
is, or should have been, made up direct as "holdouts" (as is
the mail for any large towns); and the remaining working
mail is largely in line-division packages marked No. 1, No. 2,
and so on. (One village postmaster labeled his No. 1-2-3 sepa-
rations for an eastbound R.P.O. as "East," "Further East,"
and "Way the h on East!") Only the No. 1 and unmarked
packages require immediate attention, and by the first throw-
off whistle that town's mail will be ready for dispatch and,
normally, all the No. 1 mail worked up. Soon all the original
mail is distributed, and only the light incoming local mail
needs attention thenceforth. The clerk then has things fairly
easy— especially, of course, on the lightest branch lines, which
are held down by older clerks rich in seniority. But there will
be some days when local newspaper printings or week-end ac-
cumulations mean really heavy trips, and very fast work may
be required if the next-to-last stop is a heavy office, since all
mail must be worked and locked out at the terminus. Before
leaving, the clerk rehangs his rack and "labels up" for the re-
turn trip, also making out his trip report (giving data such as
statistics of mails worked); then he takes his reds to the post
office.
A clerk on one such side line used to fill out his trip report
before beginning work (since the mail was always about the
same), and mail it in afterwards. One day he forgot, and
mailed it before beginning the run. Alarmed, he then real-
62 MAIL BY RAIL
ized it would reach the office before his run was over. The
alert clerk quickly wired for annual leave for the following
trip, adding, "And please return sample trip report I pre-
pared for sub who is to run for me." It worked! Years ago
\V. F. Kilman was due for a one-man run in Bald Knob &
Memphis (MoPac) Train 204, in Arkansas, after very little
sleep. Oversleeping, he was roused by phone and reached the
station just before his train pulled out, still but half awake-
then he discovered, horrified, that he had made his mad dash
through the streets of Bald Knob minus both his pants and
attached key! Now the first stop was rapidly approaching,
and he could not even unlock his pouches of mail; he frantic-
ally wired postmasters along the line (at his expense) to lend
him a key, but to no avail. Helpless, he could only take in
more mail at each stop and work none of it; and, finishing at
Memphis, he had to skip his meals and work his mail up in
Memphis post office until 2 A.M. next morning. His wife
had rushed him the key by then— but he was docked a day's
pay anyhow!
On another occasion the same clerk was accosted at a way
station by a patched-up hillbilly who had just heard that men
were needed in the postal service— and would Kilman put
him to work? Kilman, badly "stuck," would have welcomed
even such help as that, but of course could not accept the
offer. But, wanting a little fun, he quizzed the applicant on
his church affiliations, temperate habits, and so on, and re-
ceived most reassuring answers. "Then come to the station
at this exact time tomorrow, and I'll hire you," finished
Kilman. Since the run was long enough to require two-day
trips, of couse it was the blissfully innocent clerk running
opposite Kilman who was insistently waylaid!
The exasperating annoyances and difficulties confronting
the new clerk would soon make him resign were it not for
the compensations. After working all night on a quick turn
around run, he may get only four or five hours' sleep before
he has to report for the return trip— perhaps involving hours
of strenuous advance work on a heavy paper rack, in a torrid
non-air-conditioned car with unopenable windows. Twine
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 68
lint and sack dust fill the air, blackening skin and clothing
and torturing those with colds or sinus troubles. Starting a
week of duty, he usually has to work all night after being up
all day, then try to sleep in daylight amid myriad noises.
Hands get red and raw from tying, locking out, and piling
mail for hours— especially if there's a rackful of nice brand
new pouches with their stiff, unlockable straps. He learns
his mail one way by scheme, only to find it routed differently
in practice at times; must accept all mail brought to the doors
after leaving time, if train has not left; and must strugrale
with oversize greeting cards that won't fit his case, and with
insufficient heat or light when utilities go haywire.
Clerks are granted only fifteen days' annual and ten days'
sick leave at the best, and road clerks get even less (about ten
and seven respectively) in actual days, due to layoff credits.
Clerks must sort papers and circs which publishers seem to
deligrht in having; bulk-mailed with alternate addresses turned
backward or upside down, or with excess paste sticking them
all together. Dispatch deadlines must be met just when ex-
cess mails come flooding in; delays and diversions require
complex rerouting of mail. They must contend with contra-
dictions in schemes— half of Maryland is schemed differently
(in minor details) in 3rd and 15th Division schemes. Late
running may require even a turn-around to "work back" with
no sleep at all. Looking forward to a layoff, a clerk often finds
himself too exhausted to do more than sit around for two or
three days; then he may have to make new case headers or
draw up a whole list of labels to order, study an exam or
answer P.T.S. mail, or get called by the sub-chaser (officer
detailing substitutes and extra men) for an extra trip— all in
addition to his usual home requirements!
"It's enough to make a preacher cuss," the average clerk
exclaims; and truly, the general run of language in an R.P.O.
car is not exactly mild, although there are a few clerks who
never use profanity. It is a wonder, indeed, that the average
clerk retains his proverbial courtesy to the public and his
usual gentlemanly consideration for other clerks, especially
newer ones. By kindly acts and hearty good humor many a
64 MAIL BY RAIL
clerk wins the esteem of all his fellows— oft expressed, to be
sure, in the form of the good-natured insults so typical of
R.P.O. repartee. But when a tired clerk in a lurching, torrid
car is set to sticking hundreds of long letters in a short-holed
case (covering all his headers), and is then brusquely trans-
ferred to an overflo\ving paper rack to dump up and throw
off huge sacks of tiny country papers or squealers (one called
Comjort was formerly abhorred) mixed like jackstraws, then
tie out the balky full sacks (often wedged in the back row
behind the other sacks), bruising his knuckles and maybe find-
ing his sack has no tie string— better hold your ears!
Fearsome is the scene when bad weather has "grounded"
the planes at one or more of the area's airports and huge
stacks of air mail are turned over to the faithful old R.P.O.s
which run in the fiercest weather. Most of the flood of
pouches are addressed to distant airfields, but that makes no
difference; all must be opened and distributed at once and
all other sorting suspended. Mail is stacked in every spot,
clear to the roof, perhaps; and someone cries in mock
delight, "Oh, look at the pretty colors!" as the bales of red-
white-and-blue letters are dumped up. The wind-mail must
be worked to air outlets as well as by scheme. Pests who
formerly riled clerks but are gTadually disappearing include
the rhymester who addresses mail in verse and the "wise-
cracking" addresser who makes Wyandotte, Michigan, read
"Y & •," or Lineville into " ville," or who addresses
letters to celebrities with "clever" symbols and drawings
(and minus words). Distribution is badly slowed by such
cranks, and the fact that such mail is usually delivered is a
tribute to P.T.S. ingenuity but no excuse for the mailer. (A
letter with nothing but "O.O." on it was promptly delivered
to O. O. Mclntyre, New York.)
The clerk must know that the foreigner using native spell-
ing who addresses a letter to Zizazo or Jajago, or to "Oukcet,
Noumchire," intends it to go to Chicago or to Hooksett,
New Hampshire, respectively— and that the cultured Boston-
ian who sends mail back home to "J. P." or "NUF," Massa-
chusetts, means Jamaica Plains or Newton Upper Falls. Mis-
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 65
takenly thinking they are helping the postal clerks, many
firms as well as other mailers often reverse the address on
their mail to show the city and state in top line (perhaps in
large letters), to the confusion of the clerk, who is trained
to scan only the last lines, constantly. All states seem to have
at least one pair of identically named communities, al-
though under postal regulations only one can be an inde-
pendent post office. Ardmore, Brookline, Oakmont, and
Overbrook, Pennsylvania, are suburbs of both Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh! Clerks must contend with much mail im-
properly addressed to such points, as well as mail for towns
where the post office and railroad station have different names
(sometimes it's unavoidable— the railroad has named its sta-
tion for an off-line post office; then the station gets a post
office later!). And clerks must know, for example, that mail
for South Norfolk, Virginia, can be included with Norfolk,
but that South Boston, Virginia, is hundreds of miles away
from Boston, Virginia. Illegible scrawls are a headache too,
not to mention letters for no-post-office points.
Clerks are frequently called to sort letters under an un-
familiar set of headers (perhaps largely obsolete) which they
cannot or dare not rearrange, or may be required to work
them on a table with no headers at all. Train sickness and
foot weariness beset the new clerk; as a shack, he is sent
"jackassing" from one job to another, with no time to finish
any one of them. Porters pour incoming mail in two or three
doors at once, twice as fast as clerks can pile it. Tough-
rimmed hardhead (repaired) pouches, hung and unhung with
greatest difficulty, hound clerks on lines out of Washington
especially. When setting up pouch tables, their underslung
hooks are a nuisance (a hooked one flies off as soon as the
second one is hooked on), while if overslung hooks are substi-
tuted, it is almost impossible to detach them, as they fly back
into place similarly. And when a tied parcel is pushed down
into a sack, its strings catch annoyingly on the rack-hooks.
Letter-packages, even though addressed plainly to a con-
necting R.P.O., often cannot be dispatched in the pouch for
that line at all; the particular train may not serve the local
66 MAIL BY RAIL
offices contained, or it may not be the proper section of the
line, or the package may consist of mixed mail turned over by
an incoming train of that line to ours without re-labeling,
or of mail due to be advanced by special dispatches! Special-
delivery parcels come pouring into the car, especially around
holidays, and half of them are too big to be squeezed
into the closely jammed sacks, the way they are hung. Big
blocks or large bundles of newspapers cause the same trouble;
the rack must be half taken apart to get the packages in,
unless the harassed clerk gives up and sorts his parcels and
blocks in piles on the floor ! Especially in terminals, sacks of
parcels "fill up all wrong," and big ones won't fit in unless
the whole contents is rearranged; the clerk dares not do too
much of this, either, or he'll be accused of wasting time
bricklaying. Connections vary, even between days of the week.
Rain, cinders, or snow may come beating in the car venti-
lators persistently, until a sack is rigged up beneath them as
a canopy. Doors on old cars are sometimes the obsolete type
with ordinary handles, and, as the clerk who piles mail there-
in discovers to his great annoyance, they always open inward.
Even with standard sliding doors, mail must often be moved
and replied when trains come into a station on the "wrong
side." Perishable meats and cheeses in parcels will decay, giv-
ing off a frightful aroma— as will deceased baby chicks.
Antiquated equipment can work havoc; in a recent holiday
season, clerks on one North Dakota run worked in cars with-
our water, heat, or lights. One car had an old Baker heater
which was finally lit, but it succeeded in "making smoked
hams" of the crew while they all worked by candlelight.
Wash water can drain out, necessitating washing with ice
water in midwinter. Overhead boxes with their sharp under-
slung hooks will not only give a nasty dig in the head to any
clerk unbending so as to contact them; they have sliding gates,
too, which will descend to crack one's knuckles violently
when being emptied. Stall poles, supposedly removable with a
twist of the wrist, often stick like the mischief; mails are
passed through the alley both ways at once, or a "bottleneck"
results from some other cause; and trying to figure out
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO \^TERAN 67
"space" requirements under the complex regulations in-
volved drives clerks to despair. As Dan Moschenross puts it:
"During the Middle Ages, the Flagellants considered self-
torture as the only means of attaining Divine favor . . . they
beat one another . . . with whips and scourges.
"Today their modern successors bury one another under
great piles of heavy sacks and call it Space System."
Although much is being done to remedy such conditions,
C. D. Sherwin writes that a postal transportation clerk must
often work "on a shaking platform, under lights [fifty-watt]
that do not meet I.E.S. standards, eat ... in the same room
with exposed toilets, and handle dirty sacks used all over the
world twenty years without cleaning." In an antique, non-
ventilatable car he "is expected to . . . correctly case some
t^venty-five letters per minute. Try balancing yourself on the
rear bumper of a moving auto some dark night and read your
mail by the taillight. It'll give you an idea . . ." Small fifty-
foot 1901 wooden mail cars are still run in some seventy-mile-
per-hour trains, some clerks claim.
Unless assigned alone, the new man must learn to be a
cono^enial asset to his R.P.O. crew. Thrown into constant
contact with the same men for years or decades, he usually
develops a friendly tolerance for the peculiarities and failings
of others, faults that we all have. Only occasionally do we
find the clerk who is morose or mean towards those whose
personality he does not find congenial. Time passes rapidly
amid the tempo of a heavy run, and soon a clerk finds him-
self living from layoff to layoff until months and years have
slipped away as if by magic. Before he realizes it a clerk may
have spent his entire Service life in one locality (or even on
one line). Others, with wanderlust, transfer all over the
United States.
There is a sense of rhythm felt throughout the crew.
There is the synchronized, clocklike motion of a multiple
human machine at work. There is the steady, even click of
the -wheels. There are the pulsating notes of barbershop
harmony indulged in for many a mile, ranging from the
classics to jive, from grand old hymns to ribald ballads, de-
68 MAIL BY RAIL
pending on the men and the mood. And each letter clerk has
his own varying, personal mail-flipping rhythm; some prance
or sway in time with their sticking, while others tap letters
regluarly against bundles or fingers.
The recording and receipting for valuable mails enclosed
in "rotary-locked" pouches give an interesting insight into
some clerks' different characteristics. To save a record in
handling, small pouches for our line or for local points are
often enclosed in one large pouch; and when a red man opens
one and discovers all the little ones, he may growl expressively
that the "pouch has pups"— only to find, perhaps, that some
of the smaller bags have "pups" in turn. He calls off the lock
numbers from each opener or liner (working pouch), such
as L-I2345 or B-6789, followed by the numbers of the articles,
and a helper checks all this on the bill enclosed. To avoid
confusion, words are called to replace the lock letters— thus,
Lucy 12345 and Baby 6789— and one can pretty well "size up"
some clerks by noticing what words they choose. For example,
"L" is commonly heard expressed as Lucky, Lucy, Lady,
Lousy, Louis, and Liquor! (Note 14-)
One colorful personality, an old-timer once of the Toledo
& St. Louis (a Wabash route, famed in the song "Wabash
Cannonball"), evidently used worse words than the above for
"L" and the rest of the alphabet too. Although he claimed
he was once an evangelist or preacher of sorts, he was notori-
ous for his vitriolic language. He became famous throughout
the area, especially after some extra trips were clamped on to
his assignment; he referred to them disgustedly as warts, and
this term has meant extra trips in the Midwest ever since.
There will often be a left-handed chap in the crew who
works his mail "backward," and since the larger letters slant
the wrong way, no one else can work his case. Another may
be a "string saver," tying up all discarded twine for re-use, or
a tier of fancy knots (the work of some clerks can be recognized
thus). Some clerks use privately-printed, name-on facing slips
rather than the free government ones; others hang extra sacks
galore on all the aisle hooks or gills on both sides, until no
one can squeeze past. Others, perpetual kidders, threaten to
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 69
push senior men (with a desirable assignment) out the door
when crossing bridges; cry, "What's the number of that job?"
when a clerk is "up" and taking it easy; or annoy mail mes-
sengers by calling mail for the local stop as "Dogtown" or
"Bird Center." One such clerk, called by phone for unwanted
extra trips, always sneezed violently while listening, then
repeated, "What did you say?" until the "office" gave upl
There is a more grim form of humor too— the grins and
facetious wisecracks indulged in when men grab the long
safety rods overhead in case of any sudden application of
brakes. They know chances of wreck are almost nil, but they
are prepared for anything, as tight hand holds reveal.
Our new crew member often discovers odd practices
peculiar to that area. On Atlantic coastal lines, for example,
mails for Pensacola, Florida, are always included with those
for Georgia State— because Pensacola is the only locality not
routed to the regular Florida connection, the Florence &:
Jack. R.P.O. (ACL). At certain stops on a line an outgoing
mail separation may be called as hot stuff (a close connection),
snake mail (for West Virginia), or good and bad (as for Cle
Elum, Wash., and dis).
A good crew member soon learns what not to do. He tries
not to drop twine under his neighbor's feet, haul large objects
through a crowded aisle (they are best carried high, to the
cry of "Low ceiling!"), or "have a chair" (frequent the district
superintendent's office) every time he feels mistreated. He
doesn't pile mail in bins in a slovenly, falling-down, old-
wheat-shock stack, or come to work with out-of-date or un-
prepared slips, or keep his things, and change clothes, in the
aisle. He admits responsibility when wrong, helps at doors
or busy cases without being asked, and keeps discarded mis-
cellany off the floor and the case ledges. He avoids imitating
the occasional chap who shows contempt for his clerk-in-
charge, who partakes of hidden stimulants, or who stops nec-
essary sorting to pour out windy chatter or soiled barroom
tales which distract and perhaps annoy his co-workers. He
knows that only a pest "keeps his cup under the water spigot,
buys stamps from his clerk-in-charge, whistles the same tune
70 MAIL BY RAIL
all day long, and yells 'Shut up!' at baby chicks." (Most of
these traits were listed by D. D. Bonewits in the Railway
Post Office.)
Our new clerk will develop varied interests. Besides
hunting and card playing, as noted, most clerks like fishing,
ball games, and horse races. Terminal clerks are often adept
at chess. Some are religious workers or even ministers, like
Reverend Lawrence L. Fuqua of Cleveland (Ohio) Terminal.
Some clerks even do farming in their free time; others are
enthusiastic musicians, stamp fiends, or railroad "fans," and a
few are dreamy Shakespearean scholars, writers, trolley fans,
or even R.P.O. enthusiasts (to their co-workers' utter amaze-
ment—See Chapter 13). Possibly the strangest hobby is that
of George E. Travis and his wife, who built a much-public-
ized "Shaker House" in Fort Worth, Texas, containing the
largest saltcellar collection known.
Since 1921 clerks have had to carry revolvers, usually a Colt
.38, with belt and bullets; it must be kept cleaned and pol-
ished, and unloaded when not on duty. Such a requirement
is most essential, as Clerk J. B. Williams of Washington, D.C.,
discovered to his sorrow when his ten-year-old son was seri-
ously injured while playing with his pistol. Official target
instruction is not given, but many clerks can "pull a mean
trigger" and keep up practice in voluntary groups such as the
2nd Division P.T.S. Pistol Club. A congressional investiga-
tion, deploring the lack of firearms training and the extra
responsibility forced upon clerks, has urged that armed
guards be substituted.
Federal law requires recognition of postal gun permits in
all places, but some localities have refused to honor them.
In North Carolina one clerk was fined sixty-five dollars for
carrying his gun on duty, deprived of his twenty-five dollar
weapon, and warned that other armed clerks would be
arrested on sight— because he had no local permit! Don
Steffee, the railway author (see Chapter 16), tells of laying
over for three hours in Saratoga Springs, New York, when
subbing on the Rouses Point & Albany (D&H), and of spend-
ing his time exploring the town or resting in the park— his
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 71
gun in a back pocket. One day he was gruffly accosted by a
cop, disarmed, loaded into a patrol car while onlookers
gawked, whisked to the station house, and released only after
examination of his papers. He carried no guns in Saratoga
after that! And even with guns put away, clerks who go and
come in the witching hours before dawn often run afoul of
the law anyhow. A judge in New York City, not knowing of
the P.T.S., has even ruled that "the only people one can
expect to meet at 3 A.M. are those who might be lawless."
Picked up as "suspicious characters" for such reasons as grow-
ing a luxurious beard, attending a criminal trial, or dashing
up the street, recently, were Bob Lareau of the Kan. City &
Albuquerque (Santa Fe); a Bos. & Newport (NYNH&H)
clerk, in Rhode Island; and Ben Spurgeon and Fred McCand-
lish of the Toledo k Charleston (NYCent,Ohio— W.Va.), re-
spectively. This writer has himself been stopped and grilled
at about 2:30 A.M. by the alert constabulary of two different
New Jersey towns near his home!
From time to time, speaking of guns, P.T.S. officials or
inspectors ride the R.P.C). lines or inspect other functions of
the Service, and one superintendent discovered a fault in
Clerk Al Gunn's trip report on the Portland & San Francisco
(SouPac), proposing to give him five demerits for it; and
when the clerk replied (on the form) "Shoot.— A. Gunn," he
was "shot" twenty-five more sinkers for disrespect in official
correspondence. Retired District Superintendent J. P. Fitz-
patrick, inspecting the same line, used to help sort the letters,
and one day found a private note in a package of letters re-
ceived via "go-back pouch" from the opposite train, reading,
"I carried Dixon by. No report." The official added a letter,
making it read, "Now report," and returned it to the clerk
who wrote it and who had missed the exchange at Dixon,
California! On an Eastern line one official tried to catch red-
handed a clerk suspected of imbibing on duty, contrary to
regulations. He watched the suspect throw newspapers for
the whole two hundred-odd miles, was amazed to see the clerk
become steadily woozier until he was completely "out" at the
end of the trip, and gave up the quest in despair. Only after-
72 MAIL BY RAIL
ward did the clerk admit to his fellows that his flask was
hung inside a paper sack in his rack, from which he took a
swig every time he leaned over to rearrange or push down the
mail therein 1
Another superintendent, inspecting a terminal, proposed
a charge of five demerits to a clerk merrily whistling, contrary
to his regulations, but canceled them when he received the
reply ". . . Sorry; little did I dream I was disturbing those fine
men with whom I worked ... I was merely trying to knock
off the rough edges of fatigue." Sometimes, however, a P.T.S.
official himself is inspected. A postal inspector interviewed a
former chief clerk, whose office included the Great Northern's
Fast Mail (St. Paul & Williston), to demand why a large
second-class office on its route was not supplied by that train
when it was the only one which could afford a morning
delivery. Told that they couldn't fool around with a little
local stop like that when mailbags thrown in at Minneapolis
were still in the way and being stacked, the inspector replied,
"All right— we will report to the Department that the car
doors are blocked for fifty miles after leaving. In case of
wreck the clerks could not get out. The Chief Clerk knows
this, and has taken no steps to correct it." The local office
supply was established.
Meanwhile our typical clerk has been gradually climbing
up the various salary grades and later longevity levels, each of
which brings a one hundred dollar increase. Usually he has
his eye on some "dream job" on his own or another line,
which he takes when seniority permits. He may be nearing
middle age by then; and, having reached his goal, he will stay
there unless he aspires to be a clerk-in-charge or an official.
Promotions to such positions, at a very substantial salary
increase, are made to qualified clerks who are willing to
accept and who are in the highest automatic grade and with
top seniority, a clerk-in-chargeship, of course, usually preced-
ing any higher promotion. Many clerks do become C.-in-C.s,
especially on the short one-man lines where every clerk is one;
few aspire to higher offices, because of the influence allegedly
needed.
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 78
As the busy chief of a trunk-line crew, a clerk-in-charge
well earns his Grade 16 or 17 pay and wears the saber, as they
say (or the burlap tights), with distinction. Typing check
sheets and handling correspondence consumes much of his
layoff, and on the job he usually must work letters as well as
supervise, check pouches, write trip reports and records,
handle train space, and what not. He is accountable for all
property in the car, must see that clerks obey orders and work
properly all mail received, if possible, and that mails are
properly dispatched. He must collect the "count" of each
clerk (amount of mail worked) in a pigeonhole labeled
"OFFICE" before he can make out his trip report.
A wise and friendly clerk-in-charge conducts himself like
any other clerk; he is equally considerate and respectful, wears
the same work clothes, works just as hard, and gives "orders,"
if necessary, in the form of pleasant suggestions. (It seldom is
necessary in the ideal crew, where each man knows his duties
in detail.) On his responsible job, as one writer says, he must
have the "patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, sometimes
as hard-boiled as a top sergeant, but as diplomatic as Franco
would like to be; wide-awake and alert, yet at times blind
and dumb— meek as a lamb . . . He is custodian of what other
clerks are not to be bothered with: Special orders, post-
marker, 'Missent' and other stamps, canceling pad and ink,
postage stamps, trip-report book, postal guide, extra registry
supplies, clip boards, wire clips, rubber bands, flashlights,
batteries, car keys, space books, special-delivery and check
sheets, and a thousand and one blank forms . . ."
Two-grip man he is rightly called, for he seldom gets all
this material into one case. His extra grip or box, as well as
his regular one, must be bought and handled at his own
expense even though used for government property only.
A C.-in-C. who tried using a mail sack for this purpose was
severely reprimanded.
Scattered among the P.T.S.'s legion of kindly and capable
clerks-in-charsre there are, of course, a few of the Simon
Legree type too. One clerk said in the Railway Post Office:
"They cannot give an order in a respectful manner, and oft-
74 MAIL BY RAIL
times use profane language in emphasizing same ... a direct
violation of P.L.RrR." In the same magazine (now Postal
Transport Journal) D. D. Bonewits lists a few other com-
plaints toward such, including, "He uses all the drawers and
boxes for his shoes, hat, parcels, and personal collection . . .
Waits until the engineer whistles, then hurriedly ties out his
local package and charges you with a pouch-exchange failure
when you can't get to the door in time . . . Asserts his author-
ity—officious and arrogant in giving orders . . . Lets some
favorite mollycoddle assign the distribution for the crew . . .
Is a superman on supervision, pygmy on effort . . . Never has
time to listen to suggestions . . . Arranges for valet service—
someone to wait on him, no matter how busy . . . Fallaciously
thinks the hard way is the best way to get the most out of
his crew . . . Never gives partner a lift when a ten-minute
breather would have saved carrying mail by . . . Careless
about orders from his superiors— thinks they are meant for
. . . the crew," and so on.
It must again be emphasized that such clerks-in-charge are
much in the minority, and that the chief himself has to con-
tend with the annoying crew-member habits quoted from
Mr. Bonewits earlier, not to mention many others. And
of course there are anecdotes galore about clerks-in-charge.
A C.-in-C. on the old Chicago & Hannibal (IC-Wabash), says
F. C. Gardiner, discovered a sleeper in his Decatur box just
after all mail was unloaded at Decatur. The conscientious
chief took the letter in his teeth, jumped off, snatched a pouch
off the truck, unlocked it, threw the lock in the pouch, and
closed it up, yelling, "Gimme a lock! Gimme a lock!" until
the second clerk tossed him one just as the train started up.
When he jumped back inside, his teeth still held the letter
tightly clenched!
Old "Rocky," in charge on a Western run, would fuss at
his men whenever he got caught up on his work; so to occupy
him they would slip a penny under his letters— keeping him
busy for half on hour digging into his grips, sprawled amid
patent medicines and junk, hunting for a "matter-found-
loose-in-the-mails" form and writing it up. Years ago, Owen
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 76
D. Clark gasped when, while he was throwing mail as a sub
on a branch line in the East, a sudden shot rang out in the
car. His clerk-in-charge was standing there with a smoking
.45 in his hand. But he hadn't gone berserk; his old-style
gun had a secret shell compartment, which he had forgotten
about when he dumped the bullets out before hammering a
loose nail with the butt. Before putting them back, he had
decided to give the trigger a couple of test clicks!
On the Atchison & Downs (MoPac) in Kansas an elderly
bachelor clerk-in-charge had a crush on a little postmistress
out on the line. The romance progressed nicely during the
train's two-minute stops there as the little lady met the train,
until the old chap stayed home sick one day and a sub (who
resembled him enough to pass for a son) was sent oiu amply
coached by the crew. He answered the postmistress's inquiry:
"Yeah, Pop's rheumatism has got him again." Then, notic-
ing a pendant she wore, "Say! Where d'ye get Ma's locket-
did Pop give it to you?"
The old gent could never understand why she stopped
meetinsr the train.
Clerks-in-charge have run up enviable records in super-
vising the same crew for many decades. Before 1900, it was
reported, J. C. Beck of the N. Y. & Chic. (NYCent) had held
such a record for nearly thirty-five years. Palmer C. Vincent
of the Chatham & N. Y. (NYCent), supervised one crew from
1906 to 1943.
Then there was J. F. "Cat" Caterlin of the K.C. & Denison
(M-K-T), who perhaps typifies the ideal clerk-in-charge, with
forty years' total service on the line. One could not find, says
E. E. Stuart, a more beloved or capable chief; he was a charter
member of the R.M.A. and a division secretary, and a regular
"steam engine" on his Texas letters in the mail car. He
"would slash a double row five feet long, jab his right arm
like a piston, and never slacken until the last letter was in
. . . 'Old Cat can sure hide it,' they said. It was his best, his
whole best, nothing but the best . . . Competent in action,
superlative in judgment." He was sometimes brusque, but
never showed a temper; kindly to his men, with a sound
76 MAIL BY RAIL
philosophy and keen sense of humor.
Other clerks, too, have run up some amazing service
records. The longest and most distinguished of all is said to
be that of Christopher A. McCabe, of the St. Paul & Willis-
ton (GN), who became district superintendent at St. Paul,
Minnesota, to round out fifty-seven years of continuous ser-
vice since his appointment in 1889 at $800 a year. A dele-
gate to R.M.A. conventions as far apart as 1892 and 1949,
he retired in 1946 as "the best-loved and admired man in the
10th Division." He was "fired" twice during the hectic early
days, felt a gun in his ribs during a train robbery in 1894,
and is still rallying against any curtailment in the P.T.S.
Longest career on one line was probably that of William
H. Meyers, of the S.P.'s former Placerville &: Sacramento
(California), or of Fred Sheldon of the N. Y. & Chic. (NYCent),
just retired— both fifty years. Other high P.T.S. service records
were those of "Dean" John H. Pitney, Boston & Alb. (B&rA),
over fifty-five years (see Chapter 16); 12th Division Super-
intendent John Morris, Memphis Gren. & New Orleans
(IC), fifty-five years; 7th Division Superintendent Joseph A.
Muldoon, St. Louis & Monett (StL-SF), fifty-four years; and
so on down.
A clerk can retire optionally at fifty-five or over, but in
any case not later than seventy. Formerly, railway mail clerks
were arbitrarily retired at sixty-two— much to the displeasure
of clerks still strong and capable at that age who had children
to put through college or homes to pay for. On the other
hand, most younger clerks— eager for the promotions that
retirements bring them— are anxious to restore a compulsory
retirement of sixty-five, sixty, or fifty-five. They argue that
the old-timers need a few years of well-earned leisure and
that too many have slowed up and must be "carried" by the
young clerks. The argument goes merrily on, but it would
certainly seem obvious that if a clerk is healthy, interested
in his work, and truly efficient, he should be permitted to
stay to seventy if he needs the money.
Reactions to the final departmental "order of discontinu-
ance" at the end of the month in which a birthday occurs
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 77
are mixed. Many vigorous old-timers definitely hate to leave
the job and the co-workers they like so much and snort at
the idea of some sub abruptly relieving them in the middle
of a trip when the fatal day arrives. Others eagerly await it,
as an emancipation from a lifelong grind, perhaps flinging
the old road grip into a river on the last run.
Many outstanding clerks are honored with a dinner and
gifts on their retirement, especially if they have become
officials; but some were still on the road, like J. H. Lucitt of
the N.Y. & Pt. Pleasant (CRR-NJ), to whom seventy clerks
gave a banquet, autograph book, and diamond ring. An-
other unusual retirement was that of Joseph McElvin of the
Kan. City & Denison (M-K-T), whose father was still on the
retirement rolls himself. And when Lum Andrews, of the
Chic. & Council Bluffs (CB&Q), retired in 1919, his son Carl
had been on the line fourteen years— and is still on it, a
family record of 77 years' service on one line! (Note 22.)
The low retirement annuity, averaging about fifteen hun-
dred dollars annually for those retired before 1949, is a
great hardship to many clerks. (Clerks retired now fare only
a little better.) A mere fraction of active salary, it is
unlike army, navy, and similar pensions in being subject to
income tax too! Railroad employees retire at much better
pay after paying less in deductions (6 per cent in the P.T.S.);
their pensions are tax-exempt by law; and they often receive
passes good for rides on most railroads for themselves and
their family. On the other hand, the retired clerk's com-
mission--restricted to single-route business trips as it was— is
returned to him canceled as a souvenir! The P.T.S., though
obviously eligible, has not been included in recent legisla-
tion authorizing a liberally paid retirement after twenty
years' service in "hazardous and arduous" government jobs.
Some retired clerks secure part-time employment, others
make for a quiet fishing retreat or chicken farm in the coun-
try—still chatting with old pals down at the depot, and some-
times continuing active in the N.P.T.A. and in retired clerks'
groups. Some of the latter are the National Retired N.P.T.A.
Clan (California); the Veteran R.P.C.s of New England, in
78 MAIL BY RAIL
Boston; the Seattle Retired Clerks' Club; the Old Timers
Club, Syracuse, New York; the Twin City Retired Clerks*
Clan' in Minnesota; and others in San Francisco and Fort
Worth, Texas.
Some clerks have doubtless reached the century mark, but
the longest-lived clerks of whom we have records include
the late John W. Masury of the Boston & N.Y. (NYNH&H)
and Royal S. Dale of the Eland & Merrillan (CStPM&O-
C&NW) in Wisconsin, both of whom lived to be ninety-seven.
Mr. Masury was a world traveler during his twenty-nine-year
retirement and was an active guest in the Odd Fellows Home,
Worcester, Massachusetts, with his letter writing and Bible
reading, until his death at almost ninety-eight late in 1949;
Mr. Dale hailed from Romulus, New York, and was retired
twenty years. Close seconds at ninety-six were Charles H.
Hooton of the Wash. & Grafton (B&O), who just passed away,
and William J. Cook of LeRoy, New York, who ran just
four years on the N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent) before becoming a
Collector of Internal Revenue. Hooton was born in a log
cabin, had lunches with President Grant, and was active in
Baltimore N.P.T.A. affairs.
Oldest living ex-clerk at this writing is Joseph M. Kurtz,
ninety-seven, of the Mount St. Joseph Home, Kansas City,
Kansas, who ran on the old Leavenworth &: Miltonvale
(KCLeav&W) and is active and in good health. Feted at his
last birthday in a big celebration, he is a general favorite at
the home and active in the religious services and singing; he
reads and tells stories with gusto, and his clever humor is
proverbial. Right behind him at last report were Charles
J. Bohnstead of the old Mich. City, Monon & Indpls. (CI&L)
in Indiana, and Robert C. Whaling of the former Roch. &
Pittsburgh (BR&P-BR:0), who lives in Rochester, New York
—both aged ninety-four. A. F. Coller, off the St. Paul & Miles
City (NP), is ninety-three. Many other old-timers still keep
hale and hearty through interesting activities. At last report
these included former Chief Clerk A. T. Nichols, ninety-
•Branch of National N.P.T.A. Clan.
FROM WOULD-BE "SUB" TO VETERAN 79
two, (who knew such diverse characters as Jesse James and
President Lincoln), of St. Joseph, Mo.; C. J. Cissna,
ninety-one, ex-Kan. City & ^Iemphis (StL-SF); and W. F.
Doolittle, ex-chief clerk, Boston, ninety-one. To conclude
our Honor Roll of old-timers still living, as far as we know,
we salute the following (nominated by our correspondents),
plus others mentioned later:
J. E. Reid, 89, Kansas City & Denver (UP)
James L. Stice, 88, P.T.S. author (see Chapter 16)
Charles M. Brown, 86, Cairo &: New Orleans (IC); lives
in Memphis, Tenn.
Felley M. Miller, 86, Omaha & Ogden (UP); active in
N.P.T.A., Council Bluffs, Iowa
Thomas B. Robertson, 86, St. Loais & Monett (StL-SF)
August Kraft, 85, St. Louis & Kansas City (MoPac)
Morgan Jenkins, 80, Pittsburgh ^ Kenova (B&O); active
in Huntington, West Virginia.
Some very distinguished long-lived clerks have now passed
on. Clarence E. Votaw of Fountain City, Indiana, lived to be
ninety-five (1949); he was a prominent former assistant super-
intendent and author, as described in Chapter 16. Andrew J.
Baer, reputedly of the PRR's N.Y. 8: Pitts., closely resembled
John Wilkes Booth and had a hair-raising escape from cap-
ture following his Civil War military career and Lincoln's
assassination; he helped save lives at the Johnsto-wn flood and
finally retired to live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the ripe
age of ninety-three. Richard G. Whiting, of Hyattsville,
Maryland, passed on at ninety-two after many years on the
N.Y. & Wash. (PRR); like Mr. Hooton, he was a friend of
President Grant, while his father Avas a close associate of
Grant's famed opponent, General Robert E. Lee, when a
Mexican War colonel! (Mr. Whiting lived in the home town
of the late Second Assistant P.M.G. Smith \V. Purdum, an
ex-clerk; likewise that of this writer and other clerks.)
William I. Woodruff, of the old Sioux City & O'Neill (CBS:Q)
in Nebraska, had a famous photographic memory and could
quote R.M.S. journals by the page; he lived to be ninety-one.
80 MAIL BY RAIL
One and all, such men have "fought the good fight, and
kept faith" with the great Railway Mail Service which they
knew. Well did they deserve a ripe old age of constructive
leisure to round out their days in this, the new and modern
age of the Postal Transportation Service.
Chapter 5
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL
... Of Needham's old tin suitcase and his tin-can drinking cup;
He swore the boys who slit them just wasn't on the up . . .
Of sweet potato leavin's on the doorknob which were placed,
While through the train the big Chief Clerk so busily he paced;
He came upon said doorknob and he grasped it good and strong—
With a loud and angry bellow he announced something was wrong.
— Selected (from The R.P.O.)
The sorting of mail on trains makes a
deep impression on those to whom it has
not become just a part of the day's work,
and humorous, dramatic, and even tragic
happenings accentuate it. Perhaps a sub-
stitute's memorable "first trip" is often
the most interesting of such incidents to
the reader, and Clarence Votaw describes
his own hectic initial run in Jasper Hunnicutt thus:
I followed 11 other clerks, who climbed hastily into
the mail cars. Everyone but me knew exactly what to
do and did it with celerity. First, a dozen valises opened
and numerous books, schemes, schedules, and other arti-
cles were produced . . . Our journey to Pittsburgh began:
"Don't try to unlock the sacks of papers— only the
pouches are locked. You face up." Pouch clerks, taking
them by armfuls, threw the bundles with precision . . .
"Poor fellow, he's stuck!" sighed the clerk-in-charge, very
audibly . . .
81
82 MAIL BY RAIL
A classic of such tales^ is told by E. M. Martindale, men-
tioned in the previous chapter, and long of the Chic. & Omaha
(C&NW). Watching the mail trains as a boy, he built a glam-
orous picture of himself seeing the world from the car door.
Appointed a substitute, he describes his first trip thus:
"My fust duty was to take into the car some tons of Kansas
paper mail. ... I had less than five minutes; but I did it
somehow, though every nerve was quivering and my breath
seemed gone forever. Just as I finished: 'Here, feller,' said a
superior clerk, 'face this mail up in station order.' I didn't
know the order of stations; but believing that hesitancy
would be punished as mutiny, I tackled those huge stalls . . .
A lurch of the car threw me off my feet and an enormous
sack pinned me down. I was rescued by the superior clerk,
thoroughly disgusted:— 'Guess embroidery work would suit
you better!' But he turned in and helped; for we were ap-
proaching Mount Pleasant and there were still scores of sacks
to be sorted. (This was on the CB&Q's Chic. & Council Bluffs.)
"These preliminaries finished, I was ushered back into the
second car, where my patriotism was put to the test of drag-
ging mail to the opposite end, lifting it to the tables, 'setting
it up' piece by piece for the convenience of the swiftly throw-
ing distributor. Before we reached Ottumwa, the glamour
and glory of my dreams had departed, in company with the
spotlessness of my shirt sleeves and bosom. I was dizzy and
faint; the cars were dark with smoke and dust, and the whole
scene inside seemed an endless tangle of pouches, sacks, and
pigeon holes, these presided over by perspiring demons whose
flying hands kept the air alive with packages and bundles,
the while mumbling a jargon, concerning routes and connec-
tions, which was all Fiji to me. Other demons rushed up and
down the aisles, dragging behind them bags which anon they
hurled from the train and snatched others as though by
magic from the winds without.
"The noise was deafening, myriad switches crashed alarm-
ingly beneath the wheels, trains on other tracks suddenly and
^See Chapter 12 for some hectic first trips on fast electric suburban R.P.O.s.
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 83
ominously rushed past, throwing me into a state of panic.
Then the roll of the train, rounding sharp curves, taxed my
strength and nerve, and levied toll upon the breakfast which
I had eaten in such repose and anticipation.
"The next hours dragged, naturally, but at length we ap-
proached Murray, and having begged the boon of a moment's
time, I drew myself together, opened a door, and prepared to
receive the homage of a conqueror. I couldn't see a soull—
Yes, there was a boy, my brother, and he cheered me loyally.
And over in the 'News' office door my father gave a sort of
military salute, and the ovation was at an end. I had tears
and was prepared to shed them, but I didn't; I just sank
down in utter weakness on a detested sack.
"A new field of endeavor aAvaited me, however. By ukase
of the clerk-in-charge I was to try the catcher, a performance
which in my nervous state I mentally compared with powder
making or bronco-breaking. I urged my inexperience and
said I was ill, but to no purpose. 'Got to learn— as well now
as any time,' he replied. 'Get ready. When she whistles, spot
the crane. Just before you reach it, throw out your pouch
hard, and raise the catcher; the rest'll come to you.'
"I glanced ahead, unable to spot any crane, only switch
targets, telegraph poles, and semaphores in spindling abun-
d^-ice, but I knew it must be there somewhere so decided to
raise the catcher in good time and wait for the 'rest to come
to me.' It came— even sooner than I expected, and with such
violence that the catcher was torn from my grasp, wrenched
from its socket, and disappeared entirely, leaving me dumb
and paralyzed. I had caught a semaphore post instead of the
mail pouch. Grasping the situation instantly from the crash,
fellow clerks yelled, 'throw it out,' meaning the outgoing
pouch which I held stupidly in one hand. I quickly obeyed,
and another tremendous crash and clatter followed its exit.
A glance back showed that my pouch had crashed through
the station's bay window. In mute horror, I thought the clerk-
in-charge would revile me and report me and I should be
ignominiously discharged and held for damages by the com-
pany. Imagine my surprise when I saw him double over a
84 MAIL BY RAIL
pouch rack, howling with amusement, while the other clerks
made pandemonium with merriment.
"It was several days before they could look at me without
whooping, and much longer before I could be induced to
touch one of those pesky catchers."
Experiences like this could be duplicated many times;
but, tough as they seemed, they were not so soul-racking as
those of lone substitutes taking over one-man runs for the
first time. Not only aching muscles and frayed nerves are
the lot of this kind of novice; he works under a tense, lone-
some helplessness not experienced by the beginner accom-
panying experienced clerks. The writer^ well remembers
his first one-man run, where he worked under such tension
that he carried lighted lamps the whole trip, so as to utilize
the few moments lost traversing dark bridges or tunnels.
Russel Danniel thus describes his first trip on the old
Momence & Terre Haute (C&EI):
"It was awful! I could handle the local mail all right, but
when the other began to pile up I didn't know what to do
with it. I imagined that if I missent a letter— the 'pen' for
me. So when I got down to Terre Haute I 'massed' the
whole pile on the post office. I soon received a note from the
clerks there, asking why in blazes I didn't at least take out
the Chicago city mail. When I got back to my room that
evening, I wrote to my chief clerk, for God's sake, to send
someone who could handle that run."
More than one disillusioned sub has attempted to quit at
once, although most are persuaded to remain by a bit of
kindly official remonstrance and conniving. But one young
man simply went back home the next day, after having some
cards printed to forestall embarrassing questions, thus:
Q._What are you doing here?
A.— I have quit the mail service.
Q.— Don't you like it?
A.-No.
Q.— Was the work hard?
A.-Yes.
•Professor Dennia.
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 85
Q.— What was it?
A.— Lifting and unlocking two hundred pouches, shaking
out contents, arranging same, removing pouches, locking
same, carrying same away, jumping and stomping on mail
matter, rearranging sacks, then going over same work, con-
tinuing same seventeen hours without rest, with trains flying
around curves and slinging you against everything that is not
slung against you.
The clerks' sense of humor runs largely to practical jokes.
When a dignified middle-aged new sub showed up for duty
on a St. Paul Sc Williston (GN) train, the second clerk coached
him in just what to say to the clerk-in-charge, who arrived
later. The head man arrived, and the distinguished-looking
stranger was introduced to him as the new division superin-
tendent, just appointed at St. Paul, whom the clerks had
never met. The "superintendent" made an impressive inspec-
tion, with the C.-in-C. deferentially answering his questions,
and continued his investigative, official demeanor throughout
the trip— at the end of which he revealed his identityl
From several exchanges of tricks by two Chicago & Omaha
(C&NW) clerks, whom we shall call Turner and Jones, the
following prank is taken. There are no women clerks in
postal cars, but there are in post offices. On a certain trip
Turner received a note on the back of a Vermilion, Illinois,
facing slip, inquiring, "Why in h don't you spell Ver-
milion right?" and the slip was stamped "Postmaster, Vermil-
ion." The angry Turner, on his next delivery to that office,
made a profane rejoinder on his facing slip to the effect that
no blinkety-blankety postmaster was telling him how to spell.
A few days later he got an order to report to his chief clerk
in Chicago. There he was handed a facing slip with the
epithets he had called the Vermilion postmaster. "Did you
write that?" asked the chief.
"Yes, sir; he got funny with me and I "
"But," interposed the chief, "the postmaster at Vermilion
is a woman."
Turner was stunned, but only for a minute, "Oh, I know.
88 MAIL BY RAIL
It's another trick of that blinkety-blankety Jones. I'll get
even with him."
Railway mail clerks have seldom been required to wear full
uniform clothing. At times a blouse was required, and for
several years a special cap and always a badge. During the
period that both badge and cap were required this incident
occurred on the former Chadron & Lander (C&NW), later
Chadron & Caspar. It was a local and used to stop out at a
small lake on the prairie, where the crew went swimming
if there were no women passengers. One day the engineer
sneaked back and started the train, causing all to make a mad
rush to get aboard. It was but a short run to the next station,
so the mail clerk locked out his pouch instead of putting on
his trousers. Imagine his surprise when, instead of the usual
agent, the agent's wife came to throw in his pouch. Horrified
and insulted, she reported the trouserless clerk. When he
got the correspondence he defended himself in a strong letter
to the office, asserting that he was wearing his cap and badge,
which was all the uniform prescribed by regulations. Tech-
nically right, he got off with an admonition always to wear
his pants at stations.
Charles Hatch, of the St. Louis, Eldon & Kansas City
(Rock I.), relates an incident in which the main actor was
William Davenport, retired secretary of the 7th Division,
R.M.A. He was on the St. Louis & Little Rock (MoPac), a
few miles from St. Louis, when the train came to a stop. A
hyena had broken out from its crate and was standing in the
door of the baggage car, uncertain when to leap out. The
crew, fearing the animal might injure people in the city,
had stopped outside to ponder the problem. Davenport went
forward and, seeing the beast, drew his revolver. But the
hyena didn't look very tough, so he bolstered his gun and,
picking up a chunk of coal from the right of way, made a
strike on the nose of the astonished animal. Dazed, it slunk
back toward its cage and the car door ^vas closed. The train
proceeded on to St. Louis, where the beast was crated. A
clerk certainly gets in on the "goings-on" in railroading.
The writer (B.A.L.) was on duty in a N. Y. & Wash. (PRR)
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 87
Storage car when a half-grown alligator, destined as a pet for
someone, crawled out of its crate and explored several stalls
of mail. With some difficulty and cautious handling, he was
coaxed back into his crate and the plank secured thereon.
F. C. Gardner, Ret., of the Washington and Bristol R.P.O.
(Southern) tells of a towerman at a crossing on the Toledo &
St. Louis (Wabash) who was ordered to observe Train 4 from
the ground one day and report. On that day Train 4 had
picked up a shipment of baby chicks mailed at St. Louis in
very hot weather; many had died and were "overripe." The
third clerk, ordered to open the boxes and count and throw
out the "ripe" ones, did so— flinging 137 of them out the door
at once. One can imagine the dispatcher's consternation
when he received this report: "I was on the ground to observe
Train 4 as ordered and the *!$.*!34&:%!! postal clerk dumped
a carload of rotten chicks on me!" Grown chickens, too have
caused consternation— as when one clerk volunteered to help
an expressman catch an escaped hen, only to find an inspector
in the car demanding the cause of his absence when he re-
turned after a merry chase around the depot.
As for other animal tales: A monkey escaped from a bag-
gage car into one R.P.O., amused the crew awhile, then
smashed the C.-in-C.'s watch! A "religious" dos: at North
Germantown, New York, would regularly catch the pouch
thrown from N. Y. 8: Chic. (NYCent) trains— except on Sun-
days. Other clever pets— dogs, deer, and what not— regularly
meet various R.P.O.s today. Puppies and mice are enclosed
by jokesters in fake pouches for other R.P.O. trains.
When a Philadelphia transfer clerk opened a "restless" sack
from New Haven, a huge black cat jumped out and high-
tailed it northward. And the Newark Air Mail Field's cat
once got pouched— and flown— to Pittsburgh. Likewise, the
Spokane, Washington Terminal's pet kitten jumped in a sack,
was dispatched three hundred miles, and safely returned after
a frantic telegram; and another kitten jumped out of a pouch
opened on a New England R.P.O. F. C. Gardiner tells of a
tenderhearted Wash. &: Charlotte (Sou) clerk whose mother
cat had kittens he had to dispose of— so he hid them in a box
88 MAIL BY RAIL
under his car's case ledge, knowing the car went on through
to Atlanta. But his co-worker, a prankster, sought out the
Charl. Sc Atlanta clerks privately and recovered the kittens;
he took them back to Washington on the early train he ran
on northbound and let them out in their yard to greet their
owner laterl
Tales of "catching on the fly" are legion. A. D. Bunger,
of the Oelwein k Kan. City (CGW), had a series of failures to
catch at Peru, Barney, and Lorimer, Iowa. Although the
headlight daily revealed each pouch handing in its place, he'd
swing out his hook and catch nothing— the pouch would be
nowhere, not even on the ground. His correspondence on
the matter piled up, but when an inspector visited, the catch
was normal. Next trip it happened again at Peru and Barney,
but at Lorimer the train stopped for passengers and the
station agent threw in the Lorimer pouch and the Peru and
Barney pouches also. The fireman had brought up the other
two, explaining that he'd found them on the end of his rake,
which he'd left protruding across the end of the tender. The
rake had acted as a catcher, holding each pouch for miles.
One clerk used to depend partly on a white horse in a
certain field as a landmark for one catch— and missed it when
the horse was moved to another lot. When Bert Bemis, now
a well-known writer, was a clerk on the Omaha R: Denver
(CBScQ) he made a nearly fatal exchange near Lincoln, Ne-
braska. His key chain became entangled with the cords of a
pile of sacks he was dumping out and they pulled him out
to hang in space from the safety rod until pulled in by other
clerks. One clerk on another run caught a small trunk off a
truck instead of the intended pouch.
When a Texarkana & Port Arthur (KCS) train once
stopped in Leesville, Louisiana, a young lad jumped up and
hung onto the catcher arm, seeking to "bum" a ride that way.
When the clerk opened the door to make the catch at the
next town he saw the boy in the nick of time, for it would
have been fatal if the prongs of the oncoming crane had hit
him. Dragging the frightened youngster inside, the clerk
undoubtedly saved his life.
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 89
A classic catching story tells about a substitute who missed
the first catch, which made his station list one behind, and
he later put off each local pouch one station ahead and was
reported by thirty-two postmasters for missending their mail.
And legend has it that on reaching the terminal of the run
he had up his catcher arm, since he thought one more town
was due to be caught.
Several authentic cases have been found like that of Fred
Harmon on the Duluth Sc Thief River Falls (MStP k SSteM).
He forgot to change his catcher to face the direction in which
the train was moving. Thinking fast, he decided to pull up
the catcher in reverse, which, while not hooking in the pouch,
did knock it down from the crane. The demerits for a fail-
ure in catching were less than those for being reported as
leaving the pouch hanging on the crane. But Harmon's
pouch momentarily whipped around the reversed hook and
paused on the small end loop long enough for him to reach
out and grab it, saving himself from any failure or demerits;
then he changed his catcher.
Some accidents and a few deaths have occurred in making
catches. Defective arms or cranes sometimes bring injury.
Sometimes a spot designated for delivery is not kept clear,
and L. E. Clerk reports a whole row of cream cans bowled
over like tenpins on an icy platform. Pouches have been
sucked under the wheels of the car. Working hard on an all-
night run recently, Otis M. Cropp, of the Chic, k Council
Bluffs (CBRrQ), lost his footing in the door making a catch at
Wyanet, Illinois, at seventy mph— and lost his life. The year
before, a clerk fell from a Pitts. & St. Lou. (PRR) car the
same way. Clerk Taylor of the former Detroit &: Mansfield
(PRR) tried to catchTiro, Ohio, with a loose catcher and was
pulled out the door to grasp the grab irons for dear life.
Signboards and a busy highway interfered with the non-stop
deliveries on this line, too, often scattering newspapers to the
four winds. (See Chap. 1 re 1950 fatality.)
A clerk who'd leisurely wait until the last minute to lock
out and throw off his pouches was cured of that habit when
the crew substituted a defective strapless one in his row of
90 MAIL BY RAIL
"locals"! One confident district superintendent, demonstrat-
ing "proper catching" procedure, caught a steel bridge and
floored himself. Other clerks have thrown off currency-
pouches which burst, scattering bills everywhere (at Dunlap,
Iowa, and from Cobre, Nevada, to Valley Pass); similarly,
letters were scattered along the B&O from Brentwood to
Hyattsville, Maryland, when a N.Y., Bait. & Wash, local clerk
did the same. J. L. Buckmaster tells of a nervous sub who
bit the stem off three three dollar pipes making the first catch
on his first three trips. James L. Stice (Chapter 16) missed
all cranes on the left-hand side of a single-track run while
faithfully watching the right side, as when on double rail.
Another clerk on the Reading caught the hose from a water
tower alongside the Shamokin & Phila., a line known for
its "extension cranes" which reach to catch from an inside
track, A young clerk, assessed demerits for dispatching be-
yond the proper spot because the mail messenger always
stood there, hit a bull's-eye next trip and sent messenger and
mailbags rolling over together.
One clerk, teasing a sub after teaching him to catch, ex-
pressed deep concern one Sunday when the sub could catch
no pouches at the first two stops (they were not due that day).
Stating that this would never do and he'd better catch the
other offices himself, the clerk missed the next pouch (Rock-
ford, Minnesota), the only one due! Another found his train
moving too slowly and the hanging pouch too empty to be
caught properly, and sighed in relief when the brakeman
dashed out and retrieved the dropped pouch for him. Later
he discovered that his outgoing pouch was still in his hand!
In days of "sack time" one sleepy clerk was aroused too early
for an exchange and caught a coal-chute which broke off the
catcher; he installed a new one just in time. On Tol. & St.
Lou. (Wabash) Train 2 a knocked-down inbound pouch
bounced from the ground up onto the rear hook.
A district superintendent inspecting the Chic, Ft. Madison
& Kansas City (Santa Fe) was watching a catch about to be
made when it was discovered that the door was stuck. Both
the clerk. Bill Poole, and the official hit on the idea of using
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 91
a catcher in the car ahead; and they raced forward, with Bill
seemingly in hot pursuit of the latter and yelling, "Get that
son of a !" referring, of course, to the pouch. Men leaped
for tables and cases to avoid the raging fight which they
expected.
The whole spirit of "serving the local" was well summed
up by L. E. Davis, in the old Railway Post Office, who wrote,
"The train was Kans, City & Memphis 105, the Frisco's
crack Florida Special . . . through the Ozark hills. The night
was coal black, and it was awkward holding onto the mail
sack with one hand, the other on the crossbar . . . watching
for the faint glow of the light on the crane . . . The wind
tried to steal your breath away . , . There was both relief
and satisfaction when I heard the 'whing' of the pouch as
it was snatched. And on through the night the train rushed
from station to station, like the song 'Blues in the Night.'
From Thayer to Hoxie; from Hoxie to Jonesboro; from
Jonesboro to Memphis . . . The progressive stages of life
awakening: A few early risers in this town with a sprinkling
of lights, and half the town awake at the next station . . .
Darkies filing out to the cotton fields ... As the grand finale,
the Missisippi, muddy and turbulent."
To insure accuracy in distribution, the system of checking
"errors" was devised as explained elsewhere; by it, one takes
the slip from mail received from another and checks on the
back any errors in sorting perceived. These affect a clerk's
record, and naturally he resents being "checked" too zeal-
ously. Theoretically, clerks are required to check all errors
noted, but in the press of urgent distribution it is often
impracticable. "It is only human nature to try to catch an
error on someone who always checks you; while if a line is
broad-minded about checking yours, you go easy with them."
Some conscientious clerks, trying to check all errors, have
been hounded out of the Service by their fellows, or at least
ordered privately to desist.
One sub, helping on a short run, lacked hours and was
assigned to work a couple of hours in a car in the yards after
his run. It happened to be a train for which he made sacks
92 MAIL BY RAIL
of papers, and one day he opened a sack in this yard car,
hastily checked some newspaper errors, and sent the slips in
without a glance. He had checked himself! A nortiiern clerk
named Ulysses S. Grant had to watch his distribution for
southern trains like a lynx— the famous name he bore was
none too popular in Dixie as yet.
Pranksters in the Service sometimes get back at overzeal-
ous superiors. A certain division superintendent used to issue
harsh orders on minor irregularities, and finally the clerks
got up a fake "General Order" printed like the genuine and
gave it out. It contained such notices as:
Section 1. General. It is hereby ordered that all clerks in
this division make up Shanghai Dis, regardless of quantity,
to contain all offices on the Fook Lang Shang Hop San R.P.O.
as far west as Tai Po Sing.
Considerable complaint is made that mail for the late
Robert G. Ingersoll is being sent to New Jerusalem. Extreme
care should be taken to dispatch mail for this party accord-
ing to Mark 16:16.
Section 2. Suspensions. A clerk of Class 5, this Division,
thirty-five days without pay for failing to cross two "t's"
and dot an "i" in his trip report; also, one day without pay
for purloining a registered letter.
When Oscar Johnson was "tending local" on San Fran.,
San Jose & L. A. (SP) Train 71 years ago, he exchanged the
usual small pouch with Surf, California, and was horrified
after leaving there to find that a huge "2X" pouch for the
same town had been "carried by"— little knowing that the
San Francisco letter clerk had relabeled a big pouch of "city"
with that name, behind his back, as a practical joke. At San
Luis Obispo the city clerk, "up" on all his pouches except
that one, missed it and yelled at Johnson to find the "Surf"
pouch for him, relates J. Goodrich.
"I got rid of it," assured Johnson: "just put it out, to go
back on Train 71!" And the dumbfounded Frisco clerk had
to dash out in the rain, have Train 71 held and hunt through
VIVID INCIDENTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 93
a truckful of pouches before he returned, drenched, with
his mail.
F. C. Gardiner relates a gay tale of the Wash. 8: Bristol
(Sou) in Virginia. One of the clerks, prevented from smok-
ing at home, started each run with a cigar always in his
mouth;— no one could understand a word he said, and when-
ever the clerk-in-charge heard grunts from him at any station,
he assumed it was pouches being called. A water tank had
developed a leak which, it developed, had not been fixed as
supposed; and when the water boy filled it again at Roanoke,
water flooded the floor, causing the disptaching clerk to yell:
"CUDDEWADDEROFF!" The clerk-in-charge, in the
other end of the car, grabbed his pouch record and yelled,
"That's one."
"CUDDEWADDEROFF!" again cried the cigar-mouth-
ing clerk.
"That's two," yelled the C.-in-C, knowing three pouches
were due off there.
"CUDDEWADDEROFF!" the dispatcher bawled, louder,
to the railroad men.
"That's all!" cried the chief, and dropped his check list.
"CUDDEWADDEROFF! CUDDEWADDEROFF! CUD-
DEWADDEROFF!" screamed the clerk, jumping up and
down like a jumping jack. The head man turned, looked
over his spectacles, and remarked, "Well, boys, I gues it's
time to call them to take him to the bughouse."
A clerk on the afore-mentioned "Boundary Line" run
missed his train (a one-man run), told the dispatcher the
railroad could not be paid for the unoccupied car, and got
him to hold it until he caught up to it from the next
train! Similarly, a clerk who forgot to put off a local pouch
until he was half a mile out of town pulled the stop cord
and asked that the train be backed up. The request was
refused "with definite references to animals and ancestry,"
but he coaxed a farmer driving some bulls to town to take
his pouch on in.
And that brings us to the most famous of all railway mail
animal stories. Owney, the famous traveling dog of the
04 MAIL BY RAIL
R.P.O.s, attached himself to the Albany, New York, post
office in 1888, and the clerks made a collar identifying him
therewith. Taken out for one trip in a mail car, he became
an inveterate traveler. To his collar were attached checks,
medals, verses, and postmarks by men in most states of the
Union, plus a dollar from Old Mexico. Postmaster General
Wanamaker made him a harness to carry the tags and medals,
with memo book attached, but the accumulation became
too heavy and it was sent to Albany for display.
Owney was shut up in Montreal for nonpayment of board,
which the Albany clerks had to foot; and seapost clerks later
took him across the ocean— even to Japan, for a tag bestowed
by the Emperor, and thence around the world (in 132 days).
He was exhibited with his medals in halls and dog shows as
"The greatest dog traveler in the world," and was right in
his element at postal clerks' conventions. He stole the show
at the 1897 National Association of Railway Postal Clerks
(now N.P.T.A.) Convention by wagging his stumpy tail in
a run down the aisle, to thunderous cheers, to mount the
stage. He looked all around in glee, and it was fifteen minutes
before order was restored.
It was Owney's last triumph. He was a very ordinary-look-
ing dog, almost ugly; and when he was in Toledo that
August the postmaster did not know who he was and ordered
him shot. The body was eventually mounted and sent to the
old Post Office Department Museum in Washington, thence
to several Worlds' Fairs, ending with the Chicago Century
of Progress (1933), always attracting great attention. Today,
resting in storage at the Washington City Post Office, is all
that remains of the faithful "clerks' best friend" who had
traveled 143,000 miles and received 1,017 medals.
And as a final sequel, it seems that Owney has an inanimate
successor of today which is traveling in R.P.O. pouches all
over the United States and Canada— an old gray hat from
California named "Dapper Dan!" Plastered with postmarks
and tags inside and out, an album was finally attached to
hold photos and data, and it was last heard of near Quebec
about 1948.
Chaptkr 6
TRANSIT MAIL: FROM STAGE TO TRAIN
Louder rolls the mighty thunder, louder changs the tireless bell,
Wilder shrieks the warning whistle; each the startling story tell.
Pouring out the canvas pouches on each platform without fail-
Like a hunted deer, still flying, speeds the early morning mail . . .
— A. M. Bruner
In the early days of our republic the evolu-
tion of mail transportation from horse, sulky,
and stage to steamboat and railroad was a steady
and dramatic development. (Deputy Post-
master Hazard, who followed the Continental
Army around 1776 with letters in his knap-
— Courtesy Pojia/ sack, has been humorously dubbed "the earli-
Markings est traveling post office.") The germ of transit
mail service was planted in 1810, when a law
was passed establishing thirty-five "Distributing Post Offices"
—important post offices in centers of areas, counties, or states
to which all mail was sent for redistribution in that area, and
on to destination. The number of these offices, known as
D.P.O.s, increased to fifty by 1859, then the number gradually
fell and their function was absorbed by the railway mail cars
after 1864.
The distinction between the through mail for Distributing
Post Offices, often called the "great mails," and local way-
station mail was long maintained; iron locks were provided
for the way mail and brass ones for the D.P.O. bags. D.P.O.
postmasters received a commission for each letter redistrib-
uted. Postage stamps had not been introduced, and post-
masters entered each letter, and the postage due on it, on a
95
96 MAIL BY RAIL
waybill which was tied up with letters going to a D.P.O. in
brown paper. Its record was entered on the wrapper, and
the packets, so wrapped, were referred to as "mails."
Mails were first carried by railroad in England in 1830 on
the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. The same year our
first steam passenger road was opened by the BScO from
Baltimore to EUicott City, Maryland (May 24, 1830), and
soon Peter Cooper ran his famous race of thirteen miles be-
tween his Tom Thumb engine and a powerful gray horse of
Stockton & Stokes' mail stage. The slipping of a blower
belt on the engine gave the race to the horse and the mail
contract once more to the stage, but the iron horse was soon
to prevail. The earliest record of mail being carried by rail-
road is January 15, 1831, when some was hauled unofficially
on the South Carolina Railroad, now mostly the Columbia &
Charleston (Sou) R.P.O. The locomotive used was the Best
Friend, first American-built engine, and it went to Bamberg,
South Carolina.
The above date is disputed and held by some to be 1834,
which, if true, would change the "firsts," because in 1831 and
1832 contracts were let to other operators, extra pay being
granted for carrying the mail by rail as far as West Chester,
Pennsylvania (over what is now the PRR's electric Phila. &
West Chester R.P.O.), starting December 5, 1832, by Slay-
maker & Tomlinson stages— perhaps the first authorized "mail
by rail." It is hard to verify "firsts," for the contractors
quickly transferred mails from stage or sulky to rails over
portions of their routes as soon as possible. During 1832, and
perhaps earlier in the year, mails were also carried over the
B&O out of Baltimore, on the Saratoga k Schenectady Rail-
road in New York— unofficial partial transfers from stage
routes to the rails— and on what was probably the first com-
plete mail-by-rail route authorized officially, New Jersey's
Camden & Amboy Railroad, contracted by Postmaster Gen-
eral Barry; it later became the PRR's New York &: Phila.
R.P.O., still referred to as "The Amboy." The BXcO route
used later became the old Bait, k Point of Rocks R.P.O. ,
on tracks no longer carrying mail; it first hauled mail officially
TRANSIT MAIL: FROM STAGE TO TRAIN 97
on this route in November 1834, to Frederick, Maryland,
which is usually quoted as the first mail-carrying by rail. On
August 25, 1835, the BR:0 was formally opened between
Washington and Baltimore, and the following month con-
tracts were let (still to the stage company) providing for mail
to be carried partially by rail. The first orders, September
ninth, provided for the exchange of mails once a day by day-
light by rail. All night mail on that line was to go by stage,
and coaches were held ready to receive any mail not arriving
at the depot in time for the train. A direct contract was let
January 1, 1838. Before that date, which is important in
railroad mail history, advance had been made, although the
report of 1837 showed but one contract with a railroad: it
was on the Reading, from Philadelphia to Mauch Chunk,
Pennsylvania, with branches to Reading and Port Carbon,
117 miles.
It was in the shift from stage to rails that a new job or
profession appeared— that of the route agent, forerunner of
the postal transportation clerk. On the old stage lines a local
postmaster, who usually had his office in the tavern, took the
mail portmanteau and opened it, exchanging "mails" while
the stage driver changed horses. On the railroads this could
not be done, except in a few instances where post offices were
moved to depots; and soon a man was assigned to accompany
the mail on the train, a separate apartment being set aside
for the mails in some cases in 1835. This agent usually rode
in the baggage cars, however, and was at first the baggage-
man or other employee of the stage company or railroad.
In May 1837 the Post Office Department began appointing
"route agents" of its own on some lines, the first recorded
being John E, Kendall, who ran from Philadelphia to Wash-
ington, beginning at that time. Others followed, and were
equipped with postmarking stamps to use on the local letters
received along the way. The earliest known postmark is an
Old English "Railroad" stamped by a route agent on the
Mohawk &: Hudson R.R, in New York State on November
7, 1837. (If anybody has a cancellation earlier than this date,
he has something valuable.)
98 MAIL BY RAIL
With rapid appearance of railroads, Congress, on July 7,
1838, declared all railroads to be post roads and provided for
making direct contracts for mail by rail wherever the cost
would not exceed by 25 per cent the cost by stage. It was
really accepting and legalizing the iron age for mail, be-
cause the Niles Register, May 18, 1838, describes the "progress
and perfection" of route agent service then as follows:
Mail cars constructed under the direction of the Post
Office Department are now running on the railroads be-
tween Washington and Philadelphia [now the N.Y. &
Wash. R.P.O. (PRR)]. They contain two apartments:
one appropriated to the use of the great mails, and the
other to the way mails; and a post-office agent. The latter
apartment is fitted up with boxes, labeled with names of
all the small offices on or near the railroad lines. It has
also a letter box in front, into which letters may be put
up to the moment of starting the cars, and anywhere on
the road. The agent of the Post Office Department at-
tends the mail from the post offices at the ends of the
route, and sees it safely deposited in his car. As soon as
the cars start, he opens the letter box and takes out all the
letters, marking them so as to designate the place where
they are put. He then opens the way-mail bag and distri-
butes its contents into the several boxes. As the cars ap-
proach a post office, the agent takes out the contents of
the proper box and puts them into a pouch. The engi-
neer slackens the speed of the train, and the agent hands
the pouch to a postmaster or a carrier, who stands be-
side the track to take it, receiving from him at the same
time another pouch with the matter to be sent from that
office. This the agent immediately opens and distributes
its contents into the proper boxes. Having supplied thus
all the way offices, the agent, when arrived at the end of
the route, sees the mail safely delivered into the post
office.
In conclusion, the writer become eloquent over this service.
He actually calls it a "traveling post office," and asserts that
"well executed, the plan must be almost the perfection of
TRANSIT MAIL: FROM STAGE TO TRAIN 99
mail arrangements. It is intended ... to extend a similar
arrangement through to New York."
In view of this little-known auspicious start in transit-
sorting of mail, it may seem strange that transit-mail distri-
bution progressed so slowly and that the coming of the mod-
ern Railway Post Office was delayed until 1864. "Assorting,"
of course, meant the sorting of packets of local letters
(wrapped) and of letters brought to the train for mailing or
from the post office after closing of pouches. The equipment
and service described above were rather exceptional, and not
foimd on many routes. But the existence and importance of
these agents, who were "assorting" transit mails en route for
twenty-seven years before true R.P.O.s appeared, have now
been likewise attested from numerous other documented
definitions or descriptions of their duties.
A typical pre-R.M.S. route-agent apartment, later in use
by Agent J. E. White (a future general superintendent) was
"a 7-by-l 0-foot apartment partitioned from the smoker"
with sliding doors in both sides for exchanges, one opening
across a gangway. The small letter case, table, and large
packet boxes were illumined by a "wretched light . . . dingy
oil lamps— as much light as a tallow dip of the third magni-
tude." His simple distribution was purely local, and the mail
received "made up."
Also in 1838, the Postmaster General had a special presi-
dential message carried from Philadelphia to New York by
railroad mail in five hours (one hour faster than by stage) on
December twelfth; and a month later definite authorization
for railroad mail pay at $300 per mile annually was made.
Meanwhile mail agents were appointed to the B8:0 Railroad.
The earliest cancellation known on the B&O was dated
August 17, 1838, and read "BALTO R.R." For many years
routine instructions on duties of route agents were:
1st. To receive letters written after the mail is closed,
also way letters unpaid or prepaid, accounting to the
deputy postmaster at the end of the route for all prepaid
postage received, and to hand over said letters to the
100 MAIL BY RAIL
proper office for delivery of mailing, reporting a list of all
such letters to the Auditor of the Department.
2nd. To assort the mails for the several offices, being
intrusted with the key to the iron lock for that purpose.
3rd. To attend to the delivery and reception of mail
bags.
4th. To report all irregularities of service on the route.
The duties of a route aj^ent included accompanying; the
mail bags and pouches to the train and receiving them in his
compartment or part of bap^cjage car. Tlien, as the train
pulled out, he opened the letter box on the car platform and
took out late-mailed letters. Before 1847, when stamps were
introduced, he made out waybills for collection at delivery
point on all late letters. In a car sometimes equipped with
pigeonholes, he would distribute the way mail taken from
the letter box, any way mail handed him, and that which he
took from the iron-locked pouch given him on starting his
run. He canceled letters brought to his car. Before reaching
the station, he would take from its box that town's mail,
mostly "mails" or wrapped packets and papers, and put them
in a pouch for the local station. Mail or "mails" received at
each station were treated the same as his initial mail, only
local letters being dispatched en route, no connecting lines
being dispatched until 1849. Mail for every office beyond the
terminal of his run was made into sacks and packages for the
terminal office or nearest D.P.O.
The compartment, boxes, and other equipment for route
agents varied from the unfurnished end of a baggage car to
compartments provided with boxes, a table, chair and pigeon-
holes. Agents were highly praised for their intelligence,
honesty, fidelity, and hard work. They were early armed,
and their compartment bore a sign of "No Admission." Fre-
quently inspectors, and, on one exception, Postmaster Gen-
eral Hall, tried to enter the compartment incognito; they
invariably found it next to impossible. The railroads com-
plained, however, that too many inspectors and postal agents
were riding free on their various passes, and this was often
TRANSIT MAIL: FROM STAGE TO TRAIN 101
cited in mail-pay squabbles when officials tried to reduce the
cost of mail transportation (averaging $50 to $300 a mile in
1845). Some railways canceled all mail shipments, where-
upon the Department used agents who (as passengers) carried
mail in trunks. Hence service did not expand as fast as it
should have, but all main lines soon had route agents.
Route agents were provided between Boston and Spring-
field and between Worcester, Massachusetts, and Norwich,
Connecticut, in 1840; from Philadelphia on, agents were ex-
tended to New York in 1848, and between Boston and Albany
by 1850. Numerous other routes were established as railroad
building extended westward. It was soon seen that the weak
spot in the system was the Distributing Post Office at junction
points and termini, where the "mails" had to be redistributed
—■missing, of course, all close connections. An attempt was
made to remedy this in 1857 by establishing mail "express
agents" who continued from a line on to a connecting line
with through mail. Express agents went over the Erie and
on, by connecting lines, to Chicago, which somewhat speeded
up the mail westward. In 1860 through routes with express
agents were established from Boston to New York and on to
Washington. (An early type of express agent appeared about
1842— route agents carrying outside express packages.)
Express agents facilitated the through dispatches greatly
but did nothing for other lines and connections at junctions.
It is believed that in the 1850s some route agents, on their
own initiative, made up some pouches for other agents at
junctions. In Old Postbags, Holbrook states with regard to
the Boston-Springfield and Norwich-Worcester runs (the
latter the first route to build a car just to carry the mails)
that it is his opinion that there must have been "some sorting
of through mail" on these two particular runs. And in 1857
a proposal of the Postmaster General that "agents take
receipt" for pouches from other route agents, as well as from
postmasters and messengers, indicates there was some junc-
tion exchange of pouches, thus by-passing the D.P.O. at that
date. Unfortunately, the proposal was not carried out, or
we would have copies of pouch lists of the time, clearing up
102 MAIL BY RAIL
this point. Additional weight to this theory is given by
certain postmarks, but they could not be conclusive without
data as to the time of arrival of the envelope postmarked on
a certain date, proving that letter hadn't time enough to pass
through its usual D.P.O.
In all, the route-agent epoch of the mail service was a spec-
tacular one. The route usually, but not always, coincided
with the corporate name of the railroad. Detailed lists of
such route postmarks have appeared in Konwiser's Stampless
Cover Catalog and in Norona's Cyclopedia of U. S. Postmarks
and Postal History (in New England, by Hall). Dr. Carroll
Chase has listed 161 different route markings of agents, the
collecting of which has become an important branch of
philately. Solely on the basis of such postmarks, researchers
like B. B. Adams and Seymour Dunbar have declared the
Boston Sc Albany route (1852) or the Phila.— Washington
"Potomac Postal Cars" (1862, before Davis's run), respective-
ly, to have been "our first R.P.O."; but all evidence indicates
that only ordinary agent service was involved.
The number of agents jumped from 47 in 1847 to 295 in
1855, and to 862 by 1873— for agents were used on branch
lines well after the advent of the R.M.S, (until 1882, though
cancels are known up to 1888), and, conversely, thirteen of
the D.P.O.s were discontinued by 1859. Some of the D.P.O.
clerks were detailed to the agent runs to make proper separa-
tion for connecting roads for immediate dispatch at termini.
Official observers sent in 1840 and 1848 to report on the
British Traveling Post Office returned with adverse recom-
mendations thereon, pleading excuses such as "our rougher
trains"; but the idea was catching hold, for even Eastern
offices were by-passing D.P.O.s to pouch on Midwestern
routes like the Logansport & Peoria Agent and the Dayton &
Michigan Agent in late pre-R.M.S. days. With letters lying
in the Chicago D.P.O. untouched for two weeks, and with
other delays "causing untold evils, bankruptcy, estrange-
ments, crimes . . .," there was a crying need for reform.
Chapter 7
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE
The guests do ride serene inside the air-conditioned train;
It matters not if cold or hot, if sunshine, snow, or rain;
The mail clerks sweat and fume and fret, their eyes all
full of grime.
Their backs do ache, their muscles quake, but mails go
thro' on time.
When maiden fair with flaxen hair receives her billet doux.
She little knows how much she owes to men who brought
it through . . .
