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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1910)
D THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: SEPTEMBER 4, 1910. Strenuous Sons of Uncle Sam Who Risk Life in Carrying- Letters '"''IV' -i.:L::- tr .... 0 'hi, n ' ... i . 7 ' 1 : i'W ' 4 cierk. sdiLVnr kail iJTKVicii , and Tlerle JIV ., Ssaj&ff. " V, .. f ' .I ft ' . JiT '? .' -vr.'. A Cpew of Pjlway .Hail .Glerels s H ft 3 1 1 -S. V. I HI . M ill if- ' . "r-T fj" . .1 Hi Interior Yievr .i ' 1 " hi . -s:- - - .... u V s J- tt wvSoih. J4Kt V .JaiLti(!irfto. jJ Seiior Yiew. of .Old lashioned .Woolen Car , Specimen of Carter Lake Fish ENEROUB iniuur of hltor npaca haa bmn aet apart for thrilling recital of aoliller brav ery and Justly no. Volume af ter volume haa been written Into newHpapers, magazines and books, ouncemlutc deeds of valor on battle ships floating the stars and stripes and Justly so. Hut there Is another army of heroes in the service of Uncle 8am the railway postal clerks, 17,000 strong and that army la unheralded and unsung. Why? Because the great mass ofipatrlo tlo Americans lacks full understanding of the haiard to life that attends railway postal service. "But," queries the skeptto, "by what toj ken is the postal clerk catalogued as a hero why Is his dally routine dangerous when he has nothing to do but ride?" If you would know Intimately Just how hasardous Is the railway postal clerk's oc cupation, you have but to consider the fact that, as a general rule, the danger end of a railroad wreck Is the end next to the engine and that Is where the postal clerk. Moped In flimsy wooden cars, Is located In the make-up of a train. "But, why Is his place more of a risk than the places occupied by the engineer and fireman, and are they not heroes, toot" True enough, the typical locomotive en gineer or fireman Is a hro. The locomo tive cab Is no place for mollycoddles. Mollycoddles seldom get there and never tay there. Bo, the courage and the hero ism of the locomotive crew is granted with out further discussion, but It should be remembered that in case of a missing bridge, a washout, a landslide or Impend ing collision, the engineer and fireman by reason of the vantage point they occupy. have at least the chance of Jumping M a protection to life. Many a noble engineer techn'csl name for each trip is about twelve out error. He'must be a perfect encyclo- about the railway mull service that ui- and many a noble fireman has staid by hours. On this point there, is considerable pedla as to United Slates geography. He tracts young men. Country town boys, his engine, refusing to Jump, yet It must variation, owing to distances covered. Fol- must know, without waiting to ponder, ex- especially, standing on the depot platform be admitted that the opportunity Is there (owing a run of twelve hours, there Is a actly where Roaring Fork, Ark., is, on to walch "Old No. 8" roll In country boys ubject to discretion. The postal clerk has lay off of equal time. But the terra "lay what railroad, If any. It is located, what always know trains by number look with AO chance to Jump. He can not see the off does not mean vacation. Far from Jt, terminal point is gateway to it. and all tnvy upon the blase fellow who slides the track ahead. He Is on the Inside of his tar while laying off at the end of his run. else that pertains to a quick Journey to side door of the mall tsar and tosses the car, engrossed In the Intricacies of sorting the mail clerk must "study."- . Roaring Fork. Think for a moment of the sacks out to the village worthy who holds and dispatching thousands of letters to Go into a railway postal clerk's sleeping vast number of postoffices, big and little, a government contract for transporting thousands of postoffices all over the world. no matter whether It be at home that must be remembered by the costal mail to and from the railwav t.tinn Th V . t. II. I- a.i iter It t lrB WB TsXJt. .. ... . . - ....... YYn cran cumc. i- or in a lodging nou, .nt you will nna clerk, ana thou you Destn to realize, at least mail clerk, ir he remain lonrf on the same T ... a TV & ma m& sfsansrstV jom is ue a rk w- a miniature unier case, patiernea alter the slightly, tne