the case by the clerk being examined and the number of separations made
as required when on actual duty in the railway post-office. The number
of separations varies according to the connections due to be made; when
the line is through a thickly-settled country, the separations are made
in fine detail. In the State of Massachusetts there are seven hundred
and seventy-two post-offices; and the number of separations made by one
line is upwards of eighty. On the train it is necessary to make many
(what are known as) direct packages that the examination does not call
for. Account is taken of the time consumed in "sticking" the cards, and
questions asked to test the knowledge of connections. A large number of
questions are asked relating to the Postal Laws and Regulations, as
affecting the Railway Mail Service; these latter questions vary in
number from fifty to one hundred. When practicable, during the
probationary period of six months, one examination is held each month,
taking a different State each time.

The results of these examinations are placed on record, and at the
expiration of the probationary term, this record, together with the list
of errors in sending mail, are forwarded to the Honorable William B.
Thompson, General Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, in
Washington, District of Columbia, with a recommendation that the clerk
be permanently appointed or dropped out of the service. These
examinations are held at intervals among all the clerks to test their
efficiency, and as an incentive to study, to keep fresh in their minds
the proper disposition of the important mails passing through their
hands. In these examinations a good-natured rivalry exists, and a
vigilant eye is kept by the clerks that their line shall make as high an
average per centage, or, if possible, higher than any other. The per
centage of correctness rarely falls below seventy-five; an average is
generally made of ninety-five per cent. The list of errors made is