— S. C. Arnold
The difficulties derived from the Dis-
tributing Post Office and the wrapping and
post-billing of letters vanished in a rela-
tively few years after the establishment of
Railway Post Offices in the 1860s. Oddly
enough, a mooted question later arose over
— Courtesy A. G. •^vho was the founder or father of the Rail-
Hall, and S.P.A. ^y^y jyj^-j ^^^ ^j^^j. ^^^^ ^^^ f^j.gj. "Raii^vay
Post Office." Twenty years after the estab-
lishment of the service which is noAv the P.T.S., and ten years
after the death of the principal actors in the drama, heirs of
one of them raised the question of recognition or credit. An
attempt was made by the Post Office Department then to
ascertain the facts. The result was a so-called "official history,"
now known as Executive Document No. 20 of the 48th Con-
gress, 2nd Session, or as Maynard's History of the Railway
Mail Service. This research was not conclusive, owing to the
loss of records by fire and to the failure of the investigators to
lO.'i
104 MAIL BY RAIL
define the terms "First Railway Post Office" and "Railvay
Mail Service." Many of the men questioned could not re-
member clearly what had passed and, of course, each wished
to give all credit possible to his friends.
Recent research has brought to light some significant new
source material, and it is now easier to trace the evolution of
route-agent service to railway postal service. A glance at the
route-agent system in 1860 shows that it was increasing
rapidly with the constant building of railroad lines. On June
30, 1864, there were 6,085 mail routes. Of these the mileage
was: steamboat, 7,278; railroads, 22,666; stage and sulky,
109,278 miles. While less numerous in mileage than the
"star" routes of "certainty, celerity, and security," as the
horse routes were dubbed,^ railroad transportation of mails
was more important because it and the boat lines were the
bis: arteries which fed the horse routes. These railroad routes
at first formed an unorganized and unattached service loosely
related to the Post Office Department, to local congressmen,
and to the terminal distributing post offices. Technically
they were given some supervision by the nearest large dis-
tributing post office, in addition to some general instructions
from Washington. And the D.P.O.'s at fast-growing cities
like Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Chicago were still railway
mail's worst problem when the War between the States burst
on the scene.
Congestion of army mail now posed an especially difficult
problem at Cairo, Illinois, where both land and naval forces
were assembling. Cairo was made a "Distributing Post
Office," and special agents and extra clerks were rushed there
to attack the mountains of mail piling up around station and
post office. Among the special agents who came was George
B. Armstrong, Assistant Postmaster at Chicago, in charge of
its distributing post office. In lieu of a formal organization in
transit mail service, the men in charge of large "Dis" offices,
such as Clark of New York, Wheeler of Cleveland, and Arm-
strong of Chicago, were conceded technical authority in a
^The three words were indicated as •♦• in old ofiQcial records.
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 105
large radius from their offices. So it was that Armstrong
assumed charge of the mail situation at Cairo. There, with
the co-operation of the Cairo postmaster, of General Grant,
and of naval officers, by early 1862 the mail was received and
dispatched with surprising order and speed. In recognition
of this initiative, the clerks at Cairo presented Mr. Armstrong
with a gold watch for his wife, and the contacts he made with
General Grant and other officials were a great aid in his later
plans for reorganizing railway mail, which as early as 1854
had included the statement, "We should put the post office
on wheels."
Unfortunately, we do not have a good record of the exact
special services that were performed at Cairo in this terminal
emergency. Since special agents carried keys to the brass-
locked pouches for their inspectorial duties, it is most prob-
able that they opened and took out, in this war emergency,
through mail for points beyond Cairo. If they didn't have
the "Dis" mail for Cairo sorted before that point Avas reached,
our information that "mail for Commodore Porter was de-
livered as soon as a passenger could have made the trip" is
an exaggeration. However, if proof is found that Armstrong
did have this advanced opening of the "Dis" mails per-
formed on the Illinois Central in May of 1862, that would
not constitute the first "railway post office"— as we shall see
when we examine "mail reform" later— but it would antedate
considerably the experiment on the "Hannibal & St. Joe
R.R." (now CB&:Q) now to be considered.
This celebrated variant of the route-agent system was au-
thorized on the Hannibal &: St. Joseph R.R., July 7, 1862,
to meet an emergency caused by a close connection at St.
Joseph, Missouri, with the pony express established two years
before. The road completed in 1859 bade fair to become the
main mail artery westward, after a remarkable run by a
famous wood-burning engine, the brass-trimmed Missouri,
which ran the 206 miles in four hours. The overland mail
was delayed in the St. Joseph Distributing Post Office, and
William A. Davis conceived the idea of deadheading east,
boarding the westbound trains and taking out from the
106 MAIL BY RAIL
D.P.O. pouches those packets bearing the heavy pony express
charges for California. When Davis— local assistant post-
master and once postmaster at Richmond, Virginia— received
necessary permission, the pony express was discontinued; but
there was still a need for the experiment. There had been
a route agent on the line, but in 1861 guerrillas had burned
the bridge over the Platte River, wrecking the train and
killing the agent, Martin Fields, who wasn't replaced.
The railroad company furnished a baggage car, altered as
requested by Davis, which was similar to a route agent's car;
it was provided with a table and a case of sixty-five pigeon-
holes, but had no pouch rack. Davis deadheaded east and on
July 26, 1862, boarded the westbound train at Palmyra,
Missouri, with "authority to open the brass-lock sacks and
the St. Joseph distributing post office packages, taking there-
from all the California letters, going by the overland stage
route. These letters were made up precisely as they would
have been at our office." This was the description made by
a later assistant postmaster there— Barton— who, along with a
special agent (A. B. Waller), made the trip starting this serv-
ice. For a time Barton and Waller, together with Fred
Harvey, ran as clerks in alternate directions. They were said
to have had a postmarker, but no cancellation by it is now
known. Davis was paid at the rate of $100 per month.
The route was harassed by guerrillas and lack of mainte-
nance, resulting in several suspensions in 1862 and abandon-
ment of the work on January 19, 1863 (or 1865). After the
war a railway post office was established on the line— the
present Chicago & Kansas City R.P.O. (CB&Q), which is
called "The Hannibal" to this day. Historically this was an
interesting service, and high authorities say that the Fred
Harvey involved was the one who later founded the great
restaurant chain of that name, although one investigation cast
doubt on this. With regard to evaluation of the Hannibal &:
St. Joe's significance a bit later, it is interesting to note part
of Davis's orders from Washington:
"It is desired that the work be done as part of the business
of your office; the car for this purpose to be considered a
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 107
room in the office, the bills to be made out and accounts to
be kept as at present in the name of the office . . . and the
monthly returns made to this office of letters and papers sent
and received . . ."
According to the Burlington, Davis used a local case
for sorting of way mails also, and his car was lettered
"U. S. MAIL— NO. 1" and had one side door in the center
of its vertical-clapboard sides, a tiny window on each, open
platforms, and raised roof.
Some have asserted that our service was patterned after
England's; but while there were parallel developments, there
was no known copying. We received no specific suggested im-
provements from the two missions sent over there. What we
did receive from England, however, was a definite stimulus
for progressive service.
Connected with the Post Office Department in Washington
were several men who caught this reform spirit. H. A. Burr
and A. N. Zevely were among them. George Buchannan
Armstrong was likewise a former employee in Washington.
His mother was a Buchannan, and it was her relationship to
Senator Buchanan, the future President, that caused her to
immigrate to America and her son later to secure a position
as a clerk in the Contract Office of the Post Office Department.
For this deep interest in the technical side of mail handling,
he was recommended by his superiors to go to Chicago in
1854 for a mail emergency there, when that city was suffering
growing pains. It was while there that he became unofficial
supervisor of route agents in a large radius and went to Cairo
for the emergency of early 1862.
Later, when the "official history" was being written, a
department employee, H. J. Johnson, claimed that the top-
ographer, H. A. Burr, had first suggested to Armstrong the
putting of mail distribution "on wheels." Without detract-
ing from the contribution of Burr, who had developed
schemes of distribution for D.P.O. clerks, it may be said that
neither Burr nor Armstrong himself, had thought out yet the
plans adopted by Armstrong in 1864. Armstrong's first pros-
pectus in early spring of 1864, even, underwent much change
108 MAIL BY RAIL
before it evolved into his railway post office by August twenty-
eighth. Reports of Canada's "T.P.O. cars," sorting mails at
less cost than our closed cars, may have hastened the idea.*
No^v the war emergency drove Armstrong, Zevely, Clark,
and Wheeler into a consideration of the complete problem of
transit mail, a real study of "mail reform." Of all of these,
the writing of only one, Armstrong, shows that he got to the
bottom of the problem. In the eastern part of the country
the problem was different and the demand for reform was
different. The cause of most of the trouble was not delay of
mails going through the "Dis," but rather delay in separating
from the "Dis" letters arriving at New York, Washington, and
Philadelphia for local delivery. In early 1864, Mr. Zevely
took some clerks from the New York Post Office and made a
few experimental trips in one direction; i.e., running into
New York. This was no doubt the first experiment with
working "city" mail on the cars; i.e., separating, on the train,
mail for the city into substations and carriers for immediate
delivery upon arrival. A meeting of postal officials was held
in Cleveland the previous year, which emphasized the need
of "postal reform" and gave the severest castigation that is
on the record to the delays and abuses in the Distributing
Post Offices, explaining how letters were sent by circuitous
routings in order that more "Dis" offices would get com-
missions for redistribution.
Letters were subjected to so many distributions as entirely
to absorb the postage charged upon them, and in some cases
the distribution commission of a postmaster largely exceeded
the whole proceeds of his office. Even when no abuse was
practiced, a large portion of the correspondence of the coun-
try paid an unnecessary tax of 25 per cent, besides the regular
commission of 40, 50, or 60 per cent to which the mailing
office was entitled. For instance, a hundred letters, on which
the postage was three dollars, originating in small offices in
Ohio and west of Pittsburgh, and destined for New England,
were sent to Pittsburgh for distribution and there subjected
"Postmaster General's Report, Washington, 1859.
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 109
to a commission of 121/9 per cent; from Pittsburgh they were
sent to New York or Boston, and there chargjed with a second
commission of 12 1/4 per cent, and then forwarded to destina-
tion. Assuming the average commission taken at the mailing
to be 50 per cent, this three dollars' worth of letters paid a tax
of 75 per cent in the shape of commissions while passing
through the mail, or $2.25 out of $3. The delay was costly
and annoying.
One amusing story of how Armstrong originated our R.P.O.
states that one winter in 1856 the postmaster at Ontonagon,
Michigan, opened a long-delayed mail pouch from Chicago-
only to find a lively family of mice ensconced in the mail: the
parents and four offspring! (Another version says it was two
rats, sent in a parcel, which mutiplied.) The indignant post-
master is said to have reported the facts to Armstrong, who
agreed that such appalling delays must be eliminated and the
mails speeded sufficiently to prevent mice breeding in transit.
But, as we know, he had suggested R.P.O.s two years before.
A. N. Zevely was chosen to have charge of experiments
with postal "reformx." He wrote various railroad officials in
the spring of 1864, asking that special cars be prepared for
experiments with "traveling post offices." Except for appar-
ently wanting distribution on the cars, he seemed to have
hazy ideas as to the technical improvements wanted. But he
gave a sympathetic hearing to Armstrong, who made several
trips to Washington to talk up general "reforms." The re-
sult was that Zevely asked Armstrong to put his plan in writ-
ing and submit it to Washington. This was done in three
letters, the first dated May tenth.
Armstrong proposed three basic changes. First, he wanted
all possible direct mailing to "Dis" offices discontinued; this
meant no more wrapping up of letters. Second, he proposed
the reclassification of all post offices to show which were ter-
minals, which star routes, and so on. The third was a system
of Traveling Post Offices, which, while most important of the
three, would be useless ivithout the other two reforms.
In short, Armstrong, after classifying offices and dispensing
with the wrappers which often had errors within, would have
110 MAIL BY RAIL
all letters for the same office or connection tied up in a pack-
age. If they were all for the same office, he would have a plain-
ly addressed letter on the top of the package, a modern direct
package. Since all letters were not yet postage prepayed with
stamps, he provided for continuation of the post-billing, but
simplified the system, hi fine, his plan called for a melting
down of the old system to mold anew the dispatching of mail
via the railroads, which were building a network around Chi-
cago and extending all over the Midwest. The traveling post
office, he thought, would be the climax of it all. He said:
But the main feature of the plan, which, after its in-
troduction and final adoption to the service, would un-
doubtedly lead to the most important results, is the sys-
tem of railway distribution. To carry out the true theor)'
of postal service, there should be no interruption in the
transit of letters in the mail, and, therefore, as little com-
plication in the necessary internal machinery of a postal
system as possible, to the end that letters deposited in the
post office at the last moment of the departure of the
mails from the office for near or distant places should
travel with the same uninterrupted speed as passengers
to their places of destination as often as contracts with
the Department for the transportation of the mails per-
mit. It is well known to the public that passengers, travel-
ing over railroad routes, generally reach a given point
in advance of letters; when to that given point letters
must pass, under the present system, through a distribut-
ing office, as is largely the case now, the tardiness of a
letter's progress toward its place of destination is pro-
portionately increased. But a general system of railway
distribution obviates this difficulty. The work being
done while the cars are in action, and transfers of mail
made from route to route, and for local deliveries on the
way as they are reached, letters gain the same celerity in
transit as persons making direct connections.
Soon after sending in his letters on postal reform, Arm-
strong had them published in pamphlet form for distribution
to all who would read them. A meeting of experts was called
at Washington in June, and there the consensus was to put
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFriCE 111
some kind of traveling post office in operation in spite of the
indifference of Congress, opposition of the Contract Office,
and the ridicule of businessmen. With the exception of Arm-
strong, nobody seemed to have a definite idea of what they
were going to do; but he was trusted completely by A. N.
Zevely, Third Assistant, who got permission from Postmaster
General Montgomery Blair for Armstrong to try out his ideas.
On July first the following was sent to Armstrong:
Sir:
You are authorized to test by actual experience, upon
such railroad route or routes as you may select at Chicago,
the plans proposed by you for simplifying the mail ser-
vice. You will arrange with the railroad companies to
furnish suitable cars for traveling post offices; designate
"head offices" with their dependent offices; prepare forms
of blanks and instructions for all such offices, and those
on the railroad not "head offices"; also for the clerks of
traveling post offices . . . To aid you in this work, you
may select some suitable route agent, whose place can be
supplied by a substitute, at the expense of the Depart-
ment. When your arrangements are complete you will
report them in full.
George B. Armstrong
Chicago, Illinois
M. Blair
Postmaster General
The Department also acted upon the essentials of the other
parts of the Armstrong plan. Orders Avere sent for reclassify-
ing offices, discontinuing wrapping packets, and simplify-
ing post-billing. Post offices were asked to make up letters in
packages addressed to the post office on wheels with the near-
est offices on the line marked No. 1, the next few offices
No. 2, and farther ones No. 3, so that mail clerks could do
first things first. Correspondence between Zevely and Arm-
strong on August sixteenth indicated preparations Avere about
completed and, incidentally, revealed the naming of the new
service. Zevely said, "I also have to say that I have ignored
the name 'traveling post office' and have adopted 'U. S.
112 MAIL BY RAIL
Railway Post Office.' This term was adopted; and, with the
addition of the word "Mail" after "United States," is still
in use today. Just before this Zevely had asked the Camden
& Amboy to prepare for R.P.O. service.
Armstrong arranged with General Superintendent G. L.
Dunlap, of the C&NW R.R., to remodel a route agent's
car. Letter cases with seventy-seven boxes each were bor-
rowed from the Chicago D.F.O. and installed at angles. The
car was about forty feet long, with two windows, upper deck
lights, oil lamps, and no end doors. Armstrong arranged
with the Chicago Times for publicity on his experiment,
giving them the date when he would start the service from
Chicago to Clinton, Iowa. He secured Harrison Parks, a
route agent on the run to Centralia, and two Chicago D.P.O.
clerks, Percy A. Leonard and James Converse, for the letter
end of his car, and Asa F. Bradley to assort papers in a crude
case of big 10x12 inch boxes. Leonard and Bradley were
East States experts.
And so, on August 28, 1864, this "United States Railway
Post Office" left Chicago with its crew and some business
and newspaper men who went as far as Dixon, Illinois.
Among the visitors were editor James Medill, of the Chicago
Tribune, and Captain James E. White, later long-time gen-
eral superintendent of the Railway Mail Service. A canceler,
probably reading simply "Chicago to Clinton," was used.
The route was but slightly different from that of today's
Chicago & Omaha R.P.O. ; it was the old "Dixon Air Line,"
originally the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad (Chicago's
first) which made a wide circuit through Danby (Glen Ellyn)
and then veered westward toward the Mississippi River. A
little No. 1 mail was carried by, owing to strangeness of the
case, but mail was worked on the trip with surprising ease
and efficiency. The trip was rather rough, according to Mr.
Medill, who was at first skeptical. When asked for an opin-
ion, he said, "Why, Mr. Armstrong, your plan is the craziest
idea I ever heard of in regard to mail distribution. If it were
to be generally accepted by the Post Office Department, the
government would have to employ a regiment of soldiers to
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 115
follow the cars and pick up the letters that would blow out
of the train." Later he became an enthusiastic backer of the
new service. The clerks sorted through mails direct to con-
necting services in addition to local exchanges.
Very soon, other lines were started and a form of national
organization developed. The first plan, December 1864, was
to divide the nation at the Indiana border and place Arm-
strong in charge of the territory west of the line and Wheeler
east. The country was divided into divisions and the service
placed under a General Superintendent of the Railway Mail
Service, George B. Armstrong becoming the first incumbent.
Wheeler resigned on December 20; and Parks— the pioneer
R.P.O. clerk— succeeded him.
Mr. Armstrong lived to see his ideas developed fully, re-
signed in May 1871, and died a few days later. In Chicago a
large school building bears his name, and in the Adams Street
entrance to the old Chicago Post Office there was placed a
monument and bust. It bears the following inscription:
To The Memory
of
GEORGE BUCHANNAN ARMSTRONG
Founder
of the
RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE
in the
UNITED STATES
Born in Armach, Ireland
Oct. 27, 1822
Erected
By the clerks
IN THE SERVICE
1881
A duplicate is in P.T.S. headquarters in Washington.
In addition, a bronze plaque in honor of Armstrong was
installed by President Hughitt of the Chicago & Northwestern
114 MAIL BY RAIL
Railroad in November 1914 in their station at Chicago to
commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Service. It
shows a bas-relief of the first R.P.O. cars, and a duplicate
is on Armstrong's grave in Rosehill Cemetery there.
Soon after the death of Armstrong, the heirs of William
Davis, who had died in 1875, put in a claim to the Post Office
Department for priority for their father as the initiator of
the Railway Mail Service. Davis himself, after his three
months' service deadheading east to take from westbound
trains California letters for close connection with the stage
at St. Joseph, had returned to his duties as assistant post-
master there and never claimed any recognition for his
services on the railway. The Maynard investigation turned
up some interesting data and many erroneous statements.
Few knew how to interpret the documents, and the net result
was more confusion. The Armstrong family later published
for private circulation a volume claiming exclusive credit to
George B. Armstrong as the father of the Raihvay Mail
Service. Since then this mooted question has become a
perennial for postal writers, and especially for the rapidly
growing philatelic journals. In addition to the Armstrong
and Davis schools of interpretation there promises to be a
new one, that of the Chicago & Cairo claimants, not to men-
tion the Boston & Albany and Potomac Postal Cars claims
already refuted.
A brief statement of these schools of interpretation is now
in order, so that the reader may take his choice.
To Armstrong is conceded the founding of the "first
permanent, complete, and official Railway Mail Service,"
through his postal-reform letters and his run from Chicago
to Clinton, August 28, 1864. The Davis school claims that
Davis's run from Palmyra to St. Joseph back in 1862 consti-
tuted the first experimental railway post office because he was
the first to open, officially, brass-locked sacks and take out
mail in transit to be advanced past a distributing post office.
The Armstrong school says if this constituted "sorting mail
in transit," route agents had sorted in transit for years, be-
sides performing local delivery and reception of way mail.
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 115
The Davis school of historians rests its case by asserting that
unless and until record is found of earlier authorization for
opening brass-locked sacks and taking out letters for beyond
a D.P.O., the Hannibal & St. Joe service constitutes the
"first experimental railway post office." Journalistic writers
of this school make broader claims, as we shall see. The
Armstrong adherents deny to Davis any invention, and cer-
tainly not the foundation of a service, because Davis was only
■'a special agent" and took out only California letters. They
cite records of route agents pouching to other route agents
beyond a terminal and a D.P.O. via the express route agents;
they say that the service of Davis was only a special service
such as Armstrong had performed at Cairo, and the fact that
it was soon discontinued eliminated him from being the
founder of any railway mail service. They say Davis, as a
special agent, sought to aid in an emergency in his distrib-
uting post office, while Armstrong sought to and did destroy
all distributing post offices in order to initiate the Railway
Mail Service.
Davis writers in popular and philatelic journals have made
far wider claims than Davis historians. Articles have ap-
peared, based on the Maynard document, headed "U. S.
Mail First Sorted in Transit in 1862," 'Tirst R.P.O. Line in
History was between Hannibal & St. Joseph," "Wm. Davis
W^as the Father of the Railway Mail Service," etcetera. In
1905 the legislature of Missouri appropriated seven hundred
dollars for a tablet in the St. Joseph Post Office in memory
of Davis, and a number of biographical sketches give him
credit for founding the Railway Mail Service.
As for the Chicago and Cairo theory, it will be recalled
that before the Hannibal & St. Joe work by Davis, a situa-
tion at Cairo, Illinois, has resulted in a special service
being performed there. Special agents worked into Cairo
and undoubtedly took out mail from the newly established
Cairo Distributing Post Office for the Army of the Tennessee.
No record has been found of orders to special agents to open
brass-locked pouches which route agents carried, perhaps
because the Chicago fire destroyed the route-agent records
116 MAIL BY RAIL
of that region. But it is possible that such may be found, in
which case the course of the "firsts" discussion would be
radically changed.
The following is taken from the Post Office Department
Information Service Bulletin for January 1950; it may help
close the chapter, but not the argument:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
POSTAL SERVICE
Up until 1862 all mail carried on trains was distributed
in post offices. In that year the postmaster at St. Joseph,
Missouri, tried out a method of sorting and distributing
mail on a moving train between Hannibal and St. Joseph.
This was done in an attempt to avoid delays in mail de-
partures for the West. The experiment was successful.
In 1864 the first officially sponsored test of a railway post
office car was made on August 28 between Chicago,
Illinois, and Clinton, Iowa. On December 22 of that
year the Post Office Department appointed a deputy in
charge of railway post offices and railway mails. This
marked the beginning of the Railway Mail Service.
As a final summation of the two viewpoints, we might add
that Davis supporters base their claims on his service having
apparently been (1) the first line to distribute raw, unsorted
mails for a state at a great distance— California; (2) the first
distributing route to be authorized by special order from
Washington as a new departure from route-agent service,
although local exchanges were performed as on modern
R.P.O.s; and (3) so far as is known, the first line officially
authorized to open brass-locked pouches for distribution
purposes. They further point out that the Post Office De-
partment decided after recent studies that the Davis experi-
ment was the beginning of R.P.O. service, as witness the
carved date on the new Department building (Chapter 3); that
the History of R.M.S. states that no earlier example of transit
distribution of the through mails has been revealed after
a "thorough search" of records; and that Railway Mail Asso-
ciation (N.P.T.A.) members at Chicago officially concluded
AMERICA'S FIRST RAILWAY POST OFFICE 117
that this line was the first R.P.O. and said so in a plaque
which they installed in the Burlington's replica. Some of
Davis's more rabid early supporters even claimed that eras-
ures and changes were made before publishing the History
of the R.M.S., to throw major credit to Armstrong. Refuting
claims that Topographer Burr had suggested the idea to
W'^aller and Davis, one points out that Zevely himself stated
it was Davis's own idea.
In rebuttal, Armstrong supporters point out that only on
the Chicago &: Clinton car were the full functions of a rail-
way post office carried out. Pouches and sacks had been made
up and addressed to the line (not done in Davis's case); its
clerks had opened them to cut and work up the packages
of individual letters for local dispatch and had made up
mails for crossing star routes and points beyond termini.
They were ready to make up mails for other R.P.O.s as soon
as established, and probably did it for agent connections from
the first day. Armstrong adherents deny claims that Davis
ever sorted individual letters— despite public mailboxes
shown on the car replica— stating that his distribution con-
sisted of packet sorting, or possibly of opening packets of
"St. Joseph Dis" but merely separating California points into
new packets to be rebilled while seated at the table; they
conclude that his operations in no way resembled those of
an R. P. O. letter clerk. And so rests the case of a controversy
unique in postal history, still going merrily on.
Chapter 8
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE
In a country wild and Western, red with many a crimson stain,
There's a city, name of Carson, 'twixt the foothills and the plain.
And the treasured lore of Carson holds a legendary tale
That deals with Baldy Baker and the "Dwight & Carson" mail.
Baldy Baker was a mail clerk on the Dwight & Carson then,
Tall, straight and strong and fearless, weighing 14 stone and 10 . .-
— Earl L. Newton
The impact of the first Rail-
way Post Office upon the post-
al service and the national
economy was but a small one
at the time, subject to discour-
aging counterblo^vs; but Arm-
strong and Zevely went deter-
-Courtesy Postal Markings minedly ahead. Before its
birth-year had expired, the
N.Y. & Wash. R.P.O. (now PRR) was begun; leading post
offices were instructed to dispense with ■^s'rappings, post bills,
and letter packets, and tie letters with twine for quick R.P.O.
handling; and thirteen more of the country's thirty-seven re-
maining D.P.O.s were discontinued.
The first full year of the infant R.M.S. (1865) saw the old
N.Y. & Dunkirk (Erie) and Phila. & Pittsburgh (PRR) R.P.O.s
established in the East (now the N.Y. & Sala. and N.Y. Sc
Pitts.); but eastern postmasters, with their fat redistributing
commissions, opposed any further expansion, and no more
lines were added for a long time. But in the west the R.P.O.s
grew both in numbers and facilities; first came the Chic. &
Davenport (Rock I.), then the Chic. & Quincy (CB&:Q),
Chic. & St. Lou. (Alton), Chic. & Centralia (IC), Clinton &
Boone (C&NW) in Iowa, and the Chicago k Cairo (IC) on
the route of the controversial service mentioned.
118
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 119
The earliest R.P.O.s had the crudest of equipment. News-
papers, if handled at all, were sorted into large wooden boxes
either on the floor or stacked case-like. Later some cars had
a wooden rack of boxes opening at the bottom, the contents
being gathered from below into sacks when full, with great
difficulty. Mail sacks had no label holders, but rather tiny
wooden paddles called whittlers; on these destinations were
written, then shaved off for re-use until too thin. (Clerks
unsure of routings were inclined to whittle off the ^rom line
right away!) Wooden racks to hold paper sacks were not
invented by White until 1874; the iron Harrison rack for
papers and pouches (invented by C. H. Harrison of the
R.M.S.) followed about 1879, and then the similar collapsible
steel-pipe rack now in use.
Pioneers of the scattered, radically new Service had to
contend with an unwieldly mass of distributing offices still
wrapping and post-billing ordinary letters, but were harassed
most of all by the frightful messes of loose papers, untied
letters, and heavily wrapped packets dumped onto them in
"mixed" sacks by connecting agent runs. It often took five
times as long to separate and face up the mail as it did to
sort it, and drastic corrective orders were issued to all agents,
including a simple faced-out tie-up of direct letter packages.
"Catching" of mail on the fly by non-stop trains was prac-
ticed on the N.Y. & Wash, as early as 1865, but in the absence
of cranes and catchers, most early R.P.O. trains merely slowed
up for the clerk to catch the pouch with his arm from the
station agent. This proved dangerous to both men and after
trying modified train-order sticks, crude wooden F-shaped
mail cranes were substituted. Soon afterward the present
simple steel hook and crane were adopted.
To co-ordinate the Vv'ork of post offices with the new
R.P.O.s, R.M.S. officials were early authorized to supervise
the make-up of outgoing mails in all large post offices, and
naturally many experienced clerks later became post-office
superintendents of mails. The arrangement is still in effect.
Expansion in the progressive Midwest continued, with
Armstrong and post-office men working in harmony. Before
120 MAIL BY RAIL
1866 arrived, the Wisconsin legislature was petitioning Con-
gress for R.P.O.s; and Harrison, the future rack inventor,
planned the first cars to be constructed especially for R.P.O.
service (aided by a Route Agent Johnson), for the first route
there (on the C&NW to Green Bay). On September 6, 1866,
transit distribution was restored to the historic Hannibal &
St. Joe route, which then became the Quincy & St. Joseph, a
true R.P.O. The next year saw the first "full R.P.O." cars,
forty feet long, installed on the pioneer Chic. & Clinton
(C&NW^) and on the Overland run continuing to Boone and
Council Bluffs; they were designed by Armstrong, with Cap-
tain James E. White (later General Superintendent) labeling
the letter and paper cases. "Chief head clerks," now known
as clerks-in-charge, were also first designated in 1867, and
their duties specified.
But in the East the continued antagonism snowballed into
forces that threatened extinction of the whole Service. When
Harrison Parks took over the three struggling lines there, he
found no local service being performed and almost no quali-
fied clerks; the Department was threatening to abandon the
three. Bitterest opposition was in New England, around the
just-established Boston & N.Y. (NYNH&H). The smoldering
resentment of politically powerful postmasters and news-
papers, notably in Boston, broke into raging flame in January
1874 with an attack on the whole R.M.S. system by the
Boston Morning Journal. Backed by the postmaster, it pro-
posed an immediate return to D.P.O.s and route agents, de-
cried the "extravagance" of clerks working only "half the
time," and accused the Department of holding all westbound
mails for the two daily R.P.O. trains to New York and of not
providing southward connections for these two. Captain
White of the R.M.S., in a masterful defense, published a
stinging rebuttal— publicly informing the Boston postmaster
of his duty to pouch on New York City and points beyond by
means of a dozen closed-pouch trains a day; the necessity of
needed rest periods and the studies currently arranging bet-
ter connections were noted.
At the height of the trouble the vexed postmaster had a
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 121
bell installed in the office of the Division Superintendent,
R.M.S., located in his building, and thereupon would sum-
mon him as he would a messenger boy. The superintendent
calmly aware of his responsibilities and his independence of
the post office, ignored the bell; and when the enraged post-
master sent a messenger after him, he sent back the message
that the post-office head would have to call on him— "The
bell is on the wrong end of the wire." By such firm tactics,
and by steady improvements everywhere, the R.M.S. slowly
established its position of authority and respected necessity
in the East. It began to expand rapidly, until its lines con-
nected with those of the Midwest. On the N.Y. & Chic, local
runs alone, mail once requiring the exchange of forty-seven
pouches from the New York G.P.O. was now dispatched in
one pouch to the postal car.
In 1868 some sweeping, essential innovations were begun.
First there appeared schemes of distribution (sorting lists),
the first being one designed by Captain White— the Civil War
officer slated to become a prominent R.M.S. leader— as a
scheme for all lines out of Chicago. The first state scheme
(1872) was that of Wisconsin, and the first Eastern one was
for New York State; most were alphabetical "standpoint-
exception" lists (still used by Western Union) on large sheets
of paper, reading (for example, the Massachuetts scheme)
thus:
MASSACHUSETTS: -To Boston D.P.O.
Except:
Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire,"! o, ait, t? p n
and Worcester counties / ' ^
Thus were clerks gradually relieved from "doping out" routes
from maps and inquiries.
The second new reform, the facing slip with its "error-
checking" procedure, is said to date back to an inspection
trip between Mattoon and Centralia, Illinois, to check accur-
122 MAIL BY RAIL
acy of sorting on the connecting Chic. Sc Cairo (IC); the in-
vestigator discovered many errors in dispatch, resulting in
inauguration of stamped facing slips in 1868 or 1869 and the
issuance of orders to check errors thereon by 1871. Other
reports, however, state that the two lines involved were the
Lafayette-Quincy run and the Chic. R: Centralia (IC); and
still others say the clerks themselves originated the error-
checking idea informally to help each other learn best dis-
patch, or that George S. Bangs originated it. (Facing slips
were used in some post offices in 1864.)
On July 1, 1869, the Railway Mail Service was first organ-
ized in six divisions under a single general superintendent;
Armstrong, who had planned the setup, was himself appoint-
ed to the top position. All closed-pouch and route-agent runs
were placed under R.M.S. jurisdiction. Resigning after only
three years in top place, the great "Father of the R.M.S."
died just a few days later in 1873. He had just put his whole
life and heart into the great new field that was his. George
S. Bangs succeeded him, but not before Armstrong had intro-
duced the first standard mail cranes (1869) and the first
extensive night R.P.O. trains. Giving overnight delivery to
most mails within hundreds of miles, they were introduced
over the protests of the railroads; they were needed particu-
larly to transfer outbound local mails to an inbound morning
local train at outer termini for early deliveries, and for
keeping express mails in continuous movement. Armed
guards were often assigned at night.
With 1870 came the practice case and scheme examina-
tions, another invention of Captain White. Designing the
former, he had UP Master Carbuilder Stevens build the first
one in Omaha, and he commenced the examinations in Chi-
cago in 1872. He introduced a probationary period the same
year, weeding out hundreds of incompetent politically-ap-
pointed clerks. Bangs soon authorized him to order the sepa-
ration of R.P.O. -bound mails from the post offices by States,
and in New York City the "stating" of large periodicals direct
by publishers was then begun under R.M.S. supervision. It is
still done today, and sometimes symbols are supplied to en-
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 123
able dispatch to routes. Most of such mailbags noAV go direct
to R.P.O.s.
Final fundamental step in R.M.S. innovations was the
Schedule of Mail Trains, another White invention, first
printed in the Chicago Postal Record, as was the pioneer
Wisconsin scheme, in the issue of March 1872. It listed only
the trains serving each junction, but it gradually evolved into
today's schedules.
The Service Rating System of merits and demerits, based
on the Brown system on the railroads (whence Brownies),
also had its first beginnings in 1872. In the same year ap-
peared a set of Instructions to R.P.C.s. Among interesting
requirements therein were that post bills were still to be
made out for unpaid letters, that direct packages were to be
faced out minus slips, and errors in direction or address
were to be corrected by clerks— all of which instructions have
now been directly reversed.
By 1873, when Bangs came into office, there were just 752
railway postal clerks in the United States. The same year,
we might note, the American Bible Society was placing Bibles
in mail cars and others on the Bait. & Cumberland R.P.O.
(WMd) and B&O lines in Maryland. Next year Bangs issued
his first R.M.S. Annual Report, later a large and important
volume, but now absorbed in the small Annual Report of the
P.M.G. By now there were eight divisions— the 8th out W^est.
To Bangs also is credited the establishment of the first
famous 'Tast Mail," on September 16, 1875. Previous to this
time there had been fast service on short and separate lines,
but their time value was lost at connecting points. Bangs
therefore included in his report a recommendation for a
through exclusive train over the various independent lines
then connecting New York and Chicago, saving twelve to
twenty-four hours in transit time. The service was organized
and arrangements made with the hearty co-operation of the
railroads involved; it was designated, as now, the N.Y. &:
Chicago R.P.O. It traversed the N. Y. Central S: Hudson
River and Lake Shore & Mich. Southern Railways.
The initial trip, made with great ceremony, was the most
124 MAIL BY RAIL
publicized event in R.M.S. history and a significant milestone
of progress in the entire Postal Service. General Superin-
tendent Bangs himself was in charge at the old Grand Central
Station, New York. Such prominent guests as the Vice-Presi-
dent, the Honorable Henry Wilson of New York, the report-
ers from all sizable Eastern newspapers, mayors, postmasters,
and top railroad officials accompanied him at the ceremonies
and on the trip. The train was composed of four postal cars
with William B. Thompson in charge, and one drawing-room
coach accommodating one hundred distinguished officials and
visitors. The "letter" cars were fifty feet long, the "paper"
cars sixty feet. All were painted white, trimmed in cream,
and ornamented with gilt; each car was named after the
governor of a state, the R.P.O. cars being designated the
Tilden, Dix, Allen, and Todd. The name of the car and the
words "United States Post Office" were included within large
gilt ovals, while "The Fast Mail" and the railroad name were
lettered on sides and ends. Painted landscape scenes and
medallions in relief of both sides of the Great Seal of the
United States (as shown on back of today's dollar bills) com-
pleted the decorations.
In the rainy dawn, mail wagons clattered from the old
downtown New York Post Office up to Grand Central with
their loads for the new train, simultaneously with others
destined for the Cortlandt Street piers and the first trip of the
Pennsylvania's own competitive Limited Mail. A picked crew
of clerks received the mail— 43 pouches of letters, 663 sacks of
ordinary papers, and bundles of newspapers numbering
50,000 pieces, a total of 33 tons. Red bags were provided for
the New York-to-Poughkeepsie mail, so the local clerks would
be sure to sort it first— only to have the dyers' bill for the
bags later disallowed by a Post Office Department clerk, un-
familiar with the exacting conditions on the trains, as a silly
extravagance! Perhaps it was; no more were dyed.
The train pulled out and thundered on its way northward.
At Albany 1 50 more bags were received from the Boston con-
nections, while local catches continued apace. Crews were
changed several times in the nine hundred-mile trip, with
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 125
Bangs watching the Indiana crew while sitting on some
pouches, watch in hand. At suburban Englewood, Illinois,
a sudden lurch dazed the engineer with a blow to the head;
but still the "hogger" brought his train into Chicago one
minute early. He had made the run in twenty-six hours
(or thirty— sources differ), or about half the former time.
Then, exhausted, he fainted dead away.
The successful performance was greeted with great satis-
faction, and both England and France requested diagrams of
the cars. But next year Congress reduced all railroad mail
pay by 10 per cent, and the irate companies (who had invested
$4,000 per car in the Fast Mail) withdrew the service July 22,
1876, ten days after that act. In spite of public protests, the
Fast Mail was not restored until 1881 (or possibly 1877, one
source says), when the freshly painted train began rolling
again— in two sections. The "Fast Mail" designation was
dropped sometime after 1883, but regulation fast-mail trains
on "The Chic," such as the Century, still keep up the pace.
The Pennsy's competing Limited Mail route to Chicago
and St. Louis (N.Y. k Pitts.-Pitts. & Chic-Pitts. R: St. Lou.
R.P.O.s) began operating officially at the same time as the
more famed Central's setup; in fact, non-mail-carrying runs
began three days before (4:50 A.M., September thirteenth).
Built in record time at Altoona, the cars were hauled by
Engine 699, with Sam Knowles as conductor and Al Herbert
as engineer (data which is sadly lacking for the Fast Mail
run). The Limited Mail was withdrawn and restored to-
gether with its competitor. By beating the New York Central
in speed, the Pennsy eventually secured many of the desirable
mail contracts. Its "Limited" was gradually succeeded by the
famed Broadway Limited of today.
Other "Fast Mails" followed in quick succession— on the
IC's Chic. & Cairo, the PRR's N.Y. & Wash, (about 1883), the
CM&StP's Chic. & Minn, (about 1898). But most famous of all
others was the storied Overland transcontinental line which
extended the New York & Chicago service on west to San
Francisco. The Burlington's "Fast Mail," which made its first
run on the Chic. & Council Bluffs (adjacent to Omaha) at
126 MAIL BY RAIL
3 A.M., March 11, 1884, claims to have been the first link in
the chain; the train was prepared on one day's notice from
the P.M.G. after a conference. Despite a greatly speeded-up
timecard, it hit every stop on schedule on the 499-mile
route, whereupon the Department at once shortened the
schedule— and has done so a dozen times since, each increased-
speed demand being promptly met without failure. On Feb.
17, 1899, its Fast Mail (Train 15) made the run in 9 hours, 14
minutes. This line, the C. Sc N. W., and the Rock Island all
competed fiercely for the westbound mail contract, engaging
in some stirring races. Gradually the C&rNW's Chic, k Omaha
secured a plurality of the total R.P.O. service and is today
usually considered the Midwest's transcontinental link; this
route was a leader in the cutting of running time through
the years.
Following consultations, Captain White then succeeded in
contracting with the Union Pacific at Omaha for a connecting
Fast Mail on their Omaha k Ogden route and, at a second
conference with South Pacific and Central Pacific heads in
San Francisco, secured promise of their own fastest trains to
carry on the Fast Mail from Ogden to the coast on the Ogden
k San Fran. R.P.O.
The first transcontinental Fast Mail from Omaha to the
Pacific pulled out on November 15, 1889, at 7 P.M., forty-five
minutes late— with Captain White, high postal and railroad
officials, and newspaper correspondents from New York to
San Francisco on board as guests. Thirteen tons of mail were
taken on, mostly from the East via the N.Y. & Chic— Chic. &:
Counc. Bluffs Fast Mail connection. The first lap, over the
slowly ascending grades, prairies, and mountains to Cheyenne,
Wyoming, was done in record time, the forty-five minutes
being made up easily in these five hundred miles. Changing
crews, the train pulled thirty miles farther to Sherman, the
Continental Divide; then down through Laramie to Green
River, Wyoming. This was the junction for the connecting
fast mail to the Northwest (the UP's Green River k Portland),
and twenty-three minutes were lost here— the car of officials
and guests had been accidentally switched to the wrong con-
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OE AGE 127
sist. The Fast Mail had to back up to reach it, and fifteen
more minutes were lost. With powerful head wind and a
grade of 211 feet per mile to overcome, it seemed the time
could never be made up by Ogden.
But they reckoned without "Wild Bill" Downing, a famous,
reckless engineer who came on at Evanston, Wyoming. Sub-
stituting a more po^verful engine, he gave them such a hair-
raising ride through the mountains and down Echo and
Weber canyons as had never been dreamed of; with savage
energy he sent the train rocking wildly as sparks and ballast
flew from under the wheels. "Three miles in two minutes!"
gasped Captain White at Devils Gate; and when their car
careened until one set of wheels was off the rails, even
General Manager Dickenson tried to have the train stopped.
But the time was made up by Ogden; a speed record deemed
"impossible" had been made through the daring of Railway
Mail and Union Pacific personnel. The U.P. had been inter-
ested in good R.P.O. service since its construction days,
when even the track-laying train had its "Union Pacific
R.P.O."
From Ogden the epoch-making train proceeded as the
Os:den & San Francisco, the famous "Overland" route. Hold-
ing to its schedule, the Fast Mail continued through the
ru^ijed terrain while clerks distributed both California and
San Francisco City mail; with mails ready for dispatch, it
pulled into Oakland Pier depot right on the dot. Total tran-
sit time from New York to San Francisco was 108 hours, 45
minutes— mighty good time in those days.
Steady improvements in the Fast Mails continued. The
CB&Q's Chic. & C. Bluffs Fast Mail even elicited a dramatic
description of its passage from the great evangelist Bily Sun-
day, who had considerable sentiment for it; it now carried six
cars (150 tons) of mail.
General Superintendent Bangs was succeeded in 1875 by
Theordore N. Vail, the first railway postal clerk to be pro-
moted on merit to the top R.M.S. position (see Chapter 16).
Then came General Superintendent William B. Thompson
in 1878, under whom the Railway Mail Service established
128 MAIL BY RAIL
its Daily Bulletin— which evolved into the familiar Postal
Bulletin of today-on March 4, 1880. On July 1, 1882, all
remaining route agents and "head clerks" were officially re-
assigned under the universal title "railway postal clerks," and
remaining agent runs became "R.P.O.s."
On December 31, 1888, under another general superin-
tendent (Nash), President Cleveland ordered the entire
R.M.S. placed under the federal Civil Service. That meant
that all appointments and promotions after May first were to
be on merit alone— eliminating the political influences caus-
ing discharge of hundreds of losing-party clerks at every new
administration change, which had governed even such things
as choice of runs and had permitted many incompetent
appointments.
The Gay Nineties, a typical period in the younger days of
the R.M.S., were launched by the appointment of none other
than Captain White as general superintendent, October 4,
1890, succeeding J. Lowrie Bell and others. Life on the mail
trains in this era was colorful and interesting, but certainly
no picnic. Some of the conditions of the period, or of opera-
tions shortly before or afterward, are reflected in a few de-
scriptions such as this one by Votaw:
"... A dilapidated car, vintage of 1860, which had not felt
a paint brush for years . . . track visible through the broken
floor . . . dingy from years of smoke from a single oil lamp
which dripped gently on the floor. Old boxes like hens' nests
served as a paper case; ... a rusty barrel stove on one side."
Later the potbellied stove was often replaced by a cranky
Baker (hot-water) heater; then came the first engine-heated
steampipes (still used), but with no steam during advance
hours. Men not near the little auxiliary stove froze, and had
to blow the steampipes twice an hour during the trip. Sack
carpets and heavy overshoes were needed to prevent freezing,
for temperatures went below zero despite the stove. When
one antiquated heater, unused for twenty-seven years, was lit
in a recent car shortage it still "made smoked hams of the
crew!"
The dirty, leaky coal-oil lamps were often drained to fill
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 129
those in "more important" cars, and candles substituted.
Acetylene and Pintsch-gas lights— which still had to be lit
from stepladders in inky darkness, and which were tapped for
gas when a connecting line ran out, and candles furnished
again— some from Germany, gradually appeared. At least
clerks no longer wore sacks to ward off dripping oil!
Cars themselves were, of flimsy wood construction, often
rebuilt from other coaches scrapped as too old; whole chunks
of rotten wood were pulled from some cars. One crew could
never report their car's length as required, because it was
inches longer going uphill than when level. Some compart-
ments for clerks were as tiny as 3 x 7 feet, while clerks on
the Lawrenceville & Carbondale (Lawr&W) in Illinois held
forth in the caboose. Windows were far dirtier than at pres-
ent—even "slimy." Western trains operated over light rails
on loose-laid ties in black muck, hauled by old-style light-
weight Baldwin or Rogers engines; one clerk was thrown in
the same ditch three times.
As for equipment, clumsy tie-on tags had now replaced the
whittlers on mailbags; letter pouches were mostly leather ones
with awkward multistaple fastenings— heavy, strapped hull-
heads and light, strapless suckermouths. Some cars even had
a "metallic forest" of wire ropes and rods to hold mailbags
suspended open, instead of the usual racks.
Salaries and working conditions would have seemed in-
credible today. General Superintendent White drew less, in
dollars, than the average clerk at present. Remembering that
money had a much higher purchasing value then, we note
that pay for the starting grade (Class I) was usually $800—
sometimes as low as $610— a year. New subs were paid at this
rate only for time worked, direct by the regular clerk for
whom they ran, and often several days late; they received
about $2.18 for each "day" worked, which might be a trip of
more than twenty-four hours.
There was no travel allowance, no overtime pay, no sick
or annual leave, no study-allowance time. Nevertheless the
new clerk was given a handsomely embellished certificate of
appointment, printed in crimson or purple from engraved
ISO MAIL BY RAIL
script type! In contrast, old clerks who had slowed down were
often summarily dismissed without pension— there was no
retirement pay.
Clerks had to sign an arrival-and-departure book before
and after each trip and carry a photographic pass bearing
their picture instead of the signed travel commission of today.
Vivid memories of his old photo commission are recalled by
Earl Newton, who growls in contempt at the old photo the
office had used; but—
Tildy Ann looked at the picture, then put
Her arms round my neck, and she said;
"Don't you know, John, that picture looks just as you did
The summer before we were wed?
I remember you sent me a photo like that;
I'm sure you don't wholly forget—
It looked pretty comely to both of us then.
It looks pretty good to me yet . . ."
There were no terminals, P.T.S., for the lines to dump
"stuck" mails into; clerks not only had to sort all circulars,
magazines, and parcels received into the train (as well as
letters), but had to remain in the car at the terminus to finish
sorting any undistributed mails— without pay. Even when
terminals first appeared, road clerks were often forced to
work long hours therein after completing a lengthy run of
their own; if the train was late, they sometimes had to omit
all sleep, do their stint of terminal duty, and report for the
return journey with no rest whatever. They were also called
into post offices to relieve mail congestion, especially at the
turn of the century. Endless stacks of "blue-tag" paper mail
was sorted, for example, both on the Pitts. & St. Lou. Limited
Mail (PRR) itself— where clerks worked clear through be-
tween terminals after much advance work at Pittsburgh— and
in the St. Louis depot for additional hours after arrival. Still
longer continuous runs existed in the Far West.
The heavy mails brought many complaints, not all of
which were justified. White once learned of one clerk who
said he was swamped with far more mail on his run on the
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 181
Omaha & Ogden (UP) than could possibly be distributed be-
fore reaching Ogden. White accompanied him on the next
trip, asking only that the clerk set up and tie out for his
chief; and White himself "sorted out" the whole pile by
North Platte, Nebraska, only one quarter of the way out of
Omaha. The clerk never complained again.
However, White was keenly aware of the genuine hard-
ships which were nevertheless suffered by clerks throughout
the Service, and he favored and predicted retirement annui-
ties, increased salaries, travel allowances, longer layoffs, and
high-speed trains many years before they came about. There
were pettv restrictions, too: a rule was issued requiring clerks
to turn each bag inside out after emptying, to be sure no mail
was left therein. Since this would consume hours of valuable
time, clerks commenced iisins; the bags inside out too— and
the order was soon rescinded. There was an economy drive
on the use of twine, requiring receipts for each ball by each
clerk too; cut twine was ordered knotted together and re-used.
Clerks on the old Detroit R: Albany (not a Michigan-to-New
York State run, but an SP branch in Oregon) dispatched a
two-foot-ball of saved twine to the division superintendent,
labeled 'Tirst Annual Ball for Benefit of Baled-Hay Widows
and Unidentified Orphans," which was displayed at head-
quarters and the clerks highlv commended.
Registered mail was another headache; it was dispatched
in regularly scheduled striped pouches (stripes) and inner
sacks, checked like other pouches; there were no facilities for
quantitv billing to terminal offices or unauthorized destina-
tions. John Fisher tells of the registered packages of gold
and -^vhat not that poured east from California, eight hun-
dred per trip, requiring four clerks to write them on the
Albuq. Sc El Paso (Santa Fe) alone; one clerk went through
to Kansas City to catch up. Other registered parcels, several
hundreds, were found buried under storage mail.
The bearded, adventurous clerks of that day included some
picturesque characters— "Cheyenne Pete" of the Ogden 8:
S. F. (SP), a legendary superman famed in verse, and many
others. Clerks wore an indigo-dyed uniform with double-
1S2 MAIL BY RAIL
breasted coat and vest, and regulation silk-corded navy cap.
For rough work, indigo rolled-collar flannel shirts and tent-
duck overalls with "stomach protectors." When uniforms
disappeared, a standard cap was prescribed with the letters
"R.M.S.," richly gold-braided. But Northern clerks com-
plained of freezing ears, and portly ones of "unbecomingness"
to their broad, side-whiskered faces; so it too, gave way to the
official badge of today.
Coffee and lunches were prepared under difficulties, but
often with a humorous or nostalgic note. The train box con-
tained a frying pan and other cooking ware as well as a coffee
pot, and old-time hot meals were cooked on the flat-topped
stove— steaks, pork chops, ham and eggs, and fried potatoes,
instead of today's cold sandwiches or "insipid canned goods
warmed on the steam pot." Some railways allowed clerks to
wash up, change, and eat in the diner at half price, or even
had trays brought to the car door at bargain fees. Western
ranch stops provided fresh eggs and fruit at country prices;
and on leisurely branch lines the train would stop while the
whole engine and mail crew shot ducks, geese, or pheasant
for a game dinner to follow at home.
But crews without stove heat did cooking with great diffi-
culty, perhaps over kerosene-soaked twine balls. One type of
car had gas lights so arranged that coffee could be heated
thereon, but globes broke if any coffee boiled over. One
N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent) clerk heated his coffee in this manner
just after a rule against the practice had been issued, and
just as he was serving coffee at Albany he was greeted by the
chief clerk entering the car.
"Well, Louis, how did you get your coffee heated so
nicely?" he asked.
"Oh, I got off at Schenectady and tied the pot to the brake
beam where it would rub the wheels a little ... it warmed
it just right," Louis assured him. The official, who of course
knew better, just grinned and walked away.
Trunk-line runs were so long and exhausting then that a
few hours' sleep had to be allowed en route. Most clerks
carried a "bed sack"— a worn-out sack stuffed with discarded
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE ISS
blankets, an old pillow, and work clothes, and handled at
terminals by the grip man. Some cars had collapsible bunks
which lay on racks or stall cleats and folded up; others used
laced-paper-sack hammocks. Some long runs were three and
four full days one way, and sleeping regulations required
that any of the men could sleep one at a time if the mail
was in good shape. Exhausted clerks sometimes slept more
time than allotted, and one was removed from the Service
for "sleeping on duty and giving as reason for failure to
make catch, 'Did not hear the whistle.' " On shorter lines,
rough cots were provided on top floors of large post-office
buildings at termini of runs.
A final sidelight of the period was the famed "car permit,"
issued theoretically as an admit card to various postal cars
and stamped in bright red "Not good for transportation."
Actually they were furnished to clerks as passes for rides over
lines other than their own, even by officials of the Service,
and all clerks-in-charge were expected to honor them for pas-
sage in spite of regulations. As related by C. E. Parsons, they
were used for many years until 1893, when they were quickly
withdrawn after clerks from all over the nation were noticed
in Washington, D. C, attending the presidential inaugura-
tion on their permits. Despite howls of protest, no such
passes were ever restored.
Most trainmen also honored the permits, but some ob-
served the regulations to the letter. One clerk riding on a
permit in a B&O storage car next to the engine was killed
in a wreck, and his family won an expensive suit against the
road. Provoked B&O officials condemned the permits, saying
the clerk should have been given a pass to ride the coaches,
where no one had been hurt. Another permit-riding clerk
was permanently "blackballed" from riding any part of the
Missouri Pacific when he talked back to a conductor question-
ing him as he reclined in a chair in the mail-car doorway.
On being requested to pay fare as a result, he angrily re-
marked, "If I do pay, I doubt if the Company will get it."
Rench himself, riding by permit over the old St. Louis, La. &
K.City (C&A), found himself in the car with a nervous new
154 MAIL BY RAIL
clerk instead of the one he knew— and to keep him from
going stuck, Rench had to help him all night without pay,
on a detour!
There are many other vivid incidents of the old days.
When no one on Albuq. & L.A. (Santa Fe) Train 3 had a
match to light the Pintsch-gas lamps one evening, one clerk
merely pulled the cord and borrowed one from the wrathful
conductor. Then there was that notorious huge sack of mail
labeled "Snowsheds D&D" (i.e., mail for "delivery and distri-
bution") which a storage-car helper brought back to the old
Ogden (Utah) Temporary Terminal, which had just made it
up for dispatch, asking what the clerks wanted done with it-
there was no such place as Snowsheds. The exhausted Ogden
helpers, all detailed there twelve hours a day at $75 a month
because of washouts on their line, all denied having made
up the sack despite the label's evidence. The reason ^vas quite
evident when the sack Avas opened— it was crammed ^vith tiny
salve cans, the size of quarters, addressed practically every-
where! The force, composed, by the way, "mostly of future
R.M.S. officials," never distributed that noxious sack; it was
allegedly relabeled once more to some imsuspecting line or
post office in California.
The postmaster at Letts, Iowa, once reported a crew on the
old Davenport R: Atchison (Rock I.?— traversing his town) for
throwing mail off the train into piles of cow manure. It had
not been done intentionally thus far, but the provoked clerks
now began to improve their marksmanship until they became
pretty expert, says Rench. Appearance of a paper addressed
to Letts on connecting lines from then on was sure to elicit
bantering remarks, not all printable. When "Old Nathan,"
a clerk of that era, was discovered embroiled in a raging
scuffle, yelling for help, in the end of the car where he was
supposed to be sleeping one night, would-be rescuers crept
in with drawn guns. They discovered, says Earl Newton in
verse form, that he had a mouse in his pajamas!
A booklet of 1902 by Superintendent V. J. Bradley (2nd
Division) well reveals the scope of the Service at the time.
There were then 179,902 miles of R.P.O. routes and 8,794
THE RAILWAY MAIL COMES OF AGE 155
clerks, handling 272,714,017 ton-miles of mail annually; there
were eleven divisions. Despite the 76,000 post offices then
existing, efficient R.M.S. distribution had enabled the great
New York G.P.O. to cut its outgoing mail separations to less
than 1,300 and the Philadelphia post office's to only 1,000.
Bradley, admitting some clerks still got only $800, also
pointed out how little of their layoff was actual free time.
Clerks were averaging 98.74 per cent in exams, as against
only 90.24 in 1890, and sorted thirteen billion pieces of mail
a year. At about this time modern pouch records had just
appeared.
In the 1880s (and up to 1916) mail pay to the railroads was
based on a quadrennial weighing of all mails during a fixed
period of some 105 days; the country was divided into four
sections, and one section was covered each period, with special
clerks assisting. There were always weighings going on.
Clerks of the era were particularly loyal to Postmaster
General John Wanamaker, the great merchant-philanthro-
pist, who took much interest in the R.M.S. (see Chapter 10 for
his gold-medal awards). By 1902 they were running on 1,278
steam, 23 trolley, and 49 boat-line R.P.O.s. By 1907 there
were 14,000 clerks, and their accuracy in distribution was up
to only one error in every 11,822 pieces handled (it was one
in 2,824 in 1890).
The railways continued to build up right and left, and the
R.P.O. system was overexpanded as railway post offices were
hastily installed on practically every piece of trackage longer
than a spur. There was even one on the private track of the
Nevada Consolidated Copper Company— the old Cobre &:
Ely (NevNthn), serving Kimberly and other famous towns
until scrapped (1941).
An ill-dated experiment in shipping bulk mail to various
distributing points in freight cars was commenced under the
Hitchcock economy regime in 1909, causing great delay to
thousands of magazines and catalogs and great confusion
among clerks at distributing points, especially concerning
weighings. (It was this mail which required the blue tags
mentioned earlier, attached in a futile effort to keep it
1S« MAIL BY RAIL
Straight.) Protests from publishers finally secured a curtail-
ment of the practice in 1912. By 1915 the force totaled over
20,000 clerks; they were distributing nearly fourteen billion
pieces of mail annually, 99.98 per cent correct, in 914 full and
3,040 apartment cars, and mail-carrying trackage had reached
the staggering total of 216,000 miles.
Note: The period covered by this chapter would chrono-
logically include the Spanish-American War and other special
events (the Chicago fire, the "Gold Trains," etcetera) in-
volving the R.M.S., but these are covered more appropriately
in Chapter 11. Similarly, it would normally include the
founding of the association which is now the N.P.T.A. (also
the M.B.A.), but this will be better discussed in the follow-
ing chapter, along with the significant events between 1910
and 1940, which all seem inextricably linked with the railway
mail labor movement. Most new developments since 1940 are
in Chapter 16.
Chapter 9
PERILOUS DAYS: THE "ASSOCIATION" AND
THE "BROTHERHOOD"
There's a great jubilation about us,
And, hailing from far and from near.
From the shadowy vales to the hilltops.
The sounds of rejoicing we hear;
The goddess of fortune is smiling.
Prosperity's coming our way—
They've made us a travel allowance
Of six shining coppers a day! . . .
— Earl L. Newton
Thrilling, sometimes horrifying, al-
most incredible, is the saga of the railway
mail clerk's successful fight for safer and
better working conditions, for a closer
approach to fair salaries, for the right to
petition Congress, and for true labor
unionism in its finest existing form.
Until today the story never could be
fully told; but now that tempers have cooled and many key
figures in the bitter struggle have passed from the scene, many
a cherished secret has been revealed to the researcher for the
first time. One salient fact stands out— that it was America's
railway mail clerks who initiated and spearheaded the suc-
cessful restoration of basic constitutional rights to all govern-
ment employees in 1912 and after.
Postal employees cannot ask for a raise from the superin-
tendent or postmaster; they cannot form a union which
threatens to strike; their salaries are set by law. They will
137
158 MAIL BY RAIL
receive pay commensurate with the cost of living, and other
needed benefits, only when the public is enough aroused to
demand such through its representatives in Congress.
Before 1900, clerks, and officials as well, were very poorly
paid. Many of these officials were naturally unfair in making
appointments and promotions (with an eye to political ap-
proval), were bitterly opposed to imionism, obtained privi-
leges or railroad passes through political influence, and lived
only for a chance to quit and grab a better job— preferably as
a supervisor of mails for a railroad. (Some officials, of course,
were of high character and entirely different.) Many clerks
were removed from the Service merely because of politics
or grudges— a white envelope meant one was fired.
But clerks evidenced even more dissatisfaction with regard
to the dangerous, poorly constructed and serviced postal cars
in which they worked; clerks were being killed and injured
in wTecks everywhere. Railroad Avork has always been dan-
gerous, but working in the postal cars of that day was almost
like working in a powder mill. Before the advent of double
tracks, automatic block systems, heavy rail and ballast, the
air brake, the automatic coupler, and legal control of rail-
roadmen's working hours, wrecks occurred with dreadful
frequency. The postal clerk was in the greatest danger; his
car was generally the weakest in the train (often an old, re-
modeled baggage car), was spotted at the head end, and hence
received the brunt of any impact or followed the engine in
case of derailment.
Determined at least to provide a little financial security for
the maimed clerks and bereaved families involved, a group of
the employees met in Chicago on November 18, 1874, and
organized the Railway Mail Mutual Benefit Association, the
first national organization ever formed among railway postal
clerks— the first in the Postal Service, it is claimed. A. B.
Hulse was made president. The association was to provide
straight life insurance at low rates, since old-line companies
would not consider such risky fields of occupation; each mem-
ber was assessed $1.10 upon the death of any other member,
and $2,000 was paid to the latter's beneficiary. Lodges were
PERILOUS DAYS 159
formed throughout the country. The "M.B.A." has con-
tinued to function throughout the years. Its newsy little
magazine, the M.B.A. Reminder, was founded in October
1921, and in 1942 the present national secretary— Benjamin
F. Carle, former 10th Division Assistant General Superintend-
ent—took over the reins. A recent sharp increase in rates
induced a drop in membership from a high of 13,285 to but
7,459 in 1947; but the association is again expanding and it
still sends out $2,000 checks to beneficiaries from its Chicago
headquarters. Active lodges are found at Boston, Cincinnati,
Atlanta, Omaha, and elsewhere.
But the M.B.A. of 1874 also endeavored to secure legisla-
tion for better wage and working conditions, and it began
this -^vork years before the post-office clerks' and carriers'
national groups were even founded. Considerable publicity
was given to the hazardous nature of the work, and by 1879
legislation -was enacted by Congress to provide ninety days'
full salary during incapacitation because of injuries on duty.
And there was plenty of need for such legislation. The
report of the Postmaster General for 1883 contained eleven
printed pages of wrecks, and the 1884 report, fourteen pages.
They were crammed with phrases like "Mail car was com-
pletely destroyed"; ". . . was fatally injured and died the
next morning"; ". . . was precipitated . . . and badly injured,
and died on December 2"; ". . . neck was broken, killing
instantly"; ". . . was caught in wreck and burned to death";
". . . so badly crushed as to be unrecognizable," and so on.
From 1877 to 1884 25 clerks were killed and 147 seriously
injured out of only 3,153 employed; in 1885-92 the figures
jumped to 43 and 463.
In 1883, furthermore. Congress arbitrarily reduced the pay
of clerks in the two top classes by $50 to $100, making it only
$1,150 and $1,300 per annum. This blow, coupled with un-
fair political discriminations, led to the hasty organization
of a "Brotherhood of Railway Mail Postal Clerks," in 1886,
to protect the interests of clerks involved; but it was admit-
tedly a Republican partisan group. It originated in the old
5th Division and was denounced by General Superintendent
140 MAIL BY RAIL
Jamison and fellow o^cials (apparently including Captain
White, who reports the incident) as "an association . . .
inimical to private and public interests, because its purpose
was intimidation and retaliation."
That started the fireworks. The Department itself retali-
ated, with eighty immediate dimissals. The B.R.M.P.C. was
completely crushed, and the M.B.A. took care not to emulate
its tactics. Next year (1887) the injury-on-duty salary benefit
was extended to a one-year maximum— a benefit claimed as
an M.B.A. credit.
By 1888 the first railway mail journal had appeared— the
R.M.S. Bugle, published by Abraham E. Winrott at Chicago.
The next year Representative Hopkins introduced a bill to
increase postal clerks' salaries, supported by both the M.B.A.
and General Superintendent J. L. Bell. Bell organized his
own lobby of railway mail clerks to come to Washington and
plead for the increase; provided with free transportation,
they were ordered to team up and visit congressmen. Enough
votes were mustered, but filibusters killed the bill; and the
delegates returned, anxious for an independent group.
From this beginning, in part, sprang the great National
Postal Transport Association of today. After a three-year
discussion in the Bugle— 2iT\<\ by correspondence between the
editor, James Elliott, of Minneapolis, and Harry First, of
Cincinnati— the journal published a call for representatives
of all eleven divisions to convene in Cincinnati in 1891. On
July fifteenth, nineteen clerks met in the post-office read-
ing room there, with First acting as chairman; and on July
17, 1891, they formally organized the National Association
of Railway Postal Clerks, now the N.P.T.A. The first actual
convention was held in Detroit in August; M. C. Hadley, of
Waltham, Massachusetts, was elected president, and M. H.
Brown, of Atlanta, secretary.
Its constitution provided that the N.A.R.P.C. was to be a
fraternal beneficiary association providing for closer social
relations, perfection of any movements of benefit to the clerks
or the Service, and planning benefits to its membership in
case of accidental death or disability. With the exception of
PERILOUS DAYS . 141
added labor-union functions, these provisions still hold true.
Local branches, and later divisional associations, soon sprang
up. The headquarters was considered to be at Hadley's home.
In 1898 an efficient Beneficiary Department was founded
at Omaha, offering insurance to the extent of $4,000 for
accidental death and $18 weekly for disability. Organized
by D. E. Barnes, of Wichita; August Bindeman, of Elyria,
Ohio; N. L. Harrison, of Hornell, New York; and several
others, it issued certificates numbered largely to correspond
with division numbers to the charter members. It selected
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for its Home Office and George
A. Wood as secretary. William H. "Bill" Fry was appointed
an enthusiastic National Organizer to solicit memberships,
riding everywhere on his car permit; he also was the first to
suggest the Women's Auxiliary. "Bill Fry" still adorns the
N.P.T.A. membership card, but a town in Minnesota named
after him ended up as "Bull Frog."
The N. A. R. P. C. soon received special favors. Its ac-
tivities were announced in the General Orders, and free leaves
and transportation to National Conventions were given by
the government. The R.M.S. Bugle became the official
journal, but in September 1896 it was reorganized, with an
eye to independent control, as the Railway Mail, edited by
Elliott at St. Paul, Minnesota. In August 1899 he relin-
quished it to outside control (it continued until 1918) and
organized the Railway Post Office, now the Postal Transport
Journal, as the N.A.R.P.C.'s official organ from then on.
He was later succeeded as editor by Secretary George A.
Wood, holding both offices concurrently.
Meanwhile the wreck situation became intolerable. On
the old Switz City & Effingham^ (IllRcIndS) alone there were
thirty-eight wrecks within three years. There were 5,000 acci-
dents during the 1890s; 14 deaths in 1897 and 75 for the
period, despite new, stronger mail-car specifications drawn up
by Captain White. By 1899, 4,500 of the 8,388 clerks were
N.A.R.P.Cs.
'Famed in early lore as "The Pumpkin Vine" or "The Abe Martin.
142 MAIL BY R.\II.
About 1900, through the efforts of the N.A.R.P.C. and
Honorable J. A. Tawney, the clerks' first effective pleader in
Congress, the previous maximum salaries were restored— fol-
lowing an impassioned speech in which Ta^vney appealed for
"Equality and Justice" and pointed out that R.P.C.s were
subject to more continuous labor, stricter rules and discipline,
and less of home and family comforts than any other govern-
ment employees. (He described the travel allowances received
by foreign railway mail clerks even then.)
But discipline became even more severe, and in 1902
(a year of 9 wreck-deaths and 390 injuries) came the crown-
ing bloAv. President Theodore Roosevelt issued a startling
proclamation. Civil Service Order No. 12, better known as
the infamous Gag Rule. Issued in November, it read:
All officers and employees of the United States . . .
are hereby forbidden either directly or indirectly, indi-
vidually or through associations, to solicit an increase
in pay or influence in their own interest any other legis-
lation whatever, either before Congress or in its commit-
tees, or in any way, save through the department . . .
in or under which they serve, under penalty of dismissal
from the Government service.
Three years later, when Roosevelt tried to fire a govern-
ment printer who had disputed (on his bicycle) the Presi-
dent's right of Avay, he found that legislative safeguards pre-
vented it; therefore he issued a folloAv-up W^hite House order
authorizing the instant dismissal, without reasons or appeal,
of any government employee.
From then on these two closely related Executive Orders
were rigidly enforced by postal officials. Barred effective
protests, employees' conditions became intolerable. Soon
N.A.R.P.C. President J. A. Kidwell, departing from the
Association's usual conciliatory tactics, made a speech at Chi-
cago criticizing conditions, and was fired from the R.M.S.
Wreck fatalities doubled in 1903; strong car specifications
were drafted in 1904, but older cars still became more and
more dangerous. Unclean water and filthy toilets were daily
complaints, despite honest efforts by General Superintendent
PERILOUS DAYS 143
White, the N.A.R.P.C., and others to improve conditions.
In 1904 the N.A.R.P.C. became the "Railway Mail Asso-
ciation," and kept that name for 45 years. In 1907 a $100-a-
year salary increase, credited to R.M.A. efforts, was secured,
but in that year, also, White was succeeded by Alexander
Grant as General Superintendent, with a marked change of
policy for the worse. A stricter merit-and-demerit system,
with "teeth," was first adopted; and its "plus and minus
points" filled hearts with fear. A clerks' petition to Congress
via approved departmental channels, demanding I.C.C. safety
rules, was returned unapproved as "unhappily worded."
By now 210 clerks had been killed since 1875 and there
had been 9,400 R.P.O. wrecks; there were only twenty-six
steel R.P.O. cars anywhere. Worse yet, in 1908 Taft was
elected President and revamped the Gag Rule in emphatic
terms (instead of rescinding it, as expected), and appointed
Amos Hitchcock, a strict and economy-crazed politician, as
the successor to Postmaster General Meyer. At the same time
the first movement for retirement annuities had been begun
in the 10th (Wisconsin-Minnesota-Dakota) Division, with
R.M.A. groups banqueting officials; but rugged individualists
among the clerks squelched it. However, legislation was
passed granting SI, 000 death benefits for clerks killed on
duty— claimed by the R.M.A. as its accomplishment.
In 1909, however, the seething cauldron of resentment
boiled over. Urban A. Walter, a clerk on the N.Y. & Chic.
(NYCent), had just transferred to the Albuq. & Los Angeles
(Santa Fe) for his health and was living in Phoenix, Arizona,
on sick leave Avithout pay. Appalled at service conditions and
determined to quit anyhow, he launched in June "the most
remarkable publication since the time of William Lloyd
Garrison" (who -was quoted freely therein)— the Harpoon, a
vivid, red-and-yellow-bound, 6x8 inch, 32-page magazine.
A huge red harpoon and the words "A Magazine That
Hurts— For Postal Clerks" were on the front co\er, and a
memorial tombstone to three clerks burned to death in a
wreck was the frontispiece. "Strike?— No! Publicity?— Yes!"
was its opening headline. Articles in tense, compelling style
144 MAIL BY RAIL
outlined its purpose "to let the public, especially the busi-
ness public, knoiu . . . the abuses . . ." The horrible details
of insanitary water and bedbug-infested lodgings were ex-
posed. "The Gag Is Nailed!" cried Walter, pleading for
support and decrying the customary fawning and cringing
before the officials. The first edition of 15,000— produced
under heroic conditions, a saga in itself— was sent to every
senator and congressman, every big postal official, every
worth-while newspaper, and thousands of R.P.C.s and P.O.
clerks. Its articles were sensational yet positive, captivating
the reader's interest in Walter's unorthodox, startling man-
ner. He printed and circulated the paper at his own ex-
pense for months, throwing a bombshell into government
labor affairs, after a narrow escape from total failure.
Gradually subscriptions and extra money came in; a car-
toonist was hired and the N.E.A. syndicated the cover design.
The second issue printed glowing tributes from many, bitter
notes from officials, and startling articles on the unflushable
"tank and can" in many cars, delay to mails through disgrace-
ful personnel management at depots, rotten-wood cars, and
"iced rat soup" (the rat was found inside the drinking water).
It made newspaper headline everywhere.
The leviathan of officialdom quivered with rage at the
Harpoon's biting barbs. Both Urban and Beatty, the Ama-
rillo & Pecos (Santa Fe) clerk who had sent in the dead rat,
were promptly fired; officials threatened all supporters of the
infamous magazine with dismissal; the Second Assistant
Postmaster General decried the "flagrantly false representa-
tions of the R.M.S." in it. The Railway Mail Association,
with the exception of its fighting Publicity Committee, also
threw up its hands in horror at these disloyal tactics. Under
President J. T. Canfield, R.M.A. leaders honestly felt that
their policy of respectful conciliation toward the Department
was the best way of securing benefits for all clerks, and they
doubtless thought they were saving at least one clerk's job
by dismissing their militant Publicity Committee at the next
convention (its chairman, E. H. Roberts, had been threatened
with discharge).
PERILOUS DAYS 145
Walter moved the Harpoon to Denver, changed it to news-
paper format, and backed up his campaign with hundreds of
letters and telegrams to Congress, securing over two hundred
pledges of support. The Department, a bit on guard by
then, began to order wooden mail cars kept away from en-
gines in the train consist; sanitation was improved a bit, a
few more steel cars added, and up to thirty days' sick leave
(evidently without pay) granted the clerks. Simultaneously,
two law students among the clerks started a campaign for
travel allowances, convinced by a study of the P. L. & R. that
they were due. Others including the R.M.A., but especially
the Harpoon, took up the fight; and legislation the following
year (1911) granted the first pittance of twenty-five cents per
day— although seventy-five cents was authorized— to clerks for
travel expenses.
But conditions were still intolerable. Clerks reporting
filthy or unsafe cars were told to stop being so fussy. The Ser-
vice Rating System was again expanded into a fearful weapon
of discipline, with new penalties being added without notice
to the clerks and harshly applied, to their complete surprise.
Walter, raging against these and other practices, was sued
three times for libel by the government, but without success.
Lines were badly understaffed, but on top of this Hitchcock
issued orders to "take up the slack" by reducing layoffs and
lengthening hours. Men who "never went stuck" now cared
little if they didn't get "up." Morale was at its lowest in the
winter of 1910-1911; not even the customary Christmas help
was allowed, and tons of Christmas mail remained unworked
for days amid a chaos of sidetracked cars with men called in
from layoffs, back-and-forth hauls until mail could be worked
out, and quadrennial weighings where this shuttling became a
four-year expense. The wreck situation was climaxed by
a Christmas Eve crash killing four clerks— in a wooden car
just passed at inspection despite new "safe-and-sound con-
struction" specifications issued July first. When a catcher
arm was pulled out of the rotten wood in another accident,
the event was reported— and three years later the rotten wood
had still not been replaced.
Ho MAIL BY RAIL
The press, which had been backing the Administration,
now swung around to skepticism of Hitchcock's policies and
pubhshed vivid accounts of dissatisfaction in the railway mail
and post-office services, as well as photos of huge piles of
"stuck" Christmas mail and broadsides against the Postmaster
General. One striking photo was obtained by Walter at
Denver, despite temporary arrest, of stacks of bag-mail.
In January 1911 came the crisis: Clerks on the 225-mile
Tracy & Pierre (C&NW) went on "strike." This line, now
"The Elroy" (Elroy & Rapid City), was a twice-daily service
from Minnesota into South Dakota's state capital, employing
thirteen to sixteen clerks on a six-day-on, six-off basis.
(Another source says two weeks on, one off.) Its borrowed
sixty-foot car was choked with working mails for four states
as "green" helpers arrived just at leaving time, leaving it still
badly undermanned. The clerk-in-charge had to do almost
half the letter sorting besides his heavy record work; over
one hundred new clerks assigned to the line at some time had
quit it, and the helper runs were going stuck five days weekly
as early as 1899. In 1910 alone, sixteen dissatisfied clerks had
resigned or transferred.
Eight clerks "ran through," Avhile at least three (two at a
time) were helpers between Tracy and Huron, South Dakota,
leaving only two "through" men in each crew. Soon, how-
ever, certain through clerks were ordered to run west only as
far as Bltmt, South Dakota, since through-running of all
clerks would necessitate a higher salary classification for the
line. And there were no sleeping accommodations at Blunt,
so these men had to run through to Pierre anyway, helping
without pay.
And now, in "taking up the slack," Superintendent Nor-
man Perkins at St. Paul (who had profanely denounced
the Harpoon) issued an order through Chief Clerk Denison
at Aberdeen that all regular clerks on the Tracy & Pierre
report on their layoffs without pay to keep up a vacancy on
one of the helper runs out of Huron (its occupant had re-
signed—the position was abolished). At least half the regular
clerks lived in either Tracy or Pierre and would have to
PERILOUS DAYS 147
deadhead to Huron twelve hours before leaving time, taking
three nights of their layoff for the unpaid trip. A protest to
Denison, signed by Fred C. Ohman, Claire W. Holcomb, and
other clerks, was fruitless. Thereupon all thirteen clerks,
with one exception, declined to cover the extra runs and, as
they came due, did not report. Some inspectors backed up the
clerks at first, and even secured the discharge of one official
involved; but that only outraged those higher up.