enormity or nts task, ana, run, rornis acquaintances all along the that menaces the life of the engine men oa-eii UBed ln posUj service. Into this moreover, you will appreciate why he must line. Boys and girls of the villages en must perforce doubly menace him, for If caM ne throws cards bearing the names of study almost Incessantly while taking his route come to know him by sight at least, the engine strike an obstruction sufficient voottxM1 routes, etc. It is his aim to lay off at the end of his run. and since it Is the habit in rural communi to derail it. nine times out of ten the mail tnrow the cards as nearly as possible with- There is some lndcscrlbsble fascination ties for most everybody to visit the depot car will follow. It may not be a fatal wreck, or It may be fatal. It is all a chance but the danger Is there, nevenne less. The engine and the mall car, the ex press and the baggage may all go Into the ditch and yet the chair cars and the Pull man may and most of the time do, hold their places on the track. Old line Insurance companies were early to spy the hatardous nature of the postal clerk's occupation, and the more reliable fraternal associations were prompt to fol lotf1. Raise after raise was made lii the pA.te of postal clerk insurance both by companies and fraternities. At last the premium rate reached prohibitive propor tions. Then cam application of the old adage, "necessity la the mother of in vention." and the postal clerks, dropping other insurance, organized a beneficiary association of their own, officially known as "The Hallway Mall association." None but railway postal clerks In actual service are permitted to join, and the membership now totals in round numbers 1S.0C4 out of a possible 17.000. for the latter figure rep resents the total number of men so en gaged ln the United States. This associa tion furnishes si J4.000 Insuiance po.icy at a cost of about iV annuslly to each one Insured. There Is tlso a cle of benefits for sickness or Injury ln accldtuts. Thur the postal clerk has worked out his own salvation along Insurance lines. By ay of lllustiatlng the i.iajnltude of the railway mall clerks' lnsuiar.ee asto clation the foll.iwln.i figures ure taken fiu:n cfilcial retires: rir.te tne organisa tion first beyan tl.e su.a of iw been paid to iituv. s and motheis Oi mull clerks, representing death beneiUs. Cov ering the same perud, S7.000 has betn paid for Injury to eyes of clerks; t3.t-' for broken legs and iS7,41?. M has be:i t-e-voled to the payment of tenefltf due num bers by reason of miscellaneous Injuries recelvrd while ou dui. All of this dis bursement aggregates ibSl.tll. 68 almost a round million which the railway postal clerks have handled for he benetlt of stricken brothers snd their families. There has of late years been much agita tion for steel mall cars to take the place of the tinder boxes In common use. Grad ually the steel cor is coming. On some of the C.imha roads steel has largely taken the phi.-e of wood already ln mall car con struction, yet It will probably be several )ears before the old wooden car Is en tirely eliminated. The benefit of the steel car Is obvious. Suppose there Is a col lisionthe steel car will stand the crash much better than the wooden car. Anotner argument In favor of steel Is that the In created durability In part at least com pensatos for the additional cost. At the last sewlon of congress provlsltn was rnado In the general deficiency bin for an appropriation out of which to pay a salary of ll.SoO annually to a mosavur, whose duty It shall hereafter be to "rub down" United States senators, but In deal ing with railway postal clerks. Uncle Sam is hardly so generous. If the railway clerk takes a massage, be pays for It out of h:s alary, which ranges all the way from JnuO to $1,600 per year, owing to the length of time he has been in the service. The aver age Urn devoted to a "run" that Is the f I few .Steel Cap, asbiry.TMi - t OID FASHIONED WOODETK XIAIXi CJEVJ? I i - - . Im- Ji ' If New 'STEsi Mail Cae f,. -. . -ea-. v. 4f ' " i ssMBasBssBsssaasBMB3LX at tram time, it is an easy matter for ac- running west on this same line, each of being transferred to other branche of tha v . s. quatntance thus