All twelve of the "strikers" were suspended for insubordi-
nation and failure to protect runs; five were later discharged,
the others reduced. It was a startling situation— virtual
mutiny, yet justified on the ground of unjust, physically un-
endurable conditions. Mail piled up in appalling congestion;
desperately, officials tried to get the line into working order.
To assist Forsburg, the one "loyal" clerk (he was commended
and promoted), two others were hastily transferred from near-
by units; scores of substitutes were rushed to the line, and
utter chaos reigned for two months as "strikebreakers" totally
imfamiliar with the distribution were brought in from all
nearby divisions. Even Chief Clerk Wolfe had to take the
run once, in addition to helping sort 1,100 sacks of unworked
papers on the station platform at Phillips, South Dakota.
Mail rode up and down the line undelivered for a week or
more; a letter from Miller to Huron, almost the next station,
took several weeks to get there.
The news spread like wildfire, making the Department
apprehensive of new strikes. It was reported that a similar
strike had occurred on the connecting Oakes & Hawarden
(C&rNW), but investigation has indicated that it did not.
Still, clerks every^vhere followed developments with consum-
ing interest; the Harpoon took up the cause with vigor, and
contributions to assist the strikers poured in. "What's the
latest on the T.&P.?" was heard everywhere. Clerks and sub-
stitutes called for runs on the line, overwhelmingly sympa-
thetic with the cause, found every conceivable excuse for
staying home or reporting sick. Forsburg and his regular
assistant were treated with utter scorn, and their line was
swamped with sacks of squealers and nixies. Over two hun-
148 MAIL BY RAIL
dred resignations were written out by clerks near by, ready
to hand in if things didn't improve.
One month after the strike began, indignation crystallized
in the organization of the Brotiierhood of Railway Postal
Clerks at Harpoon headquarters in February 1911. (A local
group of the same name had been organized in Los Angeles
in 1907 but was crushed by the Department.) For six years
the B.R.P.C., while never the size of the R.M.A., was destined
to be the most influential national group of railway mail
clerks ever known thus far. It openly advocated affiliation
with the American Federation of Labor; introduced a secret
grip, ritual, and password; and organized active lodges at
Denver, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Minneapolis,
and a dozen other cities. Its colorful red-and-black union
card was decorated with green and orange stamps certifying
to dues payment ($1 and $2)— rare, attractive adhesives of
which only a few specimens exist today. The initiation ritual
was grimly humorous, the blindfolded candidate, as a "new
sub," was put through a third degree of questioning by a
Class 2 clerk, assessed "demerits" for his answers, and put
through an appalling simulated wreck.
Thus was literally fulfilled an announced purpose of the
Harpoon in its first issue: "To cement the . . . clerks into one
vast, vital, pulsating Brotherhood." Walter, elected secretary-
treasurer, introduced for the first time among postal groups
the direct election of national officers by mail ballot, the
monthly published and open audit of funds, and the public
handling of all routine business through its official journal—
naturally, the Harpoon.
Meanwhile the Department tried both appeasement and
oppression on the "struck" line. Overdue promotions were
handed out; even the strikers, before suspension, were offered
clerk-in-chargeships (promptly refused). Then, suspended,
they were spied upon or harassed until their discharge or
reduction; substitutes were given demerits for not taking the
run. Apparently none of the discharged clerks was ever
reinstated; many went into business successfully, and Ohman
(discharged, with Holcomb) later entered the legislature. Of
PERILOUS DAYS 149
those reinstated, one— Ed Bicek— is still running on the Elroy
& Rapid City today. By now the public was thoroughly
aroused; it did not know the merits of the case, but it did want
its mail, and without delay. Telegrams poured into Washing-
ton, Pierre, St. Paul, any seat of authority offering possible
relief; both state assemblies petitioned Congress; newspapers
reprinted Harpoon blasts.
It worked. Within tAvo months the line had been raised to
its proper class (salaries $100 higher), the objectionable Blunt
runs were extended to Pierre, and the reduced clerks rein-
stated in grade. Other clerks were induced to transfer to the
line by salary increases, and a semblance of order was re-
stored. It has been claimed that "the boys lost their fight,"
but the record indicates otherwise. And the Department,
alarmed, did not stop there; "Walter's pitiless exposes of tragic
wooden-car wrecks crushing clerks like matchboxes and of
other abuses certainly helped secure corrective action. Con-
gress, in particular, stepped in to pass the first "steel car law"
on March 4, 1911 (the end of the strike)— providing that full
R.P.O. cars had to be constructed under rigid safety speci-
fications and built of equal strength to all other cars of the
train, which meant "steel" on all principal railroads. July 1,
1916, was set as the deadline for withdrawal of all main-line
wooden cars; travel allowance was also increased to $1 a day,
and thirty days' annual leave with pay was granted to certain
six-days-a-week clerks (later voided).
The Railway Mail Association claimed credit for all such
benefits obtained, of course, and doubtless their influence
did help. At their 1911 Convention in June at Syracuse,
Peter J. Schardt, of Saukville, Wisconsin (later a high South-
ern Railway official, just deceased), was elected president to
succeed J, T. Canfield— on a "progressive" platform. Vice
president at the time, he had been an aggressive worker for
better conditions in the strike-famed 10th Division (Wiscon-
sin-Minnesota-Dakota) and later its R.M.A. president, in
contrast to the association's general appeasement policy.
However, instead of threatening a great strike, as expected,
the new president counseled moderation— an action which,
150 MAIL BY RAIL
like others of his, is staunchly defended by many N.P.T.A.
leaders even today on the ground that such measures would
have been ruinous; the "time was not ripe for unionism."
The upshot was, however, that the R.M.A. could do little to
help the situation; and it opposed strongly, of course, both
the T.&P. strike and the Brotherhood itself.
There was still the Gag Rule, and discontent and rebellion
seethed everywhere. New groups of indignant clerks were
organized in the Midwest and East, some later absorbed by
the Brotherhood but others consisting of progressive R.M.A.
units— notably in the 1st (New England) and 10th divisions.
Ringleaders in all these fields were fired for their pro-labor
activitites: Charles Quackenbush at Boston, C. P. Rodman
in Omaha, John Albert "Whalen in Des Moines (the clerk
who sent in the famous samples of rotten car wood), and
many others. Whalen, allowed no defense (despite Second
Assistant P. M.G. -published announcements of advance notice
and defense facilities for all accused clerks), published his
whole story in a challenging booklet (see Bibliography). New
England clerks, -wroth at Quackenbush's discharge, elected
him R.M.A. division president over the bitter opposition of
its favor-currying incumbent officers; Quackenbush had to
have his predecessor legally ousted from the hall. But mem-
bers rallied to support him, and finally even got him rein-
stated; the government ordered the voluminous procedings
recorded in a "pamphlet," which turned out to be a 265-page
clothbound book— one of our few all-R.M.S. volumes.!
Postal inspectors spied on meetings of all progressive
groups, took names of those advocating unions or affiliation,
and cited many for discipline or removal; in the T.O.,
Omaha, Nebraska, spying inspectors were put on letter cases.
Five hundred clerks declared they would resign in a body if
General Superintendent Stephens of the R.M.S. were not
removed. They asked instant relief from unpaid overtime,
undermanned runs, unreasonable hours, dangerous cars, and
payless retirements. Secretary Frank Morrison of the A.F. of
L. took up the clerks* cause, and the Department extorted
pledges from clerks to repudiate any group advocating affilia-
PERILOUS DAYS 151
tion therewith. Brotherhood members refusing to sign were
reduced or fired on insignificant charges or for "pernicious
activity."
The very next year the tide turned. President Gompers
of the A. F. of L. declared boldly for full constitutional rights
for clerks; then progressive Senator Robert M. La Follette,
backed by Senator Lloyd, introduced a sweeping measure
calling for complete abolition of the Gag Rule and summary
dismissals. The bill was the direct culmination of pleas from
the Brotherhood, the Harpoon, a few bold R.M.A. workers,
and the public as evidenced in thousands of letters and news-
paper pleas— many of the letters being replies to an inquiry
sent by La Follette to every clerk in the Service under
promise of anonymity.
In May, President Schardt addressed the R.M.A. in con-
vention at New Orleans. He was expected to support the bill
vigourously, in common with the rest of the giowing pro-
gressive element; there was hope for its endorsement in a
a body by the delegates. But Schardt, after long conferences
with Second Assistant P.M.G. Stewart (General Superintend-
ent Stephens's superior), finally reported to the delegates:
"I argued for hours with Stewart for the right of direct
petition . . . but finally grasped the significance of their posi-
tion. I Avould have been a base poltroon and a traitor to the
cause if I had done otherwise [than agree to oppose such
legislation] . . ."
With the "old guard" all too eager to follow the suggestion
that voting for such an officially-disfavored bill would dan-
gerously antagonize the Department, the convention— after
t^s'ice denying Urban Walter the floor— "ruthlessly slaught-
ered" the resolution favoring the Lloyd-La Follette bill by a
vote of 44 to 20.
Fortunately the bill was enacted anyhow on August 24,
1912, amid great rejoicing by the Brotherhood, which had
fought for it. The R.ALA, later took credit for securing the
act's passage; but the record, alas, must stand. The laiv. Sec-
tion 12 of the Post Office Bill, is still in force and reads essen-
tially as follows:
152 MAIL BY RAIL
That no person in the classified civil service . . . shall
be removed therefrom, except for such cause as will pro-
mote the efficiency of said service and for reasons given in
writing; . . . [he] shall have notice of the same and of any
charges preferred against him and be furnished with a
copy thereof, also be allowed a reasonable time for per-
sonally answering same in writing, and affidavits in
support thereof . . .
Membership in any society, association, club, or other
organization of postal employees, not affiliated with any
outside organization imposing an obligation or duty
upon them to engage in any strike . . . against the United
States, having for its objects, among other things, im-
provements in the condition of labor of its members,
including hours of labor and compensation therefor and
leaves of absence, ... or the presenting by any such
person or groups of persons of any grievance ... to the
Congress or any member thereof, shall not constitute or
be cause for reduction in rank or compensation or re-
moval of such person or gioups of persons from said
service.
The right of persons employed in the civil service of
the United States, either individually or collectively to
petition Congress, or any member thereof, or to furnish
information . . . shall not be denied or interfered with.
And Congress did not stop there; it also granted automatic
progressive promotions to clerks after a year's satisfactory
service in the next lower grade, granted up to one and one-
half years' pay to any clerk incapacitated by injury while on
duty, and provided for each eight hours of work of non-road
clerks to be within not over a ten-hour spread.
Such advances, for which the R.M.A. took credit, were all
a great step forward; but the fight was not yet Avon. The De-
partment found ways of circumventing the law to continue
unjust dismissals, and in the same year efficiency ratings were
introduced and often imfairly applied. Regular parcel post
was introduced for the first time January 1, 1913 (Hitchcock
mailed the first one), flooding the unprepared lines and creat-
ing new resentment.
PERILOUS DAYS 153
In 1913 the Cincinnati R.M.A. Convention again rode
roughshod over its progressive element, with hundreds of
members deserting; but progress was made too. Direct mail-
ballot election of national officers (as in the Brotherhood)
was decided upon, and even the Harpoon applauded the
move. The R.M.A. announced the securing of an optional
thirty days' leave (payless) per year. And having discovered
serious irregularities in the records and services of Secretary
Wood, the association dismissed him and elected Rufus E.
Ross, a progressive; but conservative August Bindeman
(charter member) was elected editor of the Railway Post
Office to succeed J. A. Kidwell, who as president had once
defied the Department.
The progressive element was headed largely by Carl Van
Dyke of the 10th Division, his division president William
M. Collins, and Edward J. Ryan of Massachusetts (represent-
ing the Quackenbush unionists). Van Dyke, a capable clerk
on the old St. Paul & Devils Lake (C&:NW), hailed from
Alexandria, Minnesota; he was soon disciplined by the De-
partment for "subversive activity" as a Brotherhood charter
member and organizer, being demoted to a low-grade job in
the St. Louis post office. Refusing to accept it he was fired.
Still an R.M.A. member, he was elected division president by
his outraged supporters and offered the equivalent of his
R.M.S. salary to fight for the cause full time. He continued
his effective trips to Washington, helped to secure a salary
increase for certain clerks, and after much frustration finally
organized a "Brotherhood of R.P.C.'s Grand Lodge" (inde-
pendent) to assist the division R.M.A. in raising money for
the cause. Charles J. Wentz, still active in retirement, was
his secretary, and credits him with most of the responsibility
for passage of the Anti-Gag Act. (The St. Paul Branch
N.P.T.A. still owns its spread-eagle official seal.)
Then Van Dyke ran for Congress— on the Democratic
ticket in a Republican district— and won, in 1914, through
support of postal men and thousands of friends. The first
congressman to specialize in openly championing the railway
mail clerks' cause, he secured them many legislative benefits.
154 MAIL BY RAIL
He prominently publicized some three hundreds clerks' resig-
nations he had on file, to be handed in if thino^s didn't im-
prove. He pleaded for true unionism in the R.M.A.; but
meanwhile President Schardt had been appointed a chief
clerk in January 1914, to be succeeded by a typical rigid
conservative from Topeka, Kansas— George H. Fair.
On May 1, 1914, the American Federation of Labor chart-
ered the B.R.P.C, as a full-fledged affiliated union, with
Clarence A. Locke as president. They still had plenty of in-
justices to fight against, as their Harpoon files reveal— intimi-
dation against Brotherhood membership direct from avowed
anti-unionist General Superintendent Stephens; a nerve-rack-
ing, demerit-backed "speed test" introduced on all trains to
hound any efficient clerk who was nervous under observation
or just a bit slower than average (some were fired); withheld
promotions for those in official disfavor; rail passes for poli-
ticians and rigidly restricted commissions for clerks; con-
tinued fatal wrecks; diversion of letters and newspapers to
the new terminal R.P.O.s (set up to take over parcels and
circulars), delayed in sacks "held until full"; new mountains
of "stuck" mail, due to insufficient force and poor handling;
and recruiting of "bums off the streets" for substitutes, as
portrayed in a vivid, "libelous" Harpoon cartoon showing
Hitchcock beckoning to them from the window of a house
of ill fame labeled "Postal Service."
And in December, Postmaster General Burleson (who had
succeeded Hitchcock) actually expanded his predecessor's
stern policies in a vindictive proposal to Congress to abolish
the Postal Service's eight-hour day, the one day's rest in
seven, the eleven thousand promotions due to be made in
1915; to cut substitute's salaries to thirty cents an hour, and
put all terminals in the lowest pay classification. He pointed
with pride to this $22,000,000 economy saving to be taken
from the government's most underpaid employees. Yet the
Raihvay Post Office, although publishing articles by progres-
sives decrying the bill and even praising Urban Walter's good
work (June 1913), went the conservative limit editorially-
stating it could not criticize a single point of this program!
PERILOUS DAYS 155
But the outraged protests of the B.R.P.C. and R.M.A. pro-
gressives brought immediate defeat to the measure, as pub-
Hcly admitted by Congress.
While the B.R.P.C. expanded its lodges, Senator William
E. Borah was now persuaded to draft a bill to eliminate the
speed test, and hundreds of clerks signed a petition in sup-
port thereof. Stephens promptly announced that he would
"remove for lying" every clerk signing it, adding, "I have
the power, authority, and inclination to" do so. Borah then
openly attacked Stephens in Congress, revealing the scores of
letters he had recei\ed from clerks intimidated into writing
him to "remove my name from the petition;" and accused
him of violating the Act of 1912. Every Civil Service publi-
cation except the Railway Post Office ("That worse than vile
journal"— Walter) joined in denouncing the Stephens threat,
as did the new Congressman Van Dyke.
The crisis came in 1915. Yielding to the agitation, the
Department abruptly demoted Stephens to a division super-
intendent and replaced him by J. P. Johnson. And, tired of
appeasement tactics, R.M.A. members were crying, "Beat the
Old Gang!" to unseat Fair and Bindeman in their elections—
which they did, selecting Ryan (the fighting progressive from
Roslindale, Massachusetts) as president and Collins to a new
position of industrial secretary, to fight for good legislation
and better conditions. Collins, a Chic. & Minn. (CMStP&P)
clerk from \'^erona, W^isconsin, was installed at the San Fran-
cisco Convention in June together with Ryan, and in August
the association succeeded in unseating Bindeman and elect-
ing another progressive, Henry G. Strickland, of Kansas City,
as Railway Post Office editor.
Backed by most R.M.A. members and the Brotherhood,
as well as by the Harpoon's nine thousand to twenty-four
thousand subscribers (reports vary), the anti-speed-test law
was passed. Representative T. L. Reilly, Senator Simmons,
and others joined Borah and Van Dyke in sponsoring good
postal legislation; Reilly even got a B.R.P.C. worker ap-
pointed as a chief clerk at Richmond, Virginia. But the
department had not given up the fight, as evidenced by Sec-
156 MAIL BY RAIL
ond Assistant Stewart's heated objections to that appoint-
ment. It chose R.M.A. President Edward J. Ryan as its
immediate target, since he had just issued a plainly worded
(but respectful) protest against some increases in working
hours at lower pay and against unusual hardships and mail
delays already mentioned.
As a direct result, President Ryan and two other leaders
were discharged from the R. M.S.— for "circulating false and
misleading information and fomenting discontent" among
the clerks (cleverly circumventing the Anti-Gag Act in the
wording). Ryan presented a masterful defense, proving that
he had circulated only true facts and that the only "fomented
discontent" in the R.M.S. was because of conditions he was
trying to correct. Stewart, however, not only upheld the
dismissal but canceled from thence forth all R.M.A. extended
leaves and travel privileges and ordered all remaining asso-
ciation officers back to their jobs as clerks.
Strickland and Ross immediately resigned from the Service,
and all three national officers were promptly voted full-time
salaries by the Association— an unprecedented step. By 1916,
R.M.A. officers were actively co-operating with Legislative
Representative Yeates of the B.R.P.C. in backing Van Dyke's
bills in Congress for fifteen-day paid vacations, limited hours,
and better conditions in general— although three old-guard
division presidents, and apparently General Superintendent
Johnson, actually opposed the bills. The bills were passed,
including one which restored reduced layoffs and the termi-
nal straight eight-hour day which had been eliminated by
Stephens; others provided full time for deadheading under
orders and gave holiday and promotion benefits. But the
Department still refused to compromise on the labor affilia-
tion; inspectors opened clerks' letters or hid in doorways to
spot labor-minded R.M.A. officers attending meetings. A
clerk could still get fired by stating facts the "office" didn't
like.
The B.R.P.C. was still determined to eradicate these con-
ditions and others; but its principal battles having been won,
and not havinor much over two thousand members, the idea
PERILOUS DAYS 157
of merging with a stronger union came up when Walter
decided to resign as secretary-treasurer and editor. When
the R.M.A. refused to consider the Brotherhood's offer to
merge with them (June 1915), provided that an A. F. of L-
affiliation referendum be held, Carl Freeman (Walter's suc-
cessor) proposed the affiliated National Federation of Post
Office Clerks as a substitute.
The B.R.P.C. voted to approve; and first of all, the famed
Harpoon ended its eight-year career in February 1917, when
it was absorbed as the "Harpoon Section" of the Federation's
Union Postal Clerk. The Brotherhood itself came to the end
of the road on April 25, 1917, when it amalgamated— at least
in theory— with the N.F.P.O.C. But immediate new develop-
ments altered the situation.
The now largely pro-labor R.M.A. , in convention at
Cleveland, directed its Executive Committee to take a refer-
endum vote of its existing members— exclusive of any B.R.P.C.
influx— on the controversial affiliation question; it also au-
thorized the establishment of permanent association head-
quarters in Washington. Two future national presidents
(Collins and J. F. Bennett, a clerk from Alleghany, New York,
on the Erie's N.Y. Sc Salamanca) and a future division super-
intendent were on the Affiliation Committee, which was eager
to reverse traditional policies entirely and take over the
Brotherhood's coveted A.F. of L. charter.
They won— 6,000 votes for affiliation, 2,072 against; and
the R.M.A. 's A.F. of L. charter was issued December 22, 1917.
On either January 1 or February 5, 1918, the association's
new offices were opened in Washington's Bond Building— to
be moved to the A.F. of L. Building in 1920. Aside from its
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Beneficiary Headquarters, oc-
cupied since 1902, this was the R.M.A.'s first real home-the
headquarters having been divided between various presi-
dent's homes, editorial offices in Kansas City, and temporary
rooms in Washington's Continental Hotel.
A large number of B.R.P.C. members now enrolled in the
R. M. A. directly, while the others— temporarily under the
N.F. P.O.C.'s wing— were retransferred to the association by
158 MAIL BY RAIL
agreement with the latter federation. (Hence the common
report that the Brotherhood and the R.M.A. "amalgamated"
in 1917.) The real fight was over at last, and the one thou-
sand clerks in three areas who had written out resignations
could now tear them up. The danger of gross injustice and
summary dismissal Avas over, for the power of millions in the
ranks of organized labor was behind the R.M.A.
Legislative benefits secured by the R.M.A. in 1917 included
travel allowances of $1.20 daily and a prohibition of salary
reductions in reorganizations. The Association had redeemed
itself as an undominated fraternal labor union ready to fight
for its members; and Walter, his work in this field done,
turned to other fields— editing a militant journal (Playfair)
for World War I servicemen until his death about 1919. He
was a fearless genius, "sympathetic, square, and upright."
The united Association forged ahead, helping to secure a
.$200 salary increase, $2 travel allowances, and other benefits.
But there was one more serious hurdle to mount: "When
R. M. A. officers asked for a departmental conference on non-
legislative problems, Burleson and his cohorts refused to see
or even recognize them. "They are not railway postal clerks,"
they claimed. Thereupon most of the division R.M.A. presi-
dents (active clerks constituting the Executive Committee,
now Board of Directors) decided to meet with the Depart-
ment without their national officers; but two, the much-
maligned Benton of the 8th Division, and Botkin of the 6th,
stayed away and held out for 100 per cent recognition. Their
firm stand was instrumental (after two fruitless conferences
by the others) in securing the R.M.A. 's complete acceptance
as the clerks' official representatives in 1920. Another help
was the fact that Burleson had just been replaced by Post-
master General AVill Hayes, an understanding man deter-
mined to "humanize the postal service" (he had an inch cut
off the huge No. 1 pouches— called humanizers to this day!).
Early in 1921 the first collective-bargaining agreement ever
made between the government and a federal union, the
R.M.A., was signed by both sides. Samuel Gompers held it
up as a model to other A.F. of L. groups. Meanwhile the
PERILOUS DAYS 159
affiliated groups had secured passage of the first retirement
law in 1920 (annuities began at $180 to $720 annually); over-
time at straight time was secured, sick leave with pay restored,
and a standard seniority system drawn up by the R.M.A. and
adopted by the Department. All later amendments thereto
were made by the R.M.A.
Aside from certain retrogressions in 1932—33 (pay cuts,
especially) and in the late 1940s, steady progress has been
made by the Association ever since. Many new friends in
Congress arose: Senators James M. Mead, Thomas A. Burch,
G. H. Moses, and William Langer; Representatives Clyde
Kelly, John H. Tolan, and many others. The N.P.T.A. has
secured hundreds of benefits since 1920 which we cannot
possibly list here, but outstanding among them are (1) pro-
gressive salary increases culminating in a $300 annual war
time bonus in 1943 (made permanent at $400 in 1945),
another $400 increase in 1945, one of $450 in 1948, and one
of $120 on November 1, 1949; (2) steady increases in travel
allowances, formerly $3 per day, on up to $6 by 1948; (3)
longevity payment for current service beginning in 1945,
amended to include past service in 1949; (4) increased com-
pensation for night work and for travel on high-speed trains;
(5) a five and one-half, then a five-day week, in 1935; and (6)
liberalized annual and sick leave and promotions. By ad-
ministrative bargaining, the Service Rating System was hu-
manized and its provisions published; fairly strict sanitary
standards were put in force; trains were made safer, with few
or no fatalities in most recent years; other abuses were
rectified.
In 1947 the straight eight-hour day (with lunch, wash-up,
and clothes-changing while on duty) was restored to the
terminals, P.T.S., thirty years after its abolition by Stephens;
but within a year the whole setup was abruptly withdrawn.
Similarly, after enjoying standard pay-grade status for years
after Stephens's day, the terminals were cut to the lower
salary grade in 1933 and still remain there; and the high-
speed train differential was abolished in 1950. Remembering
also that all the above salary increases fall far below the
160 MAIL BY RAIL
current rise in cost of living, it can be seen that much remains
to be done, as outlined later in Chapter 16.
Meanwhile Collins had succeeded Ryan in the R.M.A.
presidency in 1921, with Strickland becoming industrial sec-
retary as well as editor. CoUins's outstanding work was cut
short by his death in 1936, and impressive memorials were
later erected to both him and Van Dyke. Bennett succeeded
him, supervising the completion of a new Home Office in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the next year. At that office.
Secretary J. J. Kennedy of Boston succeeded Ross in 1936,
retiring in 1949 to give way to Jerauld McDermott of Indi-
anapolis. The presidential chair has seen hectic days since
1941, when Bennett was succeeded by Chester M. Harvey of
St. Paul. Harvey was considered too conservative by oppon-
ents who defeated him in 1947; Robert Rice of the Chic.
&: Minn. (CMStP&P), an aggressive union worker and branch
president, won the office. Then Rice, embroiled in differences
with National Vice-President Ole Twait, was unseated— along
with Twait— and replaced by President William M. Thomas,
a Houston & Corpus Christi (T&NO) clerk from Royce City,
Texas, and former division president, in 1949; he now heads
the association and has won its undivided loyalty.
In December 1949 the R.M.A. was officially renamed the
National Postal Transport Association, as directed by its
Omaha Convention, to conform to the new name of the
Service; and in January 1950 the Railway Post Office became
the Postal Transport Journal. It is edited by Industrial Sec-
retary John L. Reilly (ex-N.Y. & Chic— NYCent), who suc-
ceeded Bennett (the only man ever to have held three nation-
al offices) as editor in 1945; Bennett had taken over upon
Strickland's untimely death in 1943. In the official world
George E. Miller (previously mentioned) succeeded Deputy
Assistant P.M.G. John D. Hardy, a popular holder of the
position, in 1948; while Hardy, known as "General Superin-
tendent" when appointed, had followed Steve Cisler in 1938.
This top position is now designated by the title "Assistant
Executive Director of Transportation."
In general the N.P.T.A. has held steadfastly to its status
PERILOUS DAYS 161
as a strong, independent fraternal union as attained in 1917.
Strictly "open-shop," however, it has never coerced any clerk
to join it, and its dues are unbelievably low— $1.75 to $2
monthly, including insurance premiums and local dues
(initiations are only $5)! Every postal transportation clerk,
despite universal benefits obtained by the N.P.T.A., is free
to exercise his traditional "right to work" and to join it or
decline to join. And this policy has paid off— the N.P.T.A.,
including nearly every eligible clerk in its membership of
twenty-eight thousands, has probably the finest record of or-
ganizational loyalty within the industry of any voluntary
labor union in the world.
Even its most labor-minded leaders believe in friendliness
and respect toward P.T.S. officials whenever possible, and
such is nearly always the case. But, when felt necessary, there
is plenty of frank criticism expressed. Throughout the years
since 1917 the N.P.T.A.'s official journal has printed state-
ments that it would have abhorred as traitorous before that
date, as witness a fairly recent item:
. . . The extent to which the present General Super-
intendent has gone ... is a matter of common kno^vledge.
Legally he may have had the authority to do things which
at the same time are morally wrong and repugnant to
a sense of fairness and equity.
This excerpt (which does not refer to any present P.T.S.
official) was written by an ordinary mail clerk without any
hesitation, although in an earlier day he would have soon
lost his job thereby. And yet the N.P.T.A. is so proud of
high P.T.S. work standards that it firmly opposes any "easing"
of clerks' distribution and "exam" requirements.
The N.P.T.A.'s national president (salary now $9,500—
originally $3,000), vice president, and industrial secretary-
editor hold forth in a comfortably furnished suite of four
huge, high-ceilinged rooms comprising the third floor of the
noted Ashburton Mansion (1525 H Street) in Washington.
Nicely refurnished as an office annex of the A.F. of L., this
handsome and historic building has provided a separate room
162 MAIL BY RAIL
for each officer since they moved from the A.F. of L. Building
in 1948. The fourth room, with an annex, is for the secre-
tarial staff. Fireplaces, ranging from polished red marble to
rich wood finish, grace each office; the editorial sanctum also
houses the N.P.T.A. library of books on P.T.S., postal, labor,
and government matters as well as bound volumes of the
Postal Trayisport Journal. Attractive divans and other fur-
nishings greet the ever-welcome visitor.
The Beneficiary Department, still managed from the Ports-
mouth, New Hampshire, office, handles all membership work
and issuance of accident certificates; it pays $24.50 to $31.50
weekly for accidental disability (and $4,000 for accidental
death) from any external cause on or off duty. An attractive
building is occupied exclusively by this office. Its work has
been highly commended by state insurance commissioners
and other experts. One of its big headaches is in convincing
claimants that reporting all details of a ride and a picnic
which was followed by an accident, or writing simply, "Was
mowing lawn when accident happened," does not constitute
a report of the accident itself.
Besides a beneficiary certificate (unless a mere "social
member)" and membership card, members receive a round
gold pin bearing the Association's name, the A.F. of L. hand-
clasp, and the new lock-shaped N.P.T.A. shield (showing
train, plane, H.P.O. and terminal). The older pin, in old-
time mail-lock shape and reading "R.M.A.— A.F.L.," is still
by far the most commonly used, however. It corresponds to
the stinger of the railroad brotherhoods; although the Asso-
ciation is, of course, pledged not to strike. The membership,
in 15 division associations, corresponding to the P.T.S. divis-
ions, is subdivided into local branches found in every large
city or railroad center. Division and national conventions
are held every two years.
N.P.T.A. elections and conventions are strictly big-time
affairs, with plenty of pungency, publicity, and politics. Lead-
ing candidates for the $8,000-and-up national offices buy space
lavishly for full-page ads in the Postal Transport Journal, and
words wax hot amid proclamations of ideal ability, charges of
PERILOUS DAYS 16S
Utter unfitness, and countercharges of departure from the
truth. "WARNING!"-"A Rank Fraud Exposed!"-"Fault-
finders!" are typical headlines over candidates' statements
or comments thereon. In the best political tradition, the
aspirant's most flattering photo usually accompanies his
"committee's" broadside. The pre-convention ballot is held
by mail. Finally about one hundred elected delegates join
with hundreds of visitors at the official hotel in the conven-
tion city, and a colorful week-long assembly begins. There
are sight-seeing trips, banquets, and special celebrations
scheduled, but the busy delegates have to leave such pleasures
mostly to the ladies and visitors; they are too tied up in com-
mittee meetings and sessions of the Board of Directors. Na-
tional magazines and business associations are represented;
the Asst. Executive Director of Transportation (ex-Gen. Supt.
R.M.S.), the Postmaster General or other high postal officials,
senators, the city's mayor and postmaster, and other promi-
nent leaders invariably address the delegates by invitation at
the start. Then comes the installation of officers; an inspiring
memorial service; reports of the various committees, with
hundreds of resolutions to be passed; necessary new business;
and probab'- an adjournment in the Avitching hours before
dawn. An N.P.T.A. convention is no pleasure junket.
Since P.T.S. officials have always been promoted from the
ranks, a policy has arisen of expecting them to retain N.P.T.A.
membership but not to continue as officers thereof (for such
division and national N.P.T.A. officers are most likely to be
appointed officials). AVith few exceptions, these promoted
union leaders usually remember their clerking days well and
become wise and understanding P.T.S. officials. Retired
Deputy Assistant Hardy is still a member of the Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, branch.
While some benefits and improvements for P.T.S. person-
nel have, of course, originated from humane officials honestly
seekins; the welfare of the clerks, the record seems clear that
most beneficial legislation and departmental rulings have
originated otherwise— as a result of the efforts of the N.P.T.A.
and its affiliated postal unions. Any skeptic who doubts the
164 MAIL BY RAIL
power of the National Postal Transport Association in better-
ing conditions among the clerks is referred to some simple
examples:
An oft-repeafed N.P.T.A. resolution:
"We favor the Department ordering District Superin-
tendents to call in a committee of clerks whenever a re-
organization [of a line] is contemplated . . ."
The Department's reply:
. . . Proposed change would be impracticable.
A second resolution:
"We request tabulations on pay checks as to salary,
night differential, travel allowance, and deductions."
(Also, "leave-request slips showing amount of annual
leave remaining.")
Reply:
Unnecessary and impracticable. Such information
may be obtained by any employe on request.
A third resolution:
"We favor facilities for distribution on aircraft where
length of route and volume of mail justifies, such distri-
bution to be done by railway postal clerks."
Reply {in effect):
This is impracticable and not necessary.
THE FINAL RESULT:
After continual urging by the Association, every sug-
gested proposal was adopted by the Department within
a few years at most. (The Flying Post Offices, still in
experimental stages, were definitely dubbed "successful.")
The Seniority Rules, administered by the Department for
the N.P.T.A. as stated, consist of many highly complex regu-
lations; but the newest rules (put in effect July 2, 1950) are
based on the principle that seniority is determined by date
of appointment to the organization or line to which assigned.
PERILOUS DAYS 165
Nation-wide seniority as existing on railroad systems is un-
known, and a clerk transferring to another line must start at
the bottom of the list again in most respects. A senior clerk
"surplused" from a discontinued line is often transferred to a
new one where he is junior to clerks much younger in the Ser-
vice than he. Although the membership once voted for a cer-
tain type of straight service seniority, the Department object-
ed to it as impracticable.
The heart of the N.P.T.A. is in its local branches. The
largest three, with about one thousand clerks each, are the
New York (2nd Division) Branch, the Illinois (Gth Division)
Branch at Chicago, and the Kansas City Branch; New York
is tops just now with 1,243. Others have from a dozen or two
members up to hundreds. Activities and characteristics of
the various branches provide some remarkable contrasts.
Practically all of them go in for big feeds and social good
times of all sorts; but the latter range from the very enjoyable
parties and picnics of the Washington, D. C, Branch where
nothins: stronsrer than lemonade has been served to the riot-
ous stag smokers of a branch not too far away, featuring
powerful liquid refreshment and very questionable entertain-
ment! Many branches and most divisions issue newssheets.
The hu2:e New York Branch, though a storm center of con-
troversy, has had a tremendous impact upon N.P.T.A. affairs
in the last five years— largely through its aggressive journal,
the Opeti Pouch, which has been a printed, nationally circu-
lated newspaper since 1945. At that time the branch launched
a powerful campaign for the correction of Service abuses—
simultaneously accusing incumbent national R.M.A. leaders
of incompetence, subservience to the Department, discrimi-
nation against Negro clerks (then constitutionally barred
from the entire association), alleged censorship, and failure
to editorialize against wrecks and bad conditions on the part
of the Railway Post Office, and deserting the principles of
union labor.
In rebuttal, the national officers stated that the branch was
a leftist group dominated by Communists; that the R.M.A.
was holding to its true ideals, free of departmental domina-
166 MAIL BY RAIL
don; that the association was not a union, but a fraternity
in wliich dangerous social problems would result if discrimi-
nation were ended; that the Railway Post Office considered
its frank reports and photographs of wrecks, with its sympa-
thies to the bereaved, as qute sufficient editorializing— and
that no censorship existed. The branch and its sympathizers
(mostly in the 2nd or N. Y.— N. J. Division) were ostracized,
and they were unable to elect a single division officer or
National Convention delegate that year (1945). In two short
years, however, they were able to elect fighting Open Pouch
editor George Cutler as division president, plus nearly half
the area's national delegates— and they repeated this in 1949.
They were active in the 1947 unseating of National President
Harvey, although they later also repudiated his "pro-labor"
successor they supported. When New York State and others
passed Fair Employment laws forbidding union discrimina-
tion the branch backed them and applied for legal authority
to admit negroes. The National R.M.A., at high cost, fought
the proposal in the courts but eventually lost when the
Supreme Court declared the association to be a true labor
union; it had to amend its constitution, and now admits
clerks regardless of race to branches in states and cities hav-
ing anti-discrimination laws. The general constitutional bar
still remains, but at each successive recent National Conven-
tion a larger percentage of delegates voted for a change (now
50 per cent).
It is still early to attempt an evaluation of merits in such
a recent controversy, in which tempers have flared and some
unwise utterances and misstatements of facts have been
made on both sides. Probably the New York Branch's poli-
cies and tactics were too extreme, and it may contain some
individual radicals or leftists; but it must be admitted
that (1) it has had a largely stimulating and wholesome in-
fluence in reawakening the N.P.T.A. to its status as a non-
dominated union and to its obligations to improve some
crying abuses that are still rampant; that (2) careful inside
observation has revealed no evidence of Communist leanings
on the part of the branch's top officers, despite the suspension
PERILOUS DAYS 167
of one active member on allegedly trumped-up "subversive
activity" charges (shades of Carl Van Dyke!) in 1949— its own
Open Pouch has declared against Communism; and (3) that
despite some unfortunate methods it has courageously fought
for true democracy in action (not social intimacy) in N.P.T.A,
race relations— conforming to the fair policies of the P.T.S.
itself, in which white and colored clerks work together in
equality and harmony. Even some Tennessee and Alabama
N.P.T.A. officers have backed N. Y. Branch policy. (Most
colored clerks belong to the National Alliance of Postal
Employees.)
The N.P.T.A. can well be proud of its Postal Transport
Journal, one of the finest magazines in the field, despite this
group's objection to it. During his long editorship, Henry
Strickland had built up the Railway Post Office into a com-
prehensive and interesting journal, edited with his prov-
erbial friendly tolerance. Editor Bennett first introduced
colorful covers and modern layouts, and the present editor,
popular John L. Reilly, has continued improving it with
special new features, photographic department headings, a
"Contents," and other innovations. With very few excep-
tions, it prints all material submitted, unless the Board of
Directors rejects an article as defamatory or scurrilous. Presi-
dential and Secretarial Reports, in each monthly issue, are
followed by the voluminous Branch Notes, reporting meet-
ings and personal doings every^^'here; a story in themselves,
they vary from the dry or commonplace to talented and witty
reports of wide interest. Some have even been in concealed-
rhyme poetry (by S. J. Brian, Jr.), while Leon Cushman pub-
lished a clever satire of one from the "Fallen Arch, Idaho"
Branch. General articles, followed by editorials, are inserted
between the two reports.
There is an active national Women's Auxiliary to the
N.P.T.A., founded at Indianapolis, June 7, 1899, at Organ-
izer Bill Fry's suggestion. Auxiliary women have plenty in
common, for their husband's occupation is a trying one from
their standpoint— daytime sleeping, coming and going at all
hours, horribly soiled work clothes to wash, a husband either
168 MAIL BY RAIL
gone for days or underfoot for a week, schemes and cards
to look for and perhaps correct or assist with. Auxiliary
branches feature meetings with book reviews, lectures, clerk
welfare discussions, sewing. As with N.P.T.A. branches,
their tastes vary from cultural meetings opened with prayer
or Scripture, to the wild beer-and-cigarette parties of other
units! The National Auxiliary furnishes scholarship loans
to talented children of clerks and holds its convention along
with the N.P.T.A.'s.
There are other interesting railway mail clerks' organiza-
tions. Besides the M.B.A., as mentioned, there are other in-
surance groups, such as the national Postal Transport Hos-
pital Association of Kansas City, and many "Immediate
Relief" groups, such as the National Immediate Relief Asso-
ciation at Washington. In New England the "Spring Line
Association" and "Shore Line Association" of clerks running
on the New Haven (the Bos., Spg. k N.Y. and Bos. R: N.Y.,
respectively) are famous for their clambakes and social affairs.
A unique St. Louis & Texarkana Last Man's Club has been
active since veterans of that former MoPac Line started it
in 1940. There is a South Carolina Railway Mail Club, with
its own clubhouse at Folly Beach; a Railway Postal Club at
Lexington, Kentucky; an N.P.T.A. Social Club at Denison,
Texas; two Railway Mail clubs (with dormitories) at New
York and Boston; various P.T.S. Bowling Leagues, and other
sports groups. The Postal Transport Hospital Assn. is now
affiliated with the N.P.T.A. One and all, they help perpetu-
ate the spirit of fraternity and mutual benefit that postal
clerks have always cherished.
Chapter 10
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL
Have you heard about the White Mail that wended thru the hills.
And days when all the slow train boys stepped off for daffodils;
Of a Narrow Gauge's engineer who stopped his train so still
While the fireman kissed his sweetheart who lived upon the hill?
Of Evans on the Kill. Sc Trin. who hunted hill and vale
While the train crew coaled the engine from that funny crank-
up pail?
— Tudor Francis Brown
Shortly after 4 p.m. each week-
day, a group of multiple-unit elec-
tric cars— Train 2068— pulls out of
Penn Station, New York City, east-
bound into the Long Island Rail
Road tunnel; one passenger car
-Courtesy Postal Markings has a tiny R.P.O. compartment,
containing a lone postal clerk bus-
ily at work. Yet its destination is not some distant town, but
merely the Far Rockaway section of New York City, out in
Queens— and every morning, Train 2010 does the same thing.
This R.P.O. serves several independent post offices both out-
side and within the city (of which Far Rockaway is one); yet,
when operated on its normal loop route, it never once leaves
the city on its return trip (or morning outgoing trip)— the
only loop R.P.O., and the only wholly intra-city outboinid
or inbound R.P.O. run anywhere in America! At this writ-
ing, the latter service has been suspended since May 8, 1950,
due to a Jamaica Bay trestle fire; but its unique terminal
points are still within the same city. No other R.P.O. boasts
that distinction; although one California H.P.O. does (Los
169
170 MAIL BY RAIL
Angeles & San Pedro, the later being part of Los Angeles.)
Before the fire the afternoon run, Train 1072-1073, always
operated clockwise about the loop, while a morning train ran
around the other way. (The present morning run is now ex-
tended to Rockaway Point.) And the postal clerk, with only
two 2-hour round trips and a little advance work, must work
out his allotted time between trains in the Penn Terminal,
P.T.S., upstairs, in order to obtain a suitable layoff.
Such is the amazing New York & Far Rockaway R.P.O.
(LIRR), long-famed as one of the most utterly incredible
operations of the P.T.S. The existence of R.P.O. service on
this 23-mile electric line is largely explained by the unusual
nature of the postal facilities of New York City— which,
uniquely enough is served by seven independent post offices
instead of one: New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Jamaica,
Flushing, Long Island City, and Far Rockaway. The last
four, with large branch offices for each community center in
Queens, provide that Borough with all its mail service; and
it is quite possible for mails from one Queens office to be
sorted on an R.P.O. and dispatched to another, both being
within New York City. The N.Y. & Far Rockaway, an im-
portant link in this service, connects New York P.O. (Man-
hattan Borough) with Far Rockaway P.O. (Queens Borough).
Dozens of additional commuter trains, many with C.P. mails,
ply over this third-rail line daily.
Hefty loads of mail are received at Penn Station, and an
assistant helps the lone regular clerk until leaving time. An
old hand at the game, he makes up only a dozen or so
separations on a "blind" letter case. But he has a busy run.
with plenty of "hot local" to manage as he emerges from the
tunnel, skirting the busy industries of Long Island City, past
the nondescript frame houses and business center of Wood-
side, and hard by vacant lots, row-houses, and apartments
into fashionable Forest Hills. After serving busy Jamaica,
he crosses City Line into Laurelton and Valley Stream;
swinging south through open suburban country past various
"manor" stations, he serves Lawrence and Hewlett in Nassau
County before recrossing the city limits into Inwood
AMAZING FACTS OF THE R.\ILWAY MAIL 171
(Queens) and Far Rockaway, As we write, it is necessary to
make the return journey exactly the same way. But normally
the train (having changed its number at Valley Stream) stops
only momentarily and continues straight ahead, soon turning
north over the trestle to Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Wood-
side, all within New York City, and back to Manhattan; the
clerk hangs return-trip pouches long before reaching Far
Rockaway, working both outbound and inbound mail. The
unique line's future is, as yet, unsettled; but part of it may
be absorbed by the city sub-way system.
Equally incredible are the "records" held by some other
lines. Our oldest R.P.O, has operated continuously for 86
years— the C&iNW's historic Chic. Sc Omaha, as we know from
Chapter 7. Our newest railway post office seems to be the
Alpena Sc Durand (D&:M-GTW) in Michigan, established
February 5, 1950; its 53-mile Bay City-Durand segment had
not had R.P.O. service for years (the rest, old Cheboygan &:
Bay City R.P.O., was closed pouch Cheb-Alpena).
The longest R.P.O. in the United States is the Williston
& Seattle (GN), 1168.9 miles from North Dakota to Washing-
ton State! HoAvever, the route is in three divisions, with
clerks changed at each point; and the longest clerks' run for
individual clerks seems to be from Elkhart, Ind., to Syracuse,
N. Y., 570.8 miles, on the N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent). But the
longest run of a crew is apparently the East Div., Kansas City
& Albuquerque R.P.O. (Santa Fe), terminating at La Junta,
Colo.— 569 miles on its longest route. (The longest R.P.O.
on record, however, as well as the longest run, used to be the
old Deming Sc San Francisco R.P.O. (SP), New Mexico to
California, 1198 miles.)
The shortest rail-operated R.P.O. is the Carbondale &
Scranton, on the D. & H., in the Pennsylvania coal region— a
16-mile branch line. The lone clerk makes one daily round
trip, with considerable advance -work at Scranton; he makes
up 20 pouches dispatched to distant points on star routes
even before leaving; and then has just 40 minutes for his
actual run via Dickson City and Ohphant. {Note 22). Un-
til 1949, however, the far shorter 10y2-mile Thurmond &: Mt.
172 MAIL BY RAIL
Hope (C&:0-formerly ihe Thur. & Price Hill, 11 1^ miles)
had always held the record; it, too, was in a mining region,
winding through a picturesque West Virginia canyon. Run-
ning engine-backwards, southbound, this busy peewee line
was cut out on September 17, 1949. However, the shortest
line designated as an R.P.O., a tiny lake-boat run mentioned
later, is only 9.5 miles long.
The fastest R.P.O. between its termini is North Platte &:
Denver (UP) Train 112, averaging nearly 70 mph; but from
Kankakee to Rantoul Chic. Sc Memphis 1 (IC), the City of New
Orleans, claims the title. Fastest local train is N.Y. k Wash.
(PRR-electric) Train 255. What was once claimed as the fast-
est run on record was made by Pitts. & Chic. Train 29, the
PRR's Broadway Limited, at Ada, Ohio, June 12, 1905 (al-
legedly, three miles in eighty-five seconds); and the fastest sus-
tained long run may have been that of Engineer Bob
Butterfield from Albany to New York on the N. Y. Central's
Century, N.Y. & Chic. R.P.O. , on October 13, 1904, with
future R.M.A. President Canfield as C.-in-C, which made up
all but seven minutes after leaving Albany one hour and ten
minutes late— allegedly reaching a 105-mph speed. (Both
speed figures are seriously questioned today.) The Omaha
& Denver (CBRrQ) is said to make up to 100 mph at times.
One amazing: R.P.O. runs over six different railroads and
also makes a unique "catch" at Greggton, Texas, by slowing
down while incoming mail is thrown into a storage-car door—
the Little Rock R: Fort Worth (MoPac-Tex&:P-CRI&P-FtW&
DC-GC&SF-BurlRI). Another has a train number almost
longer than its line— the tiny thirty-three-mile Dott &: Poca-
hontas (N&W-W.Va.-Va.), on which Train No. 28-51-129-
130-51-131-72-51-72-51-68-51 darts into numerous side-tracks,
changing its number each time.
The largest R.P.O. train in the coimtry is now N.Y. k
Chicago (NYCent) West Division Train 14, carrying three
full R.P.O. cars and over twenty-five clerks from Chicago to
Cleveland. The N.Y. & Chic, is also the largest route in per-
sonnel, with over one thousand clerks on all trains (all
divisions); and furthermore operates the largest R.P.O. cars
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 17S
anywhere (80 ft.; 20-ft. storage). Until 1949, Train 180 of
the New Haven's Bos. & New York, a solid mail train, held
the record— it had more clerks, the same number of cars, and
furthermore covered the whole run. (It now has two full,
and one thirty-foot, R.P.O. cars; plus many storage cars, as
does N.Y. & Chic. 14.)
Nearly incredible is the fact that there is still a rural,
single-track branch-line R.P.O. operating right into New
York City. Dubbed "The Put," it is the little one-man, 51.8-
mile Bre^vster & New York; running over the N.Y. Central's
out-of-the-way Putnam Division through suburbs and typical
country scenes, it provides little mail service for either
Brewster or New York! Mails for Brewster are routed almost
entirely via the busy suburban Chat. & N.Y. run (NYCent),
while the "Put" terminates in the big town at Highbridge
(Bronx), many miles from Grand Central and the G.P.O.
But the clerk, busy with his local mails for Yorktown Heights,
Briarcliff Manor, and Elmsford, has plenty to do on his daily
round trip (three hours one way), leaving at 7:44 A.M. over
the little track hidden in Van Cortland and Yonkers parks
(its other suburban trains carry no R.P.O.). Equally unique,
in sharp contrast, was the former Clearmont &: Buffalo
(WyoRy) in Wyoming, a line with no clerk on it at all! A
"joint employee" (mail and express messenger) rode it to sort
mail for the Clearmont post office until World War II, tying
it in rolls to be slung into troughs erected by the ranchers
along a parallel R.F.D. route.
Another amazing R.P.O. is the DL8:W's N.Y. k Branch-
ville R.P.O., which is actually two totally different routes:
(1) a heavy-duty main and suburban run, electrified from
Hoboken (opposite New York) to Newark, Morristown, and
Dover, N. J., with some trains continuing to Branchville,
New Jersey; and (2) a steam line from Hoboken to Paterson,
Boonton, Dover, and Washington, New Jersey, sharing only
a few short miles of route (out of Dover) with the main line.
Furthermore, the trunk-line trains of the N.Y., Scranton &
Buffalo R.P.O. (DL&:W) operate over most of both routes
several times daily! It is no wonder that perplexed postal
174 MAIL BY RAIL
clerks often send mail to the wrong route— a situation which
could be avoided by redesignating the Boonton branch as the
"N.Y., Paterson & Wash. R.P.O." Incidentally, "The Branch"
(as it's called) serves at least six New Jersey towns bearing
the same names as do offices in Virginia supplied by the
Wash. Sc Charlotte (Sou)— Orange, Chatham, Roseland, Madi-
son, Stephensburg, and Washington.
Numerous other interesting examples of two lines desig-
nated as one are found everywhere, such as the PRR's unique
N.Y. & Philadelphia R.P.O. This is not the busy main line
between those two cities (the N.Y. & Wash.), but rather the
"old back road" track of the historic Camden & Amboy R.R.,
one of the first in America. Today not a single train runs the
whole length of "The Amboy;" the northern segment diverges
from a busy suburban route at South Amboy (which in turn
veers off the main line at Rahway), and continues southwest
to Spottswood, Jamesburg, and Monmouth Junction— rejoin-
ing the main line into Trenton, New Jersey. Multiple-unit
electric cars furnish the service— except on week-ends, when
an electric locomotive takes over. The original "Amboy"
track misses Trenton, however, and continues southward
from Jamesburg and Bordentown as a double-tracked steam
line used by the N.Y. & Phila.'s soutJiern segment— a totally
distinct R.P.O.— from Trenton via a Bordentown cut-off and
Burlington to Camden, New Jersey (opposite Philadelphia).
The single north-end train makes no connection with the
various south-end trains, and vice versa; packages labeled
simply "N.Y. & Phila." of course can not be properly handled
by either segment and must be worked out on the main line
first. But the railroad considers the southern segment an ex-
tension of its "Bel-Del" (Phillips. & Trenton) route— and
sometimes runs mail trains over both stretches with the same
number (R.P.O. crews and title being changed at Trenton)!
The Spokane, Pasco & Portland (SP&S) even includes a
long branch at right angles, on a different railway!^ Then
'Wishram & Bend branch (Wash. -Ore., Ore. Trunk Ry.). Newest such branch,
one off the Rous. Pt. & Alb. (D&H), just commenced operation to Lake George,
N. Y. on Oct. 2, 1950. The Port. & Boston (B&M) comprises two totally different
routes— one out of Portland, Me., one out of Intervale, N. H.
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 17.5
there was an old R.P.O. once due to "catch" its own terminal
station— exchange mails by crane with its end-of-run post
office. This ^vas the famed old Rumsey & Elmira (SP) or
"Rum & Gum" in California; the Rumsey post office was
reached half a mile before arrival at the station, the catch
made from a crane in the postmaster's yard, and the pouch
leisurely distributed during the layover. (The clerk was said
to be the only one in the U.S. alloAved to certify to his own
"Arrival & Departure Book" signatures, since the book had
to be kept in the car, not the P.O.) Two other odd catches
(with two cranes and two catchers) are still made daily by
Memphis, Grenada R: New Orleans Trains 2 and 3 at each
of two successive stations, due to heavy first-class mails, from
its unusual forty-foot R.P.O. apartments. The longest dis-
tance between catches or other mail exchanges on any line is
from El Paso, Texas, to Columbus, New Mexico, on the SP's
El Paso & Los Angeles R.P.O., 74.7 miles.
The unique Royal Train R.P.O. (PRR-NYC-D&rH) made
only one trip— in 1939— as described in Chapter 13. On the
continuous St. Joseph k Grand I. (UP)— Omaha & Denv.
(CB&Q) route in Nebraska there is an eactly alphabetical
series of stations from A to K (Alexandria— Kenesaw) Avhich
is a boon to clerks' studies there. The ninety-six-mile St.
johnsbury R: Cambridge Jet. (St}R:LakeCh) in Vermont must
contend with a record number of 94 grade crossings and 966
bridges and culverts (twice the per-mile number of its nearest
competitor, out west). The old Nyando & Tupper Lake
(NY&rOtt), in New York State's Adirondacks, was often ex-
pected to run without benefit of postal cars; Clerk Roy V.
McPherson was forced to borrow abandoned post-office letter
cases, sort paper mail into milk cans, and nail his bags to the
wall when the railway gave forth with only a caboose or
baggage car for his use. (Clerk W. H. Miller, of Atchison,
Kansas, reports using the same milk-can technique on a snow-
bound branch line.)
Most picturesque of all, perhaps, are— or were— our mean-
dering little narrow-gage R.P.O.s. There is only one left now
in tJie United States— and even there, the railroad has applied
176 MAIL BY RAIL
to abandon service; but four are flourishing in nearby New-
foundland (see Canada, Chapter 15). On the "toughest two
hundred miles of rail in the world," the little San Juan, a
three-foot-gage train of the DRrRGW's Alamosa k Durango
R.P.O. still chugs out of Alamosa, Colorado, daily at 7 A.M.,
dips briefly into New Mexico via Chama, returns to Colorado
about noon, and spends the afternoon climbing Cumbres Pass
to Durango. So crooked is its horseshoe-curved mountain
trackage that "the A. & D." passes the same section house three
times! The thirty-foot apartment has its back rack cut to one
row to save space, and even then only a slim clerk can barely
squeeze through the aisle. The train was badly wrecked by
an avalanche in 1948.
The other famed narrow gauges of the Colorado mountains
are all gone. We must skip, alas, the vivid stories of the
picturesque Salida & Montrose (highest elevation of any
R.P.O.) and the unique Antonito Sc Santa Fe or "Chili Line"
into New Mexico (both D&RGW), recently discontinued.
Tales of the Tennessee Tweetsie, the ET8:WNC's Boone R.-
Johnson City, featured in a movie short of that name (North
Carolina to Tennessee), and Ohio's "Bend, Zigzag & Crooked"
(the BZRcC-OR&W's Bellaire & Zanesville) must wait— even
though the Tweetsie was the last slim-gauge R.P.O. in the
East, lasting until September 30, 1940. In quick retrospect we
recall the cleverly nick-named "Slow & Low" (the PC's San
Luis Obispo R: Los Olivos— note initials) in California, a typi-
cal old-time light "pension run" whose six-foot-six clerk de-
veloped a permanent stoop . . . the old, slim Wells &: Brad.
(Erie?), of which only a couple of little rails still remain em-
bedded in a Bradford, Pennsylvania, street , . . "The Narrow
Gauge" of Illinois, which was the Galesburg & Havana . . . and
scores of others elsewhere in Oregon, Virginia and so on.
But most incredible of the narrow gauges were the tiny
two-foot-wide R.P.O. tracks of Maine. A typical flea-gauge
route was the WW&F's Albion & Wiscasset, 43.5 miles, oper-
ating the smallest-known (7x7 feet) R.P.O. apartment any-
where. The one tiny mixed train left Albion daily at 5:30
A.M., its speed cut from 60 mph to 20, doubtless dreaming
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 177
of the four hundred mile slim-gauge network its promoters
planned to extend to Quebec, Province of Quebec. Its last
new postmarker was celebrated by a cacheted collectors' cover
March 8, 1933— a wreck the following June 8th "finished"
the railway for good. On the "Sandy River" (SR&:RL), two
two-foot R.P.O.s operated until 1918— the Farmington &
Rangely and Farm. &: Kingford; the twenty-one-mile Harrison
& Bridgeton on the B&SR (later B&H) also discontinued its
R.P.O. then, but ran other trains until late in the 1930s. Only
the forty-six-mile Sandy River runs had the typical mail-car
letter slot, catcher, and so on; most cars did not even have the
standard lettering on them. Some of the equipment now runs
on the Edaville Railroad, South Carver, Massachusetts.
Still another type of amazing "railway post office" is fol-
lowing the vanishing narrow-gauges into near extinction. A
paradox in name, these are the boat-line R.P.O.s which sort
mail for lakeside or bayside points in transit. (The term
"R.P.O." was assigned to them when that was the only kind
of transit-sorting unit known.) The whole tempo and atmos-
phere of life on the mail boats is startlingly different from
that in an R.P.O. car; but although four daily boat R.P.O.s
still operate part of each year, only one actual postal trans-
portation clerk still enjoys his work in the calm, quiet, and
unhurried surroundings of a secluded lake or bay! Not for
him are the roars, jerkings, and dangers of fast mail trains or
hypos, the strain of night work, the hectic life of metropolitan
maelstroms, the frantic scurry to dispatch connections. Alas,
even he must restrict his idyllic existence to summers; the rest
of the year he must take other assignments instead of his serene
"banker's hours." And the joint employees on the other three
boat runs do other boat jobs as well.
Route agents, and later R.P.O. clerks, were placed on in-
land boat lines at a very early date; postmarks apparently
applied on Lake Erie (Buffalo) and Erie Canal boats go back
to as early as 1857. By the 1890s the famed river packets and
steamers on the Ohio and Mississippi usually carried mail
units— R.P.O.s such as the old Cairo & Memphis and the
Vicksburg & New Orleans; dozens of lakes and harbors boast-
178 MAIL BY RAIL
ed the service. Eighty-two clerks were serving on forty-nine
boat routes by 1902. Nearly 250 different postmarks of boat
routes are known, although many are mere renamings, cur-
tailments, or extensions. Later the number fell sharply. Postal
regulations for the service require safe boats, a suitable mail
room, and first-class board for the mail clerk without charge;
night boats must have a sleeping compartment for the clerk's
"exclusive use." Since there are no train numbers, the boat's
postmarker may show only the date or may show directions as
"NORTH" or "SOUTH," or as "Tr 1" or "Tr 3" {trip
numbers) in standard fashion.
The one boat R.P.O. served by a regular clerk is the Inlet
& Old Forge (Leon E. Burnap Boat Line), eighteen-mile
New York State route on the Fulton Chain of Lakes in the
Adirondacks. The most startling fact about the line, how-
ever, is that it serves only two post offices and that its distri-
bution consists of sorting patrons' mail for the Old Forge
office— delivering it direct to private docks, as would an
R.F.D. carrier (similar to the old Clear. & Buff, joint-employee
R.P.O.). But the outgoing mails are sorted to proper P.T.S.
connections, via Old Forge; and the Malone &: Utica R.P.O.
(NYCent), its rail outlet, also pouches on the boat via
Thendara and Inlet. A June-through-August operation, the
boat makes two daily loop-shaped round trips, serving 125
resort hotels and camps around the lake; the first trip leaves
Old Forge, 8:30 A.M.
And this is America's only R.P.O. where a lovely swim-
suited bathing beauty, instead of the usual glum mail mes-
senger, is likely to be on hand to make the on-the-fly ex-
changes with the fortunate clerk— at present, any available
substitute is assisfned. Exchanges are made hand-to-hand
while the boat is in motion, the skipper (W. Donald Burnap)
merely slowing up a bit. Small cloth satchels are used for
patrons' exchanges (they must return one each time),
but regulation pouches must be used for authorized dis-
patches to the two post offices and the connecting rail R.P.O.
The forty-foot, motor-powered R.P.O. boat Miss Ussma
also accommodates up to twenty-six passengers as well as the
-C. E. Hurdick (Wilkins of Brooklyn, Photographer)
MAKING THE CATCH AT SHOHOLA, PENNSYLVANIA— Thousands of non-stop local
exchanges like this one, made on the Erie's New York & Salamanca Railway Post
OfRce in 1939, are still performed daily in the United States.
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HOW MEN SORT MAIL AT A MILE A MINUTE-This Is a typical close-up of clerks at
work, snapped in the Southern Railway's Washington & Charlotte Railway Post Office
on Train 34 which operates from North Carolina to the nation's capital.
- -Xew York Central System
CROSS-SECTION OF AN R.P.O. INTERIOR— This remarkable scale drawing by New
York Central engineers was used in national magazine advertisements during
World War II and shows the interior of the noted "Twentieth Century Limited" (New
York & Chicago Railway Post Office). The interior details of such a car will be found
identified and described on Pages 4, 5, and 17fF.
UNLOADING THE ALBUQUERQUE & LOS ANGELES RAILWAY POST OFFICE-Mail is
being unloaded from the storage end of this typical Santa Fe combination car (R.P.O.
apartment at left) direct onto post office-bound moving belts at Los Angeles Union
Station.
Si'.i:,; Im Railway
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A TINY FORMER TWO-FOOT GAUGE RAILWAY POST OFFICE CAR-This view of the
Harrison & Bridgeton Railway Post Office, a tiny train of the Bridgeton & Sandy
River Railway shown leaving Hiram, Maine, in 1934, is but an echo of the departed
past. The toy-like two-foot railways are all gone today, and only one narrow-gage
R.P.O. remains in the United States.
A TYPICAL LOCAL
SHORT-LINE RAIL-
WAY POST OFFICE
OF TODAY - The
postal apartment is
at the extreme rear
(right) of this York &
Baltimore motor train
on the picturesque
"Ma & Pa," the Mary-
land & Pennsylvania
Railroad.
— L. E. Dequine
A POSTAL TRANS-
PORTATION SERVICE
"TERMINAL" - This
viev\/ of the old Wee-
hawken (New Jersey)
Terminal Railway
Post Office, snapped
at the West Shore
Railroad station in
1932, is still typical of
terminal interiors.
-\V. J. Dennis
OWNEY, FAMED TRAVELING DOG OF THE MAIL CARS— This bemedalled mascot of
the old Railway Mail Service is described on Pages 93 and 94. Stuffed, he is now
in storage at the Washington City Post Office after many exhibitions.
IT
^^t^^^^
—Beit Swilling and B.A.L.
NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR RAILWAY POST OFFICE— Regularly established as a
temporary unit with the above title, in full operation except for remaining stationary,
this New York Central exhibit car is shown here on Railway Mail Service Day at
the Fair in September, 1940, with author (B.A.L.) about to make the catch.
- — Burlington Lines
— Burlington Lines
REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL HANNIBAL-ST. JOE MAIL CAR-These two views show
the exterior (top) and interior of this controversial experimental railway post office,
operated just before the Railway Mail Service was founded, as described on Pages
105 to 107.
f_^ -—-"-'■
-Walter Thayer
-Harold Laniljcn
THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT— Shown at the top at Whitefish, Montana, we
have the Great Northern's "Oriental Limited," Train 4 of the Williston & Seattle,
longest railway post office route in America (1169 miles)— and, in sharp contrast,
the interior of the Thurmond & Mount Hope Railway Post Office (C&O) in West Vir-
ginia, shortest in the country until 1949 (lO'i miles), with Clerk Esker W. Davis
shown on duty, at the bottom. (Chapter 10)
— William C. Janssen
FORMER INTERURBAN TROLLEY RAILWAY POST OFFICE-This beautiful old Texas
Electric car carried the Denison & Dallas run in Texas, now a highway post office
route, until December 31, 1948. (Chapter 12)
AN ELECTRIC-CAR RAILWAY POST OFFICE OF TODAY-This apartment car of the
Summit & Gladstone (Lackawanna Railroad) in New Jersey is operated by a motor-
man at left end.
— J.ilm Cil.l. Smith
OLD-TIME CITY STREET RAILWAY POST OFFICE-This spruce new car, built in 1915
as No. M-1 of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, was used on several routes
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The exterior view is at top, interior at bottom. Further
details, as well as the car's final disposition, are In Chap. 12.
-John Gibb Smith
HAIL
- -I'.riti-h R;nl.
A BRITISH RAILWAY POST OFFICE-This is the Down Up Special Travelling Post Office
(Midland and Scottish Regions, British Railways) operating from London to Aberdeen,
Scotland; see Chapter 14.
— British Railways
Courtesy of Postmaster General. London
CLERKS AT WORK ON A BRITISH TRAVELLING POST OFFICE-At the left we see a
sorter prepared to make the "catch" by the automatic apparatus shown on car
in top picture; despatching arm holds outgoing pouch (bottom left) ready to be
sheared off. At right, clerks are busy at the "sorting frame "
Donald M
A CANADIAN RAILWAY POST OFFICE TRAIN-This is a train of the Gaspe & Camp-
bellton (Canadian National) snapped at Matapedia, New Brunswick; the postal car
(behind engine) closely resembles United States cars.
- -Guntev Stetza
RAILWAY POST OFFICE CAR IN GERMANY-This is a typical "Bahnpost" sorting
coach of the Deutsches Post (German State Railways).
THE FLYING POST OF-
FICE— This simple cross-
section of the center
fuselage of the Fairchild
Air-mail Packet shows
the sorting case, over-
head boxes, and pouch
racks of the clerk's com-
partment where moil
was sorted in transit
aloft on several routes in
1946.
■ — Fairchild Aircraft
MODERN HIGHWAY
POST OFFICE-This sleek
mail-sorting bus oper-
ates on the Pikeville &
Bristol (Kentucky-Vir-
ginia) and Welch &
Bristol (W. \/a.-\/a.)
routes. The exterior of
No. 79 is shown at
center, interior at bot-
tom. Rack at right folds
down to hold pouches.
— White Motor Company
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190 MAIL BY RAIL
younger clerk has made 100 per cent in every examination
thus tar— Kenneth D. Nowling (appointed 1947) of the
Council Bluffs, Iowa, Terminal. He has made 100s on six
examinations, 3,519 cards, on California and nearby states.
E. J. Bay less and Harry Fried, also in Table I, have nearly
equaled Billingham's amazing percentage. This table (page
189) includes all names of living clerks known to us who
have made 100 per cent in two-thirds or more of all exams
over a sizable period of years— beginning in each case at
(or within a few years of) the time of appointment, and
terminated as of 1950. Intensive research failed to bring out
other similar records which doubtless exist.
Next to Abe Singer's unconfirmed record, Billingham's
is the highest in sheer numbers of cards thrown at 100 per
cent— or some 58,000; his grand total, G5,432 cards at 99.99
per cent, defies all known records past and present. The
late District Superintendent Reese Porter (Table II) actually
threw more consecutive perfect cards than Joe Hoctor; but
in number of consecutive exams, Hoctor is probably tops for
all time (Porter threw thirty-one of his last thirty-two exams
pat—?d\ but the final one; on Louisiana, largely). And E. J.
Bayless threw 28,949 cards at an average of 99.9 per cent,
with twenty-eight 100-percenters. The list below includes
those of the above records for which we had appropriate data
(consecutive 100s) as well as the notable one of the late James
E. Thompson, who was retired with high honors after taking,
at one sitting, a demonstration test— throwing all six New
England states, Boston City, and Michigan at 100 per cent,
the highest known record of several perfect exams taken at
once. The following list is of typical, all-time records known
to us of consecutive 100s; many in Table I, and others, would
be eliirible, but records are missinsj.
Space forbids, alas, a similar listing of all-time records of
near-perfect, high-volume total cards throws such as those of
Bayless and many others. Like him, 11th Division Medalist
C. H. Field of the Denver R: Ft. Worth (CJIS) had a 99.99 per
cent average, back in 1890. (The 4th Division Medalist, at
99.98, was the aged H. M. Robinson listed in Chapter 4.)
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192 MAIL BY RAIL
Credit is due, however, to many others for generally out-
standing examination records.- (See Note 22.)
In particular, we recall the unavailable record of A. J.
Quinn, a former N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent) clerk, who was said
to have made 100 per cent on "exam after exam"— he got so
irritated at the kidding about his pats that he finally with-
drew a card after an exam and stuck it in a "wrong" box;
but it had been wrong in the first place, the story goes, and
by coincidence he stuck it right and kept his record!
Ingenious system of memorizing have been devised by
many clerks to assist them in improving grades and speed.
Some imagine themselves running a train over each railway
on their postal-route map; others learn each county or each
line separately, devise poetic jingles or catch sentences, or
just grimly master card after card. Although others had been
using the general idea long before, one of the first system of
weaving post-office names into written "stories" was devised
by Haig Kapigian of Camden, New Jersey, in 1931. Another
clerk in Maryland, in his first substitute year, conceived in-
dependently a similar method, but with a ncAV, original sys-
tem of notation and procedure, in 1939; called the Supply
"Including J. R. Goodrich, Eureka &: S.F. (NWP), Retired; Substitute O. A.
Jensen, 11th (Texas) Division: E. S. Williams, Graf. & Cincinnati (B&O);
Substitute R. A. James, District 7, Houston, Texas; Thomas McCart, Mpls. k
Sioux City (CStPN'&:0)— thirty-nine 100-percenters; R. E. Rex, Louisville,
Kentucky; J. C. Shields, Mpls. & Des M. (Rock. I.); Substitute E. C. Bull,
Philadelphia. Pa., Terminal; \V. W. Allen, Jr., NY. & Chic. (NYCent), Re-
tired; H. B. Richardson, Cleve. SL- St.L. (CCC&:StL), who threw more cards
(82,406 at 99.89 per cent) than anyone else has reported; E. E. Evans, Pitts.
& St. Lou. (PRR), with five 100s in a month; J. S. Wegener, Ash. &: Milw.
(C&rNW); Harry Swift, Greenport X: N.Y. (LIRR), Retired; Substitute W.
Adams, District 4, Portland, Oregon; F. E. Ely, N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent); W.
O. Hare, St. Lou. & Texark. (MoPac), Retired; Justin E. Smith, Kan.sas City
&: Albuquerque (Santa Fe); Peter Koefer, Chic. S: Burl. (CB&Q), 1893 medalist,
who made lOO's on nearly all exams; H. W. Schuster, Columbus (Ohio) Termi-
nal: E. J. Eraser, Detroit 8; Chic. (NYC-MC). declared "most accurate" in 1890;
C-in-C A. B. Clark, Gr. Rap. R: Chic. (C&O), Retired; and several veteran
"steady lOOpercenter" clerks on the McMester & Amarillo (CRL'IP), referred
to us l)y Substitute William Mullen (also with a good record), whose names
were unavailalile. First clerks to become eligil)le for the new 50-merit awards
were William Shultz of the N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent) and S. K. Dinkins of the
Pitts. & St. Lou. (PRR), in 1950.
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194 MAIL BY RAIL
Narrative System, it is sold regularly by a small New Jersey
partnership. A second regularly advertised method was the
Case Examination Study System, written by Clerk F. A.
Reynolds of Roanoke, Virginia, based on home-drawn map
diagrams and charts and marked cards. Other methods and
devices, including cardboard "cell liners" and an aluminum
"Drudge Eliminator" for handling cards (by J. G. Mcllhen-
ny), are well-known,
A railway mail clerk covers an incredible amount of mile-
age in his lifetime. Some say the most outstanding record of
all was made by Keith Koons, retired off the Albuq. k Los
Angeles (Santa Fe), who traveled the astounding total of over
2,905,775 miles in the R.M.S. inclusive of the United States
Seapost, which was part of it for much of his career; 2,750,2vS3
miles was while actually on duty, and the remainder was
official "deadheading." But the highest rail mileage is the
generally accepted standard for sucii records, and the greatest
figure recorded for any known clerk by the writers (after
much publicity and research) was run up by Arthur Piper
as indicated above. The late John S. Wegener, a close
runner-up, was said to have done "nearly 3,000,000" miles,
but a check revealed the figure above as accurate. (Both he
and Richardson, in this list, had splendid exam records; see
last footnote.) The preceding list shows the highest total
rail mileages known to us; it doubtless omits many unknown,
equally good records.
Of the above clerks, believed now all retired, more is told
of Reed, Rench, Kilman, and Davenport elsewhere; see
Chapters 5, 13, and IG.
Then there is the P.T.S, "coffee man," one of the most
picturesque characters in American railroading! He is a
clerk who has been coaxed (or coerced!) into supplying all
his co-\vorkers with hot coffee daily at fi\e cents to eight
cents a cup. His big wooden box, loaded into the car with
the grips, contains all his supplies. Long before lunch he
preheats the pot of water on the steam cooker (if any), then
lights his alcohol burner and puts on the brew to percolate,
using an iron stand or hanging it by a chain— unless there is
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 195
an electric hot plate. (Some coffee men cover the pot with
an empty sack, "preferably well seasoned," giving the brew
a rich flavor of wet canvas— ignoring the juicy dirt drippings
which are all too likely to fall in!) The pot may or may not
contain the actual coffee; some men boil water only, supply-
ing jars of instant coffee, cocoa, and tea balls for self-prepara-
tion by the customers as desired. Others brew tea also.
At the crucial moment the coffee man spreads out the
materials— coffee, a can of evaporated milk for cream,
another can of sugar (usually containing a bent spoon for
serving it), and several stirring spoons in a glass. Then he
cries, "That stuff is ready!" or some similar phrase, or per-
haps rings the "lunch bell" by tapping the resonant light
globes with a knife. The tin cups are filled one by one as
the "nectar birds" or coffee-lovers step forward, often hurling
many a gay insult in his direction— with particular reference
to the various horrible things he is alleged to have brewed
the liquid from. It was such tradition that brought forth
Dan Moschenross's popular, slyly phrased Road Coffee
Recipe:
In the caldron boil and bake
Filet of a fenny snake.
Eye of newt and toe of frog.
Wool of bat and tongue of dog;
Adder's fork and blind worm's sting.
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing.
Tiun the steam do^vn very low
Then 'round the caldron dancing go.
The coffee man is constantly "accused" of reaping fabulous
profits from his "concession," especially if caught sporting a
new car; while he himself as stoutly maintains that he is
losing money and doing it "as a favor for the boys!" Prob-
ably the truth of the matter is somewhere in between. Most
P.T.S. coffee men turn out a fine cup of the brew indeed,
and the wise clerk will give him an occasional word of ap-
preciation along with his ribbing.
There is always the chronic complainant who declares
that tlie brew doesn't taste right and should be thrown out
196 MAIL BY RAIL
the door— usually eliciting the rejoinder that it didn't taste
right "because I decided to wasii the pot today for tiie first
time in ten montlis"; other coffee men make less printable
replies. Still another source of irritation is the old "free
coffee trick" by which the crew persuades one of the newer
clerks that "this is free coffee nioht; the coffee man's cele-
brating his birthday" or something like that.
"just walk right up and fill your cup, and thank him as
you go by," the new man is told. He does. The harassed
coffee maker, not in on the trick, sharply demands his nickel;
and both parties to the heated argument following are soon
enlightened by the amused merriment of all those looking on.
The coffee man has other trials too. Very likely he in-
herited the job involuntarily to begin with, having discov-
ered that it "went with" the assignment— he may despise the
stuff himself. With the total lack of food-heating devices on
many older cars (even on a key line like the PRR's N.Y. &
Washington) and with use of electric appliances often for-
bidden, he has a trying time brewing the amber fluid. His
little stove is usually homemade from a cup or can with im-
provised wick. And, if there is steam, he may have trouble
getting it. Needing some one day, a certain coffee man sent
a sub outside at the next stop to ask the engineer to turn it
on. When the sub jumped back inside he reported that he
couldn't find which end the engine was on, and all the con-
ductor would tell him, in response to his frantic inquiries,
was, "The front end, of course!"
Another man "inherited" a coffee job and rather liked it—
which was more than the crew could say for his brew. Finally,
one evening, the hefty pouch clerk walked up to him and said,
'Trom now on, I'm coffee man!" The chap responsible for
the insipid fluid looked him over, and meekly surrendered
his box!
There wms the coffee man, too, ^vho moved from Kansas
to two other states in succession, and his family left his big
pot behind each time. It finally caught up with him at the
start of a run, and he shoved it in a corner of the postal
car to take home. He couldn't find it at the end of the run;
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 197
it had been accidentally unloaded as a piece of mail and
sent back to his old address labeled on the box.
Then there are the furiously hectic days of the pre-
Christmas period. Extra cars and clerks (largely temporary
ones) are added to practically all lines; regular clerks are
given extra trips, or overtime in their terminals; and these
terminals, P.T.S. are flooded with tons of excess letter mail
(mostly Christmas cards) as well as gift parcels as train after
train, swamped at every stop, must turn over huge pouches
unworked. Half the cards are too \vide for train pigeonholes,
as noted, and can be forced into them only amid great delay
and frayed tempers. Terminal letter cases, often in storage
the rest of the year, have wider boxes and are worked largely
by uomen or youths called in as non-certified clerks. Addi-
tional "Temporary Terminals, P.T.S." are set up at places
like New Haven, Connecticut; Pocatello, Idaho; Toledo,
Oliio (all three consisting of cars set on sidings, at last re-
port); Detroit, Michigan (Convention Hall); Seattle, and
Midwestern points like Fargo and Aberdeen, South Dako-
ta. Late running (even to transferring to one's inbound train
before destination) and long continuous hours— up to forty-
eight hours at once— are common; road clerks seldom get
any extra pay, due to "deficiencies."
Most interesting, hoAvever, are the temporary Christmas
R.P.O. lines set up over new routes. At last report the
strangely named Walla Walla Sc Wallula (UP) was the only
complete one still operated, and not even this one is set up
unless schedules and conditions warrant. It connects with a
second Christmas route, an extension of the regular Mosco\v &:
Haas (UP) to Wallula; both are in W'ashington State,
although the Moscow & Haas is out of Moscow, Idaho.
The W^W. k Wallula is a one-man branch-line run set
up Avhen warranted in December and operated until the
twenty-fourth. No special postmarker is furnished the line;
it has used the former Spokane R: Moscow's (SCd'ARrP) can-
celler, and later an old Wallula Transfer Office "knocker."
For a period this Santa Claus line was absorbed by the sup-
posedly permanent Walla Walla &: Pendleton (UP), a short-
198 MAIL BY RAIL
lived route (only a few years old) now part of the Pend. &
Yakima. There was formerly a Wallula & Yakima (UP)
Christmas R.P.O. along this route. The t\vo "current" routes,
now seldom set up, were operated annually until recently.
Favorite Christmas stories include the one about the
Toledo R: St.L. (Wabash) "non-cert" who was given a big
holiday sack to "throw under the wheel," meaning in the
car's xuJieel bin ^vhere the brake wheel was; he asked in
amazement, "You mean throw it under the train?" And
Dan Moschenross penned a classic "letter to Santa Claus,"
published in the Railway Post Office, now the Postal Trans-
port Journal:
Dear Santa Claws:
When you come around agin pleez bring us pore postal
clurks sum . . . zippers fur our pouches and sacks. They
dunt cost much and we wud save enuf time to pay for
them quik. When there aint nobuddy lookin, paint
our leter boxes black inside . . . instead of the same color
as post cards . . . Bring all the postmasters what hang up
kctcher pouches a supply of tuff envelopes with return
to put leters with muney in. This aint as much as sum
folks ask for.
Yours trooly . . .
Some of the stran2:e facts involved in the routins^ and
"schemins: ' of mail in the P.T.S. seem unbelivable. Since
the P.T.S. headquarters furnishes no alphabetical schemes
and no official lists of no-ofhce communities to any clerk, they
may either "nixie" mail for such points (send to dead-letter
ofiice) or voluntarily learn the proper dispatch— which thou-
sands do. Two thirds of all United States communities have
no post offices, authorities say, and this is confirmed by one
clerk's hand made "nixie scheme" for New Jersey, thrice as
long as the postal scheme.
Regular scliemes contain some startling paradoxes. Im-
portant offices located directly upon an R.P.O. —like sub-
urban Pel ham, New York, on the Boston, Spring, k N.Y.
(NYNH&H)— may be "schemed" and dispatched entirely dif-
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 199
ferently (in this case, as a branch of the New York G.P.O.),
altlioiigh the R.P.O. is the main service for the towns on
both sides. The N.Y. R: Wash. (PRR) goes right through—
or under— the cities and towns of Weehawken, Union City,
Secaucus, and Harrison, New Jersey, without stopping or
supplying a single one of them. As "The Wash" continues
through New Jersey, in the heaviest-populated area along
our busiest railroad, it nevertheless passes two tiny way-station
towns without post offices— Adams (P.O. Franklin Park). New
Jersey, and Edgely (P.O. Bristol), Pennsylvania. And, in
Maryland, the line traverses a dozen towns served by closed-
pouch trains only— as well as still another, Cheverly, which is
served only from Hyattsville on the B&O's N.Y., Bait. & Wash.
R.P.O. miles away!
There are special reasons, desirable locally, for all of these
strange postal practices. As for others: For years, pouches
made for old Phila. 8: Norf. Train 449 (PRR, with R.P.O.
clerks on boat portion only) could contain no mails for
points local to that R.P.O. (except Fort Monroe, Virginia);
the actual train ^vas closed-pouch. Judging by titles, one
would expect New York to dispatch mails for Philadelphia to
the N.Y. k Phila. R.P.O. (PRR) and for Albany to the
Albany, King. &; N.Y. (NYC-WS) and so on; but that is never
done— fast trunk-line trains on other routes reach the same
points quicker and more often. For years Cape May, New
Jersey, was never "good" to the recently discontinued Phila.
&: Cape May (P-RSL) which once went there; and even today,
Mackinaw City, Michigan, is "no good" to the Mack. City &:
Cin. (PRR). Some northbound East Coast trains connect
three different R.P.O.s serving Buffalo, New York, as titles
indicate (Buff. R: Wash.-PRR, N.Y., Geneva Sc Buff.-LV, and
N.Y., Scrant. R: Buff.— DLR:\V^) yet cannot properly dispatch
Buffalo mail to any, because their direct N.Y. R: Chic. (NY
Cent) connection to that city is quicker!
Many R.P.O. trains actually dispatch mails to a distant train
leaving their far terminus before they arrive— by "advancing"
pouches over an earlier C.P. train during their distribution
before leaving. Other trains must distribute mail for a dis-
200 MAIL BY RAIL
tant state before that for a smaller nearby one, because di-
verging lines fan out at an earlier station to cover the faraway
state. Mails may be diverted hundreds of miles from a direct
route to secure earlier delivery by fast trains; at certain times
of day Richmond, V'irginia, dispatches mail for ofhces in that
state on the Phila. Sc Norfolk (PRR) clear to Washington and
Philadelphia to connect that line. Mail is often sent pur-
posely in just the wrong direction for miles, so as to connect
a returning R.P.O. train at an earlier stage in its journey
to allow more time for distribution (when faster dispatch
is unavailable, or to connect an inboimd local, as we have
noted). Mail for a given city, for which an R.P.O. makes a
direct pouch, is often xvilhlicld from that pouch for hours-
it is better "advanced" by some earlier connection.
Clerks must know the exact proper connection for mails
to a given R.P.O.— often best via the distant end, not via the
point of direct connection. Mails between offices actually in
sight of each other (as Perth Amboy, New jersey, and Totten-
ville, Ne"\v York) must often travel over a circuitous 50-to-
350-mile route— to save expense of a direct transfer by using
existing facilities; but in such a case clerks must see that over-
night delixery is ahvays effected. A letter posted at Iron-
wood, Michigan, about 5 P.M., for one-mile-distant Hurley,
Wisconsin, is a touchy example— it must be connected via
Ash. k Milw. (C^-NW) Trains 212 and 211 over a .S46-mile
journey! Mails from the New York area to Atlantic Citv, N. J.,
must cross the entire state of New Jersev fivice—v\3. the N.Y. 8:
Wash. R.P.O. and Phila. k Atl. City C.P. (both PRR).
A pouch must be made up when due, usually daily, by all
R.P.O.s for each office or line listed to receive its dispatches
—even if empty— in order to keep records straight without
using time-consuming written reports. On the other hand,
the heavy mails addressed to mail-order houses and other
firms often necessitate authorized pouches for such compan-
ies; thus trains distributing Philadelphia City actually
"pouch on" Sears, Roebuck R: Company and put it off at the
nearest station. Worked mails for suburban postal stations
may be similarly put off at outlying points. The volume of
AMAZING FACTS OF THE IL\ILWAY MAIL 201
mail received for offices pouched on, by the way, is often in
complete disproportion to population. On one Eastern
line most trains need to pouch on Schenectady, New York,
but not Albany (which is larger, closer by, and the state
capital!); some make newspaper-sacks for West Point and
Mt. Vernon, but not Syracuse or Buffalo, New York. Clay-
mont, Delaware (its second most populous city) is not even
made up on the state's primary racks in P.T.S. terminals, its
mail is so lis:ht.
P.T.S. state schemes reveal some other hard-to-believe
facts: That Clayton Lakes, Maine, is not served by any
United States mail route (only via Lac Frontiere, P.Q., on the
QC's Lac Front., Vallee Jet. & Quebec R.P.O. in Canada).^
That only two R.P.O.s directly serve Rhode Island . . . that
there are no R.P.O.s wholly in that state, Maryland, or Dela-
ware . . . that towns once of topmost postal prominence as
"junctions" of R.P.O.s have later lost both their R.P.O.s,
their post office, and sometimes even their identity in gazet-
teers (Red Bank, Pennsylvania; Araby, Maryland; and many
others) . . . that Weehawken, New Jersey, is not served by
either R.P.O. terminating there (Alb., K. & N.Y.-Ros. &
N.Y.; see Appx. I) and, from most standpoints, not even by
its ozvn P.T.S. Terminal . . . that strange P.T.S. sym-
bols and terms can arouse even a G-man's suspicions as
Clerk J. F. Cooper's wife discovered to her dismay. (She rent-
ed practice cards to clerks and mailed little correction slips to
customers reading ". . . Change Walnut Creek R: La Fayette
(C.C.County) to Baypoint k S.F. . . . Your ALO. rec'd O.K.
. . ." and so on, and was summoned by the FBI for investi-
gation!)
Few people know that they can walk up to any R.P.O.
car (or H.P.O.) door and buy a stamp; clerks-in-charge are
required to keep ones and threes on sale. Others, hastily
addressing a letter to some prominent newspaper, firm, build-
ing, or street followed only by a state name, would be amazed
•The Maine General Scheme shows supply only as "Lac Frontiere, P.O.",
followed by names of U.S. R.P.O. 's connecting thereto such as the St. Albans
k Boston (CV-B8dM).
202 MAIL BY RAIL
to see the clerk on an R.P.O. state case quickly recognize
the city for which intended (or rapidly thumb through letters
in his large-city boxes and often finding another missive
properly addressed to the same destination, permitting in-
stant dispatch). One substitute even successfully dispatched
a letter addressed by some half-wit to "My Father, Atchison
Co., Mo."; he sent it to the county seat, as per the P.L.R:R.—
where the family and the son's habits were known.
Which clerk has served on the greatest number of R.P.O.s?
The most amazing record seems to be that of Earl S. Levitan,
of the PRR's N.Y. R: Wash.— thirty-three R.P.O. lines, term-
inals, and transfer offices. Close behind him we find Fred A.
Perry, N.Y. 8: Salamanaca (Erie), Retired, thirty; j.M. "Doc"
LeConey, Pitts. Sc St. Lou. (PRR), Retired, twenty-seven;
Al Humpleby, also N.Y. k Wash., twenty-four; and many
others. Certain cities, too, boast innumerable R.P.O. con-
nections; five different R.P.O.s over the same track connect
Washington, D. C. and Alexandria, Va., while until recently
there were six R.P.O.s over five different tracks between
Norfolk and Suffolk, Virginia. And one route, recently dis-
continued, did not even provide a postal car for its clerk- the
Fond du Lac Sc Janesville (CR:NW, in Wisconsin), where
engines were removed from part of a locomotive unit to pro-
vide a space.
Unique among all United States communities is a colony
of retired postal clerks founded at Clermont, Florida, by
Railway Mail Clerk Ernest Denslow of Ashtabula, Ohio, in
1923. The Postal Colony Company there has erected hun-
dreds of homes for the old-timers there and has laid out
many acres of rich orange groves, providing both investments
and an avocation for active and retired clerks. It has its
own N.P.T.A. branch— the only one composed wholly of
retired clerks, and the only one not at a railway division
point or junction. Distinguished departmental, Senate, and
N.P.T.A. leaders visit it.
Such, indeed, is this amazing Postal Transportation Service
of ours. From the New York G.P.O. Building employees' en-
trance (where P.T.C.s are instantly ushered past by respectful
AMAZING FACTS OF THE RAILWAY MAIL 205
guards, while P.O. men must obey seven signs demanding
badges and package inspections) clear out West to those vast,
lengthy R.P.O. runs (like the SP's San Fran. R: Los A.) where
clerks are off duty 22 days each month (making just 4i/^ round
trips), the service presents a panorama of the unbelievable.
Even its N.P.T.A. has one incredible distinction— that of be-
ing America's only national fraternity which did not lose a
cent on investments or securities during the great 1929-39 de-
pression, and the Amsterdam Printing Company's official
P.L.&R. Qricstions & Answers contained until 1950 a startling
baby-talk boner "Engineer or motorman of R.P.O. train shall
give timely notice, by Avhistle ^vhistle or otherAvise . . ." But
many a clerk would agree that most paradoxical of^anything
in the entire Postal Service are those prominent post office
lobby posters imploring mailers not to post tiny, undersized
letters and greetings that might get lost— but saying nary a
word about those awful, unsortable, super-sized holiday cards
that torment every railway mail man.
As we go to press, however, we are faced with such an
incredible (and disheartening) chain of recent events that
other things pale into insignificance— namely, the actual or
threatened abandonment of more than nijie of our most
interesting and unique P.T.S. operations, all within the year
1930' We note particularly (1) Suspension of our last intra-
city and last loop R.P.O. running, as told at start of chapter;
(2) Abandonment of our last trolley R.P.O. (S. Berdo. R: L.A.,
May 6th— see Chapter 12); (3) Discontinuance of our only
electric interurban Terminal, P.T.S. (same chapter); (4) Im-
minently-threatened abandonment of our last U, S. narrow-
gage R.P.O., Ala. & Durango, as just disctissed; (5) Discon-
tinuance of our last P.T.S. -operated R.P.O. outside the 48
states, and of our only other narrow gage line— the San |. Sc
Ponce, P.R., June 30 (Chapter 15); (6) The end of all Alaskan
R.P.O. service, including the Fair. R: Seward (May 22) and
Nenana Sc St. Michael— see Chapter 15; (7) The demise of our
most spectacular and unique C.P. line (Ridge. R: Durango,
Chapter 3) on March 31; (8) Last run of the historic Reno &
Minden, famed VR;TRR ex-narrow-gage mining road, on
204 MAIL BY RAIL
May 31 as told in Chapter 13; and (9) Abandonment of our
only all-year-round boat route, Bell. & Anacortes, as men-
tioned in this chapter. Never in all our history has the
proverbial axe fallen on so many fascinating P.T.S. opera-
tions at once— and may we earnestly hope that its blows are
now done with; that unique new installations will arise to
take their places; and that those amazing and fascinating
phases of the P.T.S. which still remain may be preserved in the
public interest as tokens of a vital national service which
should always intrigue us.
Chapter 1 1
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL
It may be north, south, east or west— the mail must hurry through;
The postal clerk may take no rest, with all these things to do.
He does not see what waits ahead, nor care what lies behind;
The hungry mail sacks must be fed. To all else he is blind . . .
— Earl L. Newton
The Postal Transportation Service
has met, with flying colors, the chal-
lenge of every emergency which has test-
ed its mettle. The most striking and dis-
tinguishing characteristics of the Rail-
way Mail Service (as it was designated
throughout the period this chapter
covers) have perhaps been the high
standards of ability and citizenship and
the almost military degree of discipHne required of its per-
sonnel. A swiftly moving train is no place for a sluggard or
weaklins:, and the Civil Service examination for admission is
another incentive toward high standards. Discipline has been
paramount since the days of the first railway mail clerks (large-
ly Civil War veterans) and is reflected even today in the
written orders, the "Black Book," and in the district and divi-
sional ranks of P.T.S. officialdom.
The great Chicago fire of 1871 was the R.IM.S.'s first big
challenge. Although its division headquarters was destroyed
when the Post Office Building burned to the ground. Super-
intendent Bangs promptly stationed postal cars at various
205
206 MAIL BY RAIL
points about the city, called in the clerks who were on layoff,
and took care of all outgoing mail. Mail connecting via
Chicago was detoured, and prompt and efTicient local mail
scr\ice was soon under way. Oddly, enough, the post-ofTice
and R.M.S. quarters were twice again destroyed in later
smaller fires, requiring the R.P.O. cars to be spotted about
the city again as before.
The R.M.S. had the key job of opening the first post offices
and mail routes in Oklahoma, durins: the breakneck land
rush of 1889; a railway mail clerk opened the first Guthrie
post office. But most pitiful of the emergencies to which the
Service lent its valiant hand was the great Jacksonville,
F-orida yellow-fever epidemic of 1888. Little dreaming that
Walter Reed would reveal just eleven years later that only
mosquitoes carried the yellow death, R.M.S. officials ordered
all mail originating at Jacksonville fumigated in a boxcar at
La Villa Junction near Waycross, Georgia. Busy railway mail
clerks carried out this magnificent but futile endeavor by
perforating the "deadly" letter bundles and newspapers in this
car (a total of three million pieces) and smoking them with
fnmigant for six hours. They suffered many miseries at
"Camp Destitution," as they dubbed their restricted outpost.
A more pleasant occasion was in July 1892, when a num-
ber of clerks from the East were surprised by a courteous
"invitation" to come to Omaha on July twenty-ninth and
take a trip to San Francisco; it was explained that the De-
partment wanted to reward their good services and that West
Coast clerks wotild be benefited by their coming. Three divi-
sion superintendents and thirty-six clerks made the enjovable
trip, and doubtless California clerks were much edified by
the visit. But when the time of return arrived (August
fourth), the men were taken to two postal cars (one CBR:Q,
one LSJl-MS) and issued Springfield rifles with two thousand
cartridges plus Colt .45s with one thousand rounds to fit. It
was explained that the real purpose of the trip was to effect
in secrecy the transfer (by registered mail) of $2,000,000 from
the San Francisco Subtreasury to the one at New York, to
bolster lowered reserves there. The armed clerks first con-
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 207
voyed the transfer of five hundred boxes of gold direct from
the subtreasury to the train; R.M.S. officials, in charge of
General Superintendent White himself, receipted for them.
Then the journey of the first famous postal "Gold Train"
began. Actually officially described as a "Silk Train"
throughout, the secrecy and deception of the arrangements
were perfect; and it was well they were, what with the gold-
hungry train robbers then abroad. As related by Superin-
tendent White, all went well; but there were some thrills
and narrow escapes. Flagmen and would-be hobo passengers
were alike frightened out of their wits to find the train
suddenly bristling with guns like a porcupine's quills when
the doors flew open. A letter addressed to one desperate out-
law was handed in by a clerk at San Francisco even before
leaving; after leaving the SP's "Overland" Ogden Sc S.F.
route, an engineer at Rawlings, Wyo., refused to take the
train because bandits had twice waylaid his that day; broken
draws caused several delays. But the gold went through!
Later "gold trains" were many times as richly laden, how-
ever, although the million-dollar train of 1914 was an ex-
ception. Supervised by Division Superintendent James L.
Stice of Pittsburgh, this train took on fifty pouches of gold
via twenty-five armed R.P.C.s (ordered to shoot to kill on
interference) from the Philadelphia mint for the New York
Subtreasury. Only Stice and four inspectors made the actual
trip, after a missing pouch at Philadelphia was finally located
back at the mint. Stice collapsed from a heart attack after-
ward, but recovered and is living today. Then there was a
$3,200,000 "Silver Train" operated by the 8th Division
R.M.S. from San Francisco to Chicago, loaded entirely with
coins. But by far the biggest such train on record (actually
a series of trains) was operated by the Service in the 1930s
to carry fifteen billion dollars in gold to the undergroimd
vault at Fort Knox, Kentucky— only to carry most of it back
out again later.
The next most important civilian emergency was the San
Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. The 8th Division's
new headquarters building at Seventh and Market was swept
208 MAIL BY RAIL
by interior fires, partially extinguished by heroic Clerk
George E. Lawton, who happened to be inside. Postally,
special letter-sorting facilities were set up in the Oakland
Pier Transfer Office, R.M.S., instead of in R.P.O. cars. Al-
though much mail missed connection, all R.P.O. trains oper-
ated in and out of the city on schedule regardless of danger;
most clerks managed to get to work despite paralyzed transit.
People wrote desperate notes on cuffs, shingles, cardboard-
all Avere transmitted post-free, though paper mails had to
wait two weeks.
And in one recent domestic crisis the R.M.S. proved its
Avorth on a national scale— the huge railroad strike of May
24-26, 1946. In the earlier big strikes of 1888 and 1894,
none of them nation-wide, most R.P.O. trains continued to
be operated under edicts forbidding interference with any
United States mail train. But on this occasion no such re-
straint was attempted; practically every railway in the nation
shut down at 5 P.M. on May 24, 1946 (postponed from 4
P.M., May eighteenth, when earlier delays to many trains
ensued). R.M.S. offices, geared for action, had previously ar-
ranged for R.P.O. cars to be operated on most of the few pas-
senger trains which railroad managements were able to force
through. Operated by railroad officials in business suits, such
trains carried clerks giimly struggling with mountains of
mail for which they had no outgoing connections, carrying
on fearlessly despite violence and sabotage attempted by strik-
ers. Other clerks crowded into transfer offices or stayed home
to await orders, while many others were assigned to terminal
R.P.O.s.
Emergency truck routes were set up to handle the vast
bulk of the mails, which had to be sorted at post offices amid
considerable loss of time; but mails were delivered daily, and
delays cut to a remarkable minimum. At least one full-
fledged temporary Iligh^vay Post Office was set up— on the
Salisbury R: Knoxville (Sou) in North Carolina— Tennessee,
where C.-in-C. Pat Knowland hung pouches inside a big
moving van carrying his mail and sorted it on the floor.
General Superintendent Carey of tlie 2nd Division reported
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 209
the "equivalent of H.P.O. service" having been set up there
too, and advised his clerks that "in meeting this crisis, you
exceeded all expectations! You are deserving of the highest
commendation." Some crews were stranded in cars at out-of-
the-way places at the strike deadline; many were short of
funds, food, or overnight facilities (one clerk had to sleep in
his car, inside of a big No. 1 sack, both nights). Clerk Bob
Chilton, of the Houston, Texas, area, stranded at his outer
terminus, pitched in at the post office there and had the
pouches normally made for his line "killed"; then he made
up the mails into direct pouches for dispatch over Missouri
Pacific bus lines and argued the bus company into accepting
and handling them!
Other strikes have hounded R.P.O. operations since, par-
ticularly coal strikes in nearly every year from 1946 on^vard
(as well as a threatened railway strike in 1948, when long-
distance truck routes were again planned for in detail). Each
coal strike forces the suspension of many R.P.O. branch lines
(some of which are never restored) on every coal-burning
railroad, and three-day-a-week service on others, playing the
utmost havoc with schedules and mail deliveries. A trainmen's
strike in 1950 created chaos in several areas.
Of major interest, however, are the brilliant performances
of the R.M.S. in each of the three major wars since its in-
ception. When Spanish-American war troops were assem-
bled in the South in 1898 prior to Cuba's occupation, a flood
of mail swamped the post offices near the camps. Large
postal cars were immediately stationed wherever needed, par-
ticularly on sidings near Tampa, Florida, and Camp Chica-
mauga, Georgia. Crews with a wide knowledge of territory
were assigned to work up mail for the armies to separate
companies, regiments, batteries, and ships— and mail from
the soldiers, of course, to regular connections. After depart-
ure of the transports, all mail for enlisted men whose desti-
nation was unknown was dispatched to Key West, Florida,
and thence to Santiago, Cuba.
Postal assents saw that the mails followed the flas: as our
armies landed on each island. Officers and men of the R.M.S.
210 MAIL BY RAIL
were placed in charge of setting up temporary organizations,
and regular mail service followed promptly despite crude
equipment. At Ponce, Puerto Rico, army carpenters made
worktables; and at Manila, Superintendent Vaille of the
R.iM.S. took over the post office and native clerks with little
trouble. The Spanish clerks struck at first, but soon the
Spanish merchants persuaded the more desirable workers to
resume work so they could get their mail. Of course, as con-
ditions became settled, directors of posts were appointed in
each territory and permanent organizations set up by the
Department as R.M.S. forces were withdrawn. During the
8th Army Corps campaigns in Luzon a Spanish R.P.O. on
the Dagupan— Manila Railroad w^is taken over by the army
postal men, who put it into operation as the Dacupan &
Manila Military R.P.O. ; the corps exchanged mails daily
with its mail clerk and retained control at least until 1901.
Civilian R.P.O.s were later established on such routes in all
three territories (see Chapter 15).
Far more dramatic was the impact of World War I upon
the R.M.S. —which took complete charge of all mails for the
armed forces overseas. The German juggernaut, rolling into
Belgium and France in 1914 and years following, thoroughly
disrupted normal postal service; but, with Teutonic effici-
ency, military R.P.O.s, or Bahnposts, were set up in the con-
quered territory (such as the Bruxelles— Lille Bahnpost from
Belgium into France, carrying German soldier mail free.)
At home in America living costs soared, especially upon
entry of this country into the war in April 1917; railway
mail clerks, because of the vital military mails they handled,
were exempted from the draft. But thousands of them en-
listed anyway; the undermanned R.P.O.s became choked
with a deluge of mail for army camps and overseas, and the
lines were soon turning over dozens of unworked pouches to
terminal R.P.O.s each trip. Special legislation protected the
jobs of those who enlisted, while other acts provided a slight
salary increase. Veteran clerks pleaded for reinstatement.
In France was created, mostly by R.M.S. personnel detailed
to die A.E.F. Postal Administration, the largest network of
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 211
military R.P.O. lines and terminals ever set up by Americans
at any time. (The British, too, set up military R. P. O.s— par-
ticularly the "B.E.F. Main Line T.P.O." from Boulogne to
Cologne, operated January 1919 to the end of occupation.
Six trains, manned by ten crews in British "T.P.O." coaches,
operated— usually with very primitive lights and heat.) By
1918 eighteen American R.P.O.s and six additional closed-
pouch lines had been activated on the French railways— plus
the new Bordeaux Terminal R.P.O., which received United
States-bound mail from the lines and sorted 84 per cent of it
out to direct packages for American cities, towns, or R.P.O.
routes. Main-line military R.P.O.s were from Paris north to
Boulogne (A.P.O.^ No. 751); south to Orleans (797), Cha-
teauroux (738), and beyond; Paris west to Le Mans (762);
Le Mans to Rennes (940), and also to Tours (717), on the
Le Mans Sc Tours R.P.O., whose postmarks are the most com-
monly found. Other lines to Bordeaux, Nancy (915), Dijon
(721), and so on, were similarly named; postmarks read
"NORTH" or "SOUTH" in lieu of train numbers, plus the
letters "M.P.E.S."
These letters referred to the "Military Postal Express
Service," an A.E.F.P.A. subsidiary, which was organized by
veteran R.P.C. Marcus H. Dunn (later general superintend-
ent). The Bordeaux Terminal was efficiently managed by
Superintendent James Cruickshank, another R.INLS. veteran
(later Superintendent of Air Mail Service). Officials and dis-
tributors there included such R.M.A. leaders as Peter Schardt
(during periods of absences from his post as Superintendent,
2nd Division), Chester A. Harvey, L. C. Macomber (all
future national or division presidents), and many others.
The terminal distributed up to 44,555,000 letters a month
(582 tons of mail), dispatched in sealed pouches. When ships
were due to sail, no hours were too long and no conditions
too forbidding to prevent a speedy all-out dispatch. Robert
Bend, Macomber, and others have vividly described life at
Bordeaux Terminal in the Railway Post Office, particularly
'Army Post Office.
212 MAIL BY RAIL
one huge Thanksgiving feast and their Christmas tour of the
city after services at historic Sacre Coeur Church.
United States postal detachments manned by R.M.S. per-
sonnel were set up in other parts of the world— at Vera Cruz,
Mexico, and even as far away as Siberia. A leading member
of that far-flung unit was the late Joseph P. Cleland, of the
Omaha &: Denver (CB&:Q), who was renowned as a three-
times-round-the-world traveler.
At home there was the great wartime Chelsea Terminal
R.P.O. in New York City. Here all distribution of out-
bound mails for soldiers overseas was performed in a huge
hall running the length of Pier 86 at West Forty-Sixth Street,
occupying the entire second floor; all classes of overseas mail
were worked out to the smallest military units. Clerk-in-
Charge Bill Sterling and Chief Clerk Fred Hance had the
terminal as their sole responsibility. This huge overseas mail
center had originated as a small unit (upstairs in the old
Grand Central R.P.O.) established by William I. Votaw.
AH army overseas mail was ordered diverted there, and
half-frozen clerks struggled with it in overcoats until the
"world's largest one-room heating plant" was installed. Hap-
hazard overseas addresses used by the public (as, "110 Engi-
neers, France") gradually were standardized in the general
form:
(Name of soldier and unit)
A.E.F., A. P.O. 123 (or whatever it was)
FRANCE.
Hundreds of patriotic "dollar-a-year" volunteers worked
alongside the paid men and women clerks in the terminal,
with steady efficiency, including such notables as Henry
Ward Beecher, Jr. At Christmas the Army furnished the
public standard-sized cartons for doughboys* gifts— easily dis-
tributed due to their uniformity. Before the Chelsea Term-
inal closed it featured a large redistributing center at one
end, manned by army clerks who redirected parcels addressed
to men leaving France to the proper United States separa-
tion center. Incidentally, "Railway Mail Posts" of the
American Legion sprang up at New York and elsewhere.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 213
World War II, hou'cver, provided the most climactic chal-
lenge of all to the Raihvay Mail Service. Even from the very
first of United States peacetime conscription following the
start of the holocaust in Europe in 1939, no deferments for
raihvay postal clerks were announced. Expertly trained dis-
tributors, handling increasing loads of vital military corre-
spondence, were drafted into the Army by the hundreds;
living costs mushroomed, and trains again went hopelessly
"stuck." And yet in 1940, with mail volume up 6 per cent
and with 32,000 fewer total postal employees than in 1913,
railway mail clerks handled their entire additional load
without extra cost to the Department— "an astonishing in-
crease in productivity."
Then came the blow of Pearl Harbor. John E. Painter,
R.M.A. secretary at San Francisco at the time, describes it as:
December 7, 1941— the stab in the back! . . . Mingled
feelings . . . Alerts . . . R.P.O. car windows blacked out.
Local non-stops missed. Poor lights. Why not curtains
instead of black paint? . . . Clerks sign up for civilian
defense. Clerks offer their services in any capacity . . .
Clerks buy War Stamps and Bonds . . . Clerks enlist.
Clerks are drafted . . . Christmas trains run late— move-
ment of troop and supply trains . . . Clerks buy War
Stamps and Bonds . . . Submarine off the coast . . . Guards
placed over bridges'; listening posts . . . Mails go through,
but late . . . Schedules revamped overnight . . . Fewer
trains . . . New Year's Eve just another night. Neon lights
stay dark. Clerks stay home . . . Retired clerks advise
Department they are ready for service . . . More trains
canceled . . . R.M.S. offices put on nine-hour day, six days
a week . . . R.ALA. arranges meetings during blackouts
. . . Wives say, "Remember, purl harder," and knitting
goes on . . . Shortage of rubber, clerks begin to walk . . .
Shortage of sugar, wives retain natural sweetness . . .
Clerks buy Stamps and Bonds . . . Life goes on; not as
usual, but in the American way, to save the American
day.
Following abolition of the official forty-hour week on De-
cember 22, 1941, clerks worked a minimum forty-eight-
214 MAIL BY RAIL
hour, but often as much as a sixty- or seventy-hour, week or
more. Road clerks had numerous extra trips, paid at "time
and a half" for the first time in history (actually much less,
through technicalities). Thousands of temporary wartime
"subs" were hired, but many were quickly drafted or quit
to take high-paying war-plant jobs (as did some regular
clerks). Emergency plans were laid for rerouting R.P.O.s
disabled by bombings or invasions. Mails increased to all-
time record heights. Delayed R.P.O.s were sidetracked as the
mains (troop trains) rushed past.
A vast proportion of the mail was for army camps and
other military separations not yet made up on racks and cases,
causing much inconvenience until new case diagrams could
be drawn up and new pouches established. Pouches had to
be hung in aisles and odd corners— there was no room in the
racks. The haphazard addresses on domestic military mail
were appalling; hundreds of new military posts with complex
lonsf names were inserted into the Postal Guide and schemes,
O
while the military addresses furnished soldiers often varied
considerably therefrom. The shortage of trained distributors
to handle these vital army mails became acute. But not until
the summer of 1942, when two thousand railway mail clerks
were in the forces, were limited deferments finally granted
to key residue clerks doing scheme distribution and to essen-
tial officials. Then in November came President Roosevelt's
sweeping directive which began: "I am anxious to make sure
that no man should be deferred from military service by
reason of his employment in any Federal Department or
agency ... in Washington or any other place"!
Again postal clerks ^vere indiscriminately drafted, much to
the despair of field officials and of R.M.A. branches at New
Orleans and elscAvhere, who had passed numerous resolutions
requesting deferment of expert distributors. Much pleased,
however, was the big New York (2nd Division) Branch, which
had passed an opposing resolution just one month before,
demanding no occupational deferments for clerks whatever.
By December of 1944, 3,952 clerks were in the forces. Of
these, twenty-five had laid down their lives, mostly terminal
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 215
clerks— five of them from Perm Terminal, New York, alone.
Half of the letter mail was being worked in these same term-
inals as nearly every train went hopelessly stuck; pouches
for a single state "up to 25X" were turned over to them im-
worked by the score. Not until 1945, the last year of the war,
were clerks over thirty finally deferred, and then it was too
late to make much difference. Five thousand clerks eventu-
ally went into the forces.
Of special interest during those days of womens' auxil-
iaries (the WAC, WAVES, and so on) were the famotis
"TWERPS"— Temporary Women Employees, Railway Post-
al Service. Women clerks in the terminals, numbering only
a handful in the 1920—40 period, were greeted by hundreds
of new sister workers as high-school bobby-soxers, house-
wives, and grandmothers were added to the ranks of the \var-
time subs along with teen-age boys and older men. Harassed
clerks-in-charge racked their brains over problems of extra
washrooms, special rest facilities, and budding romances
across the letter cases. Alone among practically all fields of
labor, only the R.P.O. trains themselves still remained closed
to women workers. The Los Angeles Terminal was especially
proud of its one hundred girls, one of whom would bring
around fresh coffee and rolls each Sunday morning. A special
farewell party was held for them after the war in view of
their "job truly well done," with coffee, doughnuts, and kisses
from the C.-in-C! Women loaded bag-mail at train stops.
Photostated "V-Mail" letters, with tiny, nearly illegible
addresses, made letter distribution a real headache, and the
well-deserved granting of free postage to military personnel
caused the volume of soldier and naval mail to soar to un-
precedented heights. R.P.O.s everywhere ran out of standard
pouch and sack equipment, as this was channeled overseas. No.
2 sacks, awkwardly tagged in green with the words "FIRST
CLASS MAIL," were declared to be letter pouches for the
duration— much to the confusion of pouch clerks and railroad
porters. To augment thinning stocks of the standard large
No. 1 sack, coarse burlap bags were commandered, many of
them still bearing the names of some kind of sugar or feed
216 MAIL BT RAIL
printed on them. (Easily worn through, they were supplied
with loose collar fasteners that always got lost, until some-
one thought to have them fastened on.) With such make-
shift equipment and with mail stacked ceiling high, condi-
tions were much as Transfer Clerk Ruben Ericson of Port-
land, Oregon, described them: "The boys don't sing at their
work any more; the coffeepot rusts in the pie box. The day
when a clerk just did an honest day's work has gone with
the wind ... he does the work of a horse . . . Tired and sore
. . . you never get down to the [last] sack."
In 1944 the Postal Service handled over 1,482,000,000
pieces of mail for army personnel— most of it through R.M.S.
hands. Retired clerks were reinstated not only in the
terminal R.P.O.s but even at Selective Service headquarters
itself, where their sorting skill proved most valuable. Par-
ticipation in buying war bonds and stamps was 100 per cent
in three R.M.S. divisions, 99 per cent in the other twelve;
clerks gave gallons of blood for plasma, and one branch gave
$700 to purchase a Red Cross ambulance. They organized
R.M.S. Buddy Clubs in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis,
Indianapolis, and elsewhere, which sent steady streams of
letters and gifts to fellow clerks in camp or overseas. Newsy
bulletins published especially for them were sent over too—
the Broadcaster, from Washington clerks; the Kansas City
Service News or Buddy News; St. Louis's Buddy Club News;
and t\vo Trip Reports (from New York and Indianapolis).
Even in the prosaic "calling" of rotary lock numbers the
usual "V— Vinegar" quickly became "V for Victory"! Vital
registered military shipments were carried over key routes,
guarded by an armed soldier or marine for whom sympa-
thetic clerks made up beds of sacks in the end of the car.
Clerks even read of one of their number, a prisoner of war
in Germany, sending back to his buddies through neutral
channels for R.M.S. schemes and schedules to studyl Not
until V-) Day did the pressure let up; the five-day week was
restored in October 1945, and drafted clerks were reinstated
in the R.M.S. as fast as they were released. Deprived of their
R.M.A. membership under New Hampshire insurance regu-
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 217
lations, special rules had to be made to permit their rejoin-
ing without a second initiation fee (some unfortunate veter-
ans had already paid it). Wartime subs were quickly re-
leased, the last ones leaving on March 31, 1946.
But what of the overseas picture this time? Instead of
calling in the R.M.S., the entire job of distributing incoming
and outgoing military mails was handled by the Army Postal
Service and the navy mail clerks. There is no denying the
fact that they did a splendid, heroic job of it, under the most
trying difficulties and dangers. And yet the record seems
clear that had the Railway Mail Service been permitted to
take over the whole setup as before, a still better and an
amazingly efficient job could have been done ^vhich would
have eliminated most of the constant complaints of six-month
delays, misunderstandings, lost mails, and what not with
which postal officials were swamped (from both civilian and
army patrons) the whole time.
And much credit for the splendid accomplishments that
did transpire must go to the many R.M.S. officials and clerks
who were placed in the Army Postal Service after their en-
listment or induction, many becoming instructors. The vast
majority of all outbound army mail was again addressed to
Army Post Offices, but the standard form of address was now:
(Name of soldier and unit)
A.P.O. No. —
c/o Postmaster, New York, N. Y.^
These mails were sorted by a huge Embarkation Army Post
Office, later the Postal Concentration Center at Long Island
City, New York, and by other smaller army units.
Furthermore, no military R.P.O.s were operated on the
European continent by United States forces in this war,
either. Air mail constituted the bulk of the traffic; intensive
bombing had left almost no usable track or railway cars; and
the army postal men knew little about transit-sorted mail
and its advantages. Mails from New York to France were
routed from the port of entry (after mails for nearby units
*Or San Francisco, or other embarkation point.
218 MAIL BY RAIL
were taken out) in solid railroad cars for Paris, where a Base
Post Office broke it up and scattered Postal Regulating Sec-
tions did the final sorting. A few special trains were oper-
ated (one called the Toule de Suite Express) to haul closed-
pouch mails only. The A.P.S. did sort mail in at least one
stationery French-type R.P.O. car (spoorzuagon) in Holland.
However, some important military R.P.O.s zvere operated
—in Germany and Holland, by the British, and outside of
Europe, by United States forces. The first R.P.O. of the
British Army of the Rhine began operating September 30,
194G, from Herford to Hamburg; operations were later ex-
tended to Dusseldorf and the Hook of Holland, ihis last
service continuing to June 4, 1949. Four crews of four
soldiers each manned standard German R.P.O. cars, using
'TIELD POST OFFICE" cancels.
Best-known U. S. Army R.P.O. was in Iran (Persia), from
Bandar Shapur on the Gulf to Teheran, the capital, on the
Iranian State Railways. Operated largely by the 711th and
730th (later 791st) Railway Operating Battalions of the Mili-
tary Railway Service, Persian Gulf Command, it traversed a
single-track, standard-gauge route through miles of desert via
Arak and Ahwaz. The two daily trains handled military
letters for the occupying forces and for Russia, the latter
being turned over to the connecting Soviet-operated line
from Teheran to Tobruk and the U.S.S.R. In three separate
four-wheeled German R.P.O. cars, clerks of the American
and British armie.=, as well as civilian Iranian R.P.O. clerks,
distributed mail for their respective personnel. With no
official title or postmark known to us, this railway post office
operated until July 1, 1945.
In China we operated the Tientsin & Chinguantoo R.P.O.,
a 150-mile route serving Marine outfits guarding the railway
and manned by Marine clerks— probably the only line so
staffed. Clerk T. V. Atwell (on military leave from the
R.M.S.) reported that the train once returned to Tientsin
minus its mail car— which was finally located in a train mak-
ing tracks for Manchuria miles away. Atwell, the other mail
clerk, and three generals pleaded with railway personnel in
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 219
vain— none could understand English— as they were shifted
around; with only two days' rations on board, it took them
five days to be returned to Tientsin.
The Tokyo-Sapporo Military R.M.S. route on the Japan
State Railways was operated by the Army, using an R.P.O.
car with small square windows and the lettering "U.S. MAIL
CAR" and "AOMORI-SAPPORO" in English and Japanese.
Though it carried all the first-class mail for northern army
units, only registered matter was sorted in transit; this alone
kept two six-man cre\vs busy. They had a sixty-two-mile car
ferry.
There was a still better-known Military R.M.S. route in
North Africa, but despite contrariwise reports, it did not
actually sort mail in transit. This train from Casablanca to
Oran, however, did carry a mail clerk; he received, separated,
and dispatched closed bags of mail over his five hundred-mile
run in green-painted, ten-ton cars lettered "M. R.M.S." He
had a bunk to sleep in during his twenty-four-hour trip, but
no case or racks. It was projected to go on to Algiers and
connect with two smaller M. R.M.S. routes operating there,
and was in charge of M. R.M.S. Director Carl Gray with a
daily ten-car mail train for nearly a year. One Algiers route
was given a ceremonious 'Tirst trip"— with the mail car left
behind, as embarrassed brass-hats discovered!
Highly publicized in the military news of the day was
"the first time in history that clerks sorted mails in planes,"
also over North Africa, in April, 1943. Actually, no pieces
of mail were sorted— nor was it the first time clerks had been
assigned to mail planes (done in the 1920s— see Chapter 16).
Clerks detailed from A.P.O.'s loere assigned to planes, but
only to separate bags for dispatch as before. A "mobile post
office" was also operated in an army truck to serve Allied
forces: it had a postmark, but there is no evidence that it
sorted mail in transit or carried clerks on duty when travel-
ling. By far the largest proportion of distribution in transit
in World War II, however, was done in the Navy Post Offices
on our ships, which carried out detailed and comprehensive
transit-sorting of mails from home ports clear to Pacific
220 MAIL BY RAIL
theaters of action— many navy mail clerks being former
R.P.C.s, who were publicly commended by the Navy for their
magnificent performance as a class.
Railway mail clerks in general invariably distinguished
themselves in both courage and ability, and in both postal
and combat units, in every part of the forces to which as-
signed; most became officers of considerable rank, but some
met a heroic death. No one could have gi\en more of a
"last full measure of devotion," perhaps, than young Substi-
tute Joseph Rozeman of an Atlanta, Georgia, district. He
subscribed fifty dollars monthly in war bonds out of his small
wages as soon as Pearl Harbor was attacked; solicitous
oflicials protested to no avail. Failing in attempts to enlist in
the Marines, he \vas drafted in the infantry instead; he was
detailed to a permanent United States installation but de-
manded (and was given) combat service in the Pacific— then
was w'ounded on Leyte, finally killed on Luzon. Railway
mail officials were sent to several occupied and other coun-
tries after the war to rehabilitate civilian postal service, par-
ticularly in Germany; hers was placed in charge of former
R.M.S. General Superintendent Steve A. Cisler and ex-
R.M.A. President Pete Schardt— former R.M.S. Division
Superintendent, A.E.F. postal head, and Southern Railway
official. Even today ex-clerk Archie Imus is top postal officer
for Germany's United States Zone. (See Chap. 15 re Turkey.)
When war broke out anew in 1950 in Korea, again involv-
ing this country, the P.T.S. quickly girded for action. Once
more, military mails gained priority and were handled as in
World War IL
But even in the absence of war's alarms there are still
floods, wrecks, fires, and sometimes train robberies to chal-
lenge the mettle of the railway mail clerk. Over seventy-five
R.P.O. lines have had to suspend service at once because of
floods, as in the widespread ones of March 1936 from Maine
to Ohio. As in the Beardstown deluge (Chapter 1), the appal-
ling Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Flood of 1889 was taken in
stride by clerks on the N.Y. Sc Pittsburgh, the Pennsy's main
line. They found dieir train stalled at the edge of the flood;
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 221
water was rising at a dangerous rate. But one clerk quickly
jumped out, ran up a side street, and returned with a wagon
and four horses into which all mail was loaded. They drove
to Altoona and sorted it there at the post office.
There are dramatic stories of other floods. The de luxe
Ambassador, Train 332 of the CentVt-B&;M's St. Albans &
Boston R.P.O. out of Montreal, Quebec, was stalled bet-\v'een
two track washouts in a vast waste of water at Roxbury,
Vermont, for nearly a week without any contact from the
outside world; Clerk Harold Kimball had to walk fourteen
miles to get his mail out. That was in the 'twenties; but
earlier, in 1905, St. Lou. k Little Rock (MoPac) Train ,6 ran
smack into a fifteen-foot wall of water at Piedmont, Mis-
souri; the engine crew jumped back into the R.P.O. car as
their head end was hurled into the torrent, and Clerk
Wilson Davenport finally swam fifty yards of raging water
to high ground to secure help, saving a drowning tramp on
the way. Floods invade even postal cars, necessitating piling
all mail on top of racks and working knee-deep in water;
Clerks Harry Stone and j. G. Mcllhenny did that for hours
in a Kansas City R; Albuquerque (Santa Fe) mail car in
Kansas City, and when relieved could get home only by
walking over car tops and yard fences. Ogden R: San Fran-
cisco (SP) Train 9 was twice involved in huge floods on the
"Overland" route. In 1911, says the Go-Back Pouch, the
train left Ogden on February tenth and didn't get back to
its terminus until after eleven days and a 2,300-mile detour.
Rabins: streams and washed-out trestles and tracks confronted
it everywhere; food, water, and necessities ran out, the SP
dining-car department finally furnishing rations; the hungry
and unwashed clerks were shuttled in slow stages to Winne-
mucca, San Francisco, Sparks, Reno, Sacramento, Portland,
and back to Ogden! The other (1921) flood involved a fierce
storm on the Utah salt flats, with tOAvering waves of brine
from the Great Salt Lake crashing the train as clerks swept
water out.
This same train was the victim of one of the most spectacu-
lar wrecks in R.M.S. history. On September 12, 1932, Train
222 MAIL BY RAIL
9 left the rails near Emigrant Gap in the Sierras, and the
R.P.O. car tumbled six Jnuidred jeet down a mountainside
without a single fatality! All four clerks were badly injured,
yet they convoyed their registers by truck to Sacramento,
checked out each pouch after hours of guarding the mails,
and completed their trip report in full detail.
In typical contrast was the most recent of our major
R.M.S. wrecks, mentioned with a few others in our first
chapter. When the Pennsy's Red Arroiu, N.Y. Sc Pittsburgh
Train 68, reached Bennington Curve at Gallitzin, Pennsyl-
vania (near Altoona), a sudden derailment brought death to
six Pennsylvania clerks in February 1947— H. E. Bohner of
Lemoyne, H. L. Bowman of Bowmansdale, W. E. Moore of
Pittsburgh, P. J. Leiden of Altoona, B. M. jakeman of Phila-
delphia, and G. C. Bowman of Tyrone, who was suspended
eight hours by his feet before being cut loose, dictating his
will in the meantime. Others were badly hurt.
The news shocked the nation, for scarcelv even one or two
clerks per year had been killed in wrecks for decades— none
at all in 1944, 1941, 1939, and other recent years. But the
employment of untrained wartime railway workers and lack
of equipment upkeep were beginning to show; three more
men were killed that year, or a total of 33 for the twelve
years 1936—47 inclusive. The wrecks record is again im-
proving, but much needs to be done in pushing a vigorous
safety program.
W^e can only skim through some of the other vivid or tragic
wreck scenes of the past. We see the New York Central's
Wolverine, N.Y. k Chicago Train 8, running off a curve at
Rochester in 1945, killing Clerk Al Van Camp; another
N.Y. R: Chic, train piling up at Canastota, New York, two
years later, when another Al became a hero by saving the
lives of scores amid scalding water and steam (Al Novak,
flagging a second train just in time); the Fourth-of-Tuly crack-
up in 1944 of the Santa Fe's Chief, when clerks sloshed
around in hot oil, saving pouch mail, to be greeted and as-
sisted by General Superintendent John Hardy, who was
riding the same train; the Chic. Sc Omaha (C&NW) train
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 223
which broke in two just after a clerk threw off the Vail, Iowa,
pouch, injuring a passenger, because the pouch hit a switch
standard opening the points; the two widely separated clerks
killed in the same month (July 1937) at grade crossings, each
by an R.P.O. train on which he had once worked: one on the
New Haven's Boston & N.Y. at Warwick, Rhode Island, the
other at Hoopeston, Illinois, on the Chic. & Evansville
(C&EI); and many others, which pass in a crashing panorama
before our eyes. Only yesterday, heroic clerks on Chi., Ft.
Madison &: K.C. (SFe) Tr. 22, in the shock of a frightful wreck
(July 5, 1950), did practically all the rescuing of injured pas-
sengers. (No clerks were seriously hurt in the crash of the
PRR's Spirit of St. Louis, Pitts. & St. Lou. Tr. 31, on Sept.
11, 1950, into a troop train, killing many soldiers.)
The most historic of all mail-train crack-ups was doubtless
the song-famed "VV'reck of the Old 97." The engine and four
cars of Washington k Charlotte (Southern) Train 97 simply
crashed down over the broken side of a seventy-five-foot
trestle at Gretna, near Danville, Virginia, on September 27,
1903. Eleven mail clerks were killed, but three other clerks
of that crew have survived to this day, still in the Service or
recently retired. Two of them, J. H. Thompson and Jennings
Dunlap, stayed on the same line until then. Thompson re-
tired in 1941 to his home at Lexington, Virginia, after com-
piling a huge scrapbook of "Old 97" clippings and meeting
every President since McKinley. He was a good friend of
David G. George, author of the famous song, who was the
telegrapher at Gretna and had a premonition of the wreck;
he often told Thompson how he watched Old 97 race "down
grade at ninety miles an hour" to the fatal curve, an hour
late, with two firemen keeping up a full head of steam.
Thompson reveals that George lost an entire fortune defend-
ing his song rights.
Some remarkable "series" of wrecks on the same line, or
involving the same clerk or other strange coincidences, have
occurred. Besides the thirty-eight afore-mentioned wrecks on
the old Indianapolis & Effingham, we recall that James L.
Stice (see Chapters 10 and 16) was in eleven smashes and
'^^4 MAIL BY RAIL
injured in four, and that seven consecutive wrecks on the
Omaha & Kansas City (MoPac) years ago invariably involved
one particular clerk— it caused so much superstition among
trainmen that railroad officials demanded his transfer. Roy
V. McPherson, of the Utica, New York Terminal, has pub-
lished accounts of four amazing hairbreadth escapes from
death; in one case he would have been decapitated at Moira,
New York, when the engine smashed its cab in sideswiping a
boxcar, had he not jumped back from the mail-car door just
in time. Again, running on the old N.Y. & O. R.R., his train
was derailed at an open switch at Kildare, New York, just a
few feet behind a standing boxcar of dynamite. And finally,
in addition to nearly drowning on a cruise on his layover, he
tells of Slopping his Nyando & Tupper Lake (NY&O) R.P.O.
train upon a trestle near Madawaska, New York, to have a
derailed truck of the tender fixed— only to fall off the trestle
and get sucked into a quagmire in tlie creek below, barely
getting out!
In 1948 the two opposite R.P.O. trains on the same run
were both wrecked when they met head on— Newport &:
Springfield (BR:M-CVt-CP) Trains 78 and 79, near Newbury.
Vermont. Train crews on both crack Boston-Montreal fiyers
were killed, but the clerks escaped ^vith injuries; they care-
fully salvaged the mail from the crumpled steel R.P.O. cars,
one having to be cut up by torches for junk. It was the worst
wreck in all New England in a forty-five-year period. And
on the C. R: N.W. the same train was wrecked three times
in 1942— Chic. & Omaha Train 5; while in a 1945 smashup,
day-old chicks, turkeys, and white mice escaped the mails
when Buffalo Sc Wash. (PRR) Train 575 was wrecked, its
mail car jumping over the engine!
An astounding thing happened on the old Hutchinson &:
Kinsley R.P.O., a Santa Fe cutoff route in Kansas, because
of a wreck not involving any mail train! On delivering the
first pouch en route one trip (Partridge, Kansas), the puzzled
local clerk remarked that the depot had been moved across
the track, even though it still bore the same name. Making
the next throwoff, Abbeyville, tliey noticed tire train cross-
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 225
ing another railway. "They've built a new railroad here
since we were out last week, John," remarked the local man.
This station, also on the wrong side, flew by before they
could check its name; but on viewing the "scenery," it ap-
peared as familiar as ever. But when the third station
whizzed by on the wrong side, the alarmed clerks called the
train porter and asked where they were. They were at
Ellenwood, on the Santa Fe's main line twenty miles north
or Zenith, the cutoff stop where they thought they were!
The conductor, familiar with both routes, had nesrlected to
notify the clerks of a sudden detour necessitated by a wreck
on the cutoff. The disarming similarity of the two routes,
even to parallel competing raihvays on the left for miles out
of Hutchinson and identical blind sidings and chutes, had
been responsible.
The specter of fire is ever-present. A Diesel locomotive
blaze on Albuq. & Los Angeles (Santa Fe) Train 18 at Fon-
tana, California, cracked all window glass on the R.P.O.
car recently and set its vestibule fabrics afire; clerks assisted
in quenching it with extinguishers, one being injured. A far
worse fire in Detroit R: Cincinnati (BR:0) Train 57 at Weston,
Ohio, not long; aQ;o consumed all mail in the letter cases and
all clerks' belongings and grips; yet the men managed to
save all registers and escape uninjured. The Rock Island's
Rocket, Train 7 of the Omaha R: Colorado Springs hit a huge
oil truck at Dellvale, Kansas, in 1947, and flaming oil \vas
showered into the R.P.O. car from all openings; pouches
of mail caught fire, exits and creep doors were stuck or
blocked, and clerks barely escaped. At least four clerks have
been killed in other fiery wrecks— Paul Crysler and John Gall,
in that of a Chicago 8: Streator^ (CBRrQ) gasoline car at
Oswego, Illinois (194.S); and two others on the Atlanta, Val-
dosta R: Jacksonville (Sou-GCR:F, near Valdosta, Georgia, in
a burning-trestle collapse) and on a Childress R: Lubbock
(F\V'R:DC) gas rail car near Casey, Texas— both in 1942. A
Norf. R: Winner (CR;NW) R.P.O. car was derailed at Spencer,
'Now Chi. & Zearing.
226 MAIL BY RAIL
Nebraska, rolled over, and burned with its mail (the clerk
escaped) just recently in 1950.
There may be smoke where there is no fire, as Clerk-in-
Charge L. Beaumont Reed of the N.Y. & Pitts. (PRR) fortu-
nately discovered one day at Monmouth Junction, New Jer-
sey; he scented a hotbox there and notified the baggageman
that it was a certain engine ponywheel. In spite of a cautious
crawl from there on (to pick up a new locomotive at Tren-
ton), the hot wheel and its mate sheered off at Princeton
Junction, New Jersey, and the pony frame dropped to the
tracks. No one was hurt as the train ground to a stop. Reed
little dreamed that the Pennsy's famed Congressional would
be wrecked from that same cause on the same tracks a few
years later, somewhat farther south, at Frankford Junction
in Philadelphia, to become the most appallingly fatal rail
wreck of modern times. (Neither did the two clerks on the
N.Y. & Wash, multiple-unit local just ahead of the Congres-
sional suspect anything, even though one of them— this writer
—had personally observed Frankford Junction as a check mark
for his C.-in-C. just a half hour before!) Reed's valiant feat
was credited by all with saving himdreds of lives (see Chap. 16
re broadcast).
Many daring train robberies occurred, too, in addition to
the few mentioned previously— especially on lines out of San
Francisco. (Mail-train robbers were once given the death
penalty.) The most spectacular was undoubtedlv the De
Autremont brothers' bombing of a Portland R: San Fran. fSP)
R.P.O. train near Siskiyou, Oregon, on October 11, 1923.
They ruthlessly halted the train with a dynamite trap, killed
every trainman and postal clerk (only one or two R.P.C.'s
were on duty), and stole thousands of dollars. Postal inspec-
tors, with only a coat and some tools as evidence, spent
$500,000 carrying out the world's biggest man hunt for three
and one-half years; all three brothers were eventually cap-
tured and jailed. The gutted R.P.O. car, rebuilt, was event-
ually wrecked again at Lowell, Oregon, in 1946; again re-
built, it is still in use.
A second Port. & San Fran, mail robbery, a $40,000 unde-
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 227
tected rifling of a registry convoy in San Francisco, remained
a mystery from 1937 to 1946, when a post-office registry clerk
was arrested as the culprit. Four bandits held up the old
Deming &: San Fran. (SP) just out of Deming, New Mexico
in 1883 by spreading the rails, killing the engineer, and fir-
ing into the mail car; they got only ^1,000 out of the mail
in lieu of an expected $100,000 pay roll, and the clerks were
instrumental in the bandits' later capture through their de-
scriptions. And on the Ogden & San Fran. (SP), in 1900 two
"hoboes" on Train 10 pulled out .45s at Suisun City, Cali-
fornia, and halted the train. By threat of dynamiting they
forced the clerks to admit them, then they seized the regis-
tered pouches and fled with them in the uncoupled engine!
The notorious Roy Gardner, too, held up his first big mail
train on the Ogden R: S.F. About 1918 he boarded a storage
car at Roseville, California, robbed the pouches therein as
well as a clerk deadheading in the car, and finally leaped
from the train. Already sought by posses, Gardner was now
vigilantly searched for in several states; hut in 1920 he boldly
climbed into the closet of a Phoenix k Parker (Santa Fe)
R.P.O. car as it left Phoenix, Arizona, attempting to hold up
burly Clerk Herman Inderlied by surprise. Inderlied "saw
red" at that; he simply knocked the robber down, seized
his club as it was poised over his head, grabbed Gardner's
gun, sat on him, and called for help! A railroad cop took
him prisoner, and was given half of Inderlied's $5,000 rcAvard
from the Postmaster General.
Clerk Z. E. Strong was killed in a most imusual robbery
of St. Paul Sc Miles City Train 2, the NP's North Const
Limited. A young supposed new substitute, with forged cre-
dentials, held up the crew^ with a sudden gunshot. Strong
was shot as soon as he made a slight nervous move; the other
clerks were disarmed and tied or locked in closets, and
$50,000 in currency taken. Near Minneapolis, Clerk H. M.
Christensen broke open the closet door with his shoulder,
noticed the bandit still in the car, and dashed the other way
into the express car. With the express messenger, rearmed,
he nearly captured the impostor as the latter hastily jumped
228 MAIL BY RAIL
Tvlicn the train slowed down. He was captured a month later.
But the greatest mail-train robbery in all history netted
from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 in an insidious holdup of
Chic, k Minneapolis (CMStP&P) Train 57 at Roundout,
Illinois, on Friday, the thirteenth of June, 1924. The band-
its hid in the engine cab, held up the locomotive crew, and
made them stop the train and flash a headlight signal. Ac-
complices in an auto then shot out a mail-car window,
forced out the eighteen clerks with gas bombs, and drove off
with sixty-four registered pouches. The best available postal
inspectors were assigned to the resulting investigation, head-
ed by Inspector William J. Fahy who was considered the
"ace of them all." Finally a certain detective got an incredi-
ble "tip" by phone from an underworld character; in a daze,
he decided to risk his whole career and bring his shady
woman informer before Chief Inspector Rush D. Simmons.
She told the chief postal sleuth a gruesome story.
Her husband was in jail for another postal theft of which
she claimed he ^v•as innocent. She had flirted with the officer
who'd arrested him in efforts to secure his release; the officer
in question had "fallen" for her, and now her retribution was
at hand— she had coaxed out of him the fact that he was the
head of the Rondout robbers' gang. "Name the manl"
snapped Simmons.
"Postal Inspector William Fahy!"
It was true; another renegade postal employee— but not
an R.M.S. man— was responsible, having connived with the
gangsters. He and his five accomplices were caught and jailed
for long terms, and all the stolen money recovered.*
In die P.T.S. itself dishonesty is so rare that only once in
a great Avhile does some clerk succumb to temptation, to the
great chagrin and anger of all others on the line thus dis-
honored. Quickly and quietly, postal inspectors will trap
such a cul])rit (usually by many test mailings), enter his car
or terminal, and escort him out of the Service forever. The
'See Professor Dennis' The Travelling Post Offire (still availahle-see Rihliog-
rapliy) for three reniarkalily humorous or interesting train-robbery stories on
pages 91, 109, and 111 thereof.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNUSUAL 229
few cases quickly reviewed here are almost the only ones on
record for several years. These included (1) a clerk on a
C&NVV route who fingered over his mail for money-laden
letters when traversing a dark tunnel, later caught pocketing
some of them when another clerk lit a cigarette just then;
(2) an Eastern terminal clerk, lacking funds for his girl
friends, who found the quarters in those little cloth fdm mail-
ers sticking to his fingers (quickly detected from secret-gallery
peepholes); (3) an unfortunate clerk on a PRR run caught
with letters, money, and bills scattered over his dormitory
bed wiiere he was lying in a stupor, finally arrested in his car
by a clever ruse; (4) two clerks on different lines who em-
ployed the idea of slipping valuable letters into ofiicial or
stamped envelopes addressed to themselves or to a fake firm,
so as to never get caught taking mail from the car— they were
apprehended just the same; (5) a tobacco-chewing clerk con-
victed of stealing money out of letters (later resealed) by
James Stice, after he became an inspector, through the to-
bacco flecks on envelope flaps; and (6) a Kansas City clerk
convicted in 1915 of participating in a $25,000 theft of
money from a Chicago bank pouch which later arrived
stuffed with waste paper. Actually, in any five-year period,
only about seven or eight such cases ever occur among all
thirty thousand railway mail clerks— a top record in indus-
trial honesty!
There are, of course, some unusual, not easily classifiable
situations that challenge clerks' ingenuity. One was when
Mpls. R: Miles City (CMStPR:P, now St. Paul k Aberdeen)
Train 15 was pulling out of Minneapolis after the disheart-
ened crew had noticed the Minneapolis Dis pouch (due for
dispatch there) still nestled in the rack. But as the train
backed into its wye a few blocks farther on. Clerk Hyatt
noticed a Minneapolis post-oflice truck waiting at the cross-
ing. With a yell, he jumped out and thrust the pouch into
the startled dri\er's lap with a hurried explanation, regain-
ing his train just as it was starting up. In Illinois, R.M.S.
officials had to order the CM. Sc O. R.R. to slow down its
overnight Chicago, Springfield and St, Lou. mail train at
230 MAIL BY RAIL
Lockport— where its 80-mph speed caused mails to be shred-
ded to bits in the local pouch thrown off there, the post-
master having to paste letters back together after finding the
pouch about 6 A.M.I
Of course there are the particularly odd or unusual post
offices, not to mention the great amount of mail received for
long-discontinued ones, that challenge the ingenuity of our
railway mail clerks; but in general the fascinating stories of
these situations are not within our scope here. Large suburbs
without post offices, cities and towns straddling state lines
(with one or two post offices), and the post offices named
exactly like other large localities within the state, all call for
more-than-usual genius in distribution. Clerks are supposed
to know the routes of all discontinued post offices, even if
long-forgotten at the time of their entering the Service, for
which mail is still received. Hundreds of tiny rural post
offices are discontinued annually, as has been the practice for
decades, because of extension of rural routes providing direct
box service to residents of each small hamlet.
In the P.T.S. general scheme of the state involved, the
little Greek letter delta (A) is prefixed to the name of each
doomed office immediately upon its closure— a symbol that
perhaps incorporates more pathos, more poignant sentiment,
than any other used in the Service; it is unknown outside
of it. Three years later the forgotten hamlet, symbol and all,
is stricken out of the scheme; the rural route serving it bears
only a prosaic number instead of perpetuating its name.
The village still sleeps on, even if only a tiny crossroads in
the wooded farmlands; but all have now forgotten it. All,
that is, but the veteran clerks who have given their lives to
the Railway Mail Service and the P.T.S. —to meeting the
challenge of seeing that the tiny-hamlet mails are still sent
home, as well as the "challenge of the unusual" in the great
events of national history.
Chapter 12
R.P.O.S ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL
Over a glitter of blue-burnished steel
Singing a song of the flange of the wheel . . .
Down in the street. The milkman stays,
Halting his team for a moment to gaze;
He looks, he sees, and hears the ring
Of the onward rush of the "Green. & Spring."
— Phil Boi.ger
The 6th day of May, 1950,
marked the end of an era in
transit mail distribution so
remarkable, so unique, that
no other country even ap-
proaclied the incredible stage
of development which it
reached in America. At 7:50
P.M. that day the last true
trolley-car R.P.O.^ in America completed its final run into
Los Ang^eles, California; a big red steel interurban car with
a twenty-foot postal apartment, it had just rolled into the
Pacific Electric terminal from San Bernardino, 57.7 miles
eastward. The epic history of the American trolley R.P.O.
service, begun in St. Louis late in 1892, had come to its close
—fifty-seven and one half years later.
R.P.O.
—Courtesy Postal Markings
'See Chapter 15 for trolley R.P.O.s still operated in France and Swilzeiland
(there mn\ he others); also see Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Netherlands,
Spain, Sweden (same chapter). Trams in Leeds, England, carry public mailing
boxes.
231
232 MAIL BY RAIL
Yes, an era has ended— unless, that is, one considers the
electric suburban R.P.O.s of the Eastern states, with multiple-
unit electric cars, to be in the same class. Or unless, by chance,
the P.T.S. should once more authorize electric-car R.P.O.
apartment service on one of several modernized interurban
trolley routes which still operate in Illinois, Iowa, Pennsyl-
vania, and else^vhere.
Trolleys still play an important part in P.T.S. operations,
for there are still numerous trolley-operated closed-pouch
routes— the Wilkes-Barre R: Scranton (LRrWV) and Phila. &
Media (PST) C.P.'s in Pennsylvania, the Carlinville R: St.
Louis C.P. (ITS) in Illinois, and others. And until 1948 there
were still three true trolley R.P.O.s operating; but while the
other two were actual holdovers of traction-era mail-car op-
erations, the San Bernardino R: Los Angeles was then a brand-
ne^v route! Operated for only tAvo and one-half years, it tra-
versed the longest route of the still-operating Pacific Electric
system, once the world's largest interurban net^v'ork, via
Covina, San Dimas, and Fontana. At first the San Bernardino
k Los Anoeles also connected with the abandoned L. A. &:
San Pedro trolley R.P.O., to be described a bit later.
The unsung final trip of the San Bernardino service, re-
placed immediately by an identically named H.P.O., was
marked only by the cancellation of collectors' covers for this
never-to-be-repcated event. But, in contrast, the line was first
inaugurated with impressive ceremonies on September 1,
1947. Car No. HOG, cleaned and shiny, had just been com-
mandeered from the much shorter L.A. Sc Redondo Beach
(PE) run, which ceased operation the previous day; and 8th
Division General Superintendent T. L. Wagenbach was in
charge of the special observances at the Sixth R: Main Streets
Depot. Pullman-built, the big trolley contained express and
baggage sections, as well as the mail unit, and was fifty-five
feet long. It operated separately from passenger and freight
units on its three-hour run— the majority of its route furnish-
ing no passenger service. Earlier the route had been a busy
passenger line whose express cars exceeded even the present
railroad streamliners in speed between the same two points.
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 233
and with C.P. mail service. The new route greatly improved
the handling oE local mails, formerly delayed by dispatch to
Los Angeles and back, and expedited through mails by direct
connection to main-line R.P.O.s at both termini. The same
service is now furnished by the new H.P.O., which -^vas placed
in operation at departmental option as an "economy" meas-
ure after P.E. had announced long-range plans to convert the
route to Diesel freight operation if granted permission.
The Postal Transportation Service, to be sine, still lists
one existing R.P.O. in the same "Electric" category as the
Los Angeles lines mentioned. This is the Washington &
Bluemont (WR;OD) in Virginia— which, however, has oper-
ated gas-electric and Diesel units exclusively for years now.
Long a busy interurban trolley line with big green-and-gold
cars, it was in its very earliest days a steam road starting from
Alexandria (the Alex., Loudon R; Hamp. R.R.) which became
the Alex. & Round Hill R.P.O. Its termini were later shifted
a few miles (to Washington and Bluemont) upon electrifica-
tion in 1912. It now operates only for the 44.6 miles from
Rosslyn, Virginia (station of Arlington, opposite Washing-
ton), to Purcellville, due to a seven-mile track abandonment.
Its last trolley-operated R.P.O. service was gradually replaced
by Diesel operations about 1942, during a two-year suspen-
sion of all passenger service. Two roimd trips of R.P.O.
operations are furnished daily in fifteen-foot apartment
facilities inside streamlined gas-electric and Diesel units; it
is a busy one-man rim, and nimierous collectors seek its post-
mark. {Other details in Chapter 10.)
But the East also boasts several other busy suburban
R.P.O.s operated by electric cars coupled to form trains.
Although these cars do not travel singly, the head car is
operated by a regular motorman despite the fact that the
track is part of a regular railroad system on which the trolley
wire is contacted by "pantagraphs" instead of trollev poles.
In fact, two of these lines vie for the title of "second shortest"
R.P.O. in the United States.
One is the picturesque twenty-two-mile Summit &r Glad-
stone (DL&W) in New Jersey. Its "multiple-unit" strings of
234 MAIL BY RAIL
cars connect at Summit with main-line electric commuter
trains to Newark and New York. Our second-shortest inde-
pendent R.P.O., its scenic single track winds through attrac-
tive towns and luxurious suburban estates. The forty minute
R. P.O. -passenger run is but one of numerous busy daily com-
muter trains and has a fifteen-foot mail apartment and motor-
man's booth at the front end. Nicknamed "The P. 8: D."
(Passaic & Delaware branch), its clerk has to round out his
working time in Hoboken Terminal or on the connecting
N.Y. & Branchville (DL&:\V). Don Steffee tells of the time
Substitute Leslie Sheridan drew this combination assisrnment
one hot summer day; he had all the doors open and got the
motorman to call out the stations. Near one, Sheridan quick-
ly locked out its light skin pouch and threw it down to the
end of the car— whereupon the breeze through both doors
quickly Avhipped it outside! Fortunately the motorman oblig-
ingly backed up to retrive it, amid shouted explanations to
the deafish but schedule-conscious conductor, to the amuse-
ment of the passengers and to Sheridan's embarrassment.
The Summit & Glad., like the N.Y. & Far Rock. (Chapter
10), is a true electric-car R.P.O.— a// passenger and mail
service is by M.U. electrics. But a perplexing borderline case
is the so-called Phila. & Paoli (PRR) in Pennsylvania, which,
if truly a separate R.P.O., is the second shortest of them all
(twenty miles). This is the famed Paoli Local of Philadel-
phia's fashionable "Main Line" suburbs. In fact, it actually
does traverse the Main Line of the PRR, being simply a short
run of the N.Y. & Pittsburgh R.P.O. thereon; it uses clerks
and postmarkers of the latter line and is not even separately
listed in P.T.S. schemes or schedules. But, on the other hand,
it uses its own tracks exclusively (alongside the others) and is
named independently in the List of Official R.P.O. Titles!
A hot run, it is about the busiest of all multiple-unit locals,
perhaps, with its three daily fifty-minute trips each day.
Mountains of mail, including that of colleges at Haverford
and Bryn Mawr, must be sorted by only one or two clerks
in a fifteen-foot apartment. And "The Paoli" has no terminal
to do its advance distribution! A similar case is the M.U.-
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 235
electric W. Trent. & Phila. (Rdg., N. J. -Pa.), with steam trains
of the N.Y., Bak. & Wash, using its route.
There is at least one other true all-electric-car R.P.O.,
however— the PRR's nearby Phila. &: West Chester. Formerly
the Phila. &: Perry, (with a long steam-operated segment to
Perryville, Maryland), it serves Lansdowne, Swarthmore,
Media, and other busy suburbs on a 27.5-mile run. The
R.P.O. includes within its organization a more direct nine-
teen-mile closed-pouch run on real interurban trolley cars of
the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, be-
tween pretty much the same two termini (its Philadelphia
end is at suburban Upper Darby); but no clerks serve on
these streamlined trolleys. Two clerks work in the apartment
car on the actual multiple-unit R.P.O. run on the PRR, ex-
cept on holidays— as Paul Wisman discovered to his dismay
when he was ordered to make the first road trip of his life
thereon one Christmas. It was almost leaving time when he
arrived, mail was stacked high in the doorway, and his helper
left the car as the train pulled out. W^isman could not even
secure a time table until the third station, and knew nothing
of the line; with a station flashing by every fifty seconds on
the one-hour run, he could work nothing but a few registers.
Duly putting off empty pouches at each station, to keep rec-
ords straight, he "carried by" two full storage pouches for
local points. At West Chester, trying to get receipts for his
reds, he found the post-office registry clerk in Christmas
services at church. On the equally hectic return trip all the
unsorted outbound and inbound mail had to be hastily baled
into six pouches for 'Thiladelphia GPO Dis."
We have already mentioned the local runs on the electri-
fied N.Y. 8: Washington (PRR), a route also shared by
main-line trains. On one of its Philadelphia-Trenton M.U.-
car locals, one harassed substitute found himself in the same
predicament as Wisman, It was his first run and he had no
idea of the requirements; taking no chances, he locked all
doors and sat on the mail to ride both ways of the whole trip
—disregarding all frantic poundings on the door. Investi-
gating officials finally decided they could not penalize him
236 MAIL BY RAIL
when he pointed out he had followed orders to "stick right
with the train, even if you can't do anything else." There
are many other suburban electric runs on main-line railways
out of New York and Philadelphia and perhaps elsewhere,
but they share the tracks with steam or Diesel through trains
(except for the northern electric segment of the PRR's N.Y.
& Phila.-see Chapter 10). The N.Y. k Wash. (PRR) is evi-
dently the only main-line R.P.O. electrified from end to end,
although others use electric engines in mountain areas only
(in Virginia and the Far West).
But to return to the true trolley-car R.P.O.s, most people
are amazed today to learn that such service was operated on
city streetcar lines for nearly forty years. These cars sorted
mail in transit between the main city post office and its
stations, "pouching" on each other just as the steam R.P.O.s
did; extensive night "circuits" were developed to cover a
wide area in loop fashion. This unique service utilized at
least a hundred ornate white-and-gold "ghost cars" (as they
were known) on city streets alone, on which letters were
neatly machine-canceled or hand-stamped as well as sorted.
In 1895 all street railways were made post routes by Act of
Congress, and by 1898 there were forty street R.P.O. lines
operating over 379 miles of route, on which 1 12 clerks sorted
1,889,090 pieces of mail daily. The trundling little cars put in
some 1,745,000 miles of travel annually and usually carried
a boy to reset wire-jumping trolley poles and fix switches.
As early as 1862 a patent was taken out for collecting and
conveying mails to city post offices by "street railway cars"
(horsecars), but no action was taken on the idea until about
1890, when closed-pouch mails were first handled by trolley
(on Minneapolis— St. Paul intercity lines, now Twin Cities
Rapid Transit, and on the little Dunkirk k Fredonia Railway
in New York State). In Germany trolleys reputedly carried
pouch mail at Berlin as early as 1881.
But in June 1891, Major J. B. Harlow-postmaster at St.
Louis, Missouri— made a more detailed proposal: to use
streetcars for delivery and collection of mails to and from
postal stations, stores, offices, and carriers. The first trial runs
R.P.O.'» ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 237
of this closed-pouch route were made in cars of the Lindell
Avenue Electric Railway in either August or September,
1891; it carried a motored car and trailer that was preceded
by a bell-ringing passenger car to warn postal stations to pre-
pare their mails.