formed to expand day after day. The village belles cherish their Im promptu speaking, or more likely, mere bowing acquaintance with, the postal clerk. They talk about It Boys hear the talk and contract the postal clerk fever. They learn by Inquiry that tail way postal clerk Jobs are given out by the civil service plan. They devote some time to study and at last pass the examination. Then they are given a probationary engagement If, after six months, they have a good record to their credit they are placed on a regular run. Then they are lionized when they go back home on a visit Of course the cjty youth Is also well represented In the rail way mail service, but a large proporltlon of the men now highest In the service came orlirtna-Uy from the country towns. The city youth has more opportunity to take up other employment. Great power of physical endurance, as well as mental alertness, is a necessary factor In the makeup of the railway mail clerk, end here is where the country voy comes is to good advantage. As a rule he is gifted with strength of nerve as well as of muscle, and be it recorded as a certainty that the work of a pcmtiil clerk on wheels In a test of nerve power. Omaha Is a railway mull center of more tlmn ordinary Importance. The entire system of the United States Is divided which carries but one mall car. ' eervlue. are: I yew Hill, Paul Vandervoort, Ten different men have from time to Horaoe F. Shearer, James D. Stacey, J. time been ln charge of the Omaha office In B. Cramer. Andrew W. Griffen, Warren the capacity of chief clerk. Of these, Vandervoort and Floyd L. Keller. Captain James E. White, later became gen- The first line' west of the Missouri river eral superintendent,' and he Is generally wai the present great transcontinental credited with having done a lion's share route known a the Omaha ard Ogden. That in perfecting the system that now makes was In 1IW7, nnd the railway mail service Uncle Sam's transportation of mall the was then In Its lnclplencyl Later as other best ln all the world. W. J. Mettlen is the railroads came to Nebraska and then' on, present chief clerk in charge in Omaha, west, the service expanded here as else Others who have held that place, later where throughout the United States. "Dead" Man Talks to Family Ml i EDICAt, circles and psycholo- operating surgeon, visited Bailey at W gleal students are Interested In o'clock. There was hardly any pulsation the peculiar phenomena accom- and the patient was rapidly growing cold, panylng the death ln a provate At 11:40 Bailey seemed suddenly to reads hospital In Philadelphia of Thei- that he was dying and began to talk with dore P. Bailey, assistant man- his wife and private secretary about hla ager of the Philadelphia offices of the Gen- business affairs. He was perfectly calm, eral Electrical company. Blood poisoning At ll:t5 he died, to all appearances. His) loiiowing a oeiayea operation ior appen- ej e oecame nxeu, a snmii iramir iaa dlcitls apparently caused Bailey's death at through his body and then It became rigid 11:15 o'clock last Saturday morning. with the exception of hnnds and throat His At that mm.nt .11 nulx.tinn stnnned. his ves nearly closed. The nurse Indicated that clofied, his limbs death hud come. Word was sent to friends evfit liernmA elnved and rigid and his body cold. w'leu ie. . Then, In a whisper, with tremendous But for twenty-seven minutes he con- .-,. ,ffort to master the Inert muscle Into thirteen divisions, each dlvslon helnB timed to talk to his wife and daughter till of n)li throat. Bailey began again to talk, under a superintendent The center of his vocal organs became paralyzed. He For twenty-seven minutes he gave dlreo- ail, of course, Is In Washington City, und continued the conversation for eighteen ona for the care of his estate and the the second amlsiant po tm:ister general minutes more with his daughter by means e,iU(.Btion of hla daughter, lAura, 16 years is the official head of this I ranch of the of the deaf and dumb alphabet. old vMf utterlna- nhrates for the comfort pcstaU d-partni?'it. Next to him nr.d also located in Washington 1 a general su perintendent Omnha Is a part of wiitit Is ;ncwn ai the "sixth division." the head qnnrleis of