On March twenty-third, orthodox R.P.O. service had been
authorized on the steam West End Narrow Gauge branch of
the St. Louis Cable &; Western Railroad (later St. Louis Sub-
urban Railway) out to suburban Florissant, Missouri. Called
the St. Louis & Florissant R.P.O., this route was gradually
electrified to become a trolley line (as the city grew rapidly
in that direction) between October and December, 189L
And in one month or the other— sources vary— the first trolley
R.P.O. in America came into existence, making its inaugural
run of two daily round trips under the same title as its steam
predecessor, but serving the suburban post offices only. The
18.1 -mile route averaged eighty-one miles' service daily event-
ually; its first R.P.O. compartment occupied half of a thirty-
four-foot, open-platform mail-express-milk car (St. Louis Car
Company), with four windows and a long door on each side.
It contained a canceling table, pouch rack, and letter case.
AlthouQ;h some have denied that true mail distribution
was performed on the line at this time, records show that
some new twenty-eight-foot R.P.O. cars were introduced on
December 5, 1892, and the round trips increased to three
daily, arrangements being made to serve substations and com-
mence "city" sorting. No cancels of the steam line are known.
On February 3. 1893, the St. Louis & Florissant R.P.O. was
established as our first real city "Street R.P.O.," it is true;
for not until that date did clerks begin canceling, sorting, and
exchanging city mails between stations en route. Most ex-
perts agree that it was this line which first used the cancel
"ST. LOUIS, MO., STREET R.P.O. No. 1" and a simi-
larly worded flag; the oldest existing example of the postmark
is dated }uly 4, 1893, and o\vned by John Snow. The new
cars carried a daily average of 1,000 pounds of mail as com-
pared with but 150 on the old steam route; the cars were
mounted on huge diamond-truck wheels.
238 MAIL BY RAIL
In a dramatic test, mail from one substation was posted,
sorted, transmitted, and delivered to a typical addressee with-
in less than one hour— service such as intracity mailers can
look for in vain today. A dozen other successful St. Louis
routes were established soon afterward on many lines, which
long outlived the Florissant route; the latter succumbed to
closed-pouch service as early as 1904 and eventually became
the St. Louis Public Service's Piodiant— Ferguson car line (on
which buses were just recently substituted).
The second route was the 14-mi. Grand Avenue Circuit,
established May 16, 1896, and operated (after consolidation
of the smaller companies) by the United Railways; and by
the end of the year forty-seven R.P.O. and C.P. routes had
been set up. Clerks collected mail from 288 special white-
painted street boxes, served practically all city stations and
eight suburban offices, and even exchanged mails with sixty-
three carrier routes— permitting the carriers to use part of
their letter cases to arrange their mail for delivery while the
postmen rode out on the cars. Both carriers and clerks made
up bags or pouches for many other street R.P.O.s and carrier
routes, whether they were intersecting or not. The govern-
ment paid the Railways four dollars per day per car,
including the wages of the motorman and his conductor or
trolley boy. A reporter from the St. Louis Republic, riding
an inauguaral trip, noted that "the denizens of North St.
Louis are much more given to letter writing" than those in
the South End, and that "it may be that the good people of
Carondelet . . . have not yet awakened to the fact that the . . .
mail-collecting system [here] is the best in the world." The
St. Louis lines were taken over by the R.M.S. shortly after
the beginning, but were turned over to the local post office
again in 1899, as were the routes in all other cities; most of
the best-known St. Louis lines were established later, in 1904.
But on November 15, 1915, the advent of motor mail trucks
caused the scrapping of all that city's services; one car re-
mained in use until very recently as a St. Louis P.S. rail-
grinder, and is no preserved in the St. Louis Electric Railway
Historical Society's outdoor museum.
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 239
Brooklyn— the second city to have streetcar R.P.O.s— had
five routes on the Brooklyn City Railway and the Atlantic
Avenue Railway; the first, ceremoniously opened August 8,
1894, was the Brooklyn &: Coney Island R.P.O. Cars No. 1,
5, and others served such longforgotten communities as West
Brooklyn, Lessers Park, and Unionville, all long since ab-
sorbed by the city. A combination R.P.O. -smoker, No. 101,
went via Adams Street to Thirty-Sixth Street on Atlantic
Avenue Railway tracks. All routes quit in 1914, including
the main 12-mile Brooklyn Circuit R.P.O.
Boston was next to install mail clerks on streetcars; five
lines were introduced May 1, 1895, on the W^est End Street
Railway (later Boston Elevated); two other routes followed.
Steam R.P.O. lines were connected at all raihvay stations,
and up to forty-fi\ e thousand letters were made up for carri-
ers daily on one route. Six lines were day runs; but the
longest, the Boston Circuit R.P.O., was a night rvm serving
twenty-one stations on three round trips and covering most
of the short-line routes. As it w-as the only line with sufficient
time to cancel much mail, postmarks of the other routes-
such as the 6.4-mile Boston & North Cambridge— are exceed-
ingly rare.
Fourth in line Avas Philadelphia, which opened its tw^elve-
mile "H Sc P R.P.O." on the Peoples Passenger Railway on
June 1, 1885, connecting Stations H and P; it was soon ex-
tended to form the Phila. R: Germantown R.P.O., Inter the
Phila. R: Chestnut Hill. The old G.P.O. at Ninth R: Market
Streets installed special spur tracks for cars of the various
street railway R.P.O.s, which soon increased to six or seven
in number; one, the 5-mi. Phila. R: Darby, reached that suburb
over one of the three streetcar routes contacting it. The three
original Philadelphia cars were full R.P.O.s, -^vith storage
stalls in one end and a 240-box letter case around all three
sides of the other; a rack in the middle held twelve pouches.
and a stamping table w^as opposite. Some routes operated
over the Peoples' Traction (which used trailers). Union Trac-
tion, and similar early systems; but all were soon consolidated
as the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, the present
240 MAIL BY RAIL
"P.T.C." In 1015 tills company built a handsome new car
for the Ser\ ice, as ilhistrated herewith; dubbed ihe M-1, it
was noted for its smooth lines and spacious interior. The
appalHng disappointment of the P.R.T. can well be imagined
when, just two months later, on October eleventh, the
United States mail contract which expired on that date was
not renewed. All R.P.O. service had to be discontinued on
that date, and the proud M-1 was rebuilt as salt car L-12,
which at last report still operates over P.T.C. tracks today.
New York City, the fifth to install street railway post offices,
oddly enough had only one route (unless the Brooklyn lines
arc included). This was the very extensive, cable-operated
Third Avenue R.P.O. (3rdAvRy), which began operation of
its 1 2.1 -mile route with great fanfare on either September 27
or 28, 1895, in the presence of high officials, reporters, and a
huge crowd; the former \vere treated to refreshments at the
Colonial Hotel on One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Street.
The new route eliminated handling of 951 daily direct
pouches over the steam elevated railway. Little white Brill
cable trailers were used— the twenty-foot, single-truck, open-
platform tvpe with three windows on each side and the letter-
ing "UNITED STATES MAIL" vying for attention with
two huge decorative circles. Later designated as the "Third
Ave. Distributing Car," the route ran from the old main post
office on Park Roav via the Bowery and Third Avenue to
serve old Stations D, F, H, Y, L, |- and others up to Wash-
ington Bridge, reaching the latter via 125th Street and Am-
sterdam Avenue, to 190tli Street. Its eight cars were lettered
"A," "B," "C," and so on, and were designed in Third Avenue
Railway shops from a fidl-size partial model by J. H. Robert-
son; they were loaded on sidings on Mail Street and pulled
by horses to the cable tracks. With 380 letter-case boxes in
each end, the little cars pouched on steam R.P.O.s and ad-
vanced mails to the depots by t\vo hours and more; twenty-six
clerks were used. Outmoded by the new pneumatic tubes
•Now known as Cooper fZone $), Murray Hill (Ifi). Grand Central (17-22),
Lenox Hill (21). Triborough (35), and Manhattanville (27) sutions,
respectively.
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 241
and the electrified "el," the route gave up on September 28
or 30, 1900.
The sixth permanent system, one of the very largest and
most interesting, was that of Chicago. The city had just trebled
in size by absorbing suburban Lake View, Jefferson, Hyde
Park, and Lake, Illinois (who remembers them?), with their
factories and mail-order houses; and by 1895, Postmaster
Washington Hessing had persuaded Gth Division Superin-
tendent Lewis L. Troy, R.M.S., to experiment with specially
built postal street cars on Madison Street as early as May
twenty-fifth (before New York's first line). Aldermen tried
to block the new scheme as one forbidding traction men to
strike, but Mayor Swift issued special permits for each car.
A Pullman Palace cable trailer. No. I, made the first run,
leaving Madison and Rockwell Streets via the West Chicago
Street Railroad amid much ceremony and speechmaking:
"The poor man will be able to have his letter go . . . and be
delivered as quickly as by special messenger!" But no mail
was carried, clerks handled dummy pouches only in the cable
train loaded with notables. Two other routes were "begun"
simultaneously, but it was some days before even closed
pouches were carried.
Declared successful, the three runs were put into regular
operation and mail sorting begun on November 11, 1895:
postmarkers and official titles were supplied. Car No. 1,
used on the Chicago R: Madison Street R.P.O. (five miles),
was one of the most unusual in the country. It was a mail-
passenger combination with a skylight in the fifteen-foot
R.P.O. apartment, which contained a 176-box letter case.
Later cars, of the overhead-trolley type, were full R.P.O.
cars carrying up to three clerks; two were named the Wash-
ington Hessing and John H. Hubbard, after the postmaster
and his assistant; the white cars were richly decorated in gold.
During strikes the postal cars were respectfully exempted
from molestation, and traction companies began painting
cars to match until postal heads stopped it. The two other
pioneer routes were the Clark Street— Lincoln Avenue (later
Chicago & North Clark Street) R.P.O. on tlie North Chicago
242 MAIL BY RAIL
Street Railroad (3.8 miles), and the Chicago Sc Milwaukee
Avenue (8.8 miles). The cable lines were mostly electrified
in 1889 and all routes taken over by the United Traction
Company. (The "Chic. &" was later dropped from titles or
changed to "Chic. 111.")
There were eventually six lines, mostly of great length;
one reached Evanston and another the American Corre-
spondence School— which sometimes "stuck" some luckless
trolley R.P.O. crew with seventy-five pouches of letters. A
circuit R.P.O. setup, without special postmark, was started in
1909 to serve fifteen stations, eleven of them directly, on an
eventual twenty-five mile run. By that time postal cars were
being barred from the city center because of traffic congestion,
but until then all daytime R.P.O. cars met regularly in the
Loop to exchange pouches, beginning at 5:30 A.M. daily and
making sixteen hourly round trips. At least eight cars and
thirty clerks were employed, as well as collectors and face-up
men with carts to collect from boxes or deliver bulk mail to
firms. From 60 to 420 pouches of mail were sorted in one
day or night on some lines; one line handled 3,260 pouches
(hauled or distributed) in one day in 1909. Clerks canceled
and sorted the mail, then pouched (1) on all stations en route
both ways, (2) on the opposite car of their route, (3) on the
G.P.O., and (4) on steam R.P.O. lines at depots. But pneu-
matic tubes and motor trucks doomed the s)stem; it folded,
completely, on November 21, 1915.
Chicago, however, saw the revival of one of its streetcar
R.P.O.s tor one glorious day of renewed operations thirty-one
years later, on August 23, 1946. It was to help celebrate the
Diamond Jubilee of the American Philatelic Society, which
includes some R.P.O.-postmark collectors. The Chicago Sur-
face Lines brought out its one well-preserved R.P.O. car,
renovated to its original condition at a cost of $10,000 (tor
the subway-opening transit parade in 1943), and operated it
once more from the Hamilton Hotel to the post office,
manned with mail clerks. Bereft of modern motors, it was
hauled by another car, and its special postmark of
R.P.O.'8 ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 245
"CHICAGO. ILL./STREET CAR R.P.O." was given to
thousands of addressed "covers."
Cincinnati was the next city to have a trolley postal system,
but only on one line: the 7.6-mile Walnut Hills & Brighton
(CinStRy), begun November 11,1895. This R.P.O. was later
retitled the "BRIGHTON CAR," using standard city flag
cancels with that phrase in the "killer"; it served Brighton
and other suburbs, operating a handsome four-wheel, open-
platform car until 1915.
The nation's capital then joined the parade with its 4.86-
mile Pennsylvania Avenue R.P.O. (CTCo); a sixteen-foot ex-
horsecar trailer was rebuilt for the first trip on December 23,
1895, from the Georgetown carhouse to the Navy Yard. No
"token" service, the initial run was swamped with huge bags
of Christmas mail, which "were quickly sorted." Cars
pouched on Georgetown, Central, and other stations as well
as steam R.P.O. trains. This, too, was a cable line; and when
its powerhouse burned, the company operated our only
known horsccar R.P.O. from September 30, 1897, to April
1898. The R.M.S. chief clerk, G. Car, selected A. B. Carter
and D. J. Bartello as the first trolley R.P.O. clerks there, and
their names, together with that of J. P. Connolly of New
York's Third Avenue R.P.O. (later a writer), are alone en-
shrined in our public records of known clerks who pioneered
in this remarkable field. Permanent cars numbered 1 and 2,
and lettered "UNITED STATES RAILWAY MAIL SERV-
ICE" in red and gold, were introduced later; they sorted an
average of 162 letter packages, 22 sacks, and 128 pouches
daily. The route, as well as two short-lived lines begun later,
was converted to conduit trolley operation long before final
discontinuance in 1913. At last report one car was still used
by Capital Transit as a yard tool shed.
San Francisco fell in line in 1896, with three lines begun
simuhancously on September tTventy-eio;hth; the main one,
a cable route, beinir the four-mile Market Street or Market
Street k San Francisco R.P.O. (MktStRy), operating from the
Ferry Station to Stanyan Street. Service on all lines quit
September 4, 1905, but cars continued in closed-pouch serv-
244 MAIL BY RAIL
ice, and one was caught in the street by the 1906 earthquake
and fire. Rochester, New York, installed its East Side and
West Side R.P.O.s (Rochester Electric Railway) in 1896 over
15.3 miles of route; later they were retitled "Car Collection
Service B" and "C," and cars lettered accordingly, and quit
about 1908. The Baltimore system was to follow next.
In 1898, Pittsburgh's lone route was added to the list of
street R.P.O.'s; its 12.4-mile Fifth k Penn Avenue Circuit
R.P.O. (PghRys) began operating that year on Valentine's
Day. It was discontinued in 1917, after being retitled simply
as the "Street Car" or "Street" R.P.O. ; a Duquesne Traction
Company route to the East End, likewise planned to carry
clerks, remained a C.P. No more cities were equipped until
Seattle inaugurated its oddly titled Seattle k Seattle R.P.O.
(SMuRy); this loop used Car "A" mostly, and quit in 1913.
The next to last city to install street R.P.O.s was Cleveland;
its Cleveland Circuit R.P.O. (CERy) was introduced on Car
0204 on an experimental basis March 1, 1908. Placed in
regular service April third, it operated until about 1920. Last
of all was Omaha, introducing five lines (July 1, 1910-March
10, 1921) using "white tram cars," including the 5-mile Omaha
& Benson and the Union Depot & Stockyards R.P.O.s
(ORrCBStRy). Cancels are very rare. In contracting for ser-
vice, the government cautioned that its clerk could not be
compelled to act as trolley boy, as the company had hoped!
Most remarkable, however, was the splendid set-up used in
Baltimore, a highly-efficient example of a city-distribution sys-
tem never yet quite duplicated by modern methods. Its three
main lines were opened May 29, 1897, using sixteen-foot,
single-truck rebuilt passenger cars— the Towson & Catonsville,
Arlington 8: South Baltimore (to Fairfield), and Roland Park &
St. Helena R.P.O.s (City&Sub-BaltTrac). The white cars had
blue and gold decorations and circular dark-glass monograms
reading "U.S.M." In the light-oak-finished interiors busy
clerks sorted an average 120 pouches and 56 sacks of mail
daily, at a cost of about $34,000 annually. A photo of Car 220
shows a wire cowcatcher in front of the open-front platform,
and the proud lettering "UNITED STATES RAILWAY
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 245
POST OFFICE" (different from Washington's) on the side.
The traction companies consolidated as tiie United Railway
& Electric (now Baltimore Transit), which built six new cars
to Post OfRce Department specifications in 1903— twenty-six
feet long and weighing 18,691 pounds. At least fifteen clerks
were employed, up to three on each car; eleven carrier sta-
tions and twenty-four substations were pouched on, as well
as steam R.P.O.s at depots as elsewhere.
Not only were both local and express R.P.O. cars (with
appropriate signs) operated— the Baltimore cars even made
"catches on the fly"! It was done by the clerk leaping out as
the car slo^ved, emptying the collection box, and catching up
to his R.P.O. "with lightning rapidity." In 1910 the Arl.
& S. Bait, was renamed the Bait, k Arlington, and the
Roland Park &: St. Helena, no longer reaching that suburb
near Dundalk, was curtailed as the Rol. Park R: Highland-
to^vn. But the ToAvson 8: Catonsville tapped far suburbs at
both ends, even reaching Ellicott City, miles beyond Caton-
ville (possibly by closed-pouch extension). Cars converged
upon the main post office daily at 5 A.M., where the clerks
would unlock them and begin runs lasting until midnight.
The lines became a Baltimore institution; residents timed
their sleep by the cars' passage, and tourists gaped at the
only such installation in America after World War I. But
by the late 1920s s^varming traffic had sleeved the little old
cars intolerably; speedy motor trucks offered ser\'ice so fast
as to overcome both the advantages of distribution in transit
and the lightninglike collections while traveling.
Thus it was that on November 5, 1929, Second Assistant
Postmaster General Smith Purdtim— himself a veteran Mary-
land R.M.S. man— regretfullv signed an order terminating
the last street-railway post offices in the United States. And
on November ninth, just twenty short years ago, the final
trip of all was made over ihe old "Tows. R: Catons." Before
the end of the month the cars had been broken up for scrap.
Todav Baltimore Transit's speedy streamlined passenq;er
trolleys still ply over the tracks from Towson to Catonsville,
but they arrived too late for restoration of the unique
246 MAIL BY RAIL
R.P.O. to be considered, though the once-speedy mail trucks
which doomed it are in turn often slowed in today's choked
traffic.
Although the doom of the city lines had been foreshad-
owed as early as 1899 (General Superintendent White, though
very hopeful for them, pointed out how the shortness of
routes and many petty disruptions prevented efficient or
complete distribution) there Avere numerous other suburban
and interurban trolley R.P.O. routes which survived far
longer. All have now been discontinued— largely because the
entire interurban line quit; but on the other hand, city
streetcars still carry passengers (and in some cases pouch
mail) over quite a few of the former city R.P.O. routes.
Two of our most picturesque interurban R.P.O.s were
on the Indiana Railroad, a farflimg traction system consoli-
dating most of the earlier long-distance trolley companies of
Indiana. One route, the seventy-six-mile Peru S: Indianapo-
lis, operated for only three years (September 2, 1935— Sep-
tember 10, 1938); like its companion route, it was part of the
vast interurban trolley network of yesterday by which one
could travel on connecting cars from central New York State
clear to the heart of Wisconsin or down into Kentucky.
This R.P.O. operated a fifteen-foot mail apartment in one
passenger car on daily round trips. Its service, extended to
South Bend, was revived in H.P.O. form in 1941 (Chap. 16).
The other route, the eighty-six mile Fort Wayne k New
Castle (IRR), was one of the most interesting of all trolley
R.P.O. runs. It served fifteen post offices directly, and many
others through these; a one-man run (two weeks on and one
off), it was supplied by substitutes the third week. It began
operation on September 2, 1935, as the Waterloo & Dunreith,
to replace R.P.O. runs which competing steam roads had
given up; its route had been consolidated from four connect-
ing trolley systems (the FtWRrNW, FtWR:N, UTI, and
THR-E). The extensions to Waterloo and to Dunreith were
dropped in 1937. It used a fifty-ton car even longer than a
coach (sixty-one feet), although separated by bulkheads into
passenger, motorman's, and R.P.O. (fifteen-foot) compart-
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 247
ments, connected by two-foot creep doors. Bob Richardson
has given a tlirilling account of a typical winter run of this
R.P.O. which sliould be perused by every reader of these
words^— he describes the dark bulk of Car 376 looming beside
Fort Wayne's "one bright spot" (the interurban station) at 5
A.M. . . . the huge pile of pouches loaded into the R.P.O.
. . . the screeching of wheels on frozen s\vitches . . . tearing at
65 mph through snow-covered helds . . . breakneck exchanges
with mail messengers at way stops . . . freezing canceling ink
. . . througli Bluffton and iMuncie, America's book-renowned
"Middletown" . . . the clerk, in crushed hat and sweater-
overalls combination, scooting through the "doghouse door"
to chin with the conductor . . . coasting downgrade into New
Castle to the courthouse at 8 A.AL
So heavy was the R.P.O.'s "business" that even the vesti-
bules and passenger seats had to be filled with overflow mail-
bags. But the bus-minded Indiana Railroad was determined
to scrap all of its safe and commodious trolley service, even
knowing the new buses could never equal its speed. And on
January 18, 1941, the faithful R.P.O. made its last run— north
out of New Castle, ^^•ith little publicity; only seven hundred
collectors' covers were handled, the motorman getting the
last one (at Fort Wayne). People came to watch the car at
every crossroads, and village postmasters brought their last
pouches to the car ^\'ilh unashamed tears in their eyes. Sold
to Chicago's South Shore Line, Car 376 was rebuilt as their
present Line Car 1101. The new Fort Wayne Sc Indianapolis
H.P.O. restored service to the route January 17, 1949.
Two famous old routes were begun about 1910 on the
Great Northern's "Inland Empire" interurban division— the
ninety-mile Spokane R: Moscow (from Washington State to
Idaho's "Psychiana" headquarters) and the thirty-two-mile
Coeurd'AleneR: Spokane (Ida.-Wash.; both SCd'A&P). The
heavy, exclusively mail-express-baggage interurbans were
given up in April 1939, on the Moscow route and on the
other by the next year or so. Called "The Greenacres," this
•"Indiana's Trolley Car P.O.," Linn's Weekly, Sidney, Ohio, March 9, 1940.
248 MAIL BY RAIL
run to Coeur d'Alene (the only R.P.O. with an apostrophied
title) was one of two known trolley R.P.O.s to have inspired
poetic publication! Substittite Adrian B. Dodge describes its
story in the Raihuay Post Office, soon alter discontinuance;
proud of his little office "fifteen feet troin stem to stern," he
nevertheless recalls one startling crash when the trolley pole
got caught and jammed into the root:
... It gives the clerk a might queer feeling
As it pokes its way through the express-car ccilingi
The other trolley R.P.O. to have brought forth published
verses in its memory was the grand old Greenfield & Spring-
field (Northhampton St. Ry.— Conn. Val.) in Massachusetts.
In the absence of an early-morning steam train for upvalley
points, this service was begun at the insistence of Postmaster
Cambell of Northampton and leading newspapers. It used
Car 500, a forty-one-foot Watson Car Works model with
ornate gilt striping and lettering, two large sliding doors,
and mail slots. Officials riding the inaugural run in August
1901 pronounced it a great success; the forty-three-mile route
served Northampton and Holyoke en route, with alternate
runs via West Springfield and via Chicopee Falls. Robert T.
Simpson was the one-man run's first clerk; and, probably
alone of all interurban R.P.O.s, it worked Springfield and
Northampton city mail. Cars delivered newspapers direct to
newsdealers and exchanged pouches by "matching doors" at
sidings. The clerk must have changed cars at Northampton,
for No. 150 of the Connecticut Valley Street Railway (mail-
passenger combination) was used north of there. Pouches for
Hatfield, Massachusetts, were flung directly on the doorstep
of the house containing the post office, reported Clerk
William B. Quilty, at night— until he was finally furnished
with a key to "steal inside with it like a burglar."
Tearing along at 50 to 60 mph, the cars were scheduled
an hour faster than passenger runs— and were known to pitch
ne\v subs headfirst into some open mail sack in the rack.
Others suffered acutely from car sickness; but not even the
worst blizzard ever stopped the service. Cars connected with
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 249
the old Williamsburg &: Northampton R.P.O. (North. St. Ry),
which began operating much earlier on July 5, 1895; this
branch to "Burghy" used a small, boxlike full R.P.O. car,
No. 38. The poem which immortalized the line, Phil Bolger's
Flight of the Green & Spring, was published in a leading
Springfield newspaper— an excerpt from it is at the head of
this chapter. The route folded up in 1924.
Also in New England was the Camden R: Rockland in
Maine, on the Knox County Electric (or RT8:C). Contro-
versy still rages as to whether this short roadside line was a
streetcar or interurban R.P.O.; it operated for eight miles
out from the M.C. station in Rockland until the early 1930s,
thus being claimed by the pro-streetcar group as being really
our last street-R.P.O. route (instead of the Towson R: Caton-
ville). But the line seemed truly "interurban" in character-
defined as connecting two sizable towns separated by open
country— and is so classed by this writer and other collectors.
Its car, No. 18, began operation about 1893.
A similar borderline case was at the nation's other extreme.
The old Haywards & Oakland traversed 14.9 miles of built-
up territory, largely street trackage, ever the Alameda Coun-
ty Electric (OSLJIH) via Oakland streets to Fruitvale, San
Leandro, and Haywards, California, in three daily 1 14-hour
trips. Operated from January 1, 1902, to March 31, 1920, it
was part of a co-ordinated mail and express system including
a C.P. branch to San Lorenzo and dubbed the "f^ay R: Oak."
A most interesting run was the old thirty-mile Doylestown
& Easton (Phila. R: Easton Elec.) in Pennsylvania, which oper-
ated two deck-roofed, double-truck, mail-passenger cars with
"ELECTRIC POST OFFICE" stenciled on the R.P.O.
apartment. This short-lived, mistitled run (for Easton is
north of Doylestown) ran only from 1904 to April 1, 1908.
The two hour run connected at Doylestown with two laps of
C.P. trolley service to Willow Grove and Olney, Philadelphia,
where city streetcar R.P.O.s provided connection to the
G.P.O. Oddly enough, only the short Willow Grove— Phila-
delphia segment of this trolley route is still operating; Avhile
practically all of the much longer Philadelphia— Norristown
250 MAIL BY RAIL
— Allentown— Easton route of Lehigh Valley Transit was still
running passenger trolleys in 1950. Both lines carried C.P.
mails until very recently.
A unique combination trolley-and-boat run operated in
California until 1938— the Calistoga & San Francisco R.P.O.
(SFRrNV), or "Cal &: Val," it having operated only to Vallejo
Junction for a period. A steel mail-apartment car was used
on its forty-one-mile route from Calistoga to North Vallejo
(or South Vallejo), with connecting service via the ferry El
Capifan* the rest of the way, most of the sorting being done
thereon. The Go-Back Pouch tells of an old-time clerk-in-
charge who was once suspended for one day without pay
on this run, for some minor infraction of rules. By mistake
the office suspended him on a day he was due to work, in-
stead of withdrawing pay for a layoff day (as was customary
on one-man runs); he took to the hills for a vacation and
could not be found, so mails piled up in the trolley and boat
all that day with no clerk to work them! (The same thing
once happened on the Phila. 8: Norfolk (PRR), another
part-boat run, when the whole crew missed their train when
swimming on a layover.) In Michigan the Pt. Huron, Ma-
rine City 8: Det. (DURy) connected at least one independent
boat R.P.O. similarly.
Best known of all interurban trolley R.P.O. s were prob-
ably the two recently discontinued ones which survived until
1948. Most unique of all '^vas the Los Angeles R: San Pedro
(PE), a trolley loop route with botJi terminal points inside the
same city's limits— Los Angeles, which includes the independ-
ent post office of San Pedro (exactly as in the 'Tar Rockaway"
case). Service was by the big red cars mentioned earlier,
operating up to three Ss^-hour trips each weekday in both
directions around the 29.6-mile route. This strange R.P.O.
hauled vast quantities of mail to the Los Angeles Harbor at
San Pedro— one load brought down to the S.S. President was
the largest ever shipped out over the Pacific. It operated from
July 1, 1922, to June 22, 1948, over the spruce four-tracked,
♦Ferry link discontinued Sept. 12, 1937.
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 251
rapid-transit right-of-way south to Watts and around the
double-tracked loop via Long Beach, Gardena, and other sub-
urbs outside the city; two H.P.O.s, one of the same name, took
over upon discontinuance. The trolleys still operate as the
L.A. R: San Pedro C.P.
The other route, our second most recently discontinued
one, was the interesting Denison Sc Dallas on a long Texas
Electric interurban route, 76.4 miles. Three handsome big,
arch-windowed "Bluebonnet" cars contained the ten- and
fifteen-foot R.P.O. apartments used on this northeast Texas
run. Most cars used only the lettering "R.P.O." not spelled
out; two daily three-hour, one-man trips were operated. Its
end hastened by a collision between two cars (injuring a
transfer clerk), the entire Texas Electric system was discon-
tinued December 31, 1948; some months later the Denison
& Dallas H.P.O. took over the resulting star-route service.
In contrast to this railroad-enforced discontinuance of serv-
ice, the L. A. Sc San Pedro was taken off strictly at depart-
mental option; frequent passenger and freight service con-
tinues over its main routes to the beach area.
The second of the two "Beach Lines" was the compan-
ion loop route of the L.A. k San Pedro— the Los Angeles &
Redondo Beach (PE), It measured 19.3 miles via Beverly
Hills, at which place it dispatched many movie stars* mail,
and 14.8 miles via Culver City. From 1941 to 1947, when it
was discontinued, the R.P.O.'s outer terminus was at Venice,
(within the Los Angeles limits), thus constituting still a third
electric R.P.O. with both termini inside one city; it operated
largely over tracks without passenger service. Another
unusual route was Ohio's Toledo &: Pioneer (T&W), with
daily service on R.P.O. Car 52; it returned halfway, each day,
as far as Aliens junction to connect a closed-pouch trolley
for Adrian, Michigan, and then went back to Pioneer to pick
up the evening mail for way points and Toledo. There were
dozens of other similar long-abandoned interurban R.P.O.s;
some, however, like the Baltimore Sc Annapolis (\VBR:A) in
Maryland, carried busy passenger and C.P. mail service for
decades after the R.P.O. ceased (about 1910). Operated well
252 MAIL BY RAIL
into 1950 as ihe B. X: A. electric, the latter carried all mail
for Annapolis and points south until 1948, and much there-
after. The New Bed, R; Providence (UnionSt.Ry, Mass. -R.I.)
used No. 34, a unique ex-horsecar with one electric truck, on
a run once reaching Onset; the car is still preserved on a
"rail-fan" line.
Besides the closed-pouch lines, we must mention the drop-
letter mailboxes which were carried on Buffalo, Knoxville,
and Grand Rapids trolleys (as well as in Des Moines and
Burlington, Iowa, and elsewhere). In 1930 mail was being
carried on seven thousand miles of route by 220 traction com-
panies at a cost of $028,000, and even in 1948 there were still
1,297 miles of such route being operated by forty-two com-
panies. In both Canada and the United States, R.P.O. clerks
have been assigned to ride trolley C.P. routes to guard the
mails, as on the old Coytesville & Hoboken C.P. (PSRy) in
New jersey.
In closing, we can but barely mention such long-aband-
oned trolley R.P.O.s as the Annapolis Jet. & Annapolis, Md.
(VVB&A); the Beaver Fls. k Rochester (or Vanport— BVT) and
Bristol & Doylestown (BCElec) at opposite ends of Pennsyl-
vania; lines from Cleveland to Garrettsville, Middlefield,
Painesville (Fairport), and Wellington, Ohio; Dallas &: Cor-
sicana, Tex. (TE); Exeter &: Amesbury, N.H.-Mass. (EH&A);
Ft. Dodge R: Des Moines, Iowa (FtDDMJlS, still CP elec);
Georgetown (Hammerville) & Cincinnati, Ohio (GPRrC);
Herk. R: Oneonta, N.Y. (SNYRy), now HPO; numerous lines
out of Los Angeles on the P.E.; Pen Van Sc Branchport, N. Y.
(PYR;LS); Peoria, Line. &: Springf., III. (ITS, now elec. CP);
Phila., Newf. & Atl. City, N.J. (WJRrSS); Portland &: Corvallis,
Ore. (PERrP-SP or OE), now H.P.O., plus lines to Cazadero
and Whiteson; Providence k Fall River, R.I. -Mass. (NBSR-
USiRy); Wareham R; Fall River, Mass. (FRR:NB?), and the
York Beach R: Portsmouth, R.I. -Mass. (SERy).
Regarding the Los Angeles lines, at least four or five of
them (or their connections) are still operated as busy trolley
C.P. routes; and until May 28, 1950, most of them centered
at a unique interurban electric terminal, the only one of its
R.P.O.'s ON THE TROLLEY TRAIL 253
kind— the Pacific Electric Terminal, P.T.S., in the traction
depot at Sixth and Main. It pouched on nearly 100 subur-
ban offices by trolley and on all outgoing R.P.O.s including
the electric ones; but its work was taken over by the Term-
inal Annex, Los Angeles P.O., on May twenty-ninth. Hence
even today, Los Angeles— the motors of whose last trolley
R.P.O. are hardly yet cool— most nearly symbolizes the his-
toric "age that is past" of our forgotten railway mail traction
lines, with its white-and-gold city streetcars which only this
great metropolis (and Detroit) never had.
Chapter 13
CANCELS AND CAR PHOTOS: THE
"R.P.O. HOBBY"
I really like that run I'm on, it's usually just "tops";
But when the train-mail bags come down, it's "Slim, come hit
these 'drops'."
And scores of jumbled letters in each frequent, bulging pouch
Must needs be canceled clear and clean, as o'er the pile I crouch;
For bids with "date illegible" may bring us legal woes—
And smudgy markings mean we've R.P.O. "fans" as our foes!
- B.A.L.
—Courtesy Postal
Markings
Railway Post Ofiice operations, long a
topic of mystery or fascination to many,
have in one short decade become the
subject matter of a popular new hobby
now sweeping over the English-speaking
world. For many years before, there had
been a scattered few such hobbyists
(mostly philatelists who liked postal
markings or history as much as stamps);
but now himdreds of other collectors, rail
fans, and even railway mail clerks themselves are joining in
the fun. Collectors long ago became curious about those odd
postmarks, with no hint of a state name, reading "FLAX. &
WHITE./R.P.O." (a MStPR.SSteM short line into Montana)
and so on. They soon ferreted oiu lists of such lines and
learned that by mailing a self-addressed stamped envelope
inside a larger cover addressed, for example, "Clerk-in-
Charge on Duty, Flax. & Whitetail R.P.O. , via Flaxton,
254
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 255
N. Dak.," one could obtain most current R.P.O. postmarks.
(The title of the nearest R.P.O. or H.P.O. serving any to^vn
can be obtained from the post office, or proper Division office-
see Chapter 3, footnote.)
A few ran into trouble with overzealous inspectors, who
questioned the right of clerks to cancel such covers (in
Canada they cannot); but careful study of the P. L. Sc R.
passages covering that subject reveals that only the placing
of extra marks or endorsements thereon, by the clerk, is pro-
hibited. As leading collectors expanded their researches,
many wrote articles dealing with the more unusual R.P.O.
routes— operations as well as postmarks— which were pub-
lished in philatelic journals along with check lists of lines.
About 1928, when such literature was becoming increas-
ingly noticeable in stamp journals, a Glasgow collector named
James H. Tierney ^vas \valking through the Central Railway
Station there one evening— but, like most Scottish collectors,
he then knew nothing of railway post offices. Noticing a
train with the wording "ROYAL MAIL" and a red letter
box on the side, he stopped to investigate. He learned that
letters could be posted therein if prepaid with an extra half-
penny stamp, and that they would be handled in the
"traveling post office" which occupied the car. He dropped
in an envelope addressed to himself and eagerly awaited the
postman next morning— who duly brought him his first Brit-
ish R.P.O. postmark. That not only started Tierney's inten-
sive interest in collecting railway mail cancels, photos, and
information (to the extent of eight albums)— it also provided
the impetus for establishing the first and only general society
of R.P.O. "fans" anywhere, even todayl
Tierney contacted several like-minded philatelists during
the next ten years and wrote many articles on the "T.P.O.s";
and on January 6, 1938, he and they organized the "Trav-
elling Post Office Society" in commemoration of the British
railway mail services, then exactly one hundred years old.
Norman Hill, an English school instructor in Rotherham,
was chosen secretary, and they soon began to circulate by
mail, scrapbook "bulletins" of news clippings, postmarks,
256 MAIL BY RAIL
and general information among all members. Scores of mem-
bers, from tiie United States and elsewhere as well as in
Britain, were gradually admitted under the very high re-
quirements for eligibility. But the membership consisted
entirely of R. P.O. -minded philatelists and included no British
railway mail clerks.
While Britain is thus credited with organizing the new
hobby's first society, America brought forth its first journal.
This was Transit Postmark, founded at Jackson Heights,
New York City, in July 1942, and now published at Ral-
eigh, Tennessee.' Its founder, railway mail clerk William
Koelln, had a herculean task on his hands, for not even a
list of R.P.O. fans was in existence at the time. Nevertheless,
his first issue was in sixteen pages of neat offset printing. It
featured the first installment of Koelln's pet project: a col-
lossal proposed list of all the R.P.O. titles and variations ever
used. Primarily philatelic. Transit Postmark nevertheless
featured articles on unusual R.P.O. operations, history, and
service changes from the start. Publicity in other stamp jour-
nals printing occasional R.P.O. articles or columns— such as
Cancellations, Linn's Weekly, and others— helped to get sub-
scribers. Some interested railway mail clerks also joined in
supporting and subscribing to the project, with L. N. Van-
divier, of the Indpls. & Louisville (PRR) , becoming assist-
ant editor and taking over the Koelln list project.
Ben L. Cash, retired from the Omaha & Kan. City
(MoPac), and a leading R.P.O. collector and writer for years,
pitched in to help, as did many others. In 1941 and 1942
attempts to organize an R.P.O. society were made by Dick
Bush of Schenectady, New York, L. E. Dequine of Long
Branch, New Jersey, and others. But Koelln persuaded most
enthusiasts to join the Postal Cancellations Society (then the
"I.P.S.S.") instead. Both the Rnilumy Post Office and Linn's
published articles in praise of Transit Postmark's appear-
ance and of its contents, however, the former describing it
as "a publication of value and interest." Both journals re-
'Edited by H. E. Rankin, Box 152, Raleigh, Tenn.; $1 a year.
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 257
printed a paragraph from it which advocated collecting
R.P.O. cancellations as "a hobby in reach of all; if time is
limited, collect only certain states, a division . . . if cash, col-
lect only current markings . . . had for next to nothing."
Koelln, a clerk in the Penn Station Transfer Office in
New York, accomplished some of the most intensive railway
mail research work on record in his insatiable quest for facts
and data on every R.P.O. run in history. He soon published
the first complete list of all operating R.P.O.s (Department-
al lists consist of abbreviations only, and omit some runs).
And yet he found time to be an active R.M.A. and M.B.A.
officer, attending many conventions, and meanwhile writing
for other publications and building up his huge collection
of covers, schedules, and R.P.O. miscellany. Victimized by
a dread disease, he had to give up Transit Postmark after
issuing its delayed February 1944 number; mourned by all
who kncAV him, he passed a^vay in March 1945. (His untimely
death followed shortly that of his warm supporter, Rnilway
Post Office Editor Henry Strickland, and just preceded that
of Carroll Frost, an ardent R.P.O. collector and contributor,
of the N.Y. Sc Wash.— a triple blow to the hobby.)
Suspended for two years. Transit Postmark was revived in
January 1946 by Stephen Hulse of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania,
R.P.O. column editor of Linn's and Cancellations, assisted by
Vandivier and this writer. R.P.O. -minded rail fans were re-
cruited from the ranks of railroad hobbyists for the first
time. In November 1947 another mail clerk — Hershel
Rankin of the Memphis k New Orleans (IC)— took over as
editor and has issued it since then. Some printed pages,
photographs, and specialized lists have been added to the
publication, now supported by more R.P.O. fans than ever.
In direct contrast to the situation in America, the R.P.O.
hobbyists of Britain (although long in touch with United
States "fans") were completely out of touch with the actual
sorting clerks on British lines until December 1946. In that
year the British sorters' union corresponding to our N.P.T.A.
began to issue its small clerks' journal called the Traveller.
Through contacts made with a United States clerk who
258 MAIL BY RAIL
served in our Army in England, copies were exchanged with
the New York Branch's Open Pouch, and this fact was men-
tioned later in the Raihuny Post Office. Transit Postmark's
newest associate editor, another railway mail clerk, saw the
notice and undertook to bring the two English groups into
contact in his capacity as a United States member of the
T.P.O. R: Seapost Society (as it had now become). Subscrib-
ing to the Traveller, he was able to insert a notice about the
society therein— and British clerks learned for the first time
that some Englishmen had railway mail operations for their
hobby! Several interested British sorters joined at once, con-
tacting United States clerks and hobbyists also in the process.
As Secretary Hill of the society learned of the "T.P.O.
sorters' " union and journal for the first time, he immediately
contacted Editor Ron Smith of the Traveller (who had just
joined the society); and many enthusiasts on both sides of
the Atlantic subscribed to the little joinnal. So ended a
"double surprise" in which news of each development had to
cross the Atlantic twice!
During the very next month (January 1947) the T.P.O.
& Seapost Society issued the first copy of its own ne^v bi-
monthly journal, T.P.O., featuring a pictorial cut (by courtesy
of the Traveller.) This interesting little journal contains ex-
cellently reproduced postmark illustrations and photos of
R.P.O. equipment and operations as well— for the society
now welcomes non-philatelic R.P.O. fans in addition to col-
lectors. Society membership doubled within little over a
year, resulting in the formation of a new American R.P.O.
Section of the group late in October 1948, which was formal-
ly organized in January 1949 to cater to the many new United
States members. Eventually, on July first, it became techni-
cally an independent affiliate of the parent body.
Popularly known as "AMERPO" for short, the American
Section and the Headquarters Section in Britain are still
closely linked in a fraternal sense to form one international
brotherhood of R.P.O. and H.P.O. enthusiasts— the Travel-
ing Post Office and Seapost Society, still the only such group
in the world. Dick Bush, of whom we have heard, was elected
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 259
secretary,^ and L. O. Ackerman, president. In 1950 the Na-
tional H.P.O. Society was organized (for H.P.O. postmark
collectors only) by V. J. Geary, J. S. Bath, and H. E. High-
tower; it publishes a monthly, H.P.O. Notes.' (Note 22.)
Spearheaded now by both "AMERPO" and Tramit Post-
mark, the hobby is at present gaining headway in America
with increasing momentum. The Section Supplement,
AMERPO's own newssheet, appeared in July 1949, and at-
tractive membership cards are furnished, while the journal
T.P.O. is duplicated and mailed both in Britain and America.
A printed journal, the R.P.O.-H.P.O. Magazine, is planned
for 1951 by Michael Jarosak, former managing editor of
Transit Postmark (Note 22). The rise of the hobby has been
a source of particular amazement. to the average railway mail
clerk, who considers that his occupation is just one more little-
known job and nothing to get excited about.
The collection of R. P.O. -canceled covers, and sometimes
of photos of the trains or cars invoked, is still the backbone
of the hobby's activities. Both can be mounted in albums,
and the photos usually are; but the largest cover collections
can be filed only in boxes or drawers. As we know, Koelln
and Cash had two of the largest cover collections; leading
collectors of today include Hulse, Vandivier, Rankin, jaro-
sak, Dequine (all mentioned earlier) and many others-
such as Elliott B. Holton of Irvington, New Jersey (author
of the former column "Our Vanishing R.P.O.s" and other
philatelic writings), and X. C. Vickrey of Chicago, not to men-
tion eminent specialists spoken of later. Postal Markings,
an offset-printed periodical, featured hundreds of R.P.O.
articles and postmark illustrations while edited by W. Stew-
art of Chicago and by Stephen G. Rich of Verona. N. J.,
himself an authority on many R.P.O. markings, and hence
has been one of the most helpful publications for all rail-
road-cover collectors.
*The secretary is located at Brandywine Box 96, Schenectady 4, New York;
membership is presently fifty cents per year for accepted applicants.
"Address Secretary, Box 342, Dayton I, Ohio; about $1.50 a year.
260 MAIL BY RAIL
Thus, Richard S. Clover, a leading collector and writer,
once listed four distinct variations of our single current
standard R.P.O. postmark in that publication. In general,
hou'ever, this standardized cancel applied on R.P.O. trains
consists of a single circle about I'/^q inches in diameter
(variations from 28 to 31 millimeters), containing the word-
ings, plus an elliptical or lens-sect bar-killer for canceling the
stamp. The killers of all postmarkers made before November
1, 1949, contain the letters "RMS" (in new ones made since,
"PTS"). Three removable slug lines are provided for train
number, month and day, and year; the letters "R.P.O." are at
the bottom. All steam and electric R.P.O.s, as well as some
boat lines, use this type cancel.
Standard (not First Day) Highway Post Office cancels are
identical, except that "H.P.O." is substituted for "R.P.O."
and the letters "RMS" in the killer omitted (from the very
start— in anticipation of a future title change); periods are
also often omitted from abbreviated H.P.O. names, and
^vhen not abbreviated the state or states of its location are
often included. For example: (1) "BALT R: WASH/HPO"
and (2) "WASHINGTON, D. C, R: HARRISONBURG,
VA. /H.P.O." New H.P.O. killers, however, read "PTS."
R.P.O. line titles change frequently as runs are shortened,
lengthened, or rerouted; the old Reforin k Mobile (ATRrN)
in Alabama was once designated, at least in part, by nine
different earlier titles. Therefore there are thousands of old
titles to collect, as well as numerous "varieties" of wording
and design— official abbreviations are seldom used. Some col-
lectors specialize in narrow-gauge and old boat routes or vari-
ous nineteenth-century markings.
True R.P.O. markings of the past century reveal a rich
variety of sizes and types. From 1875 to 1905 many extra
wordings, such as "FAST MAIL," "LIMITED MAIL" (with
handsome target-style killer), "BALTO.MD.," are found in-
serted in R.P.O. cancels, as well as the clerk's name in some
cases. The most recent known example of the latter was the
postmarker used by Wilson Davenport of the St. Lou. &
Little Rock (MoPac); he had a private elliptical killer at-
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 261
tached to it, tipped vertically to contain his name and a star
in the center, and his postmark impressions are collectors'
items today. (Davenport, mentioned earlier, has been a
N.P.T.A. officer or national delegate since 1904 and is still
active in "retirement" with his St. Louis postal-supply busi-
ness). Train numbers (and even year dates) were often
omitted on such early cancels; the words, DAY, NIGHT,
NORTH, SOUTH, and so on, were usually substituted— or
even TAW (for "Train A, W^est"). The earliest true R.P.O.
cancel, of course, was the rare "CHICAGO TO CLINTON"
used on Armstrong's first 1864 run; specimens are said to
exist, but no collector seems to know who has them (the
same thing applies to the e\en rarer postmark of the 1862
"Hannibal R: St. Joe" route). One of the earliest R.P.O. can-
cels in collections is "CHICAGO TO DAVENPORT" (1868).
Of remarkable interest are the errors and oddities in word-
ing that appear in some cancels. Two are (1) the "WAY-(- &
LAKELAND" (now the ACL's Waycross & Montgomery,
east end) shown at the head of this chapter— note "-]-" for
"cross"-and (2) a N.Y. & Wash. (PRR) error reading "N.Y.
7 WASH./R.P.O.," still in use today (the clerk ordering two
current postmarkers neglected to press a shift key in typing
"&"!). Other fascinating errors will be found in Transit
Postmark's files. A rare "EMERGENCY STAMP/R.P.O."
was used on the St. Albans &: Boston (CV-B8:M) in March
1902, for some reason; and some cancels were once surround-
ed by a second circle reading "MAIL DELAYED— TRAIN
LATE" (detachable).
Pre-R.P.O. railroad cancels, now extremely scarce, are a
fascinating study; but only those which are route agents'
postmarks were actually applied on trains. The word
"AGENT" need not appear; the oldest-known railroad
agent marking of all reads simply "RAIL ROAD" in Old
English type, applied on the Mohawk k Hudson Railroad
in New York State on November 7, 1837— now in the Harry
Dunsmoor collection. Since many station agents and post-
masters housed in small depots used cancelers or ticket stamps
containing railroad names, it takes an expert to distinguish
262 MAIL BY RAIL
true route-agent cancels. Some authorities, notably O. A.
Olson and Professor Dennis, assert that the earliest cancels
were applied by conductors or baggagemen and should be
classed as "railroad" as distinct from "asrent" markins^s. But
Hall and other point out that such postmarking by railroad-
ers and other outsiders was prohibited. Some post offices
stamped mail with railroad marks to indicate routing, too,
further complicating the matter.
Some of the best-known agent cancels were those of
the Phikidelphia— Washington route and those reading
HARRISBG. &: LANG. RR., both now PRR (N.Y. &: Wash.-
N.Y. k Pitts. R.P.O.s); others were BOSTON k ALBANY
R.R., MIC.CENT.R.R., and so on. A "MAIL LINE" cancel
was used on the Louisville & Cincinnati Railroad in 1851.
The word "ACT" did not begin to appear until the 1850s
and 1860s, as a rule. Some early agent cancels are in pen and
ink or even pencil; others are stamped in red, blue, and
green as well as black, and some contain agent's names.
Harry Konwiser of New York and Arthur Hall of Cranford,
New Jersey, both noted philatelic writers, are two of our lead-
ing authorities on the earliest railroad (route agent) and
R.P.O. covers. Hall's collection of agent markings is prob-
ably tops, although that of O. A. Olson of Chicago is very
large. Konwiser's U. S. Stampless Cover Catalog, the stand-
ard text on the subject, lists all kno^vn pre-stamp-era agent
marks, and Delf Norona's Cyclopedia of postmarks lists
others. Some remarkable displays of agent and early R.P.O.
covers have been exhibited at leading stamp shows by Olson,
Hall, and others; some won prizes. One controversial agent
cover, "U.S. EXPRESS MAIL," is now know to refer to the
through express-agent runs (Chapter 6).
Regulations require that all R.P.O. postmarks now be
struck in black, but in emergencies red and other colors have
been used— notably on the temporary Wallula R: Yakima (UP)
Christmas R.P.O. (see Chapter 10) in 1942, where the clerk
was supplied only with a red pad. Air-mail fields and other
units, including our one unique Register Transfer Office,
are authorized to postmark facing slips in red.
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 26S
Collectors particularly cherish the colorful covers with
cachets— piciorid.\ or colored worded devices on left half of
envelope— sponsored to mark anniversaries, World's Fairs,
"First Trips," and what not. With possibly a special-occasion
R.P.O. postmark and usually a commemorative stamp, such
an envelope is a prized addition to any collection. The o^overn-
ment recognizes the R.P.O. hobby by applying colorful pic-
torial cachets (showing an H.P.O. bus) and a special, spelled-
out postmark with "FIRST TRIP" in a long four-line
killer on new H.P.O. runs; by special exhibition R.P.O. post-
marks; and (rarely) by special postmarks with similar killer
on historic final R.P.O. runs. A recent example was the last
trip of the famous Reno R: Minden (V&:T) in Nevada, old-time
western route, May 31, 1950. Stamp clubs, too, issue cachets;
the one at Glen Ellyn, Illinois, sponsored four for the Eight-
ieth Anniversary of our first permanent R.P.O. (the Chicago
k Clinton, via Glen Ellyn), postmarked— 2,500 copies— on
the same line, now the CR:NW's Chic. & Omaha, August 28,
1944. Vivid pictorial designs in colors featured the first
R.P.O. and contemporary scenes. The same club sponsored
similar cachets on one New York Central "Fast Mail" Anni-
versary.
Practically every World's Fair has featured an R.P.O. ex-
hibit, usually a car designated as a specially titled R.P.O. for
its duration. The earliest similar exposition cancel was
apparently the "ATLANTA EXPO./R.P.O.," used in 1885,
the only postmark applied at the regional Cotton States Ex-
position, Atlanta, Georgia. The "W^orld's Columbian Exposi-
tion at Chicago's "White City" in 1893 likewise had a duly
constituted Railway Post Office, but it apparently canceled no
mail; its rare postmark ("R.P.O./WORLDS COLUMBIAN/
EXPOSITION" in a shield) has been found only on facing
slips. The Pan American Exposition (Buffalo, 1901) had a
full R.P.O. car (DR:H) sorting all exposition mail, with a sou-
venir booklet The U. S. Railway Mail Service issued; no post-
mark is known. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1904,
used an "EXPOSITION R.P.O./ST. LOUIS, MO." post-
mark; while the St. Louis Centennial featured a "CENTEN-
264 MAIL BY RAIL
NIAL PARADFyR.P.O.," operated only on October 7, 1909,
as a horse-drawn Missouri Pacific mail coach on wagon wheels
(it was long thought to have been a streetcar R.P.O., but the
streetcars were elsewhere in the parade). An "R.P.O. EX-
HIBIT CAR, SPG. MASS." was used at the Eastern States
Exposition in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1925, 1929, and
perhaps in other years.
The Chicago Century of Progress (World's Fair) of 19.S3-
'34 had "exhibit cars", too— the Burlington's "Hannibal"
replica and a modern car. No "R.P.O.", the clerks still can-
celed covers, the wording reading "U.S. RY. POSTAL CAR
EXHIBIT/CHICAGO, ILL." with exposition name in the
killer. One prize cachet furnished at the car Avas printed on
the famous original Gutenberg Press, on display there. The
"NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR/R.P.O." shown at that great
event in 1939-40 consisted of a spruce, flag-decked New York
Central postal car. No. 4868. Featuring a green pillared de-
sign, attractive cachets were supplied along with the special
postmark on "Railway Mail Service Day," September 1, 1940
—commemorating the Seventy-sixth Anniversary of the
R.M.S., to the nearest 'week end. Five branches of the R.M.A.,
assisted by the Vincent Lopez Stamp Club, sponsored the day
and the cachets; the American Legion R.M.S. Post's band
played, and there were speeches and music by Second Assistant
P. M. G. Purdum, President Bennett of the R.M.A., clerk-
composer Barney Duckman, and others. Nearly one million
people visited the car, including many foreign postal clerks
who signed a register; Editor Koelln, who helped plan the set-
up, lent an attractive exhibit of rare covers. Clerks Pierce,
Hedlimd, and others purchased special immaculate uniforms
in which to ^vork mail and escort visitors.
The most recent exhibition R.P.O. was the "CHICAGO
RAILROAD FAIR/R.P.O." (Deadwood Central), which
cancel \v?s applied on a moving train at that Fair from July
to September, 1948 and 1949. Thousands of covers, many with
neat cachets, were canceled by clerks actually on duty in a
tiny R.P.O. baggage combination car in the quaint narrow-
gauge train running the length of the grounds. The same
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 265
R.P.O. train, wiihout cancel, operated at the Chicago Fair
of 1950. At the 1949 R.M.A. Convention at Omaha,
Nebraska (at which it became the N.P.T.A.), exhibits in-
cluded the replica of the Burlington's original Hannibal Sc
St. Joe car as well as their new streamlined Silver Post car and
an H.P.O.; a cachet, but no postmark, was provided. (Similar-
ly, no clerks or postmark were supplied on board a rubber-
tired Missouri Pacific R.P.O. car hauled in the Cornerstone-
Laying Parade for the new St. Louis post office in 1936, it
appears.)
There have been countless colorful private railway cachets
too numerous to mention. They include one dated May 8,
1946, for the initial run of the PRR's new Robert E. Hanne-
gan, with N.Y. & Pitts, postmark; one for the one-hundredth
Anniversary of Chicago's first railroad, the C&NW, post-
marked October 25, 1948, on the Chi. 8: Freeport (sharing
the original tracks with the Chic. & Omaha for some miles);
a new Union Pacific cachet for the first trip of R.P.O. service
in Omaha & Ogden Trains 101-102, the streamlined City of
San Frayicisco, October 2, 1949; and many others sponsored by
Scott Nixon of Augusta, Georgia, by AMERPO, and by the
New Haven (Connecticut) Railroad YMCA Stamp Club, for
various special events.
Collectors cherish cancels of the unusual Royal Train
R.P.O. (PRR-NYCent-DR;H), which ^vas a United States
route for just five days (June 7-12, 1939), although operated
in Canada with a different postmark. A picked crew of R.M.S.
officials and clerks worked in the postal car of the pilot train
escorting King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on a visit
here via Niagara Falls, Washington, New York, and Rouses
Point (N.Y.); they canceled 318,000 covers with six types of
postmarks, including a machine cancel which was the only one
used on any steam R.P.O. train.
Terminal and Transfer Office cancels are not so standard-
ized as those of the iron road, and there are numerous \arie-
ties of hand and machine postmarks that cannot be classified
here. George Turner has listed nine varieties of terminal
cancels alone in Postal Markings; the newest ones at this writ-
266 MAIL BY RAIL
ing still read, as a rule, " (CITY), (STATE) TERM./R.P.O."
with "RMS" in the killer. Some abbreviation of "Transfer
Clerk" or "Transfer OfTice" is found in the cancels of nearly
all such units, except those of the unusual, just-discontinued
"Relay Depot, East St. Louis, 111.," and the earlier (T.O.)
Round Table, Kansas City, Missouri. But the mark "L. M.
ACT" (local mail agent) was the one used by earlier, pre-
R.M.S. units of this type. Air Mail Fields, P.T.S., show even
more variety in their cancels; some were designated "R.P.O.s"
while killers vary from "RMS" (the commonest) to "AMS,"
"PTS" (newest), or no wording at all. No cancels have yet
been applied aloft, but cachets have (see Chapter 16). "PTS"
killers are slated for our newest terminal and T.O. marks.
There are specialized markings applied to transit mail in
post ofTices, often referring to R.P.O. trains, which attract
many collectors. "T.P.O." postmarks in Great Britain include
two attractive large modern types with double circles (with
black block or center-line fill-ins) and numerous smaller
types, some with stars. Neither British nor Canadian cancels,
which are a small standardized single-circle type, use killers.
Specializing collectors find the old streetcar R.P.O. cancels
of major interest—so much so that a Street Car Cancel Society
was founded (March 31, 1946) by Secretary Fred Langford of
Pasadena, California, and President Earl Moore of Chicago.'
It was thus the first R.P.O. society (though not for all R.P.O.
hobbyists) to be organized in America; it considers Transit
Postmark its official jotnnal and has issued some duplicated
Street R.P.O. material. The largest collection of American
streetcar R.P.O. covers is owned by member Robert A. Truax
of Washington, D. C; while Moore's collection of car
photos is probably tops. Street R.P.O. cancels exhibited
a most incredible variety of types. San Francisco alone had
both machine and hand cancels, with crude cork killers and
steel R.M.S. ones, and sexeral reversals or variations of title,
even to shifting it to the killer! Flag; cancels were used in
•The secretary is at 100 East Colorado St., Pasadena 1; membership. $1 for life.
THE "R.P.O. HOBBY" 267
Boston, St. Louis, and Cleveland, also with route name in
killer and with year dates separated.
While we have dealt mostly with the postmark-collecting
phase of the hobby in this chapter, the photo-collecting angle
and others are actually of equal importance. There are, of
course, no detailed classifications of photograph types, but
they can be grouped roughly as (1) views of R.P.O. trains,
(2) exterior views of R.P.O. cars, (3) interior views of cars,
and (4) miscellaneous. The largest collection of R.P.O.
photos is believed to be that of L. E. Dequine.
Other hobbyists avidly collect R.P.O. literature, data,
pouch labels, facing slips, forms, historical information,
schemes and schedules (particularly old-time ones), and what
not. Closely allied to the R.P.O. hobbyists are the seapost
and maritime cover collectors, who are catered to by the Mari-
time Postmark Society and Universal Ship Cancellation
Society as well as the T.P.O. Sc Seapost Society; but their
activities are beyond our scope here. Many leading maritime
collectors, however, are also very prominent in specialized
R.P.O. fields— including Robert S. Gordon of Northfield, Ver-
mont (our leading authority on foreign R.P.O.s); Vernon L.
Ardiff of Chicago, Illinois (a trolley and boat R.P.O. spe-
cialist); and Holton (similarly inclined).
The R.P.O. hobbyists are performing a noteworthy service
in helping to publicize the importance of the Postal Trans-
portation Service in American life today, and in the past they
have been responsible for at least four fifths of the published
material dealing with the Service (excluding the Raihuay Post
Office and official pamphlets) for the past thirty years. The
hobby well deserves Government support to the extent of
publicizing impending R.P.O. changes in advance, and of
selling P.T.S. schemes and schedules to collectors (now un-
available); revenues from the latter procedure and from
stamps for covers Avould soon return a profit. Such collectors
are real boosters of the postal service, and deserve all
encouragement.
Chapter 14
ON FAR HORIZONS: I—THE BRITISH T.P.O.S
Here comes the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the chefjue and tlic postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door . . .
Past cotton grass and moorland hoidder,
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder . . .
— W. H. AuDEN (Courtesy G.P.O., London)
Just what is a typical system of overseas
R.P.O.s like? In normal times there is a
continuous chain of connecting railway
mail and steamship routes all aroimd the
world, sorting mails in transit by devious
methods often startlingly different from
ours {Note 17). Disregarding technical
duplications, R.P.O.s or related transit
mail routes have operated in fully 107 different countries or
colonies; and still do, in most. Rather than make tiresome suc-
cessive studies of the R.P.O. systems of each principal country,
we will defer brief descriptions of most of them to our next
chapter and concentrate here on one typically European sys-
tem located in a country in which we Americans have a deep
and natural interest. Since it differs from our own system even
more than do Continental net^vorks, we shall find the story of
the British "Travelling Post Office" to be of consuming in-
terest as we review the amazing contrasts it presents to our
American setup.
Imagine, if you will, R.P.O. cars without pouch tables,
268
THE BRITISH T.P.O/s 269
newspaper racks, or case headers— but equipped with uphol-
stered leather padding, neat coco-fiber floor mats, and a huge
net apparatus for making two-way "catches." Then man these
cars v/ith raihvay mail clerks who have never iieard of gen-
eral schemes, mail locks, or periodic case examinations, and
who cut twine and open mailbags only with "the official scis-
sors." Next, conceive a railway mail service which has no per-
sonnel of its own (it is in common with that of the post offices),
which includes a letter bill with every primary dispatch of
first-class mail, and in which practically every term of speech
differs from the corresponding "American" word. Finally,
picture the great cities of Liverpool and Manchester, ^vhich
no R.P.O. train ever enters; yet, one leaves Liverpool night-
ly—never to return! That's just a bare introduction to
Britain's "T.P.O.s."
Furthermore, we find that a different title is assigned to each
train— no train numbers are used to designate the Traveling
Post Offices as they speed over the realm from the white cliffs
of Dover clear to the rugged lands of the north Scottish crofters
(Helmsdale) or out by Cornwall's famed Land's End. We
learn that letter bags are closed with lead seals and string and
that swing-out stools, cushioned to match the car padding,
(sometimes in a decorative design) are often furnished for
letter clerks. And no labels are placed on top of letter-pack-
ages (when used, they're on the back)! But before we poke
fun at such "quaint," apparently leisurely doings or start
bragging about the much greater amount of R.P.O. mail
sorted per man-hour— according to observers' claims— in the
States, we can do well to remember that in other respects the
English system ranks ahead of our own. Only on British
T.P.O. lines do we find (1) full facilities for sorting all types
and sizes of admissible mails (except parcels) with ease, in sepa-
rate cases; (2) automatic apparatus \vhich simultaneously
"catches" and dispatches up to one thousand, two hundred
pounds of mail at once, at full speed; and (.8) the ultimate in
safe, comfortably furnished mail cars. The largest R.P.O.
train in the world runs in Britain.
A daily high standard of performance, and not breakneck
270 MAIL BY RAIL
speed, is the officially announced aim of the T.P.O. system;
but even so the service normally provides overnight delivery
by first carrier for any letter posted in the evening at London
for atiy place in England or Wales! Letters mailed on midday
T.P.O. trains can even be delivered the same evening. Never-
theless, the British Travelling Post Office does not even claim
to be a network of continuous, twenty-four-hour-a-day distri-
buting arteries with a main-line R.P.O. train everv few hours
or so, as in America; the country's small size makes it unneces-
sary. But the T.P.O. man's specialized job is a very vital one,
and he is highly respected, sometimes "almost revered," by
such few of the public as know he exists. James Tierney writes
to praise "the wonderful team spirit of the workers on these
trains; I don't know if you will find anywhere else a staff of
men working so keenly together for the accuracy and speed of
their service." The British clerk is speedy and efficient, per-
haps because he does work at a less frenzied pace than his
American colleague— in whose R.P.O.s the English chaps in
turn find quite a bit at which to poke fun. Our hectic pouch
racks, catcher hooks, and armed clerks always amuse them.
The difference in nomenclature between the English and
American systems is in itself a fascinating study. Phrases of
considerable length and dignity are often preponderant; thus
a letter package is a bundle of correspondence, and the X-man
is called the carriage searcher. We speak of a crew of clerks,
but in England this is a team of officers, or, collectively, the
staff. Usually officers assigned to distribution (sorting) are
naturally dubbed sorters, although their official titles might be
those of postman higJier grade, S.C. & T./ and so on, or of
other grades; one's fellow sorters are often called the bods.
Pouch dumpers are bag openers; the R.P.O. car is a T.P.O.
carriage or sorting coach (or van), but the whole train is a
mail. It would never do to apply this term to a closed-pouch
train, iiowever; if the latter is an all-mail affair, like most of
them, it is a bag tender. A letter case is usually a sorting frame,
and the separations made up thereon, selections. (But a case
'Sorting clerk & telegraphist; British telegraphs are part of the Post OflBce.
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 271
dia^am, and hence in many cases the sorting frame itself, is
called a letter plan.) A sorter gets on top of, not "up" on, his
work— or else (in rare cases) fails or goes up the ivy (goes
"stuck," or stucko, as the English sometimes say). Instead of
"laying over" a day at his outer terminal, a sorter says he's
resting away; he catches pouches on the fly with the apparatus;
he gets aggregation or ogg, not overtime; and if he's a city
clerk, he is often called a postman and is said to be sorting his
mail to postmen's ivalks, not to carriers. To avoid a failure, a
sorter may have to depend on a last-minute scramble (shirt
tail finish) to clear his mail. Each trip is a journey, newspapers
are simply news, and surplus clerks (a different type from
ours) are redundant sorters; errors are missorts. Other equally
interesting terms will follow.
Britain has only about five hundred T.P.O. "officers"
(sorters), but they distribute over 500,000,000 pieces of mail
annually. They usually work in attractive, full-size sixty-foot
coaches bearing the royal crest and script letters "OR"
(George Rex), as well as the letter slot and "ROYAL MAIL"
wording mentioned. Also on the side of the car are four col-
lapsed pouch-dispatching arms (two beside each safety-rodded
sliding door); two large "side lights" for catcher duty; and a
large "apparatus door," recessed for the height of the car, con-
taining the huge hinged-frame net catcher folded against it.
Some cars have tiny, narrow horizontal windows in a row
under the eaves. These cars cost over $10,000 each (prewar)
and travel some four million miles yearly. Inside there are
no racks; one entire side of the coach is devoted to sorting
frames, the other to a continuous ro-^v of iron pegs (one and
one-half inches apart) on which mailbags are hung limp by
one rins^ from the wall.
Car-interior paint varies from green to a new "duck-egg
blue" (some English ducks lay bluish eggs); and green leather
covers the upholstered horsehair padding applied to all walls
and projecting edges, case ledges, and even horizontal rase
partitions. In lieu of safety rods, it serves to absorb the buffet-
ings received by clerks when rounding sharp curves or in case
of wreck. Case pigeonholes vary in size from those for short
272 MAIL BY RAIL
letters (large enough for most greeting cards) to those for long
letters and packets (\vide cards and small "flats") in some in-
stances, and those in neius frames, the largest boxes, used for
sorting newspapers and large packets; such cases have differ-
ent-sized boxes according to "position" values. The wide
horizontal case partitions are enameled with numbers (in lieu
of headers); vertical partitions are very narro^v and recessed
concavely to enable instant withdrawal of mail. Sorting frames
average about fifty-four (six tiers of nine each) boxes, but vary
from forty-five up to eighty-tAvo on riexvs and packet frames.
(Photos show some clerks standing all letters in certain narrow
boxes on edge; but this is not standard practice.)
All comforts and conveniences possible are supplied. The
R. L. officer (registry clerk) has his own special five-foot
frame with a locking roller-shutter closing over it. Electrical-
ly operated "urns," ovens, or hot plates are found in all cars;
tea can be boiled in half an hour, foods quickly cooked or
warmed by hot plate, and urns switch oflF automatically when
contents are boiling or when emptied; the largest R.P.O. has
three urns and several ovens. The case ledges or tables are
covered with green baize, and the news desks (cases) have
breast boards to keep mail from falling. There is no worry
about separating pouches and sacks, for the same standard
mailbag is used for all postal matter; the term pouch refers
only to the leather containers in which bags are packed for
non-stop dispatch. Outgoing bags are hung directly behind
the proper letter frame, their large printed tags mounted on
the pegs above them— and the sorters, most conveniently,
reach directly behind to bag off their "tied-up bundles."
(With few made-up bundles received and with cases for sort-
ing all "flats," there is little need for a pouch table.) There
is the tisual xunrdrobe cupboard (closet) and "combined lava-
tory and wash-up."
Of course vexatious irregularities can play havoc with the
intended provisions for comfort— broken urns and carriage
gang^vays, eye-straining "half lights," dangerously rough
lurchings from the engine driver, or freezing trips following
an unheated stationary period (advance time) are all too well
THE BRITISH T.P.O/s 275
knoAs'n. When the Avindows of one car ^vere suddenly ^vashed
thoroughly, the staff commented, "We must have been mis-
taken for first-class coaches!" (It all sounds strangely familiar
to American clerks, as does the sometimes-disregarded pro-
vision that the T.P.O. coach should be separated from the
engine by another carriage if possible. The objection is the
rough riding, rather than a safety factor, however.)
The staff consists mostly of post-office sorters who volunteer
for traveling duties and are detailed largely from the London
G.P.O., although provincial staffs hail from Birmingham,
Glasgow, and so on. They wear no badges. (A Civil Service
Commission appoints these clerks originally by competitive
exams, exactly as with us.) Most T.P.O. sorters are, or soon
will be, classed in two principal grades— Po5/777Y7n Higher
Grade and Postman— under the current reallocation of staff;
the officer in charge, or O/C (clerk-in-charge), is of the Assist-
ant Inspector grade thereunder, although many are in the
old grade of Overseer at this writing. Popularly, the O/C is
called the guv' nor or gaffer; he is required only to attend to
supervision and the necessary reports, any assistance he may
give to a sorter being purely voluntary. He does not, as per-
sistently reported (even in a film), occupy a private office on
the train; at least not in any modern T.P.O. Nor does he,
as on United States lines, sell stamps to the public.
The average sorter works on the lines only on a term basis;
each four or five years' road duty is followed by a required
period of two years or more in a stationary (or static) office.
He may still be considered a reserve officer for emergency
T.P.O. runs; and conversely, during road terms, any extra
duty needed to equalize time must be done in post offices-
there are no P.T.S. terminals. Acting additional clerks are
called pressure men, but there are no substitutes. Promotion
is from the ranks, but mostly to post-office positions. Sorters
in service prior to 1947 may travel permanently.
While sorters average only about $38 a week in total pay^
*Pre-devaluation pound values, a more accurate economic picture, arc used
here.
274 MAIL BY RAIL
and allowances, they are furnished many special items free-
all necessary medical attention, protective clothing (work
clothes), free soap and towels, free grips {tot. bags), and certain
ration privileges. And, of course, British living costs are low-
er. Travel pay consists of a duty allowance ($1.80-$2.10
weekly) to compensate for the strenuous work, payable even
when on leave, and a subsistence or trip allowance ($1.30 to
$2.40 per trip) covering board and lodging. Largely because
of the six-day week, British clerks also have shorter rest days
or layoffs than American clerks; but here again their days off
are free from all studies and home duties, and they have much
more annual leave— twenty-one actual days yearly. They av-
erage about one and one-half to two days off per week, depend-
ing on size of the line; but if a five-day week is introduced,
as the postal union is urging, length of time off will be only
slightly under American standards.
New men, freshly detailed to a T.P.O. from the post ofRces,
are given two weeks' tuition in T.P.O. duties at the Central
Training School, London, or at regional schools elsewhere.
Demonstrations in sidetracked T.P.O. carriages, as well as
instruction trips, follow; on short lines such trips may be the
only instruction available. The London T.P.O. school pro-
vides the only example of T.P.O. sorters using practice cards;
they are a postwar innovation and still used by new learners
only, and are not sorted to T.P.O.'s. Clerks on all runs termi-
nating at London are drawn from the various London post
offices, while provincial lines and outlying short runs [half-
way jouryieys) are staffed from their terminal offices. Round
trips [return journeys) on the latter are made within one day.
In most cases a T.P.O. sorter is an English gentleman— and
dresses accordingly, even when on duty. Business suits and
spruce white shirts are not an uncommon sight in the mail
car. Clerks on medium-heavy work slip protective clothing
(like P.T.S. officials' "coveralls") over street wear; but only the
neivs rats and others on heaviest assignments have to change
clothes. Meticulous and rules-conscious, they are required to
refuse unauthorized privileges asked by the public (such as
irregular postmark impressions); but their courteous and
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 275
helpful attitude to all comers, including collectors, is pro-
verbial. The O/C can even approve the admittance of a
visitor, at his discretion. Most sorters are of a high degree of
intelligence, culture, and good nature, although they jokingly
call themselves topers in spite of their usual temperate
habits. They usually work on a five-week cycle but rotate
among the various assignments (numbered, as in our crews)
as listed on the running sheets (register of runs). Denied use
of schemes, most T.P.O. men— especially the R. L. officer, who
is the key distributor— carry a tip book of important local
routings.
To view a typical British T.P.O. run, let's take a trip on
the great Down/Up Special of the Midland and Scottish
Regions, British Railways. We would call this route the Aber-
deen Sc London R.P.O.; but the British apply titles to each
train only, the line's other trains being designated as the North
West T.P.O. and so forth. World's largest R.P.O. train, the
Down/Up Special is faster than the line's speediest passenger
train as it roars through the night up to Scotland— yet it does
not actually pass througJi a single large city! T.P.O.s leav-
ing London are Down Mails and those arriving there Up
Mails (regardless of direction); so our train is really the
"Down Special" to begin with. It is often dubbed "The
Longest and Largest," "The Night Mail," or just the Special;
but in railway circles it is the West Coast Postal or Postal
Special. It is one of two pairs of non-passenger, all-mail trains.
At about 7 P.M. the ftfty-odd sorters manning the Special
begin to converge upon the Euston Station mail room from
all parts of London and its suburbs, carrying handbags. Most
arrive via suburban train, bus, underground (subway), or
tram (trolley), but even those commuting in by train over
the Special's own route must pay fares; their official warrants
(commissions) are no good for deadheading to work. At the
mail room, with its lockers and bulletin boards, the sorters
pick up their black cloth tot bags which they use instead of
grips. Their contents are mostly work clothes, for the British
clerk need carry no headers, schemes, schedules, slips, or
labels; such of these as he requires are sent direct to the car in
276 MAIL BY RAIL
the train-supplies bag (labeled "T.P.O, Stores"). Since the
tot l)ags arc not heavy, there is no grip man.
A "rather fussy little shunting engine" brings in the long
line of sixty-foot coaches from the Willesden yard, where they
are marshaled (made up), and spots them at Euston's No. 2
platform. Fully five cars are sorting carriages, while the rest
are for stoxuage or storage mails (one devoted largely to the
catcher apparatus). By seven fifteen, the reporting time, the
sorters are inside the car and donning their coveralls; the
handbags containing overnight needs are stowed on overhead
shelves; all sorters sign the lick sheet (like our old arrival-and-
depnrture book!), and the 1 14-hour stationary period begins.
All slips, labels, and letter bills have been previously fur-
nished, stamped, and run out by ofiice personnel; and twine
and sealing materials accompany these supplies in the "stores"
bag. Three of the jimior sorters or mail porters (postmen
under reallocation) thereupon hang some 250 to 280 bags
on the pegs in each R.P.O. car, in limp Christmas-stocking
style. Bag labels contain extra holes for quick hanging on
pegs or in surplus-label ro^vs overhead. Each sorting coach is
also equipped with sealing presses, car keys, reference books
such as the Postal Guide and P.O.'s in the United Kingdom,
a postmarker, rubber stamps, various pairs of official scissors,
and (in one car) an "official watch"— a standard timepiece
brought up by runner from the G.P.O. Inland Section.
In th.? absence of headers, many sorters use a piece of duke
(or Duke of For/^j— chalk— to mark or abbreviate the names
of the various selections (boxes) in the letter frames. Some
prefer a cardboard diagram of the case arrangement, showing
all the names, hung overhead. But the more expert sorters
often dispense with both and pretty much "work blind,"
guided only by the consecutive numbers from one to fifty-
four or so. Newspapers are simply sorted into the big pigeon-
holes at the nczvs desk, gathered up, and "bagged off" w'ith
the letters. Most sorters arrange their cases by standard letter
plans (diagrams) furnished by the Department, but do other-
wise if preferred. Separate cases and plans are used for each
postal division of England and Scotland, for certain heavy
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 277
counties, for cities, for foreign mails, and for the mixed (nn-
sorted). Since even short-letter boxes are five inches Avide and
the other cases have wider ones, there is no trouble with
wade greeting cards! Oflficial diagrams are usually alphabetical
in the horizontal plane, except for heaviest separations (placed
near bottom center, according to "position values" deter-
mined by test); most selections are directs, others are Forward
or Dist. (dis) boxes, and very few wdll be labeled to connect-
ing T.P.O.s.
The "order book" is used in England, as here, except that
it is kept on the train; "authorized amendments and correc-
tions" to circulation (routing) instructions must be noted
therefrom. (Like check sheets, extra trips, primary-secondary
residue, G.P.O., Postmaster General, this is one of the few
terms ivhich is common to both British and American prac-
tice.) The neatly dressed officer-in-charge, presiding at a spare
(unused) letter frame equipped with a stool, keeps not only
the order book but also the tick sheet, which is a combination
check sheet (pouch record) and trip report; the main circula-
tion list, the nearest thing to an R.P.O. schem.e; the forroard
list (alphabetical list of all bags made up and dispatched);
the time bills (T.P.O. train schedules); the postal volumes
mentioned; and T.P.O. rule books and duty schedules. The
tick sheet mtist show the date stamp of the postmarker, signa-
tures of all on dutv, especially of the carriage searcher, and re-
ports of all mail mis-sent or overcarried (carried by).
One of the first bags received in the coach contains the daily
orders from the chief superintendent (of the T.P.O. Section)
for the train and official mail for the O/C. The "guv'nor"
is permitted to ansiver his official correspondence in detail
while on duty; at the halfway point his replies (all enveloped
and postmarked) are sent back to London via the transfer bag
(go-back pouch). Answers will be in the office by 7 A.AL of
the day following that when the letters ^vent out.
Ne^\'s reporters enthusiastically describe the Special as "a
thing of beauty inside and out," \vith beams of lifjht from its
"big electric bulbs giving a dazzling and bizarre effect." Mails
arrive at trainside in motor vans or on trolleys (hand trucks)
278 MAIL BY RAIL
and are quickly separated and lined up to the proper coach by
station postal employees. A ShefTield newsman, the first ad-
mitted to a T.P.O. (lf)31), stated, "The perfect organization
commences with the loading . . . No rush, just organised
speed." ("Speed" is right— many "Special" clerks sort seventy
letters a minute!) A sorter called the clerk "ticks off" both the
letter bags and newspaper bags on the check sheet as another
officer calls the labels. All inbound bags of identical origin
are in the same series regardless of contents, but instead of
using serial numbers, the last bag of the series (the "X," as
we say) is called the final, and any others, extra bags. (The
final bag has a pink tag showing total number in series.)
The regular (final) bags are stacked behind the bag open-
er's table (part of the case ledge), and the extra bags, usually
containing newspapers, behind the appropriate neu'S desk.
From all of London and southern England the bags come
flooding in— from the suburbs, from the London district
offices (branches), and especially from the huge Inland Sec-
tion, or "Big House," which sorts all the provincial mails (par-
ticularly in daylight hours, when T.P.O.s seldom operate).
The highly graded bag opener opens up each bag with the
official scissors (its ends curved to avoid injuring the bag), for
British mailbags are tied with string and lead-sealed at the
ofiice of origin, the sealing press stamping its official signet
thereon. Cutting the string also detaches the big 2x5 inch
cardboard label from each steel-ringed bag (which is stenciled
"GREAT BRITAIN-POST OFFICE"), then the opener
must turn each bag inside out lest any mail remain therein.
Meanwhile one clerk has been stationed in each stowage
brake (non-passenger cars are "brakes") to pile the storage
mails as diagrammed in his bag-duty book. As in the United
States, bags are stacked carefully in station order with the
first-off ones close at hand, and the stowage-van officer is ad-
vised to chalk up the names of the various separations. But
he must also lock all doors with a key, later surrendering this
to the O/C, unless railway employees are detailed to this.
In the T.P.O. coach the bog hiimper (dumper) must quick-
ly locate the tied-up entry items (registers and urgent matter)
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 279
with attached letter bill which are looked for in each final,
or "bill," bag. The bill, a postmarked green form listing all
registered and special-delivery (express) items, jury sum-
monses, mailed telegrams, parliamentary notices, and other
official matter, must be included in each regular bag whether
entry items are present or not; if six or more items, they come
inside a small enclosure bag. All entry items and bills arc
placed in a nearby tray, checked by totals, and transferred to
the R. L. officer (register clerk) with an initialed form against
his receipt. (On British lines the R. L. officer may accept
mail from the public for registration.)
Most incoming mail consists of working bundles— quickly
tossed to the proper sorting frame, perhaps to the broad-ac-
cented warning, "Coming ov-aaar!" If too many bundles
come flying over, the sorter may cry, "Take it easy, sonny
boy!" or something similar, whereupon further packages are
relegated to the skips, which are baskets for overflow mail.
Letters to be worked, cut open with the oflicial scissors, are
usually stacked on end between the case and the front board;
balls of heavy twine are in overhead holders. American
twine knives, first introduced in 1949, are becoming popular;
but most sorters use the official scissors to cut all twine both
on working bundles and when tying iip after finishing. No
sorters are armed, not even the R. L. man; but registers are
properly convoyed.
As the R. L. oflicer prepares his outgoing letter bills, the
short stationary period nears its end. By then he must have
his tally sheets (balance sheet), outgoing extra-bag record,
transfer sheets (bulk-receipt forms for bag opener), and his
sealing press all functioning properly. His registers are dis-
tinctively marked with two crossed blue lines (+) and neat
printed labels showing both registry number and origin— a
convenience adopted in nearly every country but the United
States. Mail containing coins or jeAvelry is given compulsory
registration, if detected, at the addressee's expense.
The last collection has been made from the station's late-
fee posting box, and the zero hour of eight-thirty approaches.
Mail trucks with the final loads from Euston Square Post
280 MAIL BY RAIL
OfTice, and latecomers with letters to mail, hurry to the train-
side. At a prolonged blast from the whistle the great Night
Mail slo"\vly pulls out; it crawls under Ampthill Square and
Ilampstead Road and gathers speed, passing Regent's Park on
the left and the Camden Town section to the right. It is carry-
ing at least three thousand bags of mail, including five hun-
dred or more "workers," containing seventy thousand letters
(about two thousand, eight hundred packages) and thousands
of newspapers all to be sorted. Mail received later may equal
and even exceed this total. The electric tea urns are switched
on, and some men place soup or other food in the various
handy electric ovens.
The Special rushes through South Hampstead tunnel, past
Killburn Station and Willesden Junction, then crosses the
London city line into the thickly settled Middlesex suburbs;
Wembley (8:43) is first, but not served going north. Sorters
are busy in all five T.P.O. coaches— the two English cars, the
tTvo for Scottish divisions, and the Glasgow city car. The bag
opener is thro"\ving letter bundles in all directions— the
labeled bundles (directs) going right into the proper outgoing
bag, of course. Nine storage cars precede and follow them!
At exactly 8:46 the train is due to make its first "catch"—
the apparatus working at suburban Harrow, Middlesex. All
Harrow letter bundles have now been tied out, the R. L-. man's
billed bundle of entry items is ready, and all mail is put in
the bags due off here; each bag is sealed with the T.P.O.s im-
print. Then they are stuffed into the outgoing leather pouclies
and tightly strapped. The pouches to be caught have been
previously hung on the lineside apparatus (mail crane) by
Harrow's local apparatus postman (mail messenger). The
gallows-shaped structure has from one to three pouchfuls of
mailbngs hung on its high projecting arm. Attached to the
standard are suitable lights, plus a permanent folding receiv-
ing net at the bottom; all fittings are at the exact proper height
to engage the identical complementary equipment on the
train. Since wayside signs erected at approach points are hard
to see at night, the iron man or apparatus officer (local clerk)
must expertly recognize the exact sound of the overhead
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 281
bridges and so on which constitute the fix-on for this particu-
lar catch.
Outgoing pouches are hung on the "despatching arms" be-
side the regular doors— only one to each arm, but with t^venty
such arms on the train there is far more than enough equip-
ment. With speed up to 60 mph and more, precision timing
in working the iron is vital. As soon as the crane is sighted,
the apparatus officer presses levers which lower both the car-
riage net and despatching arms into working position; an
electric bell also rings continuously to warn clerks not to ap-
proach the open center of the apparatus coach (where the
big safety door beside the net has also opened automatically).
With a thunderous roar, the po^verful strap of the carriage
net catches the incoming pouches, which bound into the car
with great force; simultaneously, the outgoing pouches are
trapped by the wayside net, whereupon the despatching arms
fold back automatically. When the carriage-net lever is re-
leased, it too folds back, and the bell stops. It is a ticklish busi-
ness to lo'wer the projecting devices at the exact proper in-
stant onlv, for they Avoiild quickly engage some station plat-
form, signal, or other railroad structure if extended too quick-
ly. Important stations have several lineside standards in op-
eration, permitting the exchange of over half a ton of mail at
one time— despite a sixty-pound limit on each pouch contain-
er. Expert iron men learn to recognize fix-ons instantlv by
counting wheel clicks, by listening for the rattle of points
(switches), and so on.
The bags "caught" must be opened at once, examined for
damaged items, and the immediates (No. 1 local packages)
separated from the labeled bundles and No. 2 or No. .8 work-
ing bundles; the immediate bundles must be cut and sorted
at once, as mail for nearby stations mav be included. The
entire process, including the numbered line separations, close-
Iv resembles American practice; ho^ve\'er, many small ^vay
offices are served only by indirect conveyance.
With the suburban area well behind, the Down Special
speeds through the darkened countryside with its mvriad
twinkling lights to work apparatus marks (catches) at Wat-
282 MAIL BY RAIL
ford, Hemel Hempstead, and Berkhamstead-Tring; then the
train enters Buckinghamshire to serve Leighton Buzzard, Bed-
fordsliire (just over the county line) and Bletchley. Bucking-
hamshire, all non-stop. The bag opener bags up his inspected
empties (in one of the bags, as we do), and labels them to the
Inland Section, which is the "bag control office" for most
T.P.O.s, for forwarding by opposite trains. Of the many
enclosure bags included in his dumped-up mails, not all con-
tain registers; ordinary "dis" mails for close connection at
some distributing office are often placed in these little inside
bags, perhaps labeled "IMMEDIATE" for instant attention.
The busy sorters make an exceedingly fine distribution for
all points in Scotland and Northwest England, making up
selections (directs) for practically every post toivn (independ-
ent post office) in the territory. (The smallest post offices all
consist of sub-offices, each operated as a rural station of some
post town, and their mails are included in the same bundle
or bag with the proper post town's.) Sorters do not distribute
mail by scheme, for the routing of British mails is based en-
tirely on the grouping of all these post towns into a number
of divisions (consisting of one or several counties), each with
its central distributing centre— a.t some large post office— which
sorts practically all mails for its area (for closed-pouch for-
warding) during daylight hours.
Each T.P.O. has its own main circulation list showing the
proper dispatch for all points from that train; and clerks are
simply expected to gradually memorize the proper routings
from continual experience therewith. Many smaller "directs"
on the frame will become labeled selections, to be thrown into
a bag for some distributing-center office. By this process all
mails are delivered in Britain within twenty-four hours— by
closed-bag dispatch if posted early in the day, and by T.P.O.
sortation when mailed toward evening.
Now it is teatime; for tea, not coffee, is the T.P.O. man's
beverage. Instead of one volunteer handling the tea, a formal
tea club is organized on each T.P.O. with a duly elected chair-
man, secretary, and treasurer. Members receive a small hono-
rarium (for the extra work involved), plus possible dividends
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 285
at the end of the year, from the profits. Customers pay only
four pence (seven cents)— for six cups— per round trip, on
the Special. Supplies having previously been purchased by
club members assigned thereto, the brewing is done by the
first member to get "on top of" his sorting duties; when ready,
the huge steaming pots are carried through the cars by two
char wallahs (tea men) starting from each end. In normal
times tea clubs on the Down/Up furnish a complete "commis-
sary" of chocolate, biscuits, cigarettes, and what not— at a
$6,000 annual turnover! Official meal allowances of thirty
minutes in each four hours are credited to each sorter in his
wages, but two or three quick ten-minute snacks each way are
about all actuallv taken, and then only if mail volume permits.
The tea clubs themselves date back at least to the 1890s. One
tale from those days tells of an officer who threw out his old
cracked teacup; it struck a telegraph pole, crashed into bits,
and the pieces flew back to hit the guard (conductor) in the
face. The "brains" thundered back into the T.P.O. coach at
the next station, profanely demanding (in \ ain) to knoAv who
had thrown it. Following such occurrences, T.P.O. officials
evolved the current rule covering such playful habits, with
severe penalties: "The throwing of bags, packets, balls of
string, or anv kind of missile, either inside a Mail or outside
... is forbidden."
"While most of the train's distribution is for the Scottish Di-
visions, English mails for the local North West Division are
being busily sorted in two cars. Now the Night Mail is ap-
proaching Rugby, \\^ar\\'ickshire, its first actual stop; here, at
10 P.M., dispatches to nearby Birmingham and much of "War-
u'ickshire are made. Huge loads of bags from the East Anorljan
counties and Lincolnshire are taken in, brought over by bas
tenders of the "Peterboro Line." After pulling out, the "Peter-
boro" mails must be sorted at top speed; for it is only fifteen
minutes to the very "fast mark" (by apparatus) at Nimeaton,
Warwickshire, and the correspov.dencc due off there must be
fully separated for dispatch at this 70-mph catcher station. No
less than 360 pounds of mail (in nine forty-pound pouches)
are exchanged in both directions at its three mail cranes.
284 MAIL BY RAIL
The huge receipt at Nuneaton must be sorted in time for
connection at Tamworth, Staffordshire, the next stop— the
closest point to Birmingham, and the line's first T.P.O. junc-
tion. Mails for that city, as well as for the northeastern coun-
ties, are received and dispatched here, a connection being
made with the key cross-country Midland T.P.O. (LMS— now
Midland Reg.) from Bristol to Newcastle-on-Tyne. The pro-
portion of English mail has been steadily decreasing, and as
the train passes Stafford (the Up Special's junction with the
LMS's Crewe-Birmingham T.P.O.), the two English divi-
sions coaches commence their gradual conversion into "Glas-
gow city" cars. A second respite for tea is enjoyed along here.
At 11:42 P.M. the Special reaches Crewe, a Cheshire town
which is England's Chicago— the nation's largest railroad and
T.P.O. junction. In normal times thirteen T.P.O. trains enter
or leave Crewe station between 11 P.M. and 2 A.M., alone,
each night. Several Glasgow toxun sorters get on here; while
certain halfway officers (short-stop clerks) get off, to work back
to London on the Up Special. Numerous intersecting T.P.O.s
are connected here, including the LMS's Crewe-Birmingham
and Shrewsbury-York T.P.O.s, the Crewe-Cardiff (GWR),
and others. Vast loads of mail, fifteen hundred bags or more,
are dispatched and received from Liverpool, Manchester, Bir-
mingham, and so on. With only 16 minutes here, speedy and
delicate timing is essential; the transfer bag is put off for the
"Up" (containing some mis-sent items, even as with us!), and
outgoing bags for the three big cities mentioned (all near-
by) and for many parts of Ireland, Wales, Cheshire, York-
shire, and South Lancashire are ticked off. As we pull out, at
least fifty-five men are now tackling the mail on our train.
Starting at Crewe, the three Glasgow coaches are redesignat-
ed as a separate unit, the Crewe-Glasgow S.C. (sorting carriage;
i.e., a small R.P.O.), which will later diverge to the west. The
town sorters are working Glasgow mail out to stations, post-
man's walks, and suburban sub-offices. Any out-of-course (de-
layed or mis-sent) bags received at Crewe or elsewhere must be
opened, sorted, and reported if the contents can be properly
advanced; while individual mis-sent letters are also "written
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 285
up" on a form in detail (with name, address, origin, and so
on), not merely "checked."
The working mail is now all for Scotland (except a bit for
northern Ireland), but a heavy apparatus exchange is made at
Warrington, Lancashire, nearest point to the big cities of
Liverpool to the west and Manchester to the east. After a
third cup of tea a stop is made at Preston, Lancashire, where
the Preston-Whitehaven T.P.O. route (LMS) branches off;
final receipts from the two large cities are taken on here in-
stead of at Warrington, and again the coaches are loaded to
capacity. For two hours the train traverses Lancashire, West-
moreland, and Cumberland, crossing the bleak Pennines and
other mountains, and "catching" Lancaster, Carnforth, and
Penrith. By now the sorters are tying up most of the letters in
their frames and dropping them in the limp bags to the rear.
No labels are used, if dispatched in a direct bag. Preliminary
dispatches for most large Scottish towns are bagged and sealed,
to be put off at Carlisle; like all other bags tied out early, they
are taken into the proper "storage brake" and piled. The
final tie-out of the bags is no^v under way, for Carlisle is the
end of the run for our team (crew); most officers assist, and
then comes wash-up time as the O/C finishes up his reports.
If it is, say, a light week-end trip, there may be a little time
for a friendly game (poker or solo whist), note writing, or a
chat. Protective clothing is doffed, and at 3 A.M. the tired
London sorters climb out at the end of their three hundred-
mile run. North-end clerks from both Carlisle and Aberdeen,
as well as more Glasgow city men, get on liere to take their
places; meanwhile connection is made with the Carlisle-Ayr
S.C. (ScotReg), a short branch line.
Most sorters sleep at private lodginghouses, but small hotels
also are favored. Overnight lodgings are usually dubbed the
digs (although many, witli \vry humor, refer to their quarters
as a doss or flophouse). While our crew slumbers, the "North
Division" (as Ave ^vould say) of the Special thunders across
the Scottish border to Carstairs Junction, where it is reas-
sembled as parts of three R.P.O. trains with separate engines—
the Crewe-Glasgow S.C, the Carlisle-Edinburgh S.C. (which
286 MAIL BY RAIL
works Edinburgh City and Midlothian mail), and the Special
proper. The two sorting carriage trains soon veer off to the
left and right, and the much-shortened Special, now manned
by only three or four clerks, sweeps northward via Coatbridge
and Perth (making numerous "catches" all along) into Aber-
deen, at 8:13 A.M., connecting the second carrier delivery
there as well as an air-mail route carrying all mail for the
Orkneys. The Special has sorted at least 200,000 pieces of
mail on its 50-mile journey, and its last dispatch at Aberdeen,
if the King is staying at Balmoral Castle, is a special one to
him from Buckingham Palace.
Meanwhile the London sorters are sleeping, usually about
six or seven men to a house, after recording its address in the
mail-room book (for emergency calls). If a regularly reserved
accommodation is not used on some occasion by a sorter while
on leave, the Department allo^vs "compensatory payments to
landladies." Arising at I or 2 P.M., the clerks have a good
breakfast and then enjoy such pastimes as the cinema, walks
about town, or billiards and snooker at a workingmen's club
there. Some may study at part-time Workers' Education Asso-
ciation classes, while certain dashing Romeos will look up
their "favourite blondes" or brunettes instead. After a three-
course dinner at 8 P.M., the officers then meet the Up Special
for the return journey at 8:43.
After sprawling itself all over Scotland, the Special has long
since been again consolidated into one train— the Glasgow
(R.P.O.) and Edinburgh (C.P.) sections (with no independ-
ent titles, southbound) having rejoined it at Law and Carstairs
Junctions. The London staff quickly boards it at Carlisle,
and in general the return trip to Euston follows the same pat-
tern as the Down journey. But the Up Special is even larger
than the Do^vn, for it has seven R.P.O. cars or sorting coaches;
mail for all England and for London City is worked, to the
practical exclusion of Scotch "correspondence." One English
county division alone may occupy half of a sixty-foot coach;
thus the sorting van nearest the engine handles Middlesex
and Surrey letters only. Another coach handles the cross post
or "local," plus Hertfordshire; there is an apparatus coach.
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 287
used also for stowing tied-out bags; and two London city cars,
one inchidinCT a foreisjn division.
TJie stroncT team spirit of mutual assistance Tvhicli exists on
the Up Special and other T.P.O.s is proverbial. Contrary to
the unfortunate exceptions often noted on United States
trains, the usual regulations requiring such mutual help are
observed to the letter in England; if one man has finished his
sorting, he immediately volunteers to assist someone else. Tf
one division is running light while another is swamped, the
O/C promptly reassigns the former's sorter to dig out the man
who is going stuck. The comradeship of the tvpical T.P.O.
team is also reflected in the gay ditties or bits of harmonizing
sometimes indulged in, even as with us. But such music may
be abruptly ended if the next stop reveals a huge pile of
buckshee stowage, (or working) mail— i.e., "free" or not due
to the train— to be crammed into the coaches!
On a recent journey of the "Up" it was revealed that English
clerks as well as ours perform some remarkable feats in dis-
patching misaddressed mail. An unaddressed picture postcard
carrying only a brief message beginning "Dear Mr. Ricards"
turned up, but one of the sorters (who are permitted to cor-
rect poor addresses, in England) immediately marked it "try
Bushey" and dispatched it to Bushey, Hertfordshire, at Wat-
ford. He had remembered the same handwriting on a pre-
vious postcard, which on being located revealed that the writer
was "seeing Mr. Ricards" in Bushey after returning there from
vacation!
Some 65 men work on the Up Special, and they make up a
selection (direct package) for practically every post town in
England, and even direct bags for each separate office in Sur-
rey, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, and most of Kent. One
London car works letters for "The City" (London's Eastern
Central District only) out to carriers or postman's walks; but
since most carrier routes there consist only of single short
streets or of buildings (or banks and firms) made up direct,
no sorting by street-number breaks is necessary. The Eoreign
Division in the same car sorts letters to countries and divisions
(formerly even to foreign R.P.O. lines in Europe and Asia);
288 MAIL BY RAIL
New York, N. Y., is made up. In the second London coach,
zoned mail for all the rest of London's 12(S numbered
subdistricts (zones) is worked out; thus "S.E. 10" in a Lon-
don address (Greenwich) is Zone 10 of the South Eastern
District Office. Almost no London mail is received unzoned,
and sorters are not required to learn street-and-number dis-
patch for such letters, but many voluntarily learn and dispatch
a considerable number of such items each trip.
The staff works busily as we approach London, for it is a
T.P.O. tradition to avoid failing (going stuck) if at all pos-
sible. After the tie-out, all waste twine, seals, and labels are
placed in a special red waste bag (to be searched later for stray
mail, as in the United States); the sorters wash up, pack their
tot bags, and finish their actual journey at 4 A.M. in London;
then they unload the coaches.
Station duties at London also include "dispatching the
vans" (mail trucks) to the various London district offices, the
Inland and Foreign sections, and to railway stations and sub-
urban post offices. The mail has been worked up to such a
fine degree that only a cotiple of residue bags (i.e., London
G.P.O. Dis) are turned over to the Inland Section; the vast
bulk of the mail goes out in direct bags all over southern Eng-
land, although one or two day T.P.O.s are also connected.
A late arrival at London may spell considerable excitement-
taxis can be commandeered to rush valuable mails to impor-
tant railway connections, with penalties for any driver refus-
ing; and sorters eagerly note details on their aggregation sheets
(overtime record) to see if their minimum hourage has been
made up and any agg due to be paid them, as they say. At the
end of each week sorters must also make individual claim for
their trip allowances by mailing a docket to the office after the
last run. Einallv the carriage searcher CX-man) inspects all
the frames and takes up the mats, looking for strav letters,
often using an electric extension bulb to assist. He does it
diligently, for he knows that if railroad men later find any
mail therein he must pay the finder a sixpence (ten cents) for
each letter, or two shillings (forty cents) for a registerl There
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 289
is often a weary wait for transportation home, for there are
few vehicles running at that hour.
All British T.P.O. lines are now operated by the T.P.O.
Section, London Postal Region. A chief superintendent (cur-
rently, Mr. C. R. Clegg) manages the setup from offices in the
great King Edward Street Post Office Building and occasional-
ly makes inspection trips over the lines. One sorter, pleasantly
surprised by a visit from former Chief Superintendent Fielder,
wrote afterward that ". . . he speaks English just as we do!";
but relations with officialdom were not always thus. A morose
chief superintendent of decades past once strode into a T.P.O.
coach to scowl at the sorters in stony silence, eliciting the re-
mark of "I beg your pardon, sir?" from one wag.
"I didn't speak!" was the grumpy rejoinder.
"Sorry," the sorter explained innocently, "I thought you
said, 'Good evening, gentlemen'!"
Over seventy T.P.O. trains are operated over about twenty-
five different routes in normal times; a fe-\v prewar lines still
remain to be restored. Like American lines, most of the
T.P.O.s have accumulated nicknames. Thus the Southern
Region's South East and South West T.P.O.s (London to
Dover and Dorchester, respectively) are both called "The
Tram-car"; the Northwest T.P.O. (a short run of the Down/
Up Special route, to Carlisle) is "The Ten" (or "10 o'clock")
or "The Nightmare"; the LMS's suspended London R: f^olv-
head T.P.o! (which once used a "UNITED STATES MAIL"
postmark) was, of course, the famous "Irish Mail"; and the
short Liverpool-Huddersfield T.P.O. (LMS) is humorously
dubbed the "Liver Sc Udders." This is the T.P.O. which never
gets back to Liverpool— its team works back on different-route
T.P.O.s and on a bag tender as guards. "The Cale" (Cale-
donian) refers to several Down/Up Special short runs.
The Great Western T.P.O. (GWR) or "Ghost Train" is
an all-mail, no-passenger train operated nightly from London
to Penzance, Cornwall, where forty sorters work some one
thousand letter bags on a 325-mile journey, plus up to three
thousand registers. Leaving London at 10:10 P.M., the train
sweeps past the Bristol Channel seacoast, the rolling bracken-
290 MAIL BY RAIL
covered hills of Somerset, the lonely and misty marshes and
rocky hillocks around Dartmoor. Eight Penzance clerks get
on at Plymouth to sort mail for their town to carriers, as well
as the Cornwall mail; all other mail (except Devon's) must
be "up" by Bristol. The Great Western is famed for its
"travelers' tales" or anecdotes thereof, but we can mention
only a couple here. In one coach the regular bag for Liskeard,
Cornwall (due off by apparatus), is hung beside a bag of
fragile matter for that town, labeled and handled accordingly
—and one new bag hanger innocently inquired "if Liskeard
Fragile ^vere anywhere near Liskeard"! When several Danes
(delegates to a postal convention) ^vere once invited to visit
the G.W., one overseer "missed reading the paper, paid extra
attention to his appearance, and put on his best suit and most
charming manner, thinking someone had said dames!" An-
other alarmed Great Western sorter, followed by a policeman
all the way home, discovered it was merely the one Avho lived
next door. (One crew on this line has asked for a "G ?c 8"—
eight days "ofT" each two weeks; but they'll work 19 hours
daily to get it, if approved!)
The Preston-Whitehaven T.P.O. (LMS), or "The Truck,"
is a typical short line along the northwest coast of Cumber-
land; it has only three clerks (the smallest number ever as-
signed to a T.P.O.) and exchanges with practically every oflRce
on the line. On such branch lines the O/C is often the R. L.
officer, as in the United States. Some side lines, temporarily
short of T.P.O. coaches, have used portable frames installed in
the I) rakes.
Trains work city mail for many towns, like Penzance, but
not for Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester, three of the
largest cities! Two routes from York to Bristol and from Lon-
don to Edinburgh operate— the second route in the latter case
being the LNER's London-York-Edinbingh T.P.O.^ (includ-
■The "LNER" is now the N. E. Region, British Rvs.; these familiar railway
abbreviations are still in nse. The restricted city sortintj is quickly explained:
All TPO trains arrive in the Midlands around midnight, and there is plenty
of time for local sorting at these three big cities. Onlv towns at the extremities
of the longest rims— London, Pen/ance, Glasgow, et cetera— require city sorting
in transit due to morning arrivals.
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 291
ing the N.E. T.P.O., its short run). Yet many other parts of
Britain have no direct T.P.O. service at all, including not only
Manchester but also inland sections of North England, most of
Aberdeenshire, and all northwest Scotland, northern Devon,
and so on. Pending restoration of a central route, only coastal
lines serve Wales. The progressive T.P.O. Section, however,
has expansive plans for the future. Already two brand-new
extensions of service have been opened: ( 1 ) from Birmingham
to Derby on the former Birmingham-Bristol (LMS), now the
Derby-Bristol T.P.O.; and (2) from Haughley out to Peter-
boro on the East Anglian T.P.O, (LNER), connecting ^vith
the North East route of T.P.O.s, both in 1949. Two other
runs intersect the Derby-Bristol at Birmingham— the LMS'
Crewe-Birmingham and Midland T.P.O.s.
T.P.O. sorters encounter a few vexing problems which are
a bit different from those of American R.P.O. clerks. True,
they are spared the rigors of a Christmas rush on the road—
because the entire T.P.O. system shuts down each year for
two weeks preceding Christmas, in direct contrast to the
United States practice of expansion. But the clerks, who are
anxious to have all-year road sorting restored, must be
plunged into imfamiliar surroundings to work mails in the
Inland Section or other post offices. Another headache is the
fact that the actual post office or sub-office of address, on a
given letter, may be any of the last three place names thereon—
in contrast to American practice, where it alwavs is the next
to last. The public often disregards official urgings to capital-
ize the post-town name, to alleviate this problem; but it faith-
fully follows the official address forms suggested in the Postal
Guide, which show sub-office name, post town, and county
in the case of small hamlets, post town and countv for most
post towns, and office name only in the case of large cities!
In Britain, despite unarmed sorters, one never hears of
T.P.O. trains being held up and robbed; it just isn't done.
There was, however, a series of mysterious mail thefts on the
old London-Manchester Bag Tender (LMS) which continued
for ten years before they were solved. Finally the guard in
charge, one of of the LMS's most trusted employees, was
292 MAIL BY RAIL
caught slitting open a mailbag; it seems he had a grudge
against the railway for failing to transfer him to the seashore
for his Avife's health!
Serious wrecks, too, of T.P.O. trains are rare; no sorter has
been killed in one since 1927, when three or four lost their
lives in a crack-up of the LMS's York-Shrewsbury T.P.O. Few
can recall any other fatalities, except when three sorters
were killed in a wreck of the London-Holyhead Irish Mail
(LMS) in 1916, and on that tragic occasion of long ago when
the Firth of Tay trestle collapsed in 1879; a postal bag-tender
guard was lost in the sinking train, there being no survivors.
(A few clerks are assigned to bag tenders to separate and load
mails.) Recently the two most noteworthy T.P.O. train smash-
ups both involved the Down/Up Special. The Mail crashed
into a halted passenger train at Winsford, Cheshire, on April
16, 1948, killing many passengers; the first sorting coach was
smashed to bits, but only three sorters were injured, thanks to
the strong all-steel construction and the great distance from
the engine. Clerks hastened to assist survivors and save the
mails, and Sorter W. }. Carrick was awarded the Daily Herald's
coveted Order of Industrial Heroism. On the other occasion
the Special was rammed from behind in Scotland, injuring
four sorters, some years before. When the East Anglian T.P.O.
(LNFR, London-Norwich) was wrecked at Gidea Park, Ilford,
Essex, in 1947, the scene was a shambles of wrecked fittings
and coaches, shattered glass, and scattered letters; but again
clerks hastened to rescue injured passengers and forward valu-
able mails, and even insisted on reporting for their return trip
despite severe shake-up and shock. (See end of Note 18.)
Floods and freeze-ups have worked real havoc on the
T.P.O.s, however. The great English blizzard of 1940 termi-
nated an unbroken record of fifty-five years of consecutive
nightly trips of the Down/Up Special (except Christmas
niglit); the two Specials were both stranded in huge drifts on
Beattock Summit and were annulled for four days. (Soon
after, all T.P.O.s were suspended for the duration of World
W^ar II.) The great ice storm of March 1947 forced complete
suspension of many T.P.O,s and delayed others up to fourteen
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 29S
hours; apparatus working was abandoned. Chief Superin-
tendent Fielder immediately ordered special meals and hot
drinks served to sorters affected, at stations en route; they
were particularly welcomed by one crew which worked thirty-
three hours continuously, then reported for work again that
same day. Many were the trains which had to give second
circulation (rerouting) to their delayed mails; and on the
South East T.P.O. (SouR), the Down and Up trains passed
each other five times in one night before getting on the right
lines for their destinations.
On the Great Western (GWR), of course, a humorous
angle was sure to develop from such frightfully beastly weather
and the severe floods which followed it. One of its badly de-
layed trains had just pulled into Exeter, Devon, whereupon a
local news reporter hastened up to interview the O/C— whom
he caught snatching a nap beside the steampipes. Aroused,
he sleepily yawned to the inquiring stranger that "the bad
weather and our late arrival can in no way be attributed to
the Labour Government" (which is, of course, strongly backed
by postal union men). The statement duly appeared in the
Devonshire press that evening.
There have been tales of unorthodox objects caught by the
apparatus, of course, since the very earliest days— ranging from
viaducts and signals to a wheelbarrow filled with baled rags
(which nearly wrecked the LNER's old York-Newcastle S.C.
at Chester-le-street, Durham, in the 1890s). A different sort
of tale comes from the North West T.P.O. (LMS), which was
once honored by an unexpected visit from the King and
Queen (then Duke and Duchess of York); showing great in-
terest in everything, they left after giving the O/C a warm
handshake. The thrilled gaffer "for weeks afterwards wore
a glove on his hand, but refused to take the advice of an
irreverant young member of the team who enquired, 'Why
don't you pickle it in vinegar, guv'nor?' " On the North East
(LNER) another sorter consistently imposed upon the team
by napping on duty; he was cured, one night, by having his
face liberally daubed from the ink pad as he snored. On
waking, he breezed into the station buffet for lunch as usual I
294 MAIL BY RAIL
On the North West (LMS) one "guvnor" discovered with
iiorror that his tick sheet had been used to wrap up a greasy
buncli of fish and chips, by the very sorter helping him hunt
for it.
Tiie American influence is occasionally felt. During the
serious economic "dollar shortage" following World War II,
men receiving a family allowance on the birth of a new ciiild
were said to be "pursuing the official dollar." And when 1947
brought forth the popular ditty "Open the Door, Richard"
from New York's Tin Pan Alley, railway mail men on both
sides of tlie Atlantic were soon hounded by the phrase when-
ever porters brought up huge loads of mail to the car.
Working conditions and salaries of T.P.O. men are the
particular concern of the T.P.O. Branch, Union of Post Work-
ers—the union which corresponds to our N.P.T.A. The
U.P.W. and its predecessors have secured innumerable bene-
fits for the sorters; travel allowances, annual and sick leave,
and retirement annuities were obtained for them long before
they were secured by American clerks. The branch holds
quarterly meetings, with a mnil representative speaking for
each T.P.O. The T.P.O. "Whitley Committee," a group of
labor and management representatives (dubbed the staff side
and the official side), forms the basis of their very successful
collective bargaining. Abotit 98 per cent of all sorters belong
to the U.P.W. (all but the most distant provincial members
are in the T.P.O. Branch). Enjoyable social gatherings, in-
cluding an annual Iron Road Revels, feature branch activi-
ties. The branch has also made admirable proposals, in inter-
national contacts, for temporary exchanges of postal person-
nel between British and overseas railway mail routes— an idea
bound to provide better mail service and more international
good will throughout the world wherever applied.
Both the T.P.O. Branch and the British Government have
done much in the way of publicizing the T.P.O.s through lit-
erature, radio programs, and the cinema. Each month the
branch issues an attractive printed journal of eight to twenty
pages, the Traveller— ^n outgrowth of a mimeographed
T.P.O. News Letter (published for its members in the armed
THE BRITISH T.P.O.'s 295
forces from 1941 to 1946). Featuring illustrated articles on
R.P.O.s of the world as well as union news, it has a subscrip-
tion list (in Britain, America, and elsewhere) three times as
large as the branch membership! Ron Smith of the Down/Up
Special is its editor, and he is assisted by William D. Taylor,
formerly active as branch secretary. The government pub-
lishes numerous booklets of the T.P.O. service, as listed in the
Bibliography, mostly free to the public; one is a beautiful
volume bound in transparent plastic and printed in three
colors (for the T.P.O. Centenary), and another features a
map of all T.P.O.s (which reminds us that the United States
Government has never issued such a map). The T.P.O.
Branch publishes a booklet for new union members assigned
to road duty; also numerous magazine and newspaper fea-
ture articles on the T.P.O.s have been published, as well as a
106-page book, English T.P.O.'s, by C. W . Ward. For the
history of Britain's T.P.O.s, we must refer all readers to the
pages of this excellent volume (Note IS). A new list of current
British T.P.O. routes is in Appendix I.
A complete short motion picture, Nifi:Iif Mail, was produced
by the G.P.O. Film Unit in 19.S6 to picture the srorv of the
Down/Up Special; it has been viewed by many in both Britain
and America. Just tt-n years later (December 14. 1946) the
British Broadcasting Corporation featured a special program
with actual sound effects and interviews on board the same
T.P.O. There is also a well-known, very attractive painting
by Golden entitled 'T.uston Station: Loading the T.P.O."
Since Britain's (and evidently the Tvorld's) first T.P.O. was
first inaugurated on January 6, 18.^8, its railway mail services
have given 1 1 2 years of magnificent service to the public. Space
forbids consideration here of such unique British institutions
as the famed Post Office Railway (an automatic, unmanned
electric tube railway, hauling closed mailbags onlv, under
London's streets), and the popular "railway letter" service by
which railway conductors handle specially stamped letters out-
side of the mails. And thus we take leave of the fascinating
Travelling Post Offices of "tliis realm— this England" with the
296 MAIL BY RAIL
words of the distinguished poet W. H. Auden, from whose
epic poem Night Mail we have quoted at the start of our
chapter, still ringing in our ears:
Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb—
The gradient's against her but she's on time . . .
Chapter 15
ON FAR HORIZONS: II— FROM CANADA
TO THE ORIENT
From the frozen wastes of Lapland
To the rice-lands of Cathay:
Even there the mail trains rumble-
Even there the tired clerks sway . .
- B.A.L.
—Courtesy Postal
Markings
Aside from the continental United States
and Great Britain, doubtless the most sig-
nificant countries to us from a railway mail
standpoint would be Canada and Mexico-
plus, of course, the outlying United States
territories, where R.P.O. operations differ
markedly from those in the States. A brief
study of the systems in each of these three
areas, plus a short review of that of India (a typical Asiatic
country), will follow. Very brief summaries of other national
systems will be tabulated in conclusion.
THE DOMINION OF CANADA
Canada's modern network of nearly two hundred R.P.O.
lines is intermediate in character between the United States
and British systems, but the American influence has the edge
by far, for Canadian lines are closely synchronized with ours.
About twelve hundred men, officially designated as "railway
mail clerks," man the coast-to-coast layout; but they are ap-
pointed by promotion from the post offices, as in England.
297
298 MAIL BY RAIL
They then, however, become a permanent part of the Rail-
way Mail Service, as Canada still officially entitles its opera-
tions. The R.M.S. is part of the Post Office Department, as
in the United States, but is headed by a chief superintendent
at Ottawa (in English fashion)— currently, Mr. "\V. G. Ross.
Of the transcontinental mail channels, perhaps the most
important chain from east to west coasts (3,770 miles) is com-
posed of the following R.P.O.s:
1. Halifax 8: Moncton R.P.O. (Can.Natl., 189 miles).
Nova Scotia to New Brunswick.
2. Monc. & St. John (Can.Natl., 89 miles), in New Bruns-
wick.
3. St. John & Montreal (Can.Pac, 482 miles). New Bruns-
wick to Province of Quebec.
4. Mont, k Toronto (CN, 336 miles). Province of Quebec
to Ontario.
5. Tor. &: Ft. William (CP, 812 miles), in Ontario.
6. Ft. Wm. & Winnipeg (CP, 419 miles), Ontario to Mani-
toba.
7. Winn, k Moose Jaw (CP, 398 miles), Manitoba to Sas-
katchewan.
8. M. J. & Calgary (CP, 434 miles), Saskatchewan to
Alberta.
9. Cal. k Vancouver (CP, 642 miles), Alberta to British
Columbia.
Of these, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th lines listed are all long
ones, broken up into two or three divisions, as in the United
States; but, in contrast to our practice, each division is named
as a subsidiary R.P.O. The division titles are used only in
schemes and on slips or labels, not in schedules (thus the St.
John R: Montreal comprises the St. John &: Lac Megantic,
Lac Merantic k Sherbrooke, and Sherbrooke k Montreal
clerks' runs). As in the United States, all R.P.O. lines were
apportioned long ago among fifteen administrative areas (now
sixteen, wiili Newfoundland added), but these are called
postal districts, not divisions— usually designated by the name
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 299
of the headquarters city. Despite the fact that all long-dis-
tance ordinary letters have been carried by air for three years
now, the R.P.O.s are thriving.
Canadian R.P.O. schemes are termed distribution lists or
sortation books; much larger than ours, they are sturdily
bound in cloth board. They are issued for each province in
a convenient and handy alphabetical form (as in our earlier
official schemes, now unfortunately obsolete). Spaces between
each line permit instant insertion of ne^v post offices. However,
no mail routes are listed for the large-city offices, and the
scheming of "dis" offices, Avithout using either that abbrevia-
tion or asterisks, is a bit confusing to our eyes. The Schedules
of Mail Trains, likewise much larger than ours, are models
that we could •well emulate; timetables are clear and detailed
(direct lock bags for nearby points are bracketed with station
of dispatch), and the svmbols for frequency of ser\'ice are
superbly simple. Instead of using over t^vo hundred complex,
arbitrary letter-combination symbols fas does our P.T.S.)
the Canadian R.AT.S. numbers each weekday from 1 to 6 and
combines them with "Dy.*" (daily) and "Dv." (dailv except
Sunday; thus, "daily exc. Sun., Mon., R: Sat." is Dy.-l 6). Clerks
memorize the principle instantly.
Some Canadian R.P.O. cars— their seventy-two-foot ones-
are almost the world's longest. Most cars closely resemble ours,
evcent that they are usually lettered only "MAIL AND EX-
PRESS" or something equally noncommittal. Inside the
appearance is practically identical, but the lock bags hung for
letter mails differ markedly from our pouches (a huge, per-
manently attached lock and bolt is used to close the top in
accordionlike folds). Facing slips are folded, as in former
United States practice, for use in the slide-in label holders on
all bags. Slips are larger and thicker, and the same handy
registrv labels and good strong tTvine are used as in Fmjland.
The public is not permitted to purchase stamps from R.P.O.s.
C.P. routes, designated B.C.S. (baggage car service), some-
times carry registry conx'oys.
Canadian R.P.O.s usuallv deliver letters overnight, via
first carriers, to any point within four hundred to eight hun-
500 MAIL BY RAIL
dred miles. City sortation on night trains likewise works
Montreal or Toronto mails out to carrier routes for the first
daily delivery. Now performed by railway mail clerks, the
city distribution was formerly done by "city sorters" bor-
rowed from post offices; semicircular cases in the car end are
often used. Several terminals exist (at Toronto, Regina, and
so on), which resemble ours; but local post offices run them—
not the R.M.S.
Tea is the favorite beverage en route, and regular hotels
are patronized at the end of the run, where sizable layovers are
gi\en. Layoffs are a bit shorter than in the United States,
however, for clerks must put in forty-four weekly hours of
actual road duty (without study allowances). Eighteen days'
annual leave is given. Duties in the car are rotated among the
men, including the duty of local exchanges by the catching
arm, which is just like ours. Clerks take regular case exami-
nations, using practice cards (up to twenty-five hundred per
province) printed and sold by the Post Ofiice Department;
passing is 90 to 95 per cent, but for promotions, 97 per cent.
One card-exam per year is required, and clerks use many
study methods, varying from "adaptations of Pelmanism" to
just plain memory work. Five questions each are asked, at the
same examination, on Canada's P. L. R: R.; on the instructions
to clerks; and on specific train connections for letters between
given points. Salaries are considerably less than those of
the United States, but living costs are also lower; higher pay
is being sought.
Canada's interesting types of R.P.O.s include some unusual
boat and part-boat runs and some still more remarkable "in-
ternational" routes, for Canadian R.P.O. cars are used inter-
changeably with ours— plus four busy narro'iv-gauge R.P.O.s
in Newfoundland. But most roiues in Ne'wfoundland are
not only boat lines but still retain English titles, such as the
Argentia R: N. Sydney T.P.O. (.S.S. Bar Haven) or Cabot
Strait T.P.O. ; its former boat was sunk by enemy action
when on its run October 14, 1942, killing 137. The four
unique slim-gauge R.P.O.s in Ne^vfoundland include the
Newfoundland Railway's 545-mile "Express" or St. Johns
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT SOI
k Port aux Basques R.P.O., Avhose three clerks are often snow-
bound and dug out by dog teams; their R.P.O. and others were
pictured on former NeAvfoundland stamps. On idyllic Prince
Edward Island— the province with no crime, divorce, poverty,
or liquor— the unique Charlottetown R: Sackville R.P.O. (CN)
makes connection to the mainland via railway, the car-ferry
steamer Prince Edward Island (also shown on a stamp) then
rail again; two other rail R.P.O.s serve the island only. Then
there is the "Muskoka Lakes Steamer" (MLNavS:HCo),
with clerks running from Gravenhurst to Port Carling
and Rosseau, Ontario. Two similar routes in British Colum-
bia operate: one is the Robson 8: Arrowhead R.P.O. (.S.5.
Minto), and the other is variously entitled the T.P.O. Bur-
rard Inlet, the Indian River R: Vancouver, or simply as the
"Burrard" or "Burrard Inlet," B. C, post office (its present
postmark)! The latter distributes patrons' mail to docks but
is operated as a post office and not by the R. M.S. —it consists
of a mail boat (usually the 5.5. Scenic), operated for twenty-
five years by Postman-Captain Anderson, And the Quebec,
Natash. R: N. Shore (ClarkeSSCo) on the St. Lawrence has
three unique "Seapost" and "Poste Fluviale" runs (see Appx.
I for list of these and of all Canadian R.P.O.s).
Best known of the many international routes is perhaps the
DRjH's Rouses Point 8: Albany (for United States-operated
lines are named after points in this country only), which ac-
tually runs from Albany to Montreal, P. Q.; like many other
such runs, it uses United States clerks and postmarkers and
serves no Canadian local stations. One such United States
route operates entirely in Canada except for a mile or two in
Buffalo and Detroit— the Buff. & Chicago, East Div. (NYC-
MC); Canada's Ft. Erie S: St. Thomas R.P.O., on same tracks,
gives the local service. Canada, similarly, has many routes
entering the States, like the CN's Island Pond R: Montreal out
of Island Pond, Vermont, or completely crossing one of them—
like her remarkable St. Johns R: Montreal R.P.O. (CP), trav-
ersing the width of Maine for hundreds of miles, exchanging
mails with United States lines but not serving: local offices
(they receive mail from nearby R.P.O.s).
502 MAIL BY RAIL
The most incredible of all border R.P.O.s is doubtless the
amazing joint operation ot the P.T.S.'s VVarroad & Duluth
R.P.O. and Canada's Fort Frances &: Winnipeg, comprising
the CN raihvay from Duluth lo Winnipeg. '1 he two R.P.O.s
overlap for almost a hundred miles in Ontario and Minne-
sota. United States clerks run from Duluth to International
Falls, Minnesota, and cross into Ontario via Fort Frances
to Crozier, where they get off — after delivering even the
Canadian local mails, in international sealed sacks, between
the Falls and Crozier. Canadian clerks take over the run at
that point and work west^v•ard to cross the border again be-
tween Rainy River, Ontario, and Baudette, Minnesota; and
they in turn serve several United States to^vns from Baudette
to Warroad, Minnesota, inclusive! These offices, "schemed"
to the Warroad Sc Duluth, are actually served by clerks of the
Canadian route only, who use and deliver regulation United
States pouches (left by the United States crew) for each town.
The "Canucks" also handle much mail for Penasse, Minne-
sota (via W^arroad), our northernmost United States post
office, for which all mails must be carried throuo;h Canada.
Finally the train crosses into Canada again via South Junction,
Manitoba, and on to Winnipeg.
Some complex and interesting variations from standard
practice are necessary on such routes. Many items must be
segregated for customs inspection; direct letter bags for offices
and R.P.O.s across the border, in either direction, must be
prepared as sealed tie sacks; local offices are served by pouch
or sealed sack, depending on country traversed, regardless of
which nation's clerks are on duty; and periodic counts of inter-
national parcels and the complex foreign registry regulations
must be observed to the letter. Since United States lines enter-
ing or nearing Canada "pouch on" many Canadian offices and
lines, and vice versa, border lines of both countries must carry
scaling presses and equipment to prepare the needed sealed
sacks. United States clerks "put up" Canadian provinces, us-
ing sortation books and cards from Ottawa, exactly as they do
tiieir on-n examinations; but Canadian clerks do not learn
United States states. Each country must dispatch mails in its
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT SOS
own bags only, and return the other's empty; vari-colored
tags are used to denote each class of international mail.
Mail carrying by rail in Canada dates back to 183G, when
the first railway was built (Laprairie to St. John's, P.Q.); most
railroads began carrying mailbags as soon as constructed.
Route agents began sorting local mails on the St. Lawrence
k Atlantic Railroad (as well as on steamers) about 1851. The
first true R.P.O., the Niagara Falls R: London (Grand Trunk),
began operating in 1854; and by 1857 forty clerks were run-
ning on fourteen hundred miles of route throughout eastern
Canada, although an 1865 report lists only seventeen actual
R.P.O. lines. As late as 1874, however, lines like the Toronto
&: Windsor (GT) used no letter cases; letters were thrown
loose into the large parcel and paper boxes (resembling the
ones once used in the United States). The first R.P.O. in
western Canada, the 132-mile Winnipeg Sc Brandon, began
operating January 2, 1886; on June 28, 1886, the first through
R.P.O. train left Montreal for the Pacific Coast.
The clerks' union is the Dominion Railway Mail Clerks'
Federation, founded about 1885 as the regional (Eastern)
Railway Mail Clerks' Association of Canada at St. John, N. B.
In January 1917 it was consolidated with the Western Rail-
way Mail Clerks' Federation (founded 1912), at Winnipeg, to
form the present organization. About 1921 it affiliated with
the Canadian Federation of Postal Employees, and in 1944
with the Civil Serxice Federation; however, it withdrew from
the former federation after an "unfortunate" strike of postal
and railway mail clerks about 1924, sponsored by the C.F.P.E.
Like our N.P.T.A., the D.R.ISLC.F. believes in encouraging
the highest standards of performance of duty by each clerk,
expressed in the words "W^e must give as well as take," in order
to deserve and better secure the improved conditions for
which the organization often successfully bargains.
It, too, is comprised of divisional associations, one to each
postal district, and of branches at all important railroad
centers. About 80 per cent of all clerks are members, and a
full-time secretary serves the federation at Ottawa. Here, too,
is published its well-printed journal, the Railway Mail Clerks
304 MAIL BY RAIL
which is published in English and French editions cleverly
bound together witli separate covers and titles. Enjoyable
outings are held jointly by the D.R.M.C.F. and the N.P.T.A.,
including friendly Toronto- Buffalo area family picnics.
Electric rail fans will be interested to know that one rail-
way mail clerk is assigned to the trolley-operated Port Stanley,
St. Thomas R: London B.C.S. (LR;PS) in Ontario to convoy
registered mails on Train 48 from London to St. Thomas;
and that until 1938, operating postal cars of the former
Windsor R: St. Thomas (CN) were hatiled by trolley locomo-
tives, likewise, from London to St. Thomas. Previously, cars
of other R.P.O.'s had been similar hauled; but Canada never
had any true trolley R.P.O.s supplying either local or city
stations. However, several C. P. runs are trolley.
The Dominion's railway mail clerks, dubbed "Canada's
Night Riders" by Deputy P.M.G. Turnbull in a recent radio
address, have to contend with (as he pointed otit) cars that
"sway, roar, bounce, lurch, scream around curves, jerk like
a busting broncho"— in addition to the lo-^v salaries and long
hours. We can leave them Avith no better parting salute than
one which Mr. Turnbull quoted as oft applied to them: "The
key men who swiftly dispatch the nation's business . . . who
race against time and win."
THE UNITED STATES TERRITORIES
In all the outlying territories of the United States, only one
R.P.O. still remains— and even that is not a P.T.S. operation!
The Postal Transportation Service, which was operating fotir
interesting rail and boat R.P.O.s in Alaska and Puerto Rico
in 1949, closed out the last of these operations in 1950; and
the 10 short former R.P.O.s of HaAvaii, such as the old Aiea
& Waianae (Oahu RR?) had disappeared long before. (Lines
formerly operated by the R.M.S. in Cuba and the Philippines,
however, are still flourishing; as detailed later— but under in-
dependent governments.)
The transition of Alaskan postal service to 100 per cent
closed-pouch operation with air routes as its basis is now com-
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 805
plete; rail and boat services carry little but non-first-class
mails, and operate about weekly to monthly as opposed to
daily air operation. With even ordinary three-cent letters be-
ing carried mostly by air, and with official disapproval toward
any increased frequency of R.P.O. running or to establish-
ment of H.P.O.s as the fixed policy there, the death-blow to all
distribution in transit was inevitable. The infrequent R.P.O.
services were made to appear quite useless because of such
handicaps, in comparison with the air lines' overpowering
speed and frequency factors.
Very interesting, however, is Alaska's longest rail-operated
closed-pouch route, the Fairbanks R: Seward C.P., which was
an R.P.O. until May 1950; this connects the very center of
the Territory with its south coast. The other two R.P.O.'s
were steamboat runs, with mails sorted by a joint employee.
The Juneau, Sitka R: Skagway (J. V. Da\is Boat Line), 496
miles through the coastal bays, served the present and former
capitals; it had weekly service on each of two sections until
its steamer burned in 1947— listed as "Suspended" thereafter,
it was oflicially discontinued in May, 1950. The other boat
line, the Nenana R: St. Michael R.P.O., operated bi-weekly in
summer until discontinued Oct. 15, 1949; it traversed the
famed Yukon for 1,028 miles as our longest boat R.P.O. (the
St. Michael end w^as closed-pouch). The joint employee
served on two Alaska R.R. steamers, the Alice and Nenana,
using a postmarker reading "ALASKA" at the bottom in-
stead of the usual "R.P.O."
Alaskan R.P.O.s had to contend with the highly unorthodox
ways in which Alaskan mails were and are handled as com-
pared to operations in the States— dispatches of mail-bags ad-
dressed to no-office points, "catches" made by the train from
hand-held train-order hoops, the rigid exclusion of ordinary
parcels and much printed matter from mailing to most areas
in \vinter, special regulations for mailing gold dust and
bullion, and mails for railroaders at section houses formerly
delivered hand-to-hand.
Trains on the Fairbanks &: Seward C.P. operate over the
470-mile Alaska Railroad on probably the most leisurely
906 MAIL BY RAIL
schedule on record. The R.P.O. and passenger trains used to
take only 32 hours for the run, with both lunch and over-
night stops; but this breakneck speed was reduced to a 37-
hour trip well before the last day of R.P.O. service— when
Clerk John F. Rowland finished his final run on May 22, 1950.
Contrary to a common impression, the Fair. Sc Seward was a
short-lived R.P.O. of comparatively recent origin; it was not
established until May, 1936, when Clerk J. B. Carson inaugu-
rated its career of just 14 years with a borrowed postmarker.
The line was a mere newcomer among the many boat R.P.O.'s
Alaska then boasted— the Alaska S.S. Co.'s 2070-mile Seattle
&: Seward (now C.P.), the Seward S: Unalaska on the S.S. Starr,
and many others (Note 13). Clerk Rowland, who furnished
us much of this information, was transferred to the Seattle R:
Portland R.P.O. in Washington and Oregon; and he now
runs on this Union Pacific line.
Today, Fairbanks R: Seward C.P. trains leave Seward north-
bound on Tuesdays and Saturdays (the Saturday trip was the
R.P.O.) and on days when steamers arrive, at 8:30 A.M. as
always. Of the mail which is loaded on before leaving, the
clerk used to distribute some 20 to 30 pouches and sacks re-
ceived here— including mails addressed to the Nenana R: St.
Michael, Nenana Dis, and so on, for Avhich he did advance
sorting; he occupied a 30-foot compartment with five racks,
and dispatched nearly all of his own outgoing long-distance
mail by air. Fully 50 per cent of the mail received is addressed
to no-office localities— which, however, are practically all listed
in the second half of the very unusual "standpoint scheme"
which is the only one issued for Alaska. The end of all R.P.O.
service has worked havoc with this scheme, for no longer can
any office be schemed to a distributing line; however, it has
always listed the offices alphabetically in Canadian fashion
with summer and winter services (manv no-office points were
routed only to some R.P.O.). The clerk used a self-compiled
local scheme also.
By 1 P.M., our train arrives at the fast-growing metropolis
of Anchorage; and it stays here all afternoon and all night.
(The R.P.O. stayed there both Saturday and Sunday nights,
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT S07
with the clerk utilizing railroaders' overnight accommoda-
tions.) Early in the morning, much mail is loaded on from
the big new Anchorage Post Office; and again the train leaves
at 8:30. It passes in succession magnificent snow-capped
mountains . . . glaciers gleaming in the sun . . . the Matanuska
resettlement colony . . , Curry, the lunch stop . . . scenic
McKinley Park ... a stop for supper at Healy . . . Nenana,
where the R.P.O. connected the Nenana &: St. Michael every
other trip . . . and into Fairbanks at 10:30 P.M. But no longer
does the clerk worry about balancing his registers, which were
the line's real mainstay in its closing years; nor has a pouch-
rack been already neatly re-hung for the return trip as before.
Until the close of R.P.O, service, Clerk Rowland would return
to Anchorage with the mail train the following morning
(Tuesday) then lay off until Friday, when he'd complete the
trek into Seward; he was relieved for occasional extra week.s
by a part-time clerk, and both men worked under a District
Superintendent at Anchorage.
W^ith the present increase in population and commerce,
C. P. -passenger trains on this route now operate daily iu the
Anchorage area and thrice weekly from there to Fairbanks.
It is to be earnestly hoped that the great benefits of both local
and through transit-distributed mail can be eventually re-
stored to Alaska, by means of (1) Flying Post Office service on
trunk air lines, (2) speeded-up local R.P.O. service every other
day on the Fairbanks & Seward (possibly also on the shorter
daily Palmer-Whittier and Skagway-Whitehorse runs); and
(3) modern H.P.O. service on the Alcan and connecting high-
ways. Both air and surface mails would be speeded more
than ever before, that way; the resulting encouragement to
Alaskan self-suffiiciency, commerce, and Statehood would be
well Avorth the investment in time-saving and efficient transit
distribution with local exchanges.
Puerto Rico had just one R.P.O.— the unusual narrow-gage
171.9-mile San Juan R: Ponce (Amer.RR.ofP.R.) which made
its last run on June 30, 1950. Here, too, the extreme slowness
of the carrier's trains was a factor in discontinuance; both mail
delay and costly clerical overtime (up to 10 hours!) were in-
808 MAIL BY RAIL
volved. Tlie railroad was planning a reorganization, further-
more, and pulled off the two particular daylight trains in
which the Spanish-speaking clerks had daily traversed two-
thirds of the island's circumference for years. They worked
city mail for both termini, and served Areceibo, Mayaguez,
and other important towns on their 9-hour run; and until
1941, they connected the N.Y. &: San Juan S.P.O. (seapost)
which is still in a suspended status (it tised the steamers
America and Barinquen). Several C.P. and passenger trains
still operate on the ex-R.P.O. line, but most first-class mail
goes by star route; and the addition of an H.P.O. route or of
speeded-up R.P.O. service on the reorganized railway, or
both, would provide Puerto Rico with far faster mail service
th.-*n ever before and other benefits also. A standard general
scheme was issued for Puerto Rico, with all post offices routed
either to San Juan or Ponce "Dis," or to the R.P.O. ; the two
cities were schemed as "junctions," although only the one dis-
tributing line was shown (even omitting the N.Y. 8: S. Juan).
Oddly enough, both of our last two narrow gauge R.P.O.s
were associated with this word "San Juan"— the name of the
Ala. R: Durango's train (Chap. 10).
The one remaining R.P.O. route in a United States terri-
tory, however, is in the Canal Zone. The Panama Canal
R.P.O. (Panama RR) is not controlled by the P.T.S. or even
by otir Post Office Department, but is operated by the Bureau
of Posts of "The Panama Canal," an independent United
States Government bureau. This 47.6-mile international
route, running "from Coast to Coast in 85 minutes," is
the only R.P.O. in the Zone or in the Republic of Panama,
and has operated since canal construction in 1905. From
Panama, R.P., on the Pacific, the R.P.O. runs northwest via
Balboa Heights (Ancon's railroad station), Corozal, Pedro
Miguel, and Frijoles, C.Z., to the joint station for Cristobal,
C.Z,, and adjacent Colon, R.P., on the Atlantic. The daily
R.P.O. train largely parallels the canal and is staffed by "rail-
way mail clerks" (official title) who report for only thirty
minutes' advance time. The postmasters at Ancon and Cris-
tobal supervise the R.P.O. Since there are only about twenty-
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 309
four civilian post offices in the entire Zone (all served by the
R.P.O. directly or otherwise), the official "scheme" is merely
a section of the Canal Zone Postal Guide listing the offices
(and other localities, as in Alaska) with the station through
which served.
Like the former Alaska lines, the Panama Canal R.P.O. is
atuhorized to deliver mail for residents of no-office points, like
Frijoles, to "the railroad station agent or anyone accepting
mail for him." Even registered and insured mail, if made up
by the Ancon or Cristobal post offices in special form, can be
delivered by the clerks to addressees residing along the rail-
way. Clerks are required to pouch daily on Balboa, Balboa
Heights, Ancon, and Cristobal— plus international sealed
sacks for Panama and Colon, as well as "additional pouches
as necessary." Panamanian laborers employed by the Canal,
formerly "silver employees" (because of pay scale), are re-
quired to assist and obey the clerks during receipt and delivery
of mail at the car door; and pavmasters carrying pav rolls for
these and U. S. white-collar workers (formerly "gold employ-
ees") can ride in the postal car to safeguard the same. In nor-
mal times the R.P.O.s connection to the States is by the N.Y. Sc
Canal Zone S.P.O. out of Colon (formerly designated as an
R.P.O.; now inoperative). At one time the United States Rail-
way Mail Service may have operated the rail R.P.O., for it
uses a standard canceler with "RMS" in the killer. Clerks are
authorized to accept letters ^vith Panama and United States
stamps on them, but must forward them for canceling and for
rating with postage due; all such mails are considered
"foreis^n" and must be wavbilled when bagged. CP service,
only, is operated for Panama Republic postal movements.
MEXICO
Mexico's interesting R.P.O. network, like Canada's, is svn-
chronized with ours. Aiming to attain the highest modern
standards, the system operates mostly over the National Rail-
ways of Mexico— which actually claims to have R.P.O. service
over all its trackage. There are about 120 routes, supervised
510 MAIL BY RAIL
by a "Chief of the Transportation Office, General Postal Ad-
ministration" assisted by his regional "Postal Inspectors."
Most routes are called O.P.A.s (Officina Postal Ambulanle),
but some are designated as Servicio Ambulantc, and they are
named in reverse order for the return trip. The clerks (and
hence the service) are popularly designated post Lren and
number about five hundred; olTicially agentes postal ambu-
lanle, they are exempt from loading storage mails and similar
"porter work."
Connecting with United States lines at El Paso, for ex-
ample, is the important "O.P.A. Juarez y Torreon" (NRM;
i.e., Juarez R: Torreon R. P.O.)— or, northbound, the Torreon
y Judrez. Its service continues on into Mexico via the O.P.A.'s
Torreon y Aguascalientes and Aguas. y Mexico, also on the
National Railways. Other lines include the heavy O.P.A.
Nuevo Laredo y San Luis Potosi (MP-NRM), likewise a
heavy Mexico City connection to Laredo, Texas: and the
O.P.A. Nogales y Navojoa (SP). Postmarkers are issued
separately to each clerk regardless of the different lines he
may run on, and hence show no titles; arbitrary numbers are
used. Some domestic Mexican mails are forwarded in part
over speedy connecting United States R.P.O.s for fastest dis-
patch to Mexican destinations. Mail receipts are given for
each bag of mail (nimibered and billed to correspond).
Sealed sacks of international mails are regularly exchanged
by United States and Mexican R.P.O.s. and American clerks
distribute Mexican mails to lines by standpoint scheme, the
border-area O.P.A.s (like Western Canada lines) being listed
in United States schedules. Mexican R.P.O.s often deliver
mails direct to persons stationed at small railroad section
posts or way stations which have no post office; if no postal
representative is on hand, letters can be handed to addressees.
Mexican postal cars, which much like ours, have no tables
fitted to the newspaper racks. Hence reports have arisen that
"mail to be distributed is poured on the floor"; but Avhile this
was done on small lines years ago, the standard practice is to
work papers out of an opened sack or to improvise a table
from sacks piled up or spread on ilie rack. Sack mail is sealed
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 311
before dispatch. Many cars have no fans or electric lights, but
these are being installed.
The two to tour clerks assigned to each train usually bring
a small portable stove for heating coffee and food en route,
but modern food-heating devices are planned. Mexican
clerks are notably courteous, polite, and loyal to their govern-
ment—though they have the right to strike against it. They
are naturally paid much lower salaries than United States
clerks ($3.50 daily in 1948), but here again the low cost of
living helps to equalize things. Layoffs are not quite so long
as ours. Clerks often alternate in clerk-in-charge assignments,
in day and night runs, and so on. They are issued detailed
state schemes (with much postal-guide data included), as well
as one of Mexico itself, and are expected to memorize hun-
dreds of routings of the tiny no-office localities. No practice
cards are used except occasional homemade ones. Clerks be-
long to a general communications union (the S.N.T.S.C.
O.P.!) instead of to a postal or railway mail group, and joint
meetings and banquets have been held by this union and the
EI Paso Branch, N.P.T.A., which have been attended by
clerks and high officials as well— a laudable boon to interna-
tional friendship. The future of Mexico's system is bright.
INDIA
(Including Burma and Pakistan)
Like the Canadian and Philippine systems (and like ours
up to 1949) the Railway Post Office system of India is
designated as "the Railway Mail Service," and the same
types of divisions, each headed by a superintendent, are used.
Furthermore, "catchers" for non-stop exchanges resemble the
United States type; layoffs are much like ours (clerks often
work four days, then are off three); and, finally, the R.M.S. is
"entrusted with almost the whole sorting (i.e., transit distri-
bution) of the Post Office," exactly as in this country.
W^orking conditions, efficiency of operation, and salaries
have all improved remarkably in recent years. Sorters on the
more than 450 lines now receive about 45 to 120 rupees a
S12 MAIL BY RAIL
month (about $36, a good salary in India). Cars are small,
often only fifteen feet in total length, and, like English
T.P.O.s, contain no pouch or sack racks. But they are fitted
with electric lights, and special resthouses have been provided
by the government at "changing stations" and termini for the
sorters, as they are called. An attendant and necessary uten-
sils are provided there for cooking meals; hence most lines
offer only a low travel allowance or none at all.
Runs often comprise a full week of varied dtuies, includ-
ing certain hours at a Mail Office (terminal R.P.O.) or Record
Office, and a deadhead journey or two to complete the cycle.
Mail Offices (with a postmark such as "POONA R.M.S.") also
employ many regular terminal clerks, who get only one day
off in ten; however, they usually work only six to seven and
three-quarter hours a day, depending on whether it is night
or day work. On the trains "FM" (foreign mail) sorters work
up to twenty-seven hours without rest, and special R.P.O.
trains for such mails are normally operated out of Bombay.
R.P.O.s are called R.M.S. Sections^ and a typical example
is the Darjeeling Mail, which is officially "Section E-ll" (1 1th
run in "E" Division) on the Ben. &: A. and D. H. Rys. Cars
on this line are painted "DARJEELING MAIL" in large
letters with a royal crest underneath, and have a "late fee" mail
slot; wino- cases, with boxes twice as big as ours, are found
inside. (This line operates from Parbatipur to Darjeeling,
up in the Mount Everest foothills.) A typical trunk line, on
the G.I. P. Railway from Bombay to Delhi, consists of Sections
B-19, F-1, and A-15. Trains are numbered, but "in" and
"out" designations are usually used.
The Indian R.M.S. dates from 1863, when the first sorting
section was established on the G.I. P. Railway from Allahabad
to Cawnpore. After heated arguments over railroad mail pay,
the Post Office was able to expand the services over the coun-
try. Old postmarks reveal that both the terms "R.P.O." and
"T.P.O." were used at first, but later dropped in favor of
R.M.S.; "Mail Guards" and "Mail Agents," each with their
own R.M.S. cancelers, appeared. Today R.P.O. trains use
postmarkers showing simply the number of the section, as
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 813
"B-2," and of the crew or set on duty, such as "SET 1 ." Sorters
must turn in detailed trip reports with every irregularity
recorded. There is only one "Schedule of R.P.O. Trains" for
all of India, and this is published as a fifty-page appendix to
the Postal Guide or List of Indian Post Offices; called the List
of R.M.S. Sections, this appendix includes all necessary time-
table data (including junction connections) for every section
operated. Compiled in tabulated list form, with section titles
all in one left-hand column, it appears thoroughly complicated
to our eyes— in fact, almost as remarkably complex as our
P.T.S. brochures appear to Indian R.M.S. men! India's
schemes or sortiji^ lists seem to be even more hopelessly con-
fused; issued separately from each large postal center, thev
consist of non-alphabetical regional standpoint schemes with
the post offices listed in arbitrary order.
India had one of the world's first planned training pro-
grams for new R.M.S. men. Some interesting excerpts are
given here from a significant report by Nilkanth D. Purandare,
retired R.M.S. inspector at Poona who has conducted many
such courses between 1928 and 1943. Mr. Purandare (whose
father founded the Foreign Mail Sections') thus describes the
wartime revival of the classes in September 1943:
Seventeen such classes were opened at the Head-
quarters stations of the R.M.S. Divisions . . . Taking into
consideration the costly living in Bombay . . . the Gov-
ernment decided to pay regular pay and other allow-
ances to the twenty trainees to be deputed to the R.M.S.
Training Center, Bombay G.P.O. . . . The Sorting Office
of the Bombay R.M.S. is the biggest in the whole of
India ... As the number of post offices to be learned by
heart by a trainee in the Bombay R.M.S. is much larger,
I got the period extended to three months . . . For prac-
tical work they used to be deputed for actual sorting to
the R.M.S. Mail Office.
The number of post offices to be learned by heart . . .
was about four thousand durine the course of about
twelve weeks. I had, therefore, fixed a quota of three
hundred to three hundred and fifty per week, or about
sixty per day. I had about four or five copies of the List
S14 MAIL BY RAIL
of Indian P.O.s, and introduced the system of dictating
the names of the P.O.'s in the class. . . . Notebooks were
introduced . . , This copying work in two places had a
good result, as the trainees had a good practice in
spelling . . .
We had map reading, and explaining of train connec-
tions of the R.M.S. sorting sections in India, for which
bags are closed by the Bombay R.M.S.; . . . the beats of
R.M.S. sections and the situation of postoffices on the
several railway lines etc. ... I introduced the system
of a written test ... A monthly report on the progress
of each trainee was sent to the Division Superintendent
. . . about one hundred and sixty boys received train-
ing ... It was a pleasure to teach others what you know,
and be of use to the community at large. It was a duty
after my own heart.
R. P.O.s in Pakistan and Burma closely resemble those in
India proper. Pakistan has adopted some new postmarkers for
use on air mail and registers sorted on the lines, the cancel
indicating one or both functions. Burma's Rangoon-Manda-
lay Mail and Moulmein Night Mail are well known; newer
postmarks, like that of the Minhla-Thayetmo R.P.O., show the
route title.
CENTRAL AMERICA
Costa Rica.—K.P.O.s. called Ambulantes or Ferrocnrril,
from San Jose to Ramal, to Limon, et cetera; two or three
routes, one reported as early as 1907.
C?/6<2.— About seventy routes, called Ambulates (or S.P.C),
except for immediately following the Spanish-American W^ar.
Then our R.M.S. took over and renamed them accordingly—
thus the "Cardenas y Santa Clara Ambulate" became the
"Cardenas R: Santa Clara R.P.O." from 1899 to 1902. A main
line is the Habana y Camaguey Ambulate (URH-CubRR).
Two boat R. P.O.s (called Topor) and three H. P.O.s {Camioyi)
operate, including the Camion Habana y Managua.
Guatemala.— Ti\e current routes operate, with twelve nms
f hereon (numbered in order), from Guatemala City to San
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 515
Jose and other points. Clerks postmark and sort loose letters
handed in, but otherwise are said to handle closed pouches
only; lines are designated Correos Nalionales—Ambulante,
says specialist George K. Clough.
Jamaica.— Two routes, evidently operated as one, and called
simply the "T. P.O.— Jamaica"; the government's narrow-
gauge railway, starting at Kingston, diverges into two long
branches to Montego Bay and to Port Antonio. Established
in 1901. (For Puerto Rico, Panama, see "U. S. Territories.")
EUROPE
Austria.— Ahout. seven hundred R.P.O. runs, numbered in
order, on some forty "first-class" and seventy "second-class"
routes. Designated as Fahrendes Postamt, the R.P.O.s are
typified by the Wien-Innsbruck (14) and Innsbruck-Lindau
(61,62) east-west trunk line. Established about 1852, the sys-
tem uses postal cars, each known as a postambulance. Austria
has, or did have, our only known cable-incline R.P.O. —the
St. Anton-am-Arlberg, operated with special cancel for a
winter mountain-sports event.
Belgium .—Ahoni fifty short runs, wdth such titles as Nord I
and Nord II (i.e., North route, No. 1 and 2), Brussells-Anvers;
Midi IV (Namur-Brussells), et cetera. First run was about
1849 (Liege-\'erviers); supervised by Office of Travelling
Posts. One seapost to England, the Oostende-Dover.
Bulgaria.— Ahoul one hundred and fifteen runs, such as the
Amb. Gyveshevo-Sofia, Varna-Sofia, et cetera.
Cyprus.— This island's various "R.P.O." postmarks actually
originate at small "railway (i.e., trackside) post offices"; no
postal cars are operated at all!
Czechoslovakia.— Ahonl three hundred routes, wdth no less
than 996 runs, all numbered, with up to four clerks per thirty-
foot car. Large boxes for newspapers and parcels, Avell padded,
are typical of the sorting cases. "Praha-Plzen" and "Praha-
Cheb" are two heavy routes. Depots have terminal R.P.O.s.
816 MAIL BY RAIL
Denmark.— About three hundred modern R.P.O.s, called
Dansk Bureauer, manned by lour hundred and fifty clerks;
the first one was operated 1852. A great trunk R.P.O.,
Bureauer 2085 between Copenhagen and Frederikshavn (600
kilometers), consists of an all-postal train of two or three
postal cars with fifteen clerks; it connects many other routes,
all designated by train number only. R.P.O. cars are divided
by partition into "ofiice" (letter and newspaper) and "parcel"
sections (all other traffic). Clerks, carefully trained, are select-
ed from the post ofiices and work a straight six-day week.
Eire {Ireland}.-Y)uh\in & Cork T.P.O. and Dublin R: Gal-
way T.P.O., Day and Night,' were only runs operating in Eire
at last report, due to the coal shortage. Normally, the
Portadown & Derry and Belfast R: Northern Counties (to
Coleraine) T.P.O.s operate in British North Ireland, and
others in Eire; but the two lines are isolated from Eire's and
from each other (the Dublin R; Belfast formerly connected
to both). Dating from 1855, Irish services are on the English
pattern; however, labeled cases and decorative interior trim
are found. (Carrier: Amalgamated Transport of Eire.)
Finland.— Ahoui thirty-three R.P.O.s (184 runs), including
Helsinki-Turku, Vaasa-Seinajoki.