which n-e In Chicago. This dHislon Includes Illinois, Iowa. Nebraska and Wyoming. lkhi-dl I.. West is the Fuperlnter.dent for the dlvUlcn to which Omaha lelonjis. In Omaha there Is lo- The story Is told by his wife, dauuhter of his wife. All this time his eyea were half and private secretary. Several physicians closed and fixed. today professed to see nothing Improbablx At 12:12 his voice failed him. After trying ln the story, though they admitted It was to muater it he madp a motion with hla decidedly unusual for a person to be able hand Indicating he wished to write. A pen to talk after his hetrt apparently had lost ell and pad was brought. He scribbled meanliiKless lines at first, hut then clearly wrote "paralysis, " Indicating by a motion all action. llaliey. who was 47 years old, was a man the cords of the throat. A moment after . j .. t..i. i. .i -An.it, in .r uniiHim nprv. nnnwr inn min uv. lie 2.. VHrri,; who T run In ,ni 'out came of a brain-working family. He had "Htlng on th lMw lift! of Omaha. Government figures show that been a stenographer, law student, prac- 6U0 railway postal clerks work out of thing attorney and builder-up of the great Omaha und there are twenty railway post- electrical business In this country. offices running from Omaha. A railway Never strong physically, he had carefully postofflce. treated with rrlmer rxpluna- preserved his health, und possessed to the tion, Is a clrtln of mall curs onerutlng be- time of his last illness a wonderfully fine tween two sl.-e-n point. On thcise twenty strung and highly organized physical sys- postoffiefs llfly mall cars are In use. iem. which responded quickly and harmonl- T.-.ke. fo railroad postofflce which operates over that this busy mental life put Into It. ., He the Union Pacific. There, on train 9 v,as intuitive, almost clairvoyant In his . ,.,,,.1, 'iiu, .h- .,i in i,i,.i. rn riv. mini,! ,.,t a,, .v..- , ... lrI hefam proficient lrt talking tha -aim ..... ..... . menial Jinil ri"rB,. All iihb. 11 IB paiit, uau and are practically sections of tho same a bearing upon the remarkable manlfesta traln. six crews of sixteen men each run tin or .(, power of mind over matter at the time of his death. On Sunday of last week he became ill. till a flnner touched his forehead, Indicat ing that he was still conscious. Hla eyeji were ioi:ed and there was no indication of pulse. He had all the appearance of a dead perron, but gradually hla fingers began to work. In his younger days Bailey had studied the deaf and dumb alphabet, aa an amuse- A . . 1. . V.lt. 4 hi. n..,.l.,.M dumb Institution In Gormuntown, and tha VICTOR 30 CE. iHD HI5 ILIGHt FOCXND'FI&H: out of Omaha. These carry four sixty foot cars for handling mall matter, two of which go to Portland und two to San Francisco. There are also from three to four storage mall cars, one to Portland and from two to three for Sin Francisco. The trains mentioned are exclusive mall and express trais and carry all the gov ernment's Transpacific foreign mall. Each of these crews of sixteen has a "clerk-ln-charge." These for the train In ques tion sre J. 8. Hart. O. O. Whltmore, W. J. Nash, V. B. HasCsnd, W. H. Herbert, A. W. Griffin, There are two vthej- trains Inmates. The wife and daughter stood by his deathbed, tha fingers on the counter pane moved and the little girl bending over translated the message that his throat could no longer articulate. They were worda An osteopath treated him for Indigestion, f , , oomort for Mm wlftt an,i nl but he grew steadily weaker. He was sent niiU(!htei, arid a message to the secretary; to the private hospital of Dr. Joseph Price at No. 241 North Eighteenth street. There It was seen he had an advanced case of appendicitis. His family was Informed he "Mliui Connelly, you must be a sister to Mrs. Bailey." When Laura bent over and kbwed her father on the foreliead thinking he was he- hud not a chance In a thousand, but un yon(1 nloVeinent. the fingers worked again operation was Insisted on and performed. Hhe read- The patient suffered no pain. He was cheer ful and his mind was clear. "Klhs me on the mouth, dear." At 12:25 the flnaern became still and did. Saturday morning Vt. J. W. Kennedy, the not move again. Philadelphia American.