France.SomQ IGO Bureaux Ambulants (regular R.P.O.s),
Courriers-Convoyeurs (local branch lines), and Wagons-
Postes (Fast Mails) on the Rapides or express trains traverse
the country. Main lines, showing railways traversed, include
the Ambulants Paris a Marseille (Sud-Est) and Marseille a
Lyon Rapide (Mediterranee). The best French postal cars
contain sorting cases Avith holes of all sizes, \vide case tables
with drawers and cupboards, and even nicely cushioned chairs
(at least before the war). But other clerks ^vork only in danger-
ous old Avooden cars or in tiny compartments in second-class
passenger or baggage \ans. A fe^v runs operated even through-
out World War II. Many brigades (crews) used characteristic
wavy-circle postmarkers, reports Dr. Carroll Chase (leading
^Actual place names and postmarks are in Gaelic.
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 317
United States authority). Operated since 1844, the centenary
of the ajnbulants was marked in 1944 by a special stamp, only
one of its kind on record. There are day (1 °) and night (2°)
runs. (Army R.P.O.s: See Chapter 11.) The C. -Convoy eur
Mulhouse-Ensisheim, 15 km., is a real trolley R.P.O. on the
Mulhouse Tramways,
Germany .—In 1937 Germany had over five thousand BaJin-
posts (R.P.O. runs) over probably about five hundred routes,
and most have been restored to service. Trunk lines include
the Berlin-Hannover and Koln-Hannover Bahnposts (all
German State Raihvays). Like our P.T.S., the Bahnposts are
a separate service, divided into numbered districts, and clerks
are assigned to districts only (detailed to any or all rims as
directed). After special training (case examinations are not
used), clerks are assigned to duties on an eight-hour day basis,
under supervision of the Military Governments' commimica-
tion branch. Since 1890, Bahnpost clerks have had travel al-
lowances and higher pay than post-office clerks; night differ-
ential, annual and sick leave are granted. The Reichpost suc-
ceeded in operating some routes even throughout World War
II, though others were annihilated by bombs. W'hen the mili-
tary governments took over in 1945 some prew^ar cars still had
skylights and prettily decorated interiors, in conformance
with Reichsfiihrer Mitler's "beauty of Tvork" edicts; the new-
est cars are all steel, aboiu 21.6 meters long, with a special
bag-opening compartment in the center— encircled by extra-
large pigeonholes to accommodate contents (in lieu of pouch
rack). Ingenious dust-eliminating devices and revolving cases
are found. The Bahnposts have operated since 1841, the vari-
ous states having differing types at first (e.g., "K.WURTT.
BAHNPOST" in Wurttemberg). While the Strassenhahn-
briefkasten (streetcar ^viih letter box) in Hamburg is not a
trolley R.P.O. as reported, there may be electric-car Bahnposts
at Frankfurt-am-Main. There is an international line into
Belgium (Herbesthal-Cologne) which pouches on offices in
three countries. Postmarks show "BAHNPOST," and train
number as "ZUG."
S18 MAIL BY RAIL
Greece.— Severn] routes, as Larissa-Piraeus, and another in-
to Alliens, have been restored since the war.
Hungary— In 1939 there were over fourteen hundred
R.P.O. runs on 297 routes, but by 1947 only 111 postal cars
had been salvaged following war damage. The first run, to
Vienna, was established 1868; later ones were Budapest-Oder-
berg, Pest-Kassa, et cetera.
Itnly.-Ahout 250 R.P.O.s, including Torino-Roma (Turin
& Rome), and (earlier) the Amb. Firenze-Massa, Bologna-
Milan, et cetera. Fifty-seven runs operated by 1889. The
routes traverse the Italian State Railways. (See Sardinia.)
Luxemburg.— Both ambulanls and Bahnposts recorded;
Luxemburg-Trier, Luxembourg-Echternach, 3 other lines.
Netherlands.— Tw'^nty -{our rail and boat R.P.O.s now op-
erated, such as Amsterdam-Einhoven and Rotterdam-Utrecht.
Several R.P.O.s connected a Flushing-Harwich Seapost run
to England until 1939. Of great interest are four steam
tramway R.P.O.s (Burgh Haamstede-Zijpe, Rotterdam-
Hellevoetsluis, Rotterdam-Zuid Beijerland, and Spijkenisse-
Oostvoorne, with reverse runs, on the Rotterdamshe Tramweg
Maatschappij). They use box-like cars with five small, high
windows (and a door) on each side; five earlier runs on the
Arnhem-Zeist route (NBMaat) used electric tram cars.
Noncay.—Ahoux. three hundred clerks man the two hun-
dred-odd R.P.O.s on the Norwegian State Railways, the ser-
vice being designated Reisende Posfekspedisjoncr. Important
lines are Oslo-Trondheim and Oslo-Kornsjo (into Sweden).
Mails are divided to line segments and sorted in small cars.
Clerks, interchanged with those in post offices, work a forty-
hour week; and enjoy excellent single-room layover facilities
(government-furnished) plus twenty-one days' annual leave.
Poland.— Th^TQ. were only six Poczt. Wagonie (R.P.O.s) re-
ported in 1937; many more doubtless exist now. Numerous
new postal cars have been built in double-quick time since
1945; full cars contain large and small case boxes and pouch
table; others use half of a passenger coach. Poland had R.P.O.s
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 319
before we did, and by 1863 had lines from Warsaw to
Czestochowa (connecting to Vienna), Bydgoszcz (to Berlin)
and Grodno. Present routes also include Bielsko-Kalwaria
(?); but the heavy line W^arsaw- Leningrad has always been op-
erated by the Russians.
Portugal.— About twenty-eight Ambulantes.' Postmarks, at
least early ones, show no routes.
Sardinia.— There is doubtless R.P.O. service from Caorliari
to the island's north end, but available records of Sardinian
posts deal mostly with Piedmont, its former mainland prov-
ince (now Italy). Turin-Genoa Posie Amb. ran there.
Soviet Russia (also Latvia, Estonia).— Poshtovy Vagony
(postal cars) of Russia operate over a vast network of railways,
although no current information could be obtained from
Soviet representatives. The Trans-Siberian Express from Mos-
cow to V'ladivostok, Siberia, carries an R.P.O. route which is
perhaps the world's longest. Beside the P.V. Leningrad-War-
saw (see Poland), other rotites connect to Moscow and all
other centers; lines are designated by number only, there
being at least seventy-eight routes. Terminals (depot sorting
units) exist at many points. About five Postvaguns operate in
Soviet Estonia (Tallin-Sadam, Valk-Tallin), and several in
Latvia (Ritupe-Riga, Riga-Valka), as well as in Lithuania and
the Ukraine.
Spain.— At least forty-one Ambulante traverse Spain, in-
cluding Irun-Madrid, Malaga-Seville, Madrid-Vigo (an ex-
press run). Others are on slow mixed trains, even showing
"MIX." [tren mixto) in the cancel. (TRANVIAS/BARCE-
LONA, a tramway postmark, is applied to car-letter-box mail;
it is not a trolley R.P.O.) Postal cars are about forty feet, divid-
ed into working and storage sections; mailbags are hung on the
walls and sealed as in England. The fast Midnight Mail from
Madrid to France has three compartments manned by six uni-
formed clerks (wearing tan smocks). Permanently labeled
porcelain headers are used by letter clerks, with "dis" ofTices
*Or Ambulancia.
S20 MAIL BY RAIL
printed in red on each; while their mailbags are colorfully
embroidered with embossed letters in red, yellow, and blue.
Szveden.—The Postkupe Svenska operates a highly efficient
network of some 217 P.K.P.s (RPOs) -which are designated by
number (independent of train number). Huge seventy-five
foot,, forty-ton cars are often used (among the very longest)
containing cases with all sizes of boxes as well as pouch racks
like ours, overhead racks for parcels, and numerous cupboards,
important loutcs are P.R.P. 9 and -IG (Stockholni-BoUnas),
81 (Goteborg Malmo), and 308 (Boden-Kiruna), the latter
going far north of the Arctic Circle and using electric loco-
motives of the Lapland Railway. The eight hundred clerks
sort mails much on the United States principle, using a large
R.P.O. schedule (Tidtabeller for Jarnav.igsposterna and
scheme (Forteckning), each covering the whole of Sweden and
incorporating ingenious maps and diagrams. There are about
fifteen men to a car, carefully trained and interchangeable
with post-office staff; they receive annual leave up to thirty-five
days annually but have no layoffs. Most lines are electrified
and are on the S^vedish State Rys.
Switzerlond.—K.F.O. operations, designated both as Bahn-
post and Ambulant in bilingual postmarks, include the
Zurich-Basel line and an express nm out of Geneva. Most
lines are electrified, including at least one usino- single electric
cars— the Stansstad-Engelberg segment, Luzerne-Engleberg
Bahnpost.
Tinkey.—The Turkish "Mobile Service" system has just
been converted into a complete modern R.P.O. network for
the first time, under supervision of Virgil Jones (a P.T.S.
superintendent from Kansas) and his United States Postal
Mission; there are over one hundred runs. A scheme and
complete R.P.O. schedule of Turkey were both issued last
year, and the Isianbul-Adana became one of two trunk
R.P.O.s out of Istanbul, replacing primitive route-agent
service— the other is the Istanbul-Ankara.
Yugoslavia.— There are about one hundred and fifteen
lines, with some R.P.O.s over three hundred miles long; routes
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT 321
include Sarajevo-Burgojno, Tuzla-Doboj, et cetera. Cars on
long runs contain two beds, a sliower, and an ice-cooled food
cupboard; clerks receive free board and lodging on layoxers,
as \ve\\ as a "subsistence allowance" higher than that of travel-
ing officials!
AUSTRALASIA
^w5/ro//fl.— Authorities state that the only R.P.O.s still op-
erating in this subcontinent are those of New South Wales,
except for one very unusual one, operating only once a month,
attached to the Pay Train, Trans-Australian Raihvay (post-
mark reads just that); Pay Train 1 runs from Port Augusta to
Watson, and Train 2 from Fisher to Kals;oorlie. The N.S.W.
lines, using late-fee letter slots, consist of the SOUTH (Sydncy-
Junee), WEST (Sydney-Dubbo), NORTHWEST (Sydney-
Werris Creek-Narrabu) and NORTH (Werris Creek junc-
tion-Glen Innes) "T.P.O." runs. However, very recently re-
ported were a Sydney-Brisbane and Sydney-Albury run, and a
Quoran-Alice Springs T.P.O. (South Australia, 1948) in addi-
tion. Clerks work in uniforms, including officer-type caps,
and work at permanently labeled cases (^vith large compart-
ments for parcels). Cancels read "T.P.O. 2 NORTH/N.S.W.-
AUST." et cetera. The first T.P.O.s operated about 1870 and
at one time traversed most states of the Commonwealth;
but T.P.O.s in Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania quit in
1932. (South Australia had a "P.O. RAILWAY" postmark-
ing mail as early as 1867.) Early T.P.O.s used two compart-
ments of a passenger car painted "ROYAL MAIL VAN" and
used candles; when letters were burned by the latter, kerosene
lamps were put in.
Indonesia (Java).— At least one line, the North Borneo
R.P.O., operates out of Batavia, Java. Clerks use large-holed
sorting cases but no racks.
A^ezu Zealand.— One main-line R.P.O., only, still operates—
the "T.P.O. MAIN TRUNK" (postmark incl tides "Auck-
land, N.Z."), from Auckland to Wellington. Many shorter
lines once operated, including branches of this one to New
S22 MAIL BY RAIL
Plymouth, Thames, and Woodville; also from Wellington to
Napier via Woodville. On the South Island there was a main
line from Invercargill to Christchurch (via Dunedin) and
two branches out of Christchurch. Long called Railway
Travelling Post Offices, these services began in 1878. The re-
maining 426-mile main line uses modern four-truck cars on
fast trains, with two senior clerks— called "train agents"— as
the crew. A detailed local service is given at all stations. A
small restroom equipped with stove and many 'conveniences
is furnished the clerks, who travel .SOO.OOO miles a year; service
was suspended in World War II. Clerks from post-ofTice mail
rooms man the R.P.O., workino: five weeks in the office for
each one on the road. Trains leave at 3 P.M. both ways, make
sixteen stops.
Philippine Republic— About tw^enty-eight railway postal
clerks now run on the newly-restored routes in the Philippines
under direction of Vincente Gonzales, Chief, Railway Mail
Service (Bureau of Posts); these consist of the Manila-San
Fernando and Manila-Naga City R.P.O.s (ManilaRR) on
Luzon, and the Iloilo-Capiz R.P.O. (Philippine Railway) on
Panay Island. The 378-kilometer Manila-Naga line is the
longest, and carries two clerks in each direction. Operating
practice, which was under the U. S. Railway Mail Service for
many years after 1899 and used the same official postmark
designs, closely resembles ours. Until the Japanese invasion
in 1941, the Manila-Naga Camarine Sur operated in addition
to the other R.P.O.s; all were taken over by the Japanese but
operated almost entirely as closed-pouch service. Earlier there
were as many as ten lines— many of them organized by our
military forces in 1898 or by an R.M.S. postal mission then
(see Chapter 1 1). Some Spanish routes operated still earlier,
but no records seem available.
SOUTH AMERICA - ASIA - AFRICA
We must apologize to our good friends to the south, as well
as those in the other two continents, outside of India, for our
inability to include specific information on their very interest-
FROM CANADA TO THE ORIENT S25
ing and progressive railway postal services— both because of a
lack of space and an extreme paucity of available data other
than technical postmark information. Korea, despite its new
significance in world affairs, has apparently never had R.P.O.s
according; to its Consul General.
South America has interesting Ambulancias in Bolivia and
Chile and extensive R.P.O. services in Argentina, Brazil,
Colombia, Peru, British Guiana, and most other countries.
The "Transvaal T.P.O.," one of two in South Africa, is
particularly interesting— a long run from Johannesburg to
De Aar. Japan has some twenty-eight routes, using small
compartments in view of the passengers, in which clerks sort
into big-holed cases; many lines are electrified. China had sev-
eral routes before its collapse, including the Pieping-Yukuan
and Shanghai-Nanking R.P.O.s and a Yangtze seapost route
(publicity exhibits for an expansion program even included
model R.P.O. cars).
Chai'ter 16
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE
When I've made my last trip in the new tin train,
And have tied out my last sack;
And have headed west toward the land of rest,
From whence no once comes bark,
It would soothe my dream to be pulled by steam
On that ride down the Glory track.
— Robert L. Simpson
The bright future prospects of the
P.T.S. are closely linked with the im-
pact made upon the Service by today's
innovations— and, conversely, with the
impression made by the P.T.S. upon
the nation at lars^e, as revealed in con-
temporary literary and artistic media
and in its contribution thereto of so
many distinguished professional lead-
ers. In closing, an appraisal of these
interesting trends is fitting.
The sudden advent of air mail, with a speed factor completely
offsetting the time saved by transit-sorting when long distances
are involved, has presented an unprecedented challenge to
the future of mail distribution en route. From the very first
experimental balloon-mail fligiit in pre-railroad days (1835)
up to the inception of mail-plane trials aroimd 1911 and
establishment of our first air-mail route in 1918, an implied
threat to the future of R.P.O. service as we know it has existed;
and the expansion of air services since has intensified it. For-
324
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 325
tunately, the Railway Mail Service— as the natural channel for
transit mail— was very early assigned the task of establishing
"air-mail fields" to sort the air mail; for it had to be kept
separate from ordinary letters, and post offices obviously could
not furnish the facilities. Handily located right at each major
airport, the A.ALF.s soon became a vitally important part of
the Service.
Today the Postal Transportation Service operates nearly
forty Air Mail Fields manned by o\er t^velve hundred clerks.
The complex special schemes needed for sorting air mail,
which cannot as yet be routed to distributing lines, eventual-
ly assumed their present form (listing definite dispatches for
each first- and second-class office, but massing others on dis-
tributino; centers). A.iNf.F. clerks handle in the mails manv
rare items and unusual articles having vital time priority.
Biologicals, cut flowers, anti-borer insects (with a life cycle
too short for sea transport to Hawaii), wasps for pollination,
fresh poultry, bees, ne^vs mats, and urgently needed spare parts
are quickly rushed by them to all corners of the earth. They
are expert sorters; at Omaha (Nebraska) A.M.F., for example,
clerks work New York City air mail out to stations bet^veen
planes and often take 1,000-card examinations 100 per cent
correct, at up to forty cards per minute.
In spite of trials, such as their unreasonably low salary
classification, A.M.F. clerks do yeoman service in the hours
between their long commuting trips (in post-office trucks or
by such little public transportation as exists). Since most air
mail must finish its trips to smaller offices by land, they pouch
on all nearby R.P.O. routes and distributing offices. The "fly-
paper fields" are already developing tales and traditions of
their own in the P.T.S. pattern. A favorite story at Jackson-
ville (Florida) A.M.F. deals with former Postmaster General
Hannegan's unexpected visit there while waiting to change
planes. He walked in and greeted Clerk J. B. Glover with
"Fm Bob Hannegan, the Postmaster General." Grover, not
even glancing upward, retorted, "Yes, and Fm President Tru-
man." Only after insistent explanations was he convinced,
amid many a hearty laugh at his confusion.
326 MAIL BY RAIL
Years ago, however, farsighted railway mail clerks became
convinced that the A.M.F.s were not enough— that for maxi-
mimi cross-coimtry speed to the ultimate degree air-mail ser-
vice should be combined with actual distribution aloft in the
planes. It is not known who first suggested the idea, but it
was probably put forth well before the first ne\vs of such ex-
periments (overseas) reached this country in 1928. For the
world's first Flying Post Office was not the one recently oper-
ated across America as a result of such sugsrestions; it was ac-
tually the Stockholm-London Air Post Office, which operated
intermittently from June 18 to September 6, 1928, from
S\veden to England via Malmo. Actual sortino: of letters aloft
was performed by expert clerks from the Stockholm G.P.O.
on ten flights, sponsored by the Swedish Air Traffic Associa-
tion (English and Swedish postmarks).
Here in America a planned attempt to have a clerk placed
on a plane (to sort mail between Forth Worth and San An-
tonio, Texas) was first put forth by Superintendent C. J.
Taylor of the Ilth Division, R.M.S., in the early 1930s; but
Washington disapproved the suggestion. About 1935, Walter
W. Mahone, of the Rich. Sc Clif. Forge (CR:0) in Virginia,
introduced perhaps the first R.M.A. resolution for sortation
on planes; and by 1939 the Association was approving similar
resolutions at each national convention. That same year ac-
tual non-stop catch-and-delivery service by planes was intro-
duced around Pittsburgh experimentally on May twelfth (the
permanent service began August 12, 1940); All-American Air-
lines operated this rotite to Huntington, West Virginia, and
others to eastern Pennsylvania for ten years. No clerk was
carried and no letters distributed, but the flight mechanic (or
sky clerk) did "sort" small pouches of mail en route into the
rubber containers which were thrown off at way points; mails
to be "caught" were placed in similar containers hung in a
ring of nylon rope which was hooked up by a second rope from
the plane and reeled upward. One hundred twenty-five stops
were served, but service was discontinued on June 30, 1949.
Clerks renewed their efforts to put clerks aloft as the result
of the "pickup service" impetus, but Department officials re-
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 327
jected all such suggestions as impracticable until early in 1 943.
At tiiat time Postmaster General Walker broke ^vith tradition
to declare that studies were being made of "distribution of
mail en route in transcontinental airplanes" and that railway
postal clerks— excellently fitted for the work— should be used
therein. Although other air-mail officials scoffed by saying
that letters would slide out of the case whenever the plane
banked, plans ^vere steadily perfected and were publicly an-
nounced by Postmaster General Robert Hannegan in Janu-
ary 1940; and on March thirty-first, Fairchild Aircraft re-
leased its "Flying Mail Car" plans.
At 1 P.M. on September 25, 1946, the first flight of the
experimental "Washington, Dayton R: Chicago Flying Post
Office" (TWA) actually took off from the Washington Na-
tional Airport, and mails were sorted aloft for the first time in
America. I'he specially equipped cargo liner had been on dis-
play since 9 A.M., and elaborate ceremonies preceding the
take-off had involved Postmaster General Hannegan, Second
Assistant Postmaster General Gael Sullivan, and Air Mail,
W'ar Department, and T.W.A. officials. Mr. Sullivan and the
other officials on board the flight sorted the air mail (mostly
collectors' covers) out to states and directs in the compact case;
but no postmark was applied- the mail was canceled in W^ash-
ington, with special cachets used. Arriving at Chicago in
three and one-half hours, the plane was then routed to Pitts-
burgh and New York. On October first, another F.P.O. flight
was operated clear from Boston to Los Angeles on American
Air Lines* Midnight Expediter; and on the same day the Fair-
child Packet (Flying Mail Car) got its chance. United Air
Lines flew it from New York to San Francisco in exactly twelve
hours; and on October third, it was routed to Seattle and then
back to New York the next day. The Packet's squared fuselage
accommodates a unique semicircular letter case, two pouch
racks and a table, mail chutes, ten overhead boxes ^vith gates,
intercom phone, and a special cushioned chair for sorting
while seated. Soothing color schemes, fluorescent lighting,
and other modern devices are used.
All Flying Post Office operations were suspended after
S28 MAIL BY RAIL
October 4, 1946, and have not been resumed at this writing;
but officials involved declared the experiment an unqualified
success, and its permanent establishment has long been ex-
pected. No definite routes have yet been authorized, nor any
mail postmarked aloft (although cachets, only, were applied
on the Expediter). Carrying up to twelve thousand pounds
of bag mail in addition to that for sorting (an estimated one-
fourth of total), the service could greatly speed up all long-
distance air mail in conjunction with C.P. feeder routes. If
air mail is ever to travel as speedily as (he air-line passenger,
flying post offices are an obvious "must" (cf. Armstrong ex-
cerpt. Chap. 7).
To sum things up, careful studies seem to indicate that the
triumphal entry and advance of modern air-mail facilities rep-
resent an encouras;inCT challenQ;e— not a threat— to the future
progress of our railway post offices and of mail sortation in
transit generally. And this is said even with all due regard to
the dire predictions of both clerks and officials, here and there,
who in recent years have painted dark pictures of our R.P.O.s
becoming nearly or totally extinct— with "all first-class mails
being sent by air" in closed pouches. The living proof that
such fears are groundless is found in the postal systems of
Canada, France, and Norway, where all long-distance letter
mails have been sent by air mail for years, yet with almost no
curtailment whatever of their flourishing R.P.O. networks
having resulted! Most letters travel not over three hundred to
five hundred miles or so, and over such distances R.P.O.s are
faster than planes in elapsed mail-transit time— for sorting in
transit, plus elimination of truck hauls to airports, overcomes
the speed differential of air travel. The advent of air mail
has encouraged a corresponding upsurge in the use of surface
mails; and furthermore, when air mails are grounded by bad
weather, still more traffic is thrown to the R.P.O.s. And it is
essential that R.P.O.s be preserved for such eventualities, as
well as to handle newspapers and other time-value mail, and,
further, to deliver air mail to all the many smaller destinations
that have no airfields! The case for the future seems self-
evident: A co-ordinated network of R.P.O.s, H.P.O.s, and
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 329
Flying Post Offices must, and certainly will, furnish the back-
bone tor the Postal Service of Tomorrow.^
The second great modern innovation in mail transportation
is the new Highway Post Office— welcomed by all railway mail
men with open arms, in sharp contrast to the coming of air
mail. True highway-borne R.P.O.s, these new mail-sorting
buses are equally popular Avith the public and are operated
under laws designed to protect short-line railways from com-
petition. The expansion of this new service has "top priority
in Post Office Department planning," with at least one hun-
dred more routes projected in addition to the similar number
now operated. Detailed analyses of costs and operations of
the hypos or higli-wheelers, as the clerks call them, have proved
them to be a magnificent and permanent success after nine and
one-half years of close observation. The one factor of elimi-
nating mail-messenger costs and delays (for the H.P.O. drives
direct to post-office doors) at stations has saved the government
thousands of dollars. It is planned to re-establish most dis-
continued R.P.O.s in this new form and to place H.P.O.s on
many long star routes.
It will amaze most of us to learn that America's first sorting
of mails on moving highway vehicles occurred in 1896! These
early, horse-drawn "H.P.O.s" were called Collection R: Dis-
tribution Wagons in the cities and Lxperimental Postal
Wagons in rural areas. The first of these were two vehicles,
each designated simply as "COLLECT'N &: DIST'N
WAGON NO. 1," which began operation simultaneously in
New York and in Washington on October 1, 1896; they were
manned respectively by Clerks J. P. Connolly and R. N. Jeffer-
son, among others. Operated not by the R.M.S. but by city
post offices, these wagons performed local city distribution
along with the streetcar R.P.O.s, with which they were co-
ordinated, but they concentrated on collecting and sorting
^At present, universal three-cent air mail for long distances would be economi-
cally fantastic. Figures from both the Postal Transport Journal and Railroad
Magazirie reveal that the air lines are paid as much (and sometimes far more)
for transporting all air mails as the railways— unsubsidized— are paid for
carrying ten to eighteen times as muchi
550 MAIL BY RAIL
drop mails en route to the post office. The idea was borrowed
either from the R.M.S. or from a similar service in Berlin,
Germany, the latter having apparently been the first such ser-
vice on record. The usual letter cases and pouch racks were
installed, and wagons pouched on outgoing R.P.O. trains
(supposedly relieving post oflices of up to 50 per cent of out-
going distribution). Actually, business firms hopelessly
swamped the wagons, seeking these early dispatches, and both
wagons were soon transferred— to Buffalo and St. Louis, where
tliey were discontinued in 1903 or 1904 {Note 20).
The odd Experimental Postal Wagon Service had its be-
ginning April 3, 1899, at Westminster, Maryland— the inven-
tion of E. W. Shriver of that post office. Its first eight-foot,
two-horse wagon was painted in blue and gold ("U. S.
POSTAL WAGON") and fitted with a counter, drawers, and
fifty-eight-box case. It served a thirty-mile rural route out of
Westminster, delivering mail direct to patrons in sixty-three
rural hamlets (largely fourth-class post offices, then discon-
tinued) and farm stops. The clerk or "postmaster" not only
expedited his carrier deliveries by doing his usual preliminary
sorting while traveling, but also sold stamps and money orders,
just as in a regular post office. On December twentieth, t!iis
service became Route A as three additional ones (B,C,D)
were established from that oflFice, covering Carroll County;
other routes followed at Frederick, Maryland, and in Penn-
sylvania and Missouri. The clerk canceled mail from patrons
with a rimless postmarker bearing a straight bar biller. Soon
after 1905 the routes became ordinary R.F.D.s. But none of
these wagon services sorted mail between offices.
The first verified, recorded suofOfestion for H.P.O.s within
the Railway Mail Service was the brain-child of James F.
Cooper of the old Tuolumne R: Stockton (Sierra Railway) and
the late Carl E. Allen (Sacramento R: San Francisco— SP)
in California; utterly unaware of any other alleged like pro-
posals, they hit on the idea of H.P.O.s during conversations
in 1925. Noting that a new highway between Cooper's
termini was ten miles shorter than his run and was siphoning
so mucli traffic (including bag mails) from the railway that
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 331
abandonment was imminent, they took action and began
publicly advocating "bus R.P.O." service. Cooper introduced
the first Division Convention resolution for H.P.O.s at San
Francisco in 1927, following its approval by his Sacramento
Branch, R.M.A. He wrote letters to bus companies, clerks,
and officials plugging the idea, and 8th (California) Division
delegates were finally directed to support H.P.O.s at the Na-
tion Convention. L. C. Macomber (who claimed to have
introduced a national H.P.O. resolution in 1915— not found
in the records) and others, too, hammered away at the pro-
posal; but no action was taken, and Cooper's line quit in 1938.
Meanwhile the first true highway post office in the world
(sorting mail between offices en route) is said to have been
established in Germany in 1929. No details are available, and
France also claims to have been first to operate a route, al-
though her poste automobile riirale (founded September 1,
1926) was much more like otir Experimental Postal Wagons
and may not have even sorted mail while moving. In this
country clerks redoubled their efforts, and in that same year
of 1929, Walter W. Mahone (the Flying P.O. proposer men-
tioned earlier) vigorously proposed the use of H.P.O.s on star
routes and else^vhere— only to have his resolution soundly
voted down at his Washington (D.C.) Branch meeting. The
Department, in turn, rejected an officially submitted sugges-
tion of Clerk H. E. Weiler for such service as "too far ahead of
the times, and Congress will not appropriate money." But
six years later the Mahone resolution was adopted both by his
branch and the .3rd Division Convention, and that same year
(19.35) the National R.M.A. voted likewise.
Then in July 1937 the first American motor vehicle to sort
mails en route began operation, but not as an H.P.O. This
surprising and little-known service was operated in Miami,
Florida, by the post office there, until December 1941; it con-
sisted of a three-ton, thirteen-foot Autocar truck manned by
three clerks who sorted foreign registered air mail, only, in
transit between the Miami A.M.F. and the Pan-American Air-
port at Dinner Key Base— using a thirty-six-box letter case.
(The restoration and expansion of similar services, on post
332 MAIL BY RAIL
office-airport-railroad station circuits operated by the P.T.S.,
has been suggested in a meritorious proposal publicized by
one clerk in the Postal Transport Journal. Runs to distant
airports would permit a good bit of sorting, and both air and
ordinary mail could perhaps be expedited.)
In 1938 an investigating committee discovered that branch-
line R.P.O. service had been cut by twenty-two million miles
annually since 1922, and that mail circulation was being stag-
nated by the resulting unwieldy star routes. The urgent need
and the economy and convenience of proposed H.P.O.s on
such lines was stressed; newspapers like the Greensboro
(North Carolina) Neius took up the fight for "bus post offices."
At a 1939 congressional hearing it was shown that German
H.P.O.s were successfully expanding, and Representative
Gillie of Indiana pleaded for such service to replace discon-
tinued interurban and other R.P.O.s. (Clerks in the Indi-
anapolis area had been so outspoken in suggesting the new
service that one authority credits their office there with origi-
nating the idea.) The route particularly in question was the
short-lived, already-doomed Peru & Indianapolis R.P.O.
(IRR) described in Chapter 12.
Through concerted efforts by the R.M.A., Mr. Gillie, and
others, Congress finally passed a joint resolution authorizing
an experimental H.P.O. over this route. But even though
the electric line had already designed the mail-sorting bus it
planned to use thereon, President Roosevelt vetoed the bill at
Departmental urging— on the grotmds that volume of avail-
able mail was insufficient, that other R.P.O.s supplied all its
larger offices, and that the legislation was restrictive (to one
line only). At last, in 1940, a second bill was introduced by
the Department allowing it to establish routes anywhere—
and, backed by clerks and officials alike, it Avas enacted.
On February 10, 1941, the Washington &: Harrisonburg
Highway Post Office — first in America — left the national
capital on its inaugural 142-mile journey through Virginia's
beautiful Shenandoah Valley (over Highways 50, 15, Va.-55,
and 11). Despite Indiana's pleas, it was the first route au-
thorized; a spruce new government-operated White bus was
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 335
used— a Model 788, with full R.P.O. equipment and powerful
underfloor engine, finished in shiny red, blue, and silver with
the lettering "UNITED STATES iMAIL - HIGHWAY
POST OFFICE." The route was set up to supplement single-
trip R.P.O. service on the old Wash, k Lexington (Sou) which
connected the same two points. Oddly enough, the first letter
had been mailed in the new H.P.O. eleven days before— by
President Roosevelt, on his birthday (January 30), as it posed
before the White House for photos.
In the cool darkness of that early dawn on February tenth
a little knot of postal officials and an interested clerk or two
(including this writer) gathered to witness the historic e\ent.
Genial John D. Hardy, then General Superintendent of the
R.M.S. (which was assigned to operated all H.P.O.s), entered
the vehicle to distribute the first mail— consisting mostly of col-
lectors' covers, over fifty thousand being mailed. Amid new
fittings exactly like those of an R.P.O. apartment, Clerk-in-
Charge Clyde C. Peters, of Harrisonburg (a Washington &
Lexington veteran), worked with the busy assistance of Clerks
O. R. Liskey, L. H. Grove, and C. M. Bellinger. Both Mr.
Hardy and his superior, Honorable Smith W. Purdum
(Second Assistant Postmaster General), rode the thirty-three-
foot bus on the first trip as the clerks sorted mail into 120
letter-case separations and three five-foot racks of pouches.
Safety belts, supplied to all, were not needed, because of the
smooth riding of the streamlined vehicle.
Although the citizenry of Washington ^vas conspicuous by
its absence on this much-publicized occasion, any doubts as
to the people's reception of the innovation in Virginia were
soon dispelled. Cheering crowds, brass bands, and special re-
ceptions greeted the colorful bus at Middleburg, Front Royal,
Strasburg, Toms Brook, Woodstock, and Harrisonburg. A
Middleburg restaurant treated crew and spectators to coffee
and pastries, and after stirring speeches at Harrisonburg, A.
G. Carter ("co^vboy postmaster" of Edinburg, also on the
route) presented Mr. Purdum with a pistol he had used rid-
ing the Montana ranges. Arrival at this terminus was right
on time (1 1 A.M.), with the return trip being made on sched-
534 MAIL BY RAIL
iile with equal punctuality. The H.P.O. was the first dis-
tributing line to serve the great suburban metropolis of Arl-
ington, Virginia (adjoining Washington), although this par-
ticular mail supply was recently discontinued. The route it-
self, an outstanding success, continues to operate every week-
day, supplying superbly efficient service to the Valley.
The triumphal commencement of the first route fired the
two principal groups of H.P.O. backers within the R.M.A.
with new enthusiasm, and it was natural that the second and
third routes should go to their areas. By extending the Peru
& Indianapolis route north to South Bend, all objections to
revival of this now-defunct line had been met; and the 152-
mile South Bend, Peru &; Indpls. H.P.O. began operating
May 3, 1941, over Highways 12-22-31. While the interurban
trolley company ruefully ditched its blueprints for a contract-
operated bus (the government provided the vehicle), the
populace went wild with enthusiasm; the eight-car official
motorcade was greeted with receptions everywhere by many
of the 780,000 postal patrons whom it still benefits. Then came
the San Francisco &: Pacific Grove (Calif., 151 miles) on
August fourth, with an even more ceremonious inaugination
at which James F. Cooper was deservedly the honor guest; he
was given a reception at his home town of San Leandro, and a
specially inscribed souvenir bell (rung at each stop) for his na-
tionally known bell collection. Nine officials made the run,
which likewise traversed at one end the route of a discontinued
trolley R.P.O. (the "Hay k Oak" of Chapter 12).
Further establishment of H.P.O.s was delayed by W^orld
War II until 1946; but of the three routes established that
year, two are particularly noteworthy. One, the 184-mile
Union & Mobile (Gulf Transport Co.) from Mississippi to
Alabama, was the first postwar and first interstate R.P.O., the
first one operated by contract carrier (as R.P.O.s are), and
the longest one yet established; it replaced a C.P. railroad-
truck route of the same name, formerly an R.P.O. The other,
unfortunately, was to become the first and only H.P.O. to be
abandoned thus far— the old Jackson &: Benton Harbor, in
Michigan (October 15, 1946-July 31, 1947). It was terminated
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 535
after less than a year "because of excessive costs for factory
maintenance under private contract," -with the expensive
vehicle deteriorating to a very serious extent.
After 1946 there was another lull until the ncAv Belleville
& Wichita H.P.O. bloomed forth in Kansas in June 1948—
but that was the signal for a steady stream of new routes to
appear, without interruption, from then until the present day.
Almost one hundred H.P.O. routes are now in operation, Avith
new ones being added nearly every month. The longest run
is the new Richmond R: Sanford (283.6 miles) from Virginia
to North Carolina; while the shortest, thus far, is the Los
Angeles R: San Pedro (California, 58-61 miles). Two of the
new H.P.O.s traverse, almost exactly, proposed routes sug-
gested in the original script of this book. One, the 114-mile
Baltimore & Washington (in Maryland) restored service large-
ly along the long-defunct routes of the old Bait. R: Annapolis
(WBR:A) and Hyattsville & Chesapeake Beach (CBRR)
R.P.O.s, as well as serving new territory around Prince
Frederick and near Annapolis.
The second of these two H.P.O.s, the Goshen Sc Newrsrk
(N. Y. State-New Jersey), is already adding to the colorful
traditions of the P.T.S. It seems that for a long time Clerks
C. W. McMickle, "William Norkaitis, and Charles Sullo (and
their driver) had been slowing down the H.P.O. to wave to an
invalid brother and sister at Butler, New Jersey; and when
Christmas (1949) arrived they surprised the shut-ins with a big
Christmas party with gifts of goodies, books, and money from
themselves and others. This H.P.O. was established as the
MiddletoAvn R: Newark on November 29, 1948, only to be
slightly rerouted into Goshen and accordingly renamed the
following January 24— to the consternation of postmark col-
lectors who failed to get the Middletown standard cancel! It
replaces the old Wanaque R: N. Y. R.P.O. (Erie) and restored
service to dozens of towns on the former Middletown R: N. Y.'s
(NYSRrAV') west end— also furnishing it to the upper-bracket
Montclair-Caldwell suburban area. "The Gosh," as it is
called, has a companion route — the Wanaque R: Newark
H.P.O., which took over the east end of the N. Y. S. R: W.
333 MAIL BY RAIL
(then curtailed as the Butler 8: N. Y.) on the same date. The
new VV^anaque run has established a real record for speed in
delivery; officials report one letter mailed at Ridgefield Park,
New Jersey, at 11 A.M. delivered to the addressee in North
Bergen, via H.P.O. and special-delivery messenger, at 12:45
P.M. same day!
On the human side, life on the H.P.O.s differs quite a bit
from that on the mail trains. There is no coffee man on the
H.P.O. bus; at lunch time the driver merely makes an un-
official stop at a roadside restaurant and all hands partake of
a good hot meal! To avoid going "stuck," clerks on the Jiypos
have doubtless persuaded more than one driver to stage a
slight slowdown or to linger a bit while important connections
are tied out. Styles in H.P.O. vehicles are already changing—
the once-universal red, blue, and silver color scheme is giving
way to two shades of rich maroon, with only one stripe of the
patriotic hues; and new models are even more streamlined
than early ones, many of them being huge articulated "two-
car" units which bend in the middle. The H.P.O.s have suf-
fered only a few accidents on the road, with no injuries.
The law which prohibits establishment of H.P.O.s so as to
compete with or exterminate existing short-line R.P.O.s is
presently interpreted rather liberally. H.P.O.s can be estab-
lished- wherever R.P.O. service is "insufficient;" and where
existing R.P.O. service is not sufficiently economical, frequent,
or speedy in the eyes of the Department, it has ruled that
such facilities are insufficient for the public interest. Both
of the New Jersey H.P.O.s mentioned, as well as most of those
out of Los Angeles, were established to replace existing
R.P.O.s (although railroad service continued to operate) in
the interests of economy and flexibility. Establishment of both
of our first two H.P.O.s was later followed by discontinuance
of R.P.O. service between the same termini, althougrh routes
differed. Although it cannot be proven that the new service
'Provided, according lo official policy, that supervision and garage facilities
are available, that climate is satisfactory, that grades do not exceed 6 per cent,
and that there are sufficient large post offices supplied without making the
route too long.
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE S37
hastened the demise of either R.P.O., it cannot be denied that
when a mail contract is the final economic factor which en-
ables a railroad "short line" to survive, substitution of
H.P.O.s could be fatal and affect adversely many commimi-
ties served in spite of the very beneficial mail service supplied.
While a vast majority (if not all) of our current H.P.O.s were
needed very badly to provide good service, it is to be hoped
that future routes may be established more particularly in
areas having no R.P.O. service whatever. Such territories,
needing H.P.O. service urgently, include the south half of
New Jersey (with only two short R.P.O.s left); the Southern
Maryland-Northern Neck (Virginia) area, where a "Wash-
ington & Fredericksburg H.P.O." via the Morgantown bridge
(to replace the huge motor-route networks out of both cities)
would do wonders; and vast portions of New England, the
Mountain states, Oregon, Washington, and else^vhere. Simul-
taneous pouches made by a connecting line sho'^v that the
Wash. & Fred, route (in Maryland alone) would receive over
twice the mail handled by the new Bait. & Wash.
But to return to the true Railway Post Office, it too is under-
going a modern transformation. Today is the age of the
streamliner, of the swift and colorful Diesel-electric giants
which haul our transcontinental expresses. Even America's
earliest streamliner of all, the Burlington's Pioneer Zephyr,
was an R.P.O. train (Lincoln &: Kansas City); and since its
inaugural run November 11, 1934, millions of high-speed
miles have been run by P.T.C.s on streamliners— despite
crack-ups like that of the Zephyr at Napier, Missouri, in 1939.
With most of our principal trunk lines now using the new-
type equipment, schedules have been speeded by several hours
on many R.P.O.s, mails advanced beyond all previous records,
and railway mail clerks forced to work at a more frenzied pace
than ever before.
Well-known R.P.O. streamliners of today include the famed
20th Century Limited (Note S); the Santa Fe's Chief (Kan.
City & Albuquerque-Alb. & Los A. R.P.O.s); the B&O's
Capitol Limited (N.Y., Bait. & Wash.) and Continental (Wash.
&: Chicago); the Lehigh Valley's Black Diamond and Asa
JW MAIL BY RAIL
Packer, which are New York, Geneva & Buffalo Trains 9, 10,
25, and 26; the Broadway Limited (see Chapter 3), electric
and steam semi-streamliner, which made its first trip on the
PRR's New York & Pittsburgh, June 15, 1902; the Tennes-
seean, Trains 45 and 46 on the Southern, whose R.P.O. cars
on the Wash, and Bristol, continuing to Memphis, are named
the Corinth and Grand Junctioyi; and so on.
To the postal transportation clerk himself a more welcome
sequel to the streamliners' advent has been that of the latest
style modern R.P.O. car. Still few in number, the new cars
are styled for real comfort and efficiency. There had been
almost no change in R.P.O. car design and furnishings since
the 1890s, but one day in April 1946 the Pennsylvania Rail-
road presented to the Department its new "dream car," the
Robert E. Han7iegan— designed jointly by railroad and postal
authorities, incorporating many clerks' suggestions. Built
at the Altoona Shops under direction of Dan M. Shaeffer, it
was numbered 5239 and named after the Postmaster General,
to whom it was dedicated at Union Station, Chicago, on April
twenty-third. This car has new safety features, wider doors,
modernized heating and lighting systems, a stainless-steel
steam cooker, large enclosed washroom and closet with auto-
matic light, unbarred double safety-glass windows, luggage
compartments, some case boxes for oversize mail, automatic
platform lights, and other improvements such as ball-bearing
trucks. It was put in service on the Broadiuay Limited (N.Y.
& Pitts.-Pitts. k Chic. Trs. 28 R: 29) on May 8, 1946 (with
collectors' cachet to celebrate), and has served on that route
(sometimes on the New York R: Washington) ever since.
Even the Hannegan leaves much to be desired, and has been
often shopped for repairs; but the newest cars incorporate
many more superior features. Specifications for such cars are
now drawn up by the joint N.P.T.A.-P.T.S. Car Construc-
tion Committee, and as a result the Milwaukee Road built a
model of one new car type which is a postal clerk's dream.
Fluorescent lighting, automatic non-stop-exchange signals,
electric hot plates that really boil coffee, electric refrigerators,
plastic table coverings, and three closets are just a few of the
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 5S9
ultramodern improvements included. Some of these refine-
ments have actually appeared in the newest cars, but govern-
ment experts and railroad engineers still object to the hot
plates and fluorescent lights as "unnecessary." It is to be hoped
that the committee's toned-down current specifications (which
still permit mere steam pots, strong electric bulbs, iceboxes,
and folding basins) will be revamped with enough "teeth"
to insist on all essential improvements of the Milwaukee plan,
as well as at least two rows of wide "oversize" boxes (which
need be but half as high) at every case instead of at only the
registry case. Nevertheless, excellent new cars have been intro-
duced on many lines— the El Paso & Los Angeles (SP's Golden
State Limited), the Burlington's Chicago 8: Council Bluffs
(whose beautiful new car, Silver Post, was dedicated by high
officials on March 25, 1948), on many Milwaukee Road lines,
on some Pennsy and ACL routes, and several others.
Of particular significance are two important suggestions for
radical changes in distributing equipment (in the cars) which
have been considered by the committee. One of these inno-
vations has met with its enthusiastic approval, as well as that
of clerks and officials generally— the new light"\veight rack ex-
tension and table combination invented by the late Monroe
Williams, a clerk who became a leading R.M.A. division presi-
dent and editor. It does away with the entire present setup
of cumbersome pedestals, bars, and heavy tables by substitut-
ing feather-light folding-leg tray tables alternated with "rack-
arm" extensions of the pouch rack (furnishing extra separa-
tions). First tested on the SP's Ogden & San Francisco on
April 17, 1946, it was permanently installed thereon on De-
cember thirty-first and has received hearty approval since from
nearly all concerned (there has been some objection on
Omaha-Ogden runs). The Department has made the new
installation optional in all new-car specifications; and, as it
is cheaper to construct, it is likely that all railroad companies
will adopt it for new car-building. The other suggestion,
disapproved by the committee, is nevertheless an idea for
which a vast number of clerks have continuously agitated— the
"center-case" car, with pouch rack at one end and paper rack
S40 MAIL BY RAIL
at the other, which eliminates the danger and loss of time re-
sulting from so many clerks having to stop to pass bagmail up
and down the alley. Most existing cars have the pouch table
in the center, and letter or paper distribution must cease
whenever pouches are passed to or from the door. It would
seem that this suggestion deserves equally prompt adoption.
A still more welcome innovation is the all-too-infrequent
air-conditioned postal car. Most air-cooled trains carrying
mail cars still omit the latter from the air-conditioned setup,
and strenuously working clerks must swelter in it all summer.
In 1910 the country's first air-cooled R.P.O. cars were installed
on the Kansas City Southern Railroad (K. C. R: Siloam Springs
and connecting R.P.O.s) by order of its president, ex-P.T.C.
Harvey C. Couch. Air conditioning was recently introduced
on the Mpls. Sc Miles Cy. (NP) run and a few others, and fur-
ther experiments are under way. Long called for in N.P.T.A.
resolutions, this improvement is desperately needed in all
warmer climates. Some officials have objected that frequent
door openings make it impracticable, but buses and trolleys
stopping for passengers much more often have been success-
fully air-conditioned in practice.
A comprehensive program of drastic reorganization and
improvement of the entire postal transport organization was
bco;un in 1946, which had its final culmination in the creation
of the Postal Transportation Service on November 1, 1949.
Improved personnel practices were to be the first step in this
long-range program, and as a result the first stage was put
into effect with the appointment of fifteen new Counselor-
Instructors, one in each division, on April 16, 1946. These
men, besides assisting new substitutes, were available to regu-
lar clerks also. (Terminated in 1950— see Chapter 3.)
The second stage of the program— national joint confer-
ences between the Department, the N.P.T.A., and the car-
riers—began just six days later (April 22, 1946). At Chi-
cago all R.M.S. officials, from the rank of former chief clerk
on up, attended their first big conference as Association, rail-
road, and air-line officers joined in the conclaves on that day.
The conference laid far-reaching plans for departmental and
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 341
field reorganization, improved distribution facilities every-
wiiere, postwar schedule changes, improved labor-manage-
ment relations, the challenge of air mail to other mail trans-
portation, faster mail-handling techniques and transportation,
and many similar topics. Many of the plans advanced have
since been carried out, particularly the establishment of "line
committees" (or "organization committees") to represent
the men of each line— as long urged by the R.M.A.— in all
reorganizations.
The third phase— complete reorganization of the Second
Assistant Postmaster General's ofTice and all postal transport
facilities— took place September 22, 1910. At this time the
General Superintendent R.M.S. became the Deputy (2nd)
Assistant Postmaster General, Surface Postal Transport; and
the various division superintendents and chief clerks v/ere
given the new titles outlined in Chapter 8. The Bureau of
Railway Mail Service at Washington became that of Surface
Postal Transport— and the R.M.S. title was to survive in the
field for only three more years. There was much agitation
for a change therein from R.M.A. members, for the R.M.S.
had expanded to include numerous highAvay, terminal, and
air-mail facilities and ^vas bes:innins: to lose control over the
latter. But suggestions for a ne^v name varied from the
lengthy one finally adopted to such simple titles as "Transit
Mail Service"— put forth by the R.M.A.'s largest branch,
by its big Sixth Division, and by this Avriter. It ^vas ear-
nestly felt that such a brief and apt title would emphasize
that raihvay mail clerks do not just "transport" the mail
but sort it iji transit, and that it Avould be handy and in-
volve change of only one word or letter (R.M.S. to T.M.S.).
In fact, the corresponding title of "Transit Mail Association"
narrowly missed adoption by the N.P.T.A. as its new name
at the same time, due to parliamentary maneuvers. But
postal officials, pointing out that clerks handled some other
mails as well as transit mails, effected consolidation of the
R.M.S. with the semi-independent "Air Mail Service" on
November 1, 1949, under the title of Postal Transportation
Service. Corresponding name changes took place in the field,
342 MAIL BY RAIL
and others in Washington; in 1950 the head ofTice became the
Bureau of Transportation, and the chief of the Service again
redesignated as the Assistant Executive Director thereof.
In 1949 the Hoover Commission on Organization of the
Executive Branch issued a report recommending a sweeping
reorganization of all postal services. Many meritorious pro-
posals were included (and some adopted); but its short-sighted
suggestion to have the post offices absorb the Terminals,
P.T.S., was fortunately disapproved. Often falsely accused of
"duplicating" post office functions, the terminals are a vital,
co-ordinated part of the P.T.S.
Another major innovation which has greatly affected the
P.T.S., though not a part of it, is our interesting new postal
zone-number system. Its absorbing history cannot be given
here, but suffice it to say that it was a railway mail clerk-
Nathan A. Gardner of the Ogden (Utah) Branch, N.P.T.A.—
who apparently first suggested zone numbers for all large
cities. He publicized a plan in the October 1940 Raihvay Post
Office calling for a system almost identical with that finally
adopted nationally by the Department in 122 large cities in
May 1943. Already in use in Pittsburgh (and, partly, in Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts) at the time, the plan— long in use in
European cities— proved popular and helpful in sorting of
wartime mails by new clerks and soon showed its value as
a permanent fixture. It permits instant sorting of city mail
to stations.
City clerks in R.P.O. trains were soon furnished suitable
lists and requested to add the zone numbers of their city to
the station case headers they used; later all P.T.C.s were asked
to make separate zoned and unzoned packages for any cities
made up direct. Veteran clerks, mostly distrustful of the Avhole
idea, often snorted and disregarded the numbers altogether;
it was freely claimed that patrons usually used the wrong num-
bers anyhow and that "zoning" was a menace to the jobs of
expert city sorters— low-paid, untrained non-distributors
would soon take over. But other city clerks, particularly new
ones just learning their assignment, were pleased at the ease
and speed with which any zoned letter could be sorted. Clerks
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE S4S
on state cases occasionally began making up the unzoned and
zoned separations requested, despite fun-poking from the
veterans, who still used the traditional two boxes for each
city's "long" and "short" letters instead (as many still do).
As a matter of fact, tests show that close to 99 per cent of
all zone numbers used are correct, and that there will always
be enough unzoned mail to require the usual number of ex-
pert city clerks on the lines. The zone numbers have been a
godsend to numerous R.P.O.s which formerly went "stuck"
on city mail regularly; it is the ideal assignment for the new
subs who are always being broken in.
According to the N.P.T.A., the real threat today to efficient
city-distribution assignments comes not from the zone num-
bers but from the radical new alphabetical system of sortation
now ordered used on trains working city mail for Dallas and
Milwaukee. Highly praised by Department officials as more
economical and speedier than the system of sorting direct to
carrier stations, this new method proposes an unbelievably
simple separation of the mail by alphabetical groups accord-
iuCT to street names— those besjinnins: with A-B-C to one box,
with D-E-F to a second, and so on. Only a very few downtown
streets, firms, and so on are sorted by the old method; the
bulky city scheme and complex examinations are cut out.
It is not disclosed how the mail ever reaches its carrier sta-
tions under this strange system, and Association officers claim
that at least one rehandling of all mail must take place and
that specific reports of delayed mail have been unearthed as
a result. On the other hand, postal officials claim that less
handlings are involved and that Texas clerks particularly are
much pleased with the innovation. Wisconsin clerks have
protested vociferously, however, and are anxious to retain the
former system of "expeditious delivery of important mails
direct to patrons ... at the earliest possible moment after
arrival . . ." and to continue to study their city examinations
to qualify for such service. If expanded, the alphabetical
method will at the very least constitute a threat to handy zone-
number distribution, and it is to be hoped that the obvious
advantages of the zoning system will prevail in the end.
844 MAIL BY RAIL
Another improvement in the Postal Service, not primarily
a P.T.S. function, nevertheless affects its clerks markedly—
the Postal Suggestion Program. Clerks are no\v publicly pre-
sented with cash awards or certificates for approved sugges-
tions for improved postal devices or operations. Railway mail
men have been at the forefront in submitting Avorth-while
proposals, and the first nine cash awards to P.T.S. officials
and clerks were made in 1948. At impressive ceremonies W,
L. Lanier (a clerk-in-charge at the Air Mail Field, Washing-
ton, D. C.) was awarded $375 for his suggestion of additional
uses for an existing form, eliminating entry of registered
pouches on a second form. Second prize went to A.A. Chiccitt,
a Pittsburgh office clerk, for proposed discontinuance of an
unused space form. The most recent award was one to Clerk-
in-Charge William F. Leutwyler of the Philadelphia Termi-
nal, P.T.S.
A more specific recent P.T.S. improvement is a co-operative
safety program involving the N.P.T.A., service officials, the
Compensation Bureau, and even Congress. Honorable George
D. Riley, staff director of the Senate's postal committee, even
made a tour of the country exclusively in R.P.O. cars in 1947;
he had numerous unsafe or unsanitary conditions corrected
on the spot and others reported. N.P.T.A. officers have made
special surveys of many lines and terminals, too, and have
provided new detailed forms for special reports. Inadequate
medical facilities in terminals are being publicized; a national
N.P.T.A. survey of all mail cars was completed in February,
1950.
Experimental installations of devices for automatic ex-
changes at "catcher" stations have been tried out for years.
One of these appliances w^as invented by Albert Hupp, of
Kansas City, and was tried on the old Hyattsville k Chesa-
peake Beach (CBRR) at the Chesapeake Junction (D.C.) sta-
tion—attracting so much official attention to the ceremonies
that even President Taft turned up, and for the first time in
history a United States president rode in an R.P.O. car! But
this experiment of 1912, using six cranes with special catcher
arms which engaged a three-pronged device on the car, failed
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 845
to make a hit despite its apparent success. Officials have often
examined the ingenious English catcher apparatus but do not
feel it is adaptable for our usual exchange of one small pouch
only. Other experiments were tried even back in the Gay
Nineties and earlier. Our newest such device, at last report,
was still being operated— but only on one line, the Eastport 8c
Spokane (SIRy., Ida.-Wash.). The car has a dispatching arm
which makes a half turn as soon as the crane shears off the
pouch, thus causing the same arm to hook the incoming
pouch from the crane. But if there is too much or too little
mail in the pouch, it does not work, and the ideal device is
still to be found. Although not automatic, an ingenious im-
provement of the conventional catcher hook has been modeled
by Joseph Goodrich, formerly of the Eureka Sc San Francisco
(NWP); it can be reversed instantly without removal. Lloyd
A. Wilsey of the Elroy R: Rap. City (C&;N\V) has launched a
new campaign for automatic or improved catchers and restora-
tion of catcher and R.P.O. service.
Electric warning devices for approach to the crane are an
improvement needed even more, and the first experimental
installation was probably an electric bell in the car, rung by
the engineer, which ^vas installed in R.P.O. service on the
Rock Island in 1940. While this was succcessful, clerks prefer
an automatic device; and after many other experiments such
an appliance was invented by the Minneapolis-Honeywell
Regulator Company. Its earliest model appeared in 1942 and
was later successfully tested on Milwaukee Road runs. (An
installation on the rails, near stop points, actuates an elec-
tronic circuit when train wheels engage it.) It has been ap-
proved by the N.P.T.A. Board of Directors, but officials have
still not accepted is as a "satisfactory device." The newest
proposed installation is one invented by Ben B. Kirby, a
Kansas City clerk, and demonstrated at the 1949 Convention;
it has a film tape which indicates distance between stations,
buzzes automatically a mile from the station, and also indi-
cates which side of the train it is on.
In the field of administrative and personnel relations, too,
some very welcome innovations have actually take place. In
346 MAIL BY RAIL
1947 a joint R.M.A.-R.M.S. committee revised the 314 com-
plex questions and answers of the standard annual P.L. & R.
examination to eliminate twenty-four obsolete or confusing
queries, and in 1949 officials made many clarifying revisions
and substitutions therein and reduced the total questions to
only (!) 284. However, much remains to be done in further
amelioration, especially in connection with the many compli-
cated registry queries which affect very few clerks. The secret
"rating" of clerks by their clerks-in-charge on forms known
only to the office, much resented by the rank and file, has been
eliminated— clerks are advised of rating now and permitted to
inspect report forms. In 1947, Senator William Langer made
a personal survey of R.M.S. working conditions, pay scales,
and operating practice, writing letters to each clerk; welcomed
by all of them, they replied in frankness and in detail, with
considerable benefit resulting.
Efforts to publicize the Postal Transportation Service to
our citizens generally have been redoubled in recent years.
The radio, particularly, has been put to good use. A series
of numerous outstanding talks on the Postal Service, mostly
on the (then) R.M.S., was given by Charles A. Kepner (late
6th Division R.M.A. president) in Chicago for several years
over WJJD, beginning in 1936. Three of his principal R.M.S.
addresses (later duplicated and broadcast elsewhere) were The
Journey of a Letter (the detailed handling of an R.F.D.-
mailed letter as sorted by Chicago city clerks on the Chicago &:
Carbondale— IC Train 26); Examinations in the R.M.S. (part-
ly in verse form); and The Story of a Raihvay Postal Clerk,
based on Clarence Votaw's book mentioned later. Some pro-
grams took the form of short plays by Clerk C. W. Edwards
and others, and fan mail displayed marked interest. In De-
cember 1946 a fifteen-minute R.M.S. interview was broadcast
to Californians by office clerk Lyle Lane, of Los Angeles, over
KGER's Civil Service News program; and in April 1948 the
new 6th Division president— Joe Baccarossa— revived Kepner's
idea by talking on the R.M.S. and Postal Service over WCFL.
Of probable interest to readers is the fact that a program
based particularly on one part of this book (the saving of an
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 347
express train from wreck by Clerk Reed— see Chapter 1 1) was
broadcast two years before publication by the state of NeA\
Jersey (Department of Economic W^elfare) in 1948 over a series
of a dozen different stations— W'N J R, Newark, and others
—on "This is New Jersey," December 20, 1948-January 31,
1949. On May 19, 1949, 8th Division N.P.T.A. leaders put on
a program over KRKD, Los Angeles, which also proved very
popular. One commercial program recently referred humor-
ously to the "college cheer of the railway mail clerks: 'Swing
and Sway on the Santa Fe'!" But perhaps the most dramatic
of all railway mail broadcasts on record was the one from an
actual R.P.O. car in motion, on New York & Chicago
(NYCent) Train 47 at Schenectady, New York, April 12, 1938
—the direct sounds of the train and a greeting from C-in-C
Bert R. Decker were sent over a national network via Station
\VGY on a "Postal Service at Work" program. Railway mail
clerks have also made an outstanding showing in popular
intercity quiz programs; Memphis clerks bested a team of
engineers by the highest score ever made (23 to 3) on
WMC's "It's a Hit" program, while several "Quiz of Two
Cities" programs (Los Angeles-San Francisco and Dallas-Fort
Worth) have featured PTCs.
There have been several motion-picture films dealing at
least in part with the P.T.S. One of them— Here Comes the
Mail, featuring railway mail clerks and other postal men at
work— was produced in 1935 by H. L. Hanson (and Gil Hyatt)
of the St. Paul post office, for a postal employees' joint coun-
cil; but the St. Louis Branch, R.ALA., doubtless made the
most use of the film. It ^vas shown 281 times to over forty
thousand people between 1935 and 1947, including clubs,
churches, and colleges as well as postal groups; it drew high
praise from prominent Americans. Bret Callicott acted as
narrator for this film, showing a thirty-foot R.P.O. car in full
operation. A second film of this same title was planned in
1947 by Carl Dudley Productions at Beverly Hills, California;
but unfortunately the footage then shot had to be scrapped.
It contained a dozen R.P.O. scenes showing a full Southern
Pacific R.P.O. car, with seven clerks loading and distributing
848 MAIL BY RAIL
mail; R. A. Norris, the C-in-C, even exhibited a "clerk-in-
cliarge badge" (ink spot on pants from sitting on postmark
pad) to make it authentic! Los Angeles area clerks were used.
Two other railroad films dealing in part with the R.M.S.
were shot by Dudley during the same year for the Association
of American Railroads— A/o/n Line, U.S.A. and Big Trains
Rolling, relating mostly to trains in general. However, they
also produced a film strip Railroads and Our Mail (for still
projector) dealing exclusively with railway mail opera-
tions—also in California, in Technicolor, in 1948; it shows
all phases of mail handling by R.P.O. trains, with Los
Angeles Branch President Moyes and three other clerks fea-
tured therein. Two or three Hollywood feature pictures, in-
cluding 7oe and Ethel Tiirp Call on the President and Sj)ecial
Investigator, have contained fictional sequences based on
R.P.O. operations; also 20th Century-Fox's "March of Time"
film, Watch Dogs of the Mail (1948-49), dealt largely with the
same subject. The New York Central Railroad produced a
film for its employees in 1948, Within the Oval, which showed
Clerk Ray Smith, of their N.Y. k Chi. R.P.O., on duty in the
Century's postal car; and Clerk Gil Mereweather of the N.Y.
& Chic. (NYC) produced a complete film. Take a Letter (1948
—shows all stages of a letter's trip). Filmosound, Inc., has
issued The Mail, sho^ving a letter's journey on a fast stream-
lined R.P.O.; and the Educational Film Service (Battle Creek,
Mich.) a film Post Office— the. "complete story of mailing a
letter," with train scenes.
And the P.T.S. has just made its debut over television! On
October 19, 1949, WOW-TV at Omaha televised Hugo Palm-
quist and R. Matthews of the Omaha &; Denver (CBR;Q) and
Omaha R: Ogden (UP) working mail in the N.P.T.A. Con-
vention exhibit car (Chapter 13).
But in the field of literature no full-size printed, descrip-
tive book dealing primarily with the R.NLS. or P.T.S. -other
than this volume— has appeared since 1916. The Saturday
Evening Post for February 1, 1947, featured tAvo pages of full-
color photos (not too authentic) and much additional text in
its absorbing article "Postman on Wheels" by Ricliard
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 349
Thriielson; it featured Ed Nemeth on the N.Y. R: ^\^ash.
(PRR). Simi\:ir]y, the San la Fe Ma gnzine (July 194G) printed
a feature "R.M.S." by Gordon Stratclian— dealing wiiii their
Albuquerque R: Los Angeles run— which was so popular that it
was reprinted and expanded as a booklet with many photos.
Considerable other material on the Service, including this
writer's "Mail-Key Railroaders," will be found listed in the
Bibliography along with many pamphlets and miscellany.
The government has issued no public literature on the
P.T.S. since the 1880s, when its big technical book. History
of the Railway Mail Service, was prepared by the Department
as Senate Executive Document #40,'* followed by a handsome
leatherette pamphlet, the Raihvay Mail Service (by Post-
master General Thomas Jones; embossed gold stamping, ex-
cellent text and photos). With the exception of bound vol-
umes of government R.M.S. reports and clerks' data, techni-
cal books on railway mail pay, and general postal books with
incidental R.M.S. mention, there have been only about five
real bound \oIumes ever issued on our subject. They include
C. E. V'^otaw's Jasper Hunnicutt of Jimsonhorst (a delightful
humorous fiction story, 1907); General Superintendent |. E.
Wiiite's Life Sjmn and Reminiscences of the R.M.S., far more
readable and interesting than the History (1910); Professor
W. J. Dennis* The Travelling Post Office (1916); Earl L.
Newton's The Nixie Box, consisting of R.M.S. poetry only,
of a most enjoyable type (1927); and possibly S. D. Spero's
Labor Movement in a Government Industry (nearly half
R.M.S. matter, 1924). Except for the last, all these \'olumes
were written by onetime clerks and were more or less privately
published— as was one sizable mimeographed book, \V. F.
Kilman's Two Million Miles on the Railroad (printed covers,
194G); and a paper-bound printed book of Postal Service inci-
dents, James L. Stice's Free Enterprise (about one third
R.M.S.matter, 194r)).
Only two known published short stories of the R.M.S., as
it then was, have appeared— £. S. Dellinger's entertaining "T-
■Forly-cighih Congress, 2nd Session; by Maynard.
S50 MAIL BY RAIL
Series Mail Key," in Railroad for June 1936, and this writer's
"By Return Mail" (Our Youth, July 17, 1949). Many news-
paper stories of the Service have appeared; on an inspection
trip on one R.P.O., Doug Welch, of the Seattle Post-Intelli-
gencer, relates how he dared not touch even one letter in th.-
awesome presence of this heavily armed "relatively small and
select group of postal employees"! Within the P.T.S. we have,
of course, the Postal Transport Journal; a frequently issued
News Bulletin, likewise published by the N.P.T.A.; the De-
partment's monthly Post Haste and its divisional General
Orders; and many N.P.T.A. regional periodicals, such as the
Open Pouch and the Sth Division News-Lettd -th ? latter in-
cluding, until recent years, a colorful historical su'?plement
founded in 1941 by Monroe Williams as the Go-Bi k Pouch
(from which we've quoted liberally). There ar • scores of
others (Note 21). The N.P.T.A. also publishes an .. Kcellent
illustrated booklet. The N.P.T.A. and the Postal Transpor-
tation Clerk (formerly The R.M.A. and the Railway Postal
Clerk); and there are the stamp and R.P.O. hobby journals.
Railway mail clerks have made outstanding records as dis-
tinguished Americans. The late Senator Clyde M. Reed, for-
merly governor of Kansas and prominent newspaper publish-
er (Parsons Sun), was a clerk on the old Sedalia &: Denison
(M-K-T, Mo-Texas), appointed in 1889 at $800 yearW. Later
a division superintendent, he saved the lives of three clerks in
a safety campaign, saved the government huge sums in mail
pay by exposing railroads' false weight divisors, and •"as later
elected to the Senate and was active on the Post Office and
Post Office Roads Committee (although strictly following
Departmental viewpoints on legislation). Several other ci ;rks
have attained seats in Congress, including Carl Van Dyke (as
noted) and, just recently, A. C. Multer (New York) and G. L,.
Moser (Pennsylvania)— who have assisted in beneficial legis-
lation, as Van Dyke did.
Railroad president Harvey C. Couch, of the Kansas City
Southern, was appointed as a clerk on the St. Louis Sc Tex-
arkana (MoPac) in 1899; he organized a telephone company
in spare time, resigned from the Service in 1905, sold out to
I
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 851
Bell, and acquired control of nearby gas and electric com-
panies and eventually of two small railroads. Merging them
with the K.C.S., he became president of the consolidation in
the late 1920s and was active also, as we know, in putting
air-conditioned R.P.O. cars thereon. All his life he was active
in installing other benefits for the clerks, riding and chatting
with them and entertaining them royally at his summer home.
Theodore Newton Vail, distinguished former president of
American Telephone and Telegraph, was a former Omaha &
Ogden (UP) clerk who later became general superintendent
of the R.M.S. In his telephone career he originated the
coveted Vail Gold Medal, still awarded to phone employees
for outstanding devotion and loyalty. In more recent times
the brilliant and checkered career of Peter J. Schardt, retired
high Southern Railw^ay official was still making history up to
his recent death (April 19, 1950). Appointed in 1900 from
Sauk\ille, Wisconsin, to the C&NVV's Ishpeming & Chic.
R.P.O., he soon began his spectacular rise to innumerable
high positions as outlined in Chapters 9 and II; he was chair-
man of the National A.A.R. Committee on Railway Mail
Transportation and a very popular speaker. A Brigadier
General when assigned to Germany in 1945, he was awarded
the coveted Medal of Freedom for his "exceptionally meri-
torious achievement" in postal work there. H. C. Forgy and
F. W. Hickson, former and present Managers of Mail and
Express for the UP, 'vvere both ex-clerks.
Still in the Service at last report were Frank Cumisky,
Olympic gymnastic champion, and James W. Garnett, who
served as president of the world's largest Bible class. Cumisky,
a clerk in New York's West Side Terminal, P.T.S., has
been American gymnastic champion for years and an Olympic
star since 1932; while Garnett, whose class met at the First
Baptist Church of Kansas City, was a leader in the R.M.A.
and M.B.A. there and later an assistant district superintend-
ent. Many other clerks are active in religious ^vork, and quite
a few, like Reverend C. T. Wilhelm and Reverend Lawrence
Fuqua, have become ministers eventually.
A remarkable number of railway mail men have attained
352 MAIL BY RAIL
prominence as writers. Karl Baarslag, of Silver Spring, Mary-
land, the distinguished Reader's Digest contributor and
author of four popular books (one from Oxford University
Press), such as Robbery by Mail, was once a sub on the old
Grand Rapids &: Jackson (MC) in Michigan. Samuel Bias,
still employed in the Penn Terminal (New York), sells first-
rank fiction to national magazines; his recent story,
"Revenge," made Collier's. Donald M. StefFee, of Brooklyn,
leading United States authority on high-speed train operation
and schedules, sells articles regularly at top rates to Railroad
Magazine and occasionally to newspapers; long at West Side
with Cumiskcy, he is now on the N.Y. & Chic. (NYCent).
Both Steffee and Sidney Goodman, another Penn Terminal
clerk, are chess champions as well as Avriters; Goodman is the
author of the new book. World Chess Championship, 1948,
issued by Chess Press. Bert Bemis, once of the Omaha S: Den-
ver (CBR;Q), writes for Coronet and similar magazines; while
a former clerk in the Washington (D.C.) Terminal— name
withheld by request— is now one of America's highest paid
naval writers, Roy V. McPherson, just retired from the Utica
(New York) Terminal, has sold numerous articles to Fate
magazine and to newspapers.
Professor W. Jefferson Dennis, of Parsons College, Fairfield,
Iowa, is the author of several other volumes besides The
Travelling Post Office; his Tacna and Arica (Yale University
Press is the standard text on the subject. He was once a clerk
on the Des Moines X: Sioux City (CRrNW) in Iowa. Clarence
E. Votaw, author of both Jasper Hunnicutt and Patriotism,
was a clerk on the PRR's Pittsburgh &: St. Louis who
became an assistant division superintendent; retired at
Fountain City, Indiana, twenty-eight years until his death at
ninety-five in 1948, he was an energetic traveler. Christian
worker, woodsman, and contributor to newspapers as long as
he lived. His son, \Villiam I. Votaw, left the Monon's Chic,
Monon. R: Cin. R.P.O. to become a Seapost official and, pres-
ently, one of the heads of United States Lines. Thomas J.
Flanagan of the Atlanta & Albany (CGa) is the author of books
like The Road to Mt. McKeithen and By Pine Knot Torches
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 85S
(by Atlanta Independent Press), and of published poems and
prose in the Atlanta Constitution and college journals. The
late Guy M. Smith, retired from the Indpls. R: Peoria (CCC8:
StL), wrote two hooks— Romance of Danville Junction and
100 Years of Baseball (just published, in 1950).
Purely in connection with their work in the Service, numer-
ous clerks have attained national prominence as high postal
officials, or have sacrificed chances of official promotion to
dedicate their Uves to fellow clerks as N.P.T.A. workers. The
late Henry \V. Strickland, editor of The Railway Post Office
for twenty-eight years, was an outstanding example— and he,
too, was hailed as an "able and versatile writer." A former
Kansas City Star reporter, then a clerk on the Rock Island 8:
Kansas City (Rock I.), he became editor in 1915 and indus-
trial secretary in 1921. Friendly, tolerant, modest, he was
also a staunch champion of A. F. of L. imionism, and his
sudden death (on the job, June 14, 1943) was a great blow to
all concerned— including the writer, \vho was proud to have
been his friend. The magazine staff could find no picture
of their modest editor for publication when they searched
his photo files that day. Of strong Christian convictions, he
had a helping hand for all, and he wanted no profane or ques-
tionable material in the Railway Post Office.
Long known as the "Dean of Railway Mail Clerks," John
H. Pitney, of the present Boston 8: Troy (BS;M), was appoint-
ed a pre-R.M.S. route agent in 18G1 and worked on the mail
trains for fifty-five years; a song composer and community
benefactor, he \vas feted by the highest officials on his golden
wedding and was beloved by his townspeople in Eagle Bridge,
New York, for the Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church
which he built in 1882, partly in honor of the R.M.S. (Its
gable window depicts the story of postal transport, showing
an R.P.O. train.)* Similarly, David E. "Daddy" Barnes of
Kansas City, \\'ho just passed on, was called the "Grand Old
Man" of the R.M.S.; he ^vas a charter organizer and later
'After surviving three frightful wrecks, Pitney met an ironic fate in 1920-
fatally injured by a runaway R.M.S. truck, years after his retirement!
354 MAIL BY RAIL
national president of the N.A.R.P.C. (now N.P.T.A.). Start-
ing as a clerk on the Rock Island's Kansas City & Caldwell, he
Avas noted for his abstemious habits, conscientiousness, inter-
cession for the rights of fellow clerks, and addiction to clean
speech. Today's Assistant Executive Director of Transporta-
tion (General Supt. R.M.S.), George E. Miller, was a
clerk on the PRR's New York & Washington and an active
Baltimore R.M.A. leader; all his predecessors in that position,
for uncounted decades, have been clerks -who worked their
way to the top. And the late beloved Honorable Smith W.
Purdum, who reached the still higher position of Second As-
sistant Postmaster General, was a clerk on the same line; a
long-time resident of Hyattsville, Maryland, he literally
"worked himself to death" on the job (foregoing all sick and
annual leave), living only three days after his retirement in
1945. He was esteemed alike by the clerks and by all who
knew him. More R.P.O. men, unquestionably, have climbed
to high Post Office Department positions than those of any
other Postal Service branch— but space forbids elaboration.
Clerk Fred A. Ryle of the Den. & San Ant. (M-K-T-Tex) was
awarded the Carnegie Medal for heroicly rescuing a trapped
railroader amid great danger in a wreck and fire at Comol,
Texas in December, 1947.
Other active clerks have made outstanding achievements in
fields outside the Service. William B. Carpenter, of the Bos-
ton & Albany (B&A), is acclaimed by the New York Times as
one of our leading Shakespearean scholars, and several other
clerks have qualified as experts on the works of Shakespeare
and other classicists. Clerks in New York State, Florida,
Missouri, the Dakotas, and elsewhere have become leading
state legislators. And just at random we take note of such
men as Judge M. S. Morgan, prominent Texas jurist in Who's
Who (once with the R.M.S.); Labor Commissioner "William
J. McCain of Arkansas (ex-Little Rock and Forth Worth,
MP-T&P-CRIRrP); Brigadier General Thomas C. Dedell, late
army hero and Utica Public Safety Commissioner (a clerk for
forty years); Dr. K. J. Foreman, Professor of Philosophy and
Bible at Davidson College (who subbed under Greensboro,
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 355
North Carolina, R.M.S. office); John F. Stahl, featured by
Ernie Pyle as hiking from Panama to Texas at fifty-seven (a
former clerk); several clerks who became talented artists with
pen or brush while remaining in the P.T.S., such as Roger
Gaver (N.Y. & Wash., PRR), Otto Augsburg (Superintendent
District 3, Chicago, retired), and the late George Risinger
(Dodge City & Trinidad, Santa Fe); \V. H. Strauss, leading
Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, industrialist (ex-N.Y. R: Pitts.,
PRR); and numerous other prominent leaders in professional
fields of every description— not to forget the many P.T.S.
officials, like Virgil Jones (Chapter 15), who have been as-
signed to reorganize the postal system of some entire foreign
country— Turkey, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, or some
other nation.
As for the myriad amateur composers and talented mu-
sicians within the P.T.S. , this topic is closely linked with that
of the few songs and other musical pieces which deal \vith the
Service. Larry G. Cowe, one of the famed N.B.C. Trouba-
dours, is a clerk out of Pocatello, Idaho. Several unpublished
P.T.S. compositions, some of them circulated in duplicated
form, have been written by clerks in New York's Penn Termi-
nal, including "In the Good Old R.M.S." and "The Boys of
the R.M.S.," by Barney Duckman (1939, 1941); "There's a
Story I Must Tell," by Charles Haller of Jamaica (1941); and
"A Day in Penn Terminal," a piano solo (1945) by Herman
Hammerman of Brooklyn. (Hammerman's song, "Land of
Hope," with words by Guiterman, was published by Empire
Music.) Two other P.T.S. songs have been privately pub-
lished or circulated somewhat— "Railway Mail," by Joseph H.
Grubbs, retired from the Seaboard's Washington &: Hamlet;
and "Mail Train," by this writer. Ladies of the N.P.T.A.
Auxiliary have produced two songs, both composed by clerks'
wives; and Mrs. Harriet Locey's "National W.A.R.M.A.
.Loyalty Song" (1945) is perhaps the best Service song yet
written. It was preceded as their official song by an earlier
one, "Auxiliary Day" (1935), by Mrs. E. J. Mullins and Mrs.
I. L. Johnson. The only known railway mail song issued as
standard sheet music, other than the "Loyalty Song," was the
356 MAIL BY RAIL
Burlington Railroad's number, "The Fast Mail," by A. M.
Bruner (1897) but it did not mention clerks or mail-sorting.
A work of this kind should not close without mention of
at least some of the more undesirable conditions within the
P.T.S. which can be corrected, and which the N.P.T.A., as
well as many officials, are attempting to remedy as rapidly as
possible. In fact, such conditions are very often not the fault
of Department heads, but rather the result of insufficient con-
gi-essional appropriations or of the unjust provisions of exist-
ing laws. (These constructive criticisms, like our future
recommendations, represent the views of the authors as private
citizens and not, necessarily, those of P.T.S. or N.P.T.A.
heads.) Thus it is now illegal to ship livestock next to the
engine on a train, but still permissible to spot R.P.O. cars
with human occupants in this dangerous and rough-riding
position! (The P. L. R: R. discourages, but does not prohibit
the practice.) There are other unsafe practices still needing
correction, although one of the worst— operation of single-
unit branch trains with gasoline motors and R.P.O. unit
housed together— has just been legally prohibited; and the
last of the dim and dangerous old oil lamps formerly used have
just been eliminated.
The terminals, P.T.S., are particularly the subject of
troublesome discrimination imder the law. Terminal clerks
are lower paid, for the maximum grade is held at two steps
below road levels; they are allowed no study time or time for
correcting schemes and schedules (though their time slips
show spaces for same); they have been recently again denied
the privilege of eating, washing up, and changing work clothes
on official time, as is justly enjoyed by train clerks. The same
applies to P.T.S. Air Mail Fields.
Others— notably, the road men— are seriously concerned
over such things as the recent expansion of time deficiencies in
assigned working schedules, whereby most o\ertime and extra
trips bring no extra pay (due to cutting of advance time far
below that necessary for clerks to work the required forty-
hour-week equivalent). And the advent of high-speed trains
had previously resulted in all too much "deficiency" even be-
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 357
fore; clerks do not work on a mileaore basis like railroad men.
And although a speed differential (providing extra time
credits for clerks rtmning on trains at speeds of over 42 1/^
mph) was introduced May 25, 193G, official investigations de-
clared it to be technically illegal. On November 28, 1949,
the differential was raised to 50 mph (a decided cut in bene-
fits) and was then terminated entirely June 30, 1950— the
grace period being granted only to permit the N.P.T.A. to
initiate mileage legislation in Congress. Such legislation,
planned by the association for years, ^vas introduced, using a
42-mph factor to place all road work on a mileage basis— with
deficiency eliminated; but the government disapproved it,
and Congress did not pass the law. As a result, clerks now
make many additional trips at "no pay."
Then there are such matters as the recent elimination (ex-
cept in heavy road service and transfer assignments) of
the standard ^vell-dcserved pay differential long existing be-
tAveen post-office clerks and all classes of railway mail clerks
in the P.T.S.'s favor; the "reduction" of many clerks-in-charge
through no fault of theirs; the petty technical P. L. K: R. rul-
ings, such as orders to check "all" errors and report all letter
packages ^vithout slips, which it is impossible to observe in a
busy postal car without very serious delay; the over-em-
ployment of temporary help and elimination of needed
overtime for experienced clerks; the denial of time and a half
to substitutes; the recent assignment of terminal mail handlers
(laborers) to actual distribution of primary parcel post and
similar duties, which is properly done much more efficiently
by clerks who know the routings— many small oflices and
localities are included in primary "directs;" and the economic
plight of active clerks, and particularly of retired ones, during
periods of inflation. (From 1939 to 1947 food costs rose 103
per cent, general living costs 65 per cent, and clerks' incomes
only 30 per cent— and latest pay raises involved only a
trifling percentage increase.) Betterment of such conditions
is to be earnestly hoped for; for the last two, in particular, can
result in serious losses of efficient clerical personnel in P.T.S.
organizations everywhere.
358 MAIL BY RAIL
Clerks differ as to the means which should be taken to
solve such problems, although most agree that all efforts
should be channeled through the N.P.T.A. But some have
taken matters into their own hands. When terminal clerks
were reduced to their present relative grade in the 1930s, some
clerks sued the government personally for restoration, with
back pay, and succeeded; but it at least one case alleged re-
prisal was suffered by a lady terminal clerk who was reassigned
to an air-mail field one and one-half miles from transporta-
tion. Other clerks have personally presented data to congress-
men; when one exhibited his entire working equipment
(PL&R, schemes, cards, trip report, space data, and so on), the
impressed representative declared the job should pay twice
what it did. Another clerk (in the clerks' Journal) ad-
vised publicizing to all "the fun of poking letters for twelve
hours, of carrying a one-hundred-pound pouch through
crowded aisles on a 60-mph curve, of getting up at midnight
to work the rest of the night ... of breathing those sulfur
fumes for a half hour after passing that tunnel . . . those dirty
clothes on washday after a 'nice' paper run in July," not to
mention pasting scheme corrections that don't fit!
The ingenious clerk, like the one faster or slower than aver-
age, has his particular troubles. One chap on a one-man run,
on his day off around Christmas time, noticed three truckloads
of working mail waiting at the depot for his R.P.O.'s next trip.
Rather than go stuck then and delay the mail, the clerk got
into his car (standing near by) and worked up all this mail
on his own time, making no claim for overtime in his report
of the case. He was severely censured, without a word of
praise, and told not to do it again! A typical "fast" clerk out
W^est, who recently resigned, wrote, "I am tired of the dirt and
lousy conditions ... I hate to be penalized because I am fast,
by having to 'carry' the drunkards and the brainless idiots,"
i.e., slow men whose "work is full of mistakes." While an
extreme case, it is true that no excuse exists for the clerk who
is deliberately lazy or intemperate; and a good clerk resents,
for example, an insinuation that he must slow down or his
terminal's average "count" will be raised to a level difficult
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 559
to maintain. On the other hand, the efficient and hard-work-
ing clerk whose best speed is a little lower than average suffers
much undeserved persecution from his fellows. He is often
painstakingly accurate, except when he works himself into a
nervous frenzy trying to keep up with others— often skipping
lunch, he works harder than the "speed demon" in actuality,
as one veteran pointed out.
Besides other current complaints mentioned earlier, there
are such problems as the frequent loss of certain transit-mail
distribution to the post offices in cases where the P.T.S. should
properly work it, and more efficiently; the prolonged assign-
ment of clerks vice' a. C-in-C on leave, without being paid ac-
cordingly; outmoded surroundings, devoid of needed com-
forts and attractive appearance; the post-office policy of per-
mitting patrons to address parcels on one side only (often de-
laying sorting by having to turn it over six times to read the
address, or preventing delivery by loss of only label); and the
current policies regarding road grips. Not only must clerks
pay for both grips (used for government property) and carry-
ing charges, but they also must contend with congested grip
rooms and lack of lockers.
And if the facts were known about the serious mail delays
due to broken train connections resulting from the "daylight
saving time" fad, the public would soon demand its elimina-
tion—or its universal, year-round application. (Mothers of in-
fants, at least, would rally to the cause!)
A major problem, however, is that occasioned by the whole-
sale abandonment of short R.P.O.s on branch lines and the
curtailment of distribution on some through routes— both re-
sulting in slower and poorer mail service. With some excep-
tions, the former results simply from passenger service aban-
donments on the part of the railroad; and while H.P.O.s are
often substituted today, all too often a non-distributing star
route is the only replacement. While much of the distribution
may be retained in the P.T.S. and performed on an adjoining
trunk line, the local-exchange service suffers considerably.
Sometimes main-line personnel is expanded to cover branch
curtailments, but on the New York Sc Chicago (NYCent) and
560 MAIL BY RAIL
Other lines, clerical force has been cut instead while connect-
ing side lines folded up. In the 8th (San Francisco) Division
alone the number of R.P.O.s declined from eighty-six in 1911
to t^venty-eight today, ^vith existing lines curtailed sharply.
The reason for the familiar current slowness of the mails in
most areas without rail passenger service will now be obvious
to all! {See Nole 22.)
Commuter short lines, particularly, present a grave prob-
lem, because their principal traffic flow is in reverse direction
to R.P.O. requirements; and if service is curtailed to only
city-bound morning trains and outbound evening ones, no
R.P.O. service can properly operate even though some passen-
ger trains remain. A vivid example was on the old Spring
Valley k New York R.P.O. (N fR:NY-Erie), which until 1940
still had one outbound morning train (serving mail to all
stations) and an inbound one to collect all mail posted dur-
ing the day. When the two R.P.O. trains were pulled off it
was useless to put an R.P.O. on the wrong-direction commuter
runs. The line's demise was a severe loss to the local postal
economy, as evidenced (at a farewell dinner to Clerk David
Gladstone) by the statements of over one-hundred postmasters
and guests from along the line who testified to the improved
service the R.P.O. had brought to the communities. As for
main lines, service on the SP's Ogden R: San Francisco has
been cut since 1915 from three to two through runs daily,
from five large city distributions to two small ones, and the
local service to nothing east of Sacramento.
Still more alarming, however, has been a recent tendency
to discontinue certain important R.P.O. runs when passenger
trains still operate at apparently suitable hours. When exist-
ing postal trains ^v^ere recently Avithdra^vn by the PRR from
the Detroit R: Mansfield and the Philadelphia k Atlantic City
R.P.O.s (in Michigan-Ohio and in New Jersey), no R.P.O.
service was placed on any of the remaining fast passenger
trains, which still leave the various termini at ideal early
morning hours for mail distribution. Over a long period of
time the Philadelphia R: Cape May (P-RSL) suffered a similar
fate, although early passenger trains still run on this route to
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 561
both Cape May and Wildwood; now all these leading New
Jersey resorts— even the metropolis of Atlantic City— are com-
pletely without R.P.O. service. The Reading from Bound
Brook to Trenton in the same State is now without local ser-
vice, though through R.P.O. and local passenger trains oper-
ate. The entire service of the Bay City R: Detroit R.P.O.— two
round trips— was eliminated when all four local trains were
pulled off by the railroad, although two new fast expresses now
operate. Possibly the lack of local trains ^vas deemed a factor
making mandatory the discontinuance of most of the R.P.O.s
listed. But it is to be hoped, certainly, that the possibility of
restoring transit distribution to all these routes— with catcher
service for "the local"— is a very real one; and there are num-
erous similar cases elsewhere needino: correction.
P.T.S. clerks have publicized some very worth-while sug-
gestions on preventing branch-line curtailments in general.
Many suggest that the Department actively advocate or assist
the survival of existing short lines with better contract offers,
intervention at hearings, and so on— particularly if a con-
tinued contract might avoid actual abandonment, with result-
ing loss of railway ratables, higher local taxes, unemployment,
poorer mail service if H.P.O.s are not put on, and hardships
to the public outweighing any money saved. (On the contrary,
P.T.S. men are forbidden to testify or protest, as clerks or offi-
cials, at abandonment proceedings.) One clerk proposes gov-
ernment-operated H.P.O.-type, flanged-wheel units on the
numerous ex-R.P.O. branch lines where freight service still
exists (". . . thus saving tire expenses . . . traffic jams and
rough roads"). Such plans, plus H.P.O.s, would help out
greatly— as would wide use of the new RDC-4 rail car.
But we would also recommend a careful study of existing
passenger schedules of all railways listing same in the Official
Guide. A surprising number of branch lines still operate a
daily trip with some sort of unit for passengers, often at con-
venient early hours for R.P.O. service and yet which are not
thus equipped. Where volume of mail justifies, possibly con-
siderable much-needed R.P.O. service could thus be begun
or restored in many areas needing it.
362 MAIL BY RAIL
It is hard to believe, but even today there are those who
would do away with the P.T.S. and the R.P.O.s entirely. They
include airmail-minded leaders in high places in government
and commerce, backed by political contributions, it is
claimed; and we must all be alert to protect America's splen-
did Postal Service from this threat.
Making no pretense of expert knowledge, we might venture
to offer a few proposed general reforms or new improvements
of possible benefit to the P.T.S., in addition to those already
put forth; they are mostly ideas submitted by us to the
Department's suggestion program or borrowed from the
pages of the Postal Transport Journal. Some of these apparent
needs in employee benefits and Service improvements include
the immediate granting of twenty-six days' annual and fifteen
days' sick leave— such as is enjoyed by all other government
employees; the periodical laundering of sacks and pouches,
as done by some other countries and as recommended by
many officials; air-conditioning, a "must" in intolerably hot
weather; strong, lintless twine; printed office-and-number
registry labels, as used in other nations; and the substitution
of a modernized version of the "weight system" for the present
complex and costly space basis of railroad mail pay. Accord-
ing to clerks' claims the current system has choked needed
distributing space with storage mails, has devoured vast sums
in payment for empty return movements and other unused
space (no other shippers pay for it), and has become a general
headache to all clerks-in-charge who struggle with the forms.
One shipper figured that the government lost $85 on one car-
load of light straw hats, after figuring all postage paid and
space costs; on a weight system, a profit would show. How-
ever, new space rules eliminating paid deadhead movements
are now being requested by the Department at hearings.
Legal regulation of the size of greeting cards is a crying
need within the P.T.S., for case boxes in R.P.O. cars are
smaller than anywhere else. Besides persuasive programs or
extra-postage charges, we need the definite, statutory prohibi-
tion within the United States mails of envelopes or greeting
cards in widths between four and one-half and six and one-half
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 363
inches (those few over six and one-half inches can be tossed
into pouches). Even government departments often enclose
four-inch-wide material in five-inch envelopes that do not fit
cases. It is not the public's fault; the greeting card manufac-
turers, who willingly united to outla^v glittering mineral
particles in the interest of "safety of the clerks" (?), simply
have declined to co-operate here. As a temporary immediate
step, we ^vould suggest that posted statements urging use of
4i/4-inch-wide (or smaller) greeting cards, only, be given
prominence over all other holiday notices in post-office
lobbies. To improve both services and reventies, we would
also suggest a 4^ rate for all first-class matter not bearing
proper zone number (if applicable) or not conforming to the
size limits mentioned— such matter to be rated with postage
due if mailed otherwise.
While many clerks ^vill disagree, we feel that through-rim
titles like "Wash. & St. Louis R.P.O.," Avhich were tried out
from about 1935 to 1943 and then dropped, are far preferable
in many cases to the current short-run titles (^Vash. & Graf.,
Graf. & Gin., etc.— BScO). Where the same trains (with same
numbers) continue over most of the through route, the logical
and progressive titles then used shoAved general direction far
better (with large, well-known city names), and simplified
case examinations also.
W^e would also suggest a careful revie^v of the groAving prac-
tice of supplying important suburban and other post offices
exclusively by city mail-truck service in certain cases Avhere
R.P.O. trains or H.P.O.s actually traverse the to^vn. AV^hile
the city "supply" is often needed too, the distributing-line out-
let often seems neglected— as at Halethorpe, Maryland, "which
is supplied only as a branch of the Baltimore post office al-
though it is literally a junction of two railroads (^vith sta-
tions) carrying three R.P.O. routes. Although almost none
of the twenty-odd R.P.O. trains passing there actually stop,
many could serve it (and three subsidiary branches) by
"catcher." P.T.S. schemes, which are the primary index of all
mail routes, need improvement too. Restoration of the alpha-
betical arrangement should be considered, and R. E. Jones has
B64 MAIL BY RAIL
proposed a new type of scheme with multiple listings, combin-
ing that arrangement with the scheming of all "dis" points
under the supplying office— it deserves a careful trial. Schemes
should include all postal contract stations located in named
communities centering thereat— too many, like Montclair
Heights, New Jersey (a numbered station of Montclair) or
Arbutus (numbered station of Baltimore, via Halethorpe)
and Cottage City (the same of Brentwood), Maryland, are not
found in any scheme (nor alphabetized in Postal Guide) be-
cause they are not "named" stations; mail goes astray if ad-
dressed to them alone. Similarly, stations in communities
consolidated as part of a city should be named for the original
communities instead of being named arbitrarily— such as
"North Station" and "South Station" in Arlington, Virginia,
whereas the original towns composing it were named Claren-
don, Ballston, Cherrydale, and so on. Fortunately, New York,
Brooklyn, and other cities have restored many such old local
station names— which makes for prompt delivery of mail thus
addressed; but large Buffalo suburbs like Eggertsville and
Cheektowaga have just lost their station names (and Postal
Guide listing) insteadi
The new postal zone-number system should be broadened
to include these numbers in every case where any slip, label,
postmark, case header, scheme, postal guide, or other form
used in the P.T.S. bears the name of any "zoned" station or
branch of any city; long practiced in England, this policy
would benefit new clerks amazingly and speed distribution.
Clerks and their families deserve real railroad passes, in place
of their restricted commissions, as much as railroad men do.
In the Postal Service generally these facts need some publiciz-
ing: that it does not operate under a deficit when the huge
volume of franked congressional mail, government penalty
mail, and other free ser\ ices are figured in; that many political
postmasterships could be economically combined with the
assistant postmaster positions under Civil Service at large
offices; and that enough money could be saved in these cate-
gories (if Congress and the Departments paid their postage)
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 865
to pay for most of the postal improvements and benefits need-
ed within the P.T.S.
To simplify and standardize the titles of Service heads, we
would suggest the brief and dignified one of "Chief Superin-
tendent, P.T.S." for the present Assistant Executive Director,
Bureau of Transportation, as a start; similar titles used in
Canada and Britain have proven very satisfactory. Other
clerks have suggested such innovations as twenty-foot and
forty-foot R.P.O. apartments; registry cages and counter in
full R.P.O.s; intercom radio or telephone service in postal
cars; and the valuable ideas of issuing schemes in loose-leaf
form (with new pages to replace old ones being modified, as
has long been standard practice with the telegraph company),
and of furnishing recorded music while working—an accepted
benefit in industry.
With a final look to the past and to the future, we approach
our conclusion. Some significant memorials, relics, and pic-
turizations dealing with the Railway Mail Service of days gone
by deserve our attention, and those of Armstrong and Pitney
have been already mentioned. The Burlington Route, which
is credited by this writer' with operating the hrst experimental
"railway post ofTice" on its Hannibal-St. Joe route, keeps a
replica of the original car used for display at expositions and
conventions; a painting of it and a memorial tablet is in the
St. Joseph, Missouri, post office. (The R.M.A. installed a
bronze plaque, years ago, in Chicago's Union Station to com-
memorate the Burlington's experiment.) Other art work
showing R.P.O. operations includes many famed Currier &
Ives prints depicting postal cars, as well as a sadly distorted
post office mural of an R.P.O. interior at Hagerstown, Mary-
land (clerks are lazily sprawled every which way, with almost
no mail in view). The grave of General Superintendent Bangs
at Chicago shows the postal car on the end of an R.P.O. train
disappearing in a tunnel, all in stonework. Some valuable
historical collections of R.M.S. relics have been made by 9th
Division Superintendent E. R. Chapin of Cleveland, includ-
*Long.
366 MAIL BY RAIL
ing rare old schemes and a "Rogues' Gallery" of old-time crew
pictures in six volumes; by Irving Cannon (a Detroit clerk)
and }. F. Cooper (San Leandro, California), who both com-
piled historical scrapbooks; by Assistant Superintendent I. L.
Johnson of St, Louis; by the late C. A. Kepner (of radio fame)
at Chicago; and by the writer of this book, in New Jersey,
for an "Eastern Railway Mail Museum" in connection with
the AMERPO society library.
Looking to the future, the day may come when the railway
mail clerk will work at the keyboard of a huge machine, sort-
ing twice the volume of mail the P.T.C. of today does. As
early as 1939 the Transorma Letter Distributing Machine
(from Holland) was sorting fifty-two letters a minute, tied by
an automatic binder, at the World's Fair, New York. Experi-
ments with sorting mechanisms have taken place in the Cleve-
land Post Office, and, just recently, in Chicago's— where Assist-
ant Superintendent of Mails John Sestak has perfected a semi-
manual machine of which three full-size duplicates have been
ordered for that office. The government has appropriated fifty
thousand dollars for perfection of a new distributing machine
by Remington Rand, and such devices may be in common use
someday in big P.T.S. terminals if not on the road.
Whoever mails a letter or a paper can do much, without
effort, to ease the lot of the P.T.C. and speed his own mail at
the same time. By using zone numbers, by boycotting wide
greeting cards, by addressing mail only to post-office points,
by spacing bulk mailings through the day at intervals,
and by writing the actual postal station or post office of de-
livery as the first word in the last line of address, both results
can be assured. For fast and easy handling in transit, un-
stamped bulk mailings, precancels, and metered letters should
be tied in bundles, faced with addresses turned the same luay,
and separated to states and cities if in quantity. (And when
you write that letter, remember that the Cleveland Branch,
N.P.T.A.— then the R.M.A.— originated National Letter Writ-
ing Week!)
If postal efficiencies are safeguarded, the Postal Transpor-
tation Service has a brilliant future ahead. There are more
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 367
postal clerks within its ranks today, sorting more mail in tran-
sit, than e\er before. It is fortunate that this great Service has
been controlled by the people, through Congress, rather than
operated as a great corpc»ration with princely official salaries,
miserly pay for clerks, offices overstaffed with relatives and
people with pull, and costly wastefulness all around— at least
so writes one clerk in the Journal. We are thankful that our
self-reliant men of the mail trains work under better condi-
tions than that.
Between the populous New England cities, across the rich
farmins: states and industrialized Midwest, over the Rockies,
through semi tropical groves, mighty forests, great canyons,
weavinq; their lifelines of communication and commerce
through the greatest and best empire in the world, speed the
never-resting R.P.O. train and the H.P.O. bus. Many a
grizzled veteran of the iron road, tired of his years of grinding
labor, might ponder at this point ... Is it all worth while?
We who have looked "beyond the ordinary" can answer
that. We who have seen the dingy industrial drabness of
Gray's Ferry, entering Philadelphia, magically transformed
into a shimmering golden panorama of radiant beauty at sun-
rise, while passengers slept; we who have watched daily for
some Tvinsome little lass who alwavs brought a sweet-scented
note to the train to mail to faraway Maine, then one day never
came again; we who have thrilled to the glorious fragrance
of wild Maryland honeysuckle as the train crossed the Mason-
Dixon line, unsensed by those in the air-conditioned coaches—
we can respond with a fervent Yes. This is our Service, now
and always, whatever our occupation— an indispensable, in-
genious network of living and pulsating mail-sorting arteries
of which nearly every American makes use ... of which every
American shotild be proud.
S68 MAIL BY RAIL
THE MAIL CLERK'S WIFE
(A closing tribute, from two sources)
Let me sing you a song, just a wee little song
Of a picture that's taken from life:
Not of mail clerks so brave (be they angel or knave),
But the song of the postal clerk's wife.
Oh, her husband, you know, is the man on the go,
"In-and-outer" he is, with a will!
Of course mostly he's "out," don't you envy the lout—
Don't you wish you could travel with Bill?
But the woman at home, nary once does she roam,
She's the wife of the mail clerk so great.
And it's up to her now, just to whistle somehow,
Just to whistle and hustle and wait.
Someone phones "Can you play?" No indeed, not today.
"No indeedy, for Bill's on the road.
In some dim distant day he'll retire, then I'll play"—
And she takes up the twosome-made load.
Yes, she works with a will, as she pinch-hits for Bill,
For she loves him, that guy on the train.
So when singing your song to the valiant and strong.
Sing the "wife of the mail clerk's" refrain.
— Leta Bonifield Foley
The house must be still; "Quiet, children, no fun,'
Ma walks on tiptoe her work to get done,
For cards have appeared all over the place.
And Pa has assumed his "pre-exam face" . . .
— J. L. Simpson
TRANSIT MAIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 869
Listen, folks, and you shall hear
Not the midnight ride of Paul Revere
But rather a tale so aged and true
Of what makes mail clerks' wives so blue.
On Monday morning all is well,
'Til in less time than it takes to tell,
While dusting off the mantel case
She upsets labels all o'er the place.
The postman loudly rings the bell
And brings a card John's sent to tell
Her: please to hunt around real hard-
He hasn't nary a register card!
She bundles them and sends them off;
But even then she doesn't scoff
When the next mail brings a note of sorts:
"Can you find me any more trip reports?"
Then when at last the week is o'er
And John again comes in the door.
She's glad to see him— and then unlocks
His case of dirty shirts and socks.
It seems to me— I've thought and thought-
It's not unreasonable, indeed it's not.
To think Saint Peter, watching o'er our lives.
Has a tender heart for mail clerks' wives!
— J. L. Simpson
TECHNICAL NOTES
Note \.—Case and Rack Separations. Cases consist of banks of pigeon-
holes, built flat against the car walls— except where case sections are
bent inward at a 45° angle to enable clerks to reach distant boxes more
easily. (These are called zuing cases; or, if the second case in a small car,
a bob tail.) Each case section measures ten or eleven pigeonholes high
and four to twelve columns wide; holes measure three to four inches
high and exactly four and a half (or four and a quarter) inches wide-
far too narrow to hold most greeting cards. A wide ledge runs the length
of all the cases, with drawers underneath for supplies and excess hats
or clothing. Case headers— when loose or "false" headers are used— are
cards about 4 by 71/9 inches with an inch-wide strip bent down to serve
as a label, the name of the separation being lettered thereon. "Perma-
nent" headers, used on smaller lines especially, are printed on strips
of paper glued on various sides of the square revolving sticks found at
the top front of every pigeonhole. Most clerks arrange their headers in
a rough geographical sequence, with each column representing an R.P.O.
line— the line package being made up at bottom and the directs above
it— in station order, order of size, or no order at all; occasionally a clerk
arranges all the lighter separations alphabetically in the vertical sense,
and simple cases for "directs" used by subs are usually alphabetical.
But in all cases exceptions are made for the heaviest boxes— which are
concentrated at lower right, for easy access. Many P.T.S. offices issue
official case diagrams and require all clerks to follow them; the ad-
vantage of uniformity is obtained, but at the sacrifice of efficiency from
clerks who can work better at a case designed to their personal ideas of
correctness and in cases of sudden mail-volume change.
Some clerks economize by using narrow "half-headers," or with only
column of headers to each three rows (three names being lettered on
each). On a certain "Washington & Charlotte (Sou) train the Atlanta
City clerk in one crew spelled out his headers with colored letters cut
from magazines; the city clerk in another crew cut printed trademark
headings from ads of all the big concerns for which firm mail was made
up— Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta Constitution, and pasted them on!
Some clerks use a colored pencil or, with difficulty, a bit of chalk to
mark up names on the square sticks.
370
TECHNICAL NOTES 371
The pouch rack consists of from two to six units, usually fourteen
pouches each, evenly divided between both sides of the car, the aisles
and tables running between them. Toward the head of the car there
is usually an extension of the rack on the left side only, used partly
by the clerks at the letter case immediately opposite and partly for
restricted purposes. Collapsible frames of steel piping form the basis
of the rack arrangement; a series of loose hooks holds the strap-locked
canvas pouches with their rolled, braided edges and the loose-mouthed
sacks, which are closed by a cord and fastener running through holes
about the edge. Pouches have a few similar holes, for hanging. The
pouch diagram is almost never alphabetical or in any other semblance
of orderly arrangement, except that rough geographical divisions may
be observed, and similar pouches are usually hung adjacent. The one
general rule, as observed in the official pouch diagrams issued by all
P.T.S. offices, is that the heaviest bag separations are usually hung in
the front row next to the aisle; then come those in the other front row,
then those in the two back roAvs, and last of all (the lightest pouches)
the separations in the overhead boxes. Light pouches for immediate
dispatch are hung in the aisle, limp, on the front rail. Sacks are ar-
ranged likewise. (No one but the greenest sub, in a mail car, ever says
bag; all are either pouches or sacks.)
Sacks used in the P.T.S. are nearly always the largest or No. 1 size,
except for the No. 2 sacks used for papers in terminals; but a number
of small No. 3 sacks are usually received containing mail. Although
twice too big for proper hanging in the car, the No. 1 sacks are the
only ones big enough to hold the huge volume of papers distributed
therein. All regular pouches are standardized in the No. 2 size, except
for the special flat, heavy "catcher" pouch. Sacks and pouches, almost
never washed, soon become very gray and grimy from tlie constant
dragging on floors and platforms, and the dust and dirt is quickly trans-
ferred to hands, clothing, and air.
Note 2.— Direct, Line, and "Dis" Make-ups. There is a separate case
for each state distributed in the railway post office car, and on each
one, except on the "mixed states" case, there is one box for each large
city and sizable town in a given state. When full, these boxes are tied
out with a blank stamped slip on the back to become a direct package,
the address on the top letter serving as that for the whole bundle.
Names of small post offices served out of a medium-sized "direct" office
are often penciled on the appropriate header and its letters included
with the other mail in it. The largest cities, however, have a great
many such small offices supplied therefrom, and their mail must be
made up as separate dis packages, labeled accordingly— the headers read-
ing "BALTIMORE DIS" or a similar wording. And, finally, letters
for all the state's rural offices served directly or indirectly from an R.P.O.
line are placed in the line packages addressed to the various R.P.O.s
372 MAIL BY RAIL
serving the state. Some clerks include lists of offices served thereby on
both their line and dis headers. Cut twine, removed from working
packages, presents a real disposal problem; newer cars have little space
under ledges for discarding it, and clerks resent it on the floor. The
only alternative is constant time-consuming trips to the waste bag.
As illustrated in Chapter 2, the slips placed in the line and dis boxes
for use as package labels show the destination as first line printed there-
on, the nature of contents as the second line, and the R.P.O. of origin
as the third (with the abbreviation "FR" for "from"). The clerk's dated
name-stamp impression appears on the bottom half of the slip— or on
the back of pouch labels for similar separations on the rack, the labels
being printed identically; many hundreds of such slips and labels must
usually be stamped and arranged at home each layoff.
The pouch rack contains the same three classifications of direct, line,
and dis pouches— though necessarily much fewer in number. Dis pouches
are made for only the very largest distributing offices, and line pouches
only where close connections or quantities justify. All in all, at least
seven categories of incoming mail matter must be disposed of by the
pouch clerk: (1) Mixed-states letter packages (whether or not labeled
to this R.P.O.), thrown to the mixed case— the clerk thereon transferring
any mail for states worked to other cases; (2) bundles addressed to local
states, or to that section of them "local" to this line, which are trans-
ferred (directly or indirectly) to the proper state case— any state distri-
buted being considered "local" in this sense; (3) distant state working
packages, labeled to the state only, which are thrown to connecting
R.P.O.s distributing same; (4) packages for other R.P.O.s, labeled to a
specific line and containing letters local thereto; if the line addressed
is not "pouched on," it will be thrown to a connecting R.P.O. or to a
dis (or direct) pouch for a city which does pouch it; (5) dis packages,
containing mail for distribution from large post offices, which are
thrown into a dis or direct pouch for the city named if made, otherwise
to a connecting R.P.O.— many times such packages (and packages for
connecting R.P.O.s) are voluntarily cut and reworked to a finer degree
by letter clerks; (6) direct packages for post office named on top letter,
thrown to best dispatch available (direct pouch if made, otherwise to
R.P.O. or to some dis pouch according to scheme); and (7) flats or slugs
(large single pieces), handled exactly like direct packages.
Note $.— Terms Used in Calling Pouches. There is no time in a busy
R.P.O. to read off an entire label like "New York Sc Pittsburgh Train 11,
two, from Madison Square Station, New York, N. Y."; so the caller
simply yells, "From the Madhouse with a two!" as indicated. Similarly,
all the other strange names in this paragraph (Chapter 2) simply indicate
the office or line of origin, and the contents (if other than mixed mails);
many other such nicknames of post offices and lines are heard. The
numbers "with a two," and so forth, are serial numbers, explained later
TECHNICAL NOTES 873
in the chapter. To sum up the other names called off in this case, "Tom
Cat" refers to a pouch from the local transfer clerk or "T.C."; "Rockin'
Chair Line" is some light connecting line, allegedly a "soft snap";
"The Dog-house" could be either the Kansas City & Pueblo R.P.O.
(MoPac) or the Philadelphia Terminal, P.T.S. Next we have the Win-
sted k Bridgeport R.P.O. (NYNH&H, in Connecticut); West States work-
ing mail from Holyoke, Massachusetts; a pouch from some city that is
reputedly a "living cemetery"; direct packages from Chatham & New
York (NYCent) Train 438; a working pouch from the same; Train 46
of some well-known R.P.O.; a second Chatham &: New York train; the
sixth pouch of New York State received from the G.P.O.; Ohio working
mail from Grand Central Station of New York Post Office; and the
New York & Far Rockaway R.P.O. (LIRR).
Note 4.— A Paradox at "Wash-up" Time. On practically every two-
car R.P.O. train this laughable situation is sure to occur when clerks
attempt to wash up. First the man washing hastens to bar the "end
door" from within, so he can stand in the aisle beside the washbowl
without the door being suddenly opened and flung against him with
violence. However, some clerk in the second car is sure to want ad-
mittance immediately thereafter, and he must needs kick and bang, on
the door frantically to attract the washer's attention above the train
noise. Finally, after much delay and annoyance on both sides, the door
will be opened for the man to come through to the first carl Amusingly
enough, this is all avoidable if only the clerk will squeeze in front of the
basin, in normal position and completely out of the aisle.
Note 5.— Assignments of Postal Transportation Clerks to Various
Units. About half of our 32,000 railway mail clerks are assigned to the
3,000-odd R.P.O. trains operated daily in the United States, including
electric-car suburban trains— 14,604 of them on June 30, 1950. (Only
one or two clerks run part time on boat lines, the other boat R.P.O.s
being served by joint employees; and the last trolley-car R.P.O. carrying
clerks quit in May 1950.) 6,564 other clerks work in the terminals,
P.T.S.; 1,432 are transfer clerks, and some 445 (rapidly increasing) are
on H.P.O.s. About 1,300 (including officials) are in field offices, while
the remaining number of seven thousand or so consists mostly of sub-
stitutes, in all these categories, plus mail handlers (laborers) in terminals.
Note 6.— The Boston & Nen' York and Boston, Springfield ir New
York R.P.O.s. The latter route— the well-known "Spring Line"— operates
over part of one of our earliest pre-R.P.O. "route-agent" runs, the
Springfield-Boston line, begun in 1840 with two agents (who did little
sorting). The agent runs were expanded to form several New York-
Boston routes, one including a ferry to Long Island (from Stonington
to Greenport, thence via LIRR, 1845-48). True R.P.O. service on this
374 MAIL BY RAIL
line via Springfield was first arranged for in 1865, when four postal
cars were built and labeled, clerks appointed, and the starting date set.
Then at the last minute one of the railways involved refused use of
its tracks unless much extra compensation was paid. Not until De-
cember 11, 1867, was the trouble alleviated and the first Spring Line
train operated as an R.P.O.— then designated as the Boston 8c New York—
under the direction of Chief Clerk W. H. Postley. The "Shore Line"
route to New York (the present Boston & New York, or "Big Line")
was added a few years later and became the Boston, Providence & New
York; but in fairly recent years the present titles were adopted instead.
It is the boast of either line (both NYNHfeH) that they can handle
all mails from the New York gateway for any point throughout New Eng-
land. The Spring Line has over twenty-five R.P.O. trains daily; the
Shore Line, about seventeen.
Note 7— The New York & WashingLon R.P.O. This vitally important
PRR route is the only all-electric main-line R.P.O. in America and
connects the nation's metropolis and capital. It traces its origin to one
of our earliest railways, the historic Camden & Amboy Railroad (Perth
Amboy to Camden, New Jersey, via Bordentown, with ferries to New
York and Philadelphia), which began carrying part of the New York-
Washington mails in 1832. Likewise— to the south— the Philadelphia,
Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad at first carried mail and passengers
only from New Castle, Delaware, to Frenchtown (near Perryville),
Maryland, with still longer boat connections to terminal points; while
the B&O had the Baltimore-Washington link. But by 1837 the gaps
had been spanned by rail, and in May, John E. Kendall— first postal
route agent in America— was appointed to run through from Philadephia
to Washington to "superintendent the mails." The facilities soon de-
veloped into a regular "traveling post office," as noted in detail in
Chapter 6. By 1838 the connecting New York-Philadelphia segment was
carrying two tons of mail daily, including five hundred pounds of letters;
and by 1844 the railroad had assigned their conductors to act as mail
agents— replaced by postal route agents about 1848. (The carriers made
heated objections to this change, protesting ". . . Nor is there any occa-
sion for such agents. The conductors . . . now perform all of the duties
they would have to discharge. They receive letters up to the point
of departure, and at all points on the road . . . They assort and mail
them in the apartments on the cars. Traveling postmasters can do no
more." Cf. Chapter 6.) The Postmaster General later complained that
New York firms were swamping the train-mail box. As for the earliest
known postmark connected with this route— a straight-line "PHILADA
RAIL ROAD," March 28, 1844— some authorities claim this was applied
by the train's conductor-agent, but the consensus is that the New York
D.P.O. applied it.
Despite numerous squabbles over mail pay both before and after the
TECHNICAL NOTES . 375
line became a true railway post office, experimental R.P.O. trips were
finally operated in May and September 1864 (both involving north-
bound trips only, Avith N. Y. City distribution); and the New York 8c
Washington Railway Post Office was permanently established on Octo-
ber 15th of that year. This eventful occasion, following by four years
the introduction of through express-agent service, saw H. A. Stoneall
and Ed Brennan of the New York G. P.O. making the inaugural trip
in 1864. Our second true R.P.O., it still traversed the Camden & Amboy
but made connection to Jersey City over the N.J.R.R. & Transportation
Company's tracks (to this day the street paralleling the line in Newark
is N.J.R.R. Avenue); years later the route was shifted westward to a
new main line via Trenton and Bristol, which removed it from "The
Amboy" entirely. The R.P.O. train, which left Washington at 5:20 P.M.
to arrive at the New York ferry at six in the morning, used some old
red forty-five foot baggage cars fitted with steep-sloping (45°) letter boxes
because of the train's swaying— but there was a handsome lounge in the
end of the car, for use of both clerks and visitorsi While letters, only,
were sorted, the work even included distributing New York City mail
to boxes and stations, and the line's first regular clerk (succeeding the
G.P.O. men) was soon appointed— H. G. Pearson.
In 1865 catchers and cranes were first installed below Baltimore, and
in 1867 a second pair of trains was added for daytime operation. Quickly
dubbed "The Day Line" at the time, these same two trains (now Num-
bers 109 & 134) are still called that today, eighty-three years later! Ser-
vices rapidly increased; in the early 1900s the old Jersey City terminal
was replaced by the electrified Penn Station in New York, and by 1935
the electrification— after several earlier extensions— had enveloped the
entire line. Over three hundred clerks now serve on the line's numerous
R.P.O. trains— about twenty-two daily.
(See under "N.Y. & Washington" in Appendix I for many other
interesting index references dealing with this line.)
Note S.-New York 6- Chicago, N. Y. 6- Pitts.— Pitts. & Chic. R.P.O.S.
First R.P.O. service on the New York Central's noted New York &
Chicago was from New York to Buffalo on July 13, 1868, under the
designations of Albany & New York and Albany & Buffalo R.P.O.s. It
doubtless succeeded earlier route agent runs, for the first clerk-in-charge
of the new R.P.O., R. C. Jackson, was designated "Special Agent."
From the very start some ten different crews performed duty. Years
later (Chapter 8) the great "Fast Mail" made the line famous, and in
May 1903 the noted 20th Century Limited was first launched as an
R.P.O. on this route, cases being installed in the club car. The Century
received its first sixty-foot R.P.O. cars in 1923 and its first streamlined
equipment on June 15, 1938; specially canceled cachets for collectors
marked the event. As Trains 25 & 26, the Century of today indeed rep-
resents the Fast Mail's grandest reincarnation, with its great eighty-
376 . MAIL BY RAIL
foot strtanilinc'cl R.P.O. tars (see Chapter 10). "The Chic," as we have
shown, holds the records for size of cars, R.P.O. trains, and personnel.
"The Pitts," as the PRR's corresponding route is known, began as the
old Philadelphia & Pittsburgh RP.O. on May 21, 1865, with S. S. Talbot
as head clerk on its lone train. It later became (together with the present
Pittsburgh & Chicago, holder of R.P.O. speed record— Chapter 10) part of
the famous Limited Mail route. Today the line includes the de luxe
Broadway Limited passenger-R.P.O. streamliner, as well as the noted
Paoli Local of Philadelphia's fashionable suburban "Main Line" (Chap-
ter 12). (See under R.P.O. titles, in Appendix I, for index to further
reference— all 3 lines.) The Broadway Limited made a special stop at
Bucyrus, Ohio, in 1949 in honor of Clerk J. F. Fields of that town, who
finished his 42 years' service that day.
Note 9.— Operations and Labeling in P.T.S. Terminals. Terminal
clerks stamp a set of printed slips or labels for addressing mail, daily,
just after going on duty. Direct or line packages, or sacks, are tied out
and dispatched in the usual way (the stamped strip labels being used
on the latter), but mail for the secondary or residue cases is carried
thence by hand or in open sacks or tubs— usually banded with carriers'
straps in the case of circulars— and the appropriate labels transferred.
Labels of incoming sacks are stamped with the time and date and must
be worked in order— and before getting too "old." Partly empty or
"skin" sacks of circulars are outlawed and must be consolidated into
full sacks before release to the clerks— otherwise a full day's "count"
might be worked by someone in an hour or so! Terminal clerks
still perform their usual duties at home, including many hours
of examination study, at no extra pay (road clerks are paid more yet
work fewer hours). Compensatory time off is given for examinations
taken on duty, and compensatory days off when work on holidays is
required. Weekly days off are staggered, and usually only senior clerks
get Saturday-Sunday or Sunday-Monday layoffs. (Terminal clerks, like
road men, have a fine sense of fraternalism; clerks in the St. Louis
(Missouri) Terminal raised one hundred dollars in just a few days,
quietly and unobtrusively, to send a sick mail handler to the hospital.)
Sack racks used in terminals are built of piping, like those in the cars,
but are far more commodious and are in easily moved sections (holding
Niimber 2 or Number 1 sacks hung wide open) for quick tying-out. Com-
partments for storing extra labels are found behind the permanent
headers thereon, but many clerks just let the ribbon labels dangle in
long strips from the holders of their sacks.
Note 10.— The Seapost Service. As of Nov., 1950, this colorful service
had still not been restored after its World War II suspension period,
although funds were appropriated for this purpose about 1947. Al-
though the British had a seapost as early as 1857 and Australia had a
TECHNICAL NOTES 377
line reaching San Francisco by 1876, America's first own route was the
U. S.-German Seapost which began operating on the S.S. Havel (North
German Lloyd) March 31, 1891. Rapidly expanded with routes to
Britain, Central and South America, and Asia, the Seapost was employ-
ing about fifty-five clerks by 1941 and sorted over fifty million letters
annually on Atlantic runs alone. Suitable mail rooms, equipped with
cases and racks, are supplied by each steamship company for such ser-
vices, and clerks must be furnished first-class board and quarters free.
They have plenty of time for visiting in foreign ports and are allowed
full salary plus subsistence allowances while abroad; a diplomatic com-
mission is furnished, while brings instant admission to the most exclu-
sive and desirable foreign facilities. Clerks must have a high degree
of sophistication and be flawlessly dressed when off duty, however, or
their chances of appointment or retention by the Seapost are practically
nil. Seapost clerks must be experts at geography, at deciphering strange
scripts and foreign abbreviations, and at preparing complex interna-
tional records and letter bills. Seapost offices usually sort mail direct
to foreign R.P.O.s eastbound and to cities, states, and stations of New
York City westbound— most residue sorting being done by the foreign
clerks on shipboard, in the first instance, and by post-office clerks in
New York's Morgan Station in the second. Seapost clerks are noted
for their fidelity to duty in face of great danger; some have given their
lives in tragic shipwTecks and fires, and several were lost on the Titanic
after carefully conveying registered mails to safety. In their most recent
special service they detoured mails for Czechoslovakia in the nick of
time to keep them out of the hands of invading Germans. No seapost
clerk has ever been convicted of stealing from (or interfering with)
the mails anywhere. However, on October 19, 1941, the Seapost's sus-
pension became complete as its last route (to South America) closed
down, with its few remaining clerks transferred to the P.T.S.; and the
service has been sadly missed by all patrons of the overseas surface-mail
facilities, now greatly slowed. [The world's largest Seapost service was
India's former Bombay-Aden S.P.O. (P&OCo), operated from 1868 to
1914 with some hundred and three clerks on board, dwarfing any other
S.P.O.] Transatlantic seapost service to New York has been restored
now, but by foreign lines only— such as Sweden's "SJP 7, Goteborg-New
York" and others.
Note II.— Case Examinations and Schemes. A typical scheme is mostly
composed of pages like the one illustrated in Chapter 4, but it also
contains an alphabetical index, R.P.O. separation list, and notes. As
shown, offices in a county are included in the same brace as long as they
have just the same mail supply (which is usually an R.P.O. or distribut-
ing office, but may be a terminal or transfer clerk). A practice card is
printed for each office in the state, with the route or routes shown on
back of card exactly as in scheme (Fig. 2, Chapter 4). Following this,
378 MAIL BY RAIL
the cards must be arranged in scheme order and carefully checked there-
by. Junctions of two or more R.P.O.s or air-mail routes are indicated
by asterisk in scheme and cards, and offices may be schemed as dis
to all such junctions (some states have nearly one hundred junctions,
with all routes on each to be memorized!). Clerks arrange their case
labels, like their car headers, as they prefer— generally as outlined in
Note 1 ; and these are later taken (together with clerk's own case if he
prefers) to the examination room. Cards must be constantly shuffled,
thrown, and missed ones separated for restudy. A perfect grade on cards
and junctions at the final test brings the clerk fifty merits, with prorated
merit citations for lesser grades down to 98 per cent (ten merits); special
merits are given for consistent grades of 99.5 per cent or over at at least
thirty cards per minute. All government property, including corrected
scheme and schedules (and spotless revolver) must be presented before
examination credit is given. A few unfortunate substitutes never make
the grade on these exacting tests and are forced to resign and seek other
work. One such sub, flunked for having thrown only 175 cards in half
an hour (seventy of them wrong), complained he couldn't understand
it— he made 100 per cent at home and "only looked at his map a few
times"! To fail any case exam brings a serious charge of twenty-five to
forty demerits, plus a required recasing with no extra time given.
Note \2.— Grades and Appointments. Grades of regular clerks, in-
cluding clerks-in-charge and clerks in special assignments over Grade 11,
range from Grade 1 at $2,870 annually in regular $100 steps up to
Grade 17 at $4,470. On all main lines and in transfer offices, clerks
receive automatic annual promotions up to Grade 11 ($3,870); but
for clerks otherwise assigned, the progression is only to Grade 9 ($3,670).
At longer intervals in later years, longevity increases are given to Grades
HA, IIB, or 9A, 9B, etc. Substitute registers are drawn up, one for
each state, except in Michigan (which has one for each peninsula)
and the District of Columbia (whose eligibles must choose Maryland
or Virginia rights). In very populous states, such as New York and
Pennsylvania, substitutes and junior clerks must often wait ten or
more years before their seniority entitles them to a road job; while
those in a smaller state with considerable R.P.O. mileage, such as
Maryland, can secure such a place almost immediately. Senior subs are
notified of possible vacancies on the usual "This-is-not-an-offer-of-
appointment" form, and they may accept or not, as they choose; some-
times a king sub waits for months before leisurely accepting just the
ideal job. Final appointment is made by Departmental letter of assign-
ment according to bids on file.
Note IS— Classes of Runs and Hours Involved. All lighter runs, such
as one-man branch lines, or other runs whose units of mail worked are
below a certain norm, are designated "Class A" organizations— which are
TECHNICAL NOTES
379
in the lower salary grade along with terminals and airfields; the major
lines are all in Class B, with the exception of short local runs on such
routes. On a basis of 253 days per annum, the Class A clerk must
average at least seven hours and ten minutes of daily road duty, with
fifty minutes credited for home duties to make up his eight-hour day.
Class B road clerks require only a six-hour, twenty-five-minute daily
average, with one hour thirty-five minutes' home allowance. Some Class
B runs are so long that the ten to sixteen hours on duty at a stretch en-
titles the clerks to incredibly long layoffs (Chapter 10); conversely, many
short branch-line or suburban runs either require a five- or six-day work
week without layoffs, or else necessitate a clerk putting in extra time
daily in a terminal (or connecting R.P.O.) to make up his seven and
one-sixth hours.
Note li.— The Rotary-Lock "Alphabet." Some of the popular key
words for calling off the lock letters on valuable mails are:
Apple
Harry, Huckle-
Nuts
Uncle
Boy, Baby
berry
Oscar
Vinegar, Victory
Cat, Charley
Johnny
Peter
Willy
Dog
King
Queen
X-Ray
Eddie
Lucky (See
Rats
Yellow
Funny
Chapter 14)
Sammy
Zebra
Goat, Good
Money
Tommy
There are no "I" locks. Telegraph and telephone companies use similar
.alphabets but they vary a good bit.
Note 15.— Boat R.P.O.s and Related Water Services. Some interest-
ing former R.P.O. boat lines include the old Baltimore & Norfolk and
Baltimore &: West Point (Virginia), operated on the City of Richmond
and other Chesapeake Bay steamers until the 1940s; the historic 44.2-mile
Ticonderoga & Lake George R.P.O. (Champlain Transportation Com-
pany) on Lake Champlain in New York State; the storied Sacramento
River R.P.O. on the steamers Apache and Modoc, from Sacramento to
San Francisco, California; the old Baltimore & Hicks Wharf, terminat-
ing at a little Virginia landing no longer even a post office; the Detroit
& Algonac (White Star) combination R.P.O. and R.F.D. in Michigan;
the unique New York & St. George and the Jersey City & Brooklyn, both
in New York Harbor during the 1890s; the Alexandria Bay & Clayton
(Thousand Islands Steamboat Company, seventeen miles) and the
Wanakena & Cranberry Lake (later a boat R.F.D.), both in New York
State. The New York & San Juan and New York & Canal Zone Sea Post
Offices, normally connecting to our Caribbean territories, were long
designated as boat R.P.O.s. Other mail-boat routes which still operate
and which are said to still sort certain mails in transit include the
Chain O' Lakes R.F.D. out of Waupaca, Wisconsin (originally R.P.O.
380 MAIL BY RAIL
from Wisconsin Veterans Home, King, Wisconsin); the Bay View-Lake
View route on Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho; one on Coeur d'Alene Lake,
Idaho, from Coeur d'Alene to Black Rock Landing; and one on Coos
Bay, Oregon. Some noted former part-boat R.P.O.s included the old
Calistoga &: Vallejo Junction, described in Chapter 12, and the Cen-
tralia & Hoquiam (NP-PS&GHTCo) in Washington, 1891-1942 but
with all service on U.P. rail lines in recent years; also the Baton Rouge
&: Houston (NOTex&Mex), which used a car ferry across the Mississippi
until bridged in 1947.
Now a closed-pouch route, our longest boat-line R.P.O. of all was the
Seattle & Seward (Alaska Steamship Company), 2070 miles, from Wash-
ington State to Alaska; its suspension in 1942 proved permanent. It
served Juneau, Skagway, and Kodiak as well as no-office points where
clerks were authorized to deliver mail. Steamers like the 5.S. Alaska and
Baranof had to navigate the British Columbia straits in night fogs solely
by whistle echoes from the two shores, and when the whistle broke. Clerk
O. L. Brooks was called upon one night to fire his revolver for an hour
instead. It was a costly service; the company charged four thousand
dollars for each round trip of clerk and mails, and one boat sank in
nine minutes with all mail after striking a rock (all hands escaped).
Like the old Seattle & Skagway, this line connected with such other old
time Alaska boat routes as the Seward 8: Unalaska (S.S. Starr), Goodnews
& Unalaska Bay (1942), Seattle & Sitka, Cordova & Kodiak, and Valdez
& Udakta. Until recently the Nenana & Eagle R.P.O. operated on the
eastern Yukon, apparently on the S.5. Yukon; it succeeded the former
Dawson & Nenana out of Dawson, Y. T., the only United States R.P.O.
ever to be named from a foreign terminus, with its motor launch Kusko.
The Sunrise &: Seldovia and Tanana River R.P.O.s are also reported as
long-abandoned boat lines in Alaska.
Note \6.—City Distribution. Despite the amazing fact that experi-
mental New York City distribution on trains was done as early as 1864
(Note 7), regular sortation of city mails on appropriate trains was not
authorized until 1882 or 1883— and amid considerable opposition from
postmasters. But later they enthusiastically endorsed the idea, and at
first the city clerks were borrowed from the appropriate post office (as
in England). Later they were returned to their home offices in a "per-
sonnel trade" whereby they were exchanged for the R.P.O. clerks on
the streetcar routes. By 1900 some postmasters were even insisting on
excessively detailed distribution and at unseasonable hours, meanwhile
changing station boundaries in complex fashion, and the service had
to be curtailed somewhat. But it is still done on a remarkable scale; New
York City is sorted on lines as far away as California and Florida.
Oddly enough, R.P.O. lines are no longer permitted to sort city mails
for St. Louis, Missouri (reportedly by request of postmaster), and its
service suffers accordingly. Substitutes must now carry zone headers.
TECHNICAL NOTES 381
Note \7 .—Transit-Mail Routes Around the World. In normal times
the following route represents one chain of R.P.O.s and S.P.O.s (sea-
posts) girdling the globe. It follows the largely water-bound path indi-
cated largely because of absence of seapost connections out of Vladi-
vostock (there are continuous connecting R.P.O.s across the Eurasian
continent from that point west to Portugal). This route is based on
actual postmarks in the Robert Gordon collection:
1-New York 8: Chicago R.P.O. (NYCent); 2-Chic. 8: Omaha
(C&NW): 3-Omaha & Ogden (UP); 4-Ogden Sc San Francisco (SP);
5— Nippon Seapost (Asama Mam, and so forth), San Francisco to Yoko-
hama; 6— Marseille a Yokohama Poste Maritime, Yokohoma (Japan) to
Marseilles (France); 7— Marseille k Paris Ambulant (Sud-Est RR); 8—
Paris au Havre Ambulant (I'Ouest RR); and 9— Le Havre a New-York
Poste-Maritime.
Note \8.~Historical Notes, English T.P.O.s. The first mail was car-
ried by rail in Britain on November 11, 1830, from Liverpool to Man-
chester. (In 1837, while Americans celebrated Independence Day^ the
first special mail trains on the Grand Junction Railway began running
and were soon carrying seven hundred bags daily). England's first
T. P.O.— said to be the world's first railway post office— was the experi-
mental Birmingham-Liverpool T.P.O. (Grand Junction Railway),
which began operation using a converted horse boxcar with crude sort-
ing shelves January 6, 1838; it was the suggestion of Frederick Karstadt.
(Sir Rowland Hill, however, had suggested sortation in transit on
stagecoaches in 1826.) The original route is now part of the Birmi.ng-
ham-Crewe and other T.P.O.s.
Further T.P.O.s were established the same year on the North Union
and the London & Birmingham railways, and soon there was a network;
the first out of London was from Euston Station to Bletchley, extended
to Preston on October first. The exchange apparatus was invented by
G.P.O. men the very first year; and the story was told soon afterwards
of a kitten, mailed in a parcel by a foolish patron, which was "caught"
by apparatus and later rescued unharmed. An enthusiastic account of
the system in 1842 describes this net apparatus, and the sorting of letters
into "holes around the wall" over the table, while local mails were ex-
changed in bags with each town.
The present all-mail Down/Up Special was first arranged for by the
Postmaster General in 1855 but did not get started until July 1, 1885;
however, all-mail trains from London as far as Bristol were established
in '55, and the Great Western (whose first night T.P.O.s operated in
1840) was speeded up. In 1859, T.P.O.s were instructed to stamp all
letters handled. The London & Northwest T.P.O. began in 1865. Oddly
enough major British routes had titles and date stamps like our own
"JY 31 63" (instead of 31 July, as now) on the Southeastern R.P.O.;
382 MAIL BY RAIL
and for many years, mails were sorted to railway divisions (much as in
America). The present county-division sorting was introduced by C. W.
Ward, author of British T.P.O.s. Paid overtime (aggregation) for clerks
began in 1897, and other benefits soon afterward. Earlier R.P.O. desig-
nations, such as "Sorting Tender" and "Railway Sorting Carriage"
gradually disappeared, with only the present "T.P.O." and "S.C." re-
maining. All T.P.O.s were suspended for World War II by September
21, 1940, but most were restored beginning in 1945. Considerable cele-
bration marked some resumptions; a gay "Pig's Head Supper," with
outstanding guest talent, was put on by T.P.O. men soon after.
[In addition to the fatal wrecks reported in Chap. 14, the old Tam-
worth-Lincoln S.C. (LMS) landed in a field years ago, killing one clerk.]
Note 19— Writers of the P.T.S. (In addition to those in Chapter 16.)
LaVern R. ZARR of the Chicago &: Council Bluffs (CB&Q) has sold
articles on the P.T.S. and other subjects to newspapers. Captain James
E. WHITE (later General Superintendent R.M.S.) also wrote Service
articles for periodicals in addition to his book, A Lifespan and Remi-
niscences, we've mentioned. Bruce L. BIRMINGHAM, retired (Illinois
Branch 10th Division, N.P.T.A.), writer of the Chicago Tribune's
"Wake of the News" column, also wrote a poetry book. Beckoning
Trails. Samuel M. GAINES, late 11th Division superintendent with a
fifty-year service record, wrote published poetry of considerable charm
("I have lived, I have loved, I have laughed— Life's glorious wine I have
quaffed . . .") and was an art collector and air-mail expert. Dr. Envin
A. SHAFFER (ex-Buffalo & Washington, PRR) is the author of three
non-P.T.S. books {Major Washington, Cavalier Prince, The Pennsyl-
vanian) and has degrees from six colleges. Honorable William D.
STEWART (ex-Ninevah & Wilkes-Barre, D&H-New York to Penn-
sylvania), later a New York State legislator, v^rote the book Kanisteo
Valley as well as magazine articles. Tudor F. BROWN, Pittsburgh & St.
Louis (PRR), wrote a poetry book {Beyond the Blue) and other pub-
pushed verse— and the poetry of Hugh GORDON (ex-St. Louis &
Monett, StL-SF) has appeared in books also. J. P. CONNOLLY of the
New York & Washington (PRR) and Third Avenue R.P.O. (TARy) sold
two articles to Railroad Magazine. Fred S. WIGHTMAN, retired
R.M.A. leader of the Williston & Seattle (GN), wrote a noteworthy
article for the same journal— "10 Days on a Train in the Cascades"— and
is secretary of the Seattle Retired Clerks Club.
Earl L. NEWTON, Nixie Box author, wrote other equally excellent
verse and is in retirement at Kalamazoo, Michigan. James L. STICE, the
Free Enterprise writer, has been mentioned frequently herein; he was
an early case-exam medal winner, checked nearly seventy-five hundred
errors on other clerks (only 282 were checked on him), and became a
division superintendent and an inspector. Hubert C. WELSH of the
Salisbury & Knoxville (Sou) writes verse of much merit, including one
TECHNICAL NOTES 383
much-reprinted poem about the heavy mails to Montreal and Ridge-
crest, North Carolina, on his line in summer. Harold KIMBALL, an-
other Railroad Magazine contributor, runs on the St. Albans 8: Boston
(see Chaper II), and E. Ray LOVE of Tiflin, Ohio, writes P.T.S. short
stories, as did Votaw. Leander POOLE of the Chattanooga & Meridian
(AGS, Tenn.-Miss.), a friend of Jack London, wrote for national
magazines under the name of Bill Sykes. John E. THWAITS (once
shipwrecked, on Alaska's old Sewarcl & LInalaska) wrote for various
magazines. H. H. HAIN, retired from the New York & Pittsburgh
(PRR), wrote the first history of Perry County, Pennsylvania (1,088
pages). Stan GOULD, another ex-clerk, wrote the book An American
System of Self Defense (Eastern Press, Chicago). J. P. CLELAND of
Omaha, Nebraska, a clerk for forty years, was a lecturer and world
traveled as well as a writer. Frank GOLDM.AN of the Philadelphia
Terminal, P.T.S. , wrote a prize-winning article for Scribner's Commen-
tator (1942). LeRoy O. CLARK of the 14th Division office at Omaha
writes short-short stories. Scores of other clerks write articles often for
the Postal Transport Journal and doubtless for other journals also; M.
A. PRIESTLY of the Wash, k Cin. (C&:0) won a prize with an H.P.O.
article in the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Advertiser, and Assistant
Postmaster General REDDING (over-all head of the P.T.S.) is a leading
journalist and author.
Note 20.— Collection & Distribution Wagons. These early horse-
drawn "H.P.O.s" were painted white with gold striping, like the
trolley R.P.O.s, and contained a postmarking ial)le as well as the cases
and pouch rack. They advanced mails to trains by as much as twenty-
four hours in both New York and Washington (daily trips in each city
were sixteen and nine respectively). The Washington wagon had a
door in the rear and carried two pos'men to gather in the letter-box
mail; clerks postmarked the mail and distributed it to states, city directs,
and local R.P.O.s; but by evening there was too much mail even to
postmark. Postmarks were of the large single-circle type, with two
lines of print in the upper arc, and read "COLLECT'N R: DIST'N/
WASH'N D.C./WAGON No. 1," the latter figure being repeated in a
lens-sect bar killer. The New York route operated past the West Side
stations from Fourteeenth Street to Thirty-fourth Street and beyond,
and had a hectic special run one day; reporter Dorothy Dare of the
World had been sworn in as an auxiliary clerk when that paper decided
to "cover" this trip and was soon proudly postmarking letters so fast
that only blurs resulted. A regular clerk had to stop her, and she took
her revenge in an article in the World next day! The service there lasted
only ten months— it was discontinued August 2, 1897, when the new
pneumatic-tube service replaced it, with the wagon transferred to
Buffalo, where it made only seven trips a day. On June 30, 1899, both
wagons were transferred to St. Louis, where they ended their days.
584 MAIL BY RAIL
Note 2].— The "Go-Back Pouch" and Other Regiovnl Publications.
Monroe Williams, late editor of the Go-Back Pouch during its retenily
terminated but colorful career, outlined its purpose in that popular
publication's "First Dispatcli":
The "Go-Back Pouch," like charity, covers a multitude of
sins. We all know that what goes into this convenient separa-
tion is off the record and not meant to be recalled until it has
had time to be forgotten. Likewise, we know that in the
memories of the old-timers ... in the files of their own personal
go-backs, there is a wealth of information on the early history
and traditions of our Service ... It is hoped that we may
provide here ... a place where these recollections may be
recorded, that the flavor and essence of the early days . . . may
not be forever lost.
N.P.T.A. di\ ision and branch publications still being published include
the 8/// Division Neios Letter (parent medium of the Go-Back Pouch),
Official News Bulletin (3rd Division), 12//^ Division News, Up to the
Second (2nd Division), The First ]Vord (1st Division), and Division
NeuKS Letter (lOih Di\ision); and the following publications of branches
indicated: Texarkana RePerCussions, Postal Transit (Kansas City), Tall
Corn Bulletin (Des Moines, Iowa), Little Rocket (Little Rock,
Arkansas), Long Island Sound (Long Island Branch, Jamaica, New
York), Pick-Up (St. Louis). Booster (Florida Branch), Nixie News (Cin-
cinnati), Ptiilty Sentinel (Philadelphia), two called The Standpoint (Los
Angeles and Forth Worth); and the following, all entitled Branch Nexus
preceded by name of branch indicated: Alabama, Georgia, Buffalo,
South Carolina, and Illinois.
Note 22.-Addenda. In Chapter 10 (p. 171) our shortest R.P.O., the
Carb. &: Scrant., should have been noted as having been formerly the
much longer Ninevah fc Wilkes-Barre (D&:H) starting from New York
State (see Note 19, W D. Stewart); and on p. 190, after Nowling's exam
record, add that of S. M. Atkinson of the Cin. &: Nashville (L&N)-a//
lOO's thus far, after 3 years' service. In Chap. 13 on p. 259, British readers
should make note that membership in the T.P.O. fc Seapost Society is
5y_ to accepted applicants (inquiries to N. Hill, Netherleigh, Old
Wortley Rd., Rotheiham, Yorks.); U. S. readers, note that The R.P.O.-
H.P.O. Magazine is to be published monthly at $1 annually by M.
Jarosak, 62 New York Ave., Brooklyn 16. In Chap. 16 (p. 360). it should
be noted that the substitution of closed-pouch service for local R.P.O.s
in New Jersey and elsewhere is partiridarly to be deplored in view of
the fact that not even local mails can then be exchanged by way-pouch
in star route fashion— mails must sometimes cross the state to a terminal
for sorting, just to be delivered in the next town.
i
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Oregon, 131, 226
Owney. 93, 94
Narrow gauges, 175-177; 300, 307
National Federation of P. O. Clerks,
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Naval mails, 217. 219, 220, 267
Nel)raska, 88, 131, 175. 325
Ncnana &: St. Michael, 305
Netherlands, 318: 218
Nevada, 135, 183, 203
Newark (sec N.J.); A.M.F., 87
Newfoundland, 300-301
New Hampshiie. 141, 160, 162, 175,
179, 186
New Haven R.R., 173; .see Appx I,
lines out of Boston, Pittsfieid, etc.
New Jersey, 23. 29. 37, 51, 00. 96, 173,
174, 199^ 201, 203, 223//, 335, 360-1.
306
New Mexico, 9, 227
Newspapers, 5. 18, 19, 51, 61, 119/7,
315; see Paper rack
New York Branch N.P.T.A., 165//;
214
New York Central R.R.. 30. 172, 359;
See Afjpx. /, N.Y. & Chic, Chat. &
N.Y.. etc.; also 121, 133
New York City. 28, 30. 35. 121, 135,
169//. 173. 199, 217. 239, 240, 329
New York State, 60, 70. 87. 97. 121,
175. 178. 181, 201, 223. 224. 235,
244. 253
New Zealand, 321, 322
Nixies, 21, 198
No-postofTice points. 198, 230, 364
North Dakota, 46, 66
Oakcs el- Hawardcn, 147
Oclwein X: Kansas City, 188, 256
Ogden (sec Utah); Term., 134
Ohio. 9, 32, 140. 153, 243. 244, 251
Oklahoma. 187. 206
Package, letter, 3-5, 15, 18-20, etc.
Packets, 5, 106. 111. 117-119
Pakistan, 314
Panama, see Canal Zone
Paper rack, 20, 35, 61//, 106, 120, 269.
317 (.see Newspapers)
Parcel post, 5, 12, 35, 42, 49, 66, 130,
131. 152, 154. 179, 187. 197, 305.
315-6, 320-1, 357, 3.59
PennsNlvania, 28, 51, 65, 96, 97, 171.
187, 220, 222, 232. 244. 249, 326
Pennsylvania R.R.. 33. 98//. 338; see
Appx. I, N.Y. & Wash., N.Y. & Pitts..
Pitts. & Cine. etc.
Penn Terminal, P.T.S., 36, 38, 215,
352, 355
Penn Transfer Office, 48
Persia. 218
Peru Jv lndianapoli.s, 246. 332
Philadelpliia (and Term.), 32. 125,
188, 200, 207. 235, 239. 344, 307
Philately, 254-267: 102. 114-5, 182,232,
212, 287; see Collectors
Philippines, 210, 322. .3.55
Pigeonholes, 1. 5. 17, 20. 26, 34. 57, 73.
82. 100, 106. 197, 271. 276, 317
Pony Express 105. 106, 118
Postage, 45, 10 1. 303
Postal agent. 100
Post-biliing. 103. 110, 111, 119, 123
Postal liullelin, 127
Postal Cancellations Society, 256
Postal Guide, 73, 214, 291, 312, 313,
364
Postal Laxi's 6- Regulations, 73, 145,
180, 202. 203. 252, 300, 346, 356/7
(.see Black Book)
Postal Service. 2, 43. 51, etc.
Postal supply houses, 54. 261
Postal transportation clerk, see Clerk
Postal Transport Hospital A.ssn., 168
Postal Transport Journal (The R.P.
O.), 167; 3, 11, 70//, 81, 91, 141, 153,
155, 162-5-7. 182. 189. 198. 211, 248.
256, 267, 332. 342. 350-2. 362, 367
INDEX
413
Postmarking. 50. 73. 97. 101. 106. 178^,
197. 218. 231//. 241//, 25^-207. 306,
309-31G S19, 322. 326-330, 335-348,
36^: see Col lectors
Pastmaster. 85. 94/7, 101, 105, 108-110.
120. 121. 134. 137, 103, 175. 186. 187.
198. 217, 236. 241, 247, 201, 338, 360
Postmaster General, 3, 8, 61, 89, 96,
99/7. 108. 111. 120. 135. 139. 143. 154,
158. 103. 227. 277, 308. 325. 327
Post onices, 230; 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 15-19,
97-99, 178-182. 309-320, etc.
Post Office Department, 31, 43, 94,
97/7, 107. Ill//, 121. 140. 141. 147-
159. 161. 238. 215, 298, 300, 308, 326,
829, 3.32. 336. 310. 356, 362
Post roads. 98
Poiiclics. \'ote I: 5, 17; 2, 4. 10. 15, 22-
20. 03-65. 85-93. 119-121. etc.
Pouch clerk, 20, 24, 25. 00. 81
Pouch rack, 19. 26, 51, 270, 307. 320,
327, 330, 339
Pouch record, 135. 277
Pouch lahlc, 19. 20, 25, 27. 51. 65. 318
Practice cards, 54-58, 191-194, 201, 300,
325
Pr.iriire cases. 52. 54, 122
Puhlishers, 19, 03. 122, 348^
Puciio Rico, 210, 307
Purdum. Hon. Smith W.. 76. 264, 354;
2nd plioto sec.
Quincy & St. Joseph, 120
Rack.s. 17/7, 35. 36. 41. 42. 47, 49. 61.
65. 66, 119, 129, 133, 176. 186, 201,
214. 219, 221, 237, 312, 321 (see
Pouch rack)
Radio. 3-16. .3^7. 365. 366
Railroad V.M.C.A., 28. 29
Railroad mail— Railway letters, 45, 46,
295
Rnihvay Mail, The, 141
Railway Mail Assn., see National
Postal Tran.sport Assn.
Railway mail cl'dw. 28, 77. 168
Railway mail clerks, see Clerks
Railway postal clerks, see Clerks
Raihray Post Office, see Postal Tr.
Jnurnnl
Redistribution, 3, 101. 118
Retirement, 77, 130, 143, 150, 159
Revolver, see Guns
Rhode Island, 71, 201
R.M.S. Bugle, 140, 1-11
Routes. 1. 4, 19, 54-57, 198/7. 282
Route agents, 97-102; 53. 106, 107, 111.
114-5, 119/7, 128, 177. 261, 262. 302,
320, 353
Rural free delivery (R.F.D.), 179^,
230. 330. 346
Russia, 319
St. Louis. 237; and see Afi.ssouri
Sacks, 5, 17, Note 1; 18-20, 23, 39. 41,
47-51. 62 66, 91-92, etc.
Safety bar, 4, 88, 271
Salaries. 59; 49, 129, 158-9, Nnte 12
San Francisco (and Terminal), 39.
155. 206, 207, 213, 227, 243
Santa Fe R.R., 347, 3-19; see Appx I,
Alb. X; L.A., K.C. & Alb., etc.
Schedules. 15, 16, 40-44, -19, 54, 57, 81.
123. 126. 213, 216, 257, 267, 277, 298.
319, 320. 333. 341
Schemes, .54-55; 2, 15, 43. 57. 63. 64,
81. 121-3. 180, 198, 201. 214. 216.
230. 207-8. 277. 298/7. 306. 308. 311
Seaposis. Note 10; 45, 94. 194, 256, 267,
301. 308, 352
Seniority. 159, 164. 165
Separations. 17. 19. 26, 41, 61. 69, 102,
108, 122, 135. 2H, 219
Sioux City 8; O'N'eill, 79
Slang, see Lingo
Slips, 3, 15. 16. 27, 58, 68. 69. 85. 91,
121/7, 201, 262, 263, 267, 276, 298.
299, 357, 364
South Carolina, 11, 96
South Dakota. 146/7
Space. .59, 07. 135. 362
Spanish-American ^Var, 209/7
Special delivery, 66. 73, 185, 279
Special agents, 104-100, 115
Speed dilTcrcntial, 159. 357
Spokane, Wash., Terminal, 87
Stalls (bins). 5
Stages. 96-99, 104. 100. 114
Stamps. 12, 58. 95, 100, 110, 179, 201,
213, 245. 255. 309. 317, 330
Star routes, 35, 104; 36, 42, 117. 183,
251, 331. 332
414
MAIL BY RAIL
Station agents, 86, 88, 119
Steel cars, 3, 149
Storage and storage cars, 5, 13, 15, 18,
20, 42. 51
Street-car R.P.O., 236 216, 219, 266
Strikes, \4GfJ, 208. 209, 241. 303, 311
"Stuck", 5, 27, 45. 53, 62, 81, 130, 145.
146, 154, 213, 242, 270, 336
Sulistiiutes, 47-59; 5, 7. 8, 17, 19, 58,
62. 75, 77, 81/7. 90. 91. 129. 147. 148,
154, 179. 185. 188, 191, 192. 202. 214,
217, 220. 227, 234-5, 246, 248. 273.
340, 357
Suggestion program. 344, 362
Superintendent of mails, railroad, 45,
119
Sweden, 320. 326, Note 10
Swing room, 36
Television, 348
Tennessee, 62, 186, 256. 347
Terminals P.T.S., 35-41; 3, 27, 29, 43,
49, 51. 59, 60. 70. 72. 87. 130. 134,
154. 159. 162, 170. 189, 190, 201-2,
208-216, 223, 229. 265 6, 273, 301,
312, 315, 319. 342. 3.52. 355 8. 366
Terminals, railroad. 4, 26-31. 50, 100-
105. 115. 122. 133. 183, 199,233,235,
251. 253. 308. 312. 333
Texas. 33, 70, 172. 209. 251. 354
Thurmond &: Mt. Hope (Th. & Pr.
Hill). 171
Tie outs. 26, 40, 50,228
T.P.O., 2,58
Tracy 8: Pierre, 146, 147, 1.50
Transit, in, 3. 45, 114, 181, 214, 268,
328. 341
Transit mail, 95, 99, 104, 108, 231,
266, 359
Transit Postmark, 256-259. 266
Transfer clerks and T.O.'s, 41-43; 27,
32. 38, 45. 51. .52. 58. 87. 150, 202,
208, 216, 257, 262, 265, 266
Traveling Post Office (book), 228, 349,
352
Traveling Post Office & Seapost Soc,
258
Traveling post office, 268-296; 95, 98,
102, 108-111. 211, 255. 258,267, 300,
301, 313. 316. 321-323
Traveller, The. 257. 258. 294
Trip report, 27. 40, 61 . 62. 73; Note 21
Trolley R.P.O.s. 231-253; 203. 260,
264//. 304, 317-319. 329, 332, 334
Turkey. 320. 355
Twine, 18, 299. 362
Uniform, 47. 86. 131. 132. 321
Unions, see Labor unions
Union Pacific R.R., 127; see A{)px I,
Omaha &: Og., etc.
"United States Mail," 2, 115, 219, 240,
244
United States territories, 301-309, 315
Utah, 134, 183, 221
Vail, Theodore N., 127, 351
Vermont, 221, 224
Virginia, 65, 93, 174, 180, 183, 200,
202, 223, 233. 333. 337
Votaw, Clarence E., 45, 47, 79, 81. 128,
346, 349. 352
Walter. Urban A.. 143-158
Wanamaker, P.M.G. John, 94, 135,
187. 335
Wa.shington, D. C. 29. 32. 37, 39. 43.
65. 88. 84. 107, 133, 142. 157, 161,
202.243,327,329,341
Washington State. 9. 59, 180, 197
Watertown !l Aberdeen. 186
Wayl)ill. 96. 100. 269. 276. 279, 309
Way mail. 95, 98. 100, 107
Weighings, mail, 55. 135. 145. 350, 362
West Side Terminal. 351. 352
West Virginia. 32, 69. 172
White, James E., 120-123, 127-131, 140-
143. i88. 246, 349
Wisconsin. 120, 121, 200
Wives, clerks*, 167, 168, .368. 369
World War: 1. 210/7; IT, 213/7. 24
Wrecks, 221-226; 8-10. 69, 72, 138^,
148, 154, 165, 166, 186, 220, 292-3.
354
Woman's Auxiliary, 141, 167-8, 215,
355
Wyoming, 126, 127
Yugoslavia, 320
Zcvely, A. N., 107-109. Ill, 112, 117,
118
Zone numbers, 342-343; 185, 240. 288,
363, 364
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