Letter carrier

“ Many letters are received without direction, and others, again, so imperfectly given that it requires the exercise of a little of Job’s patience, assisted by an imperfect directory, to find out where they actually belong. The carriers, however, to whom these letters are submitted, being familiar with the names of persons on their routes, select from this débris of letters those that they think belong to the parties to whom they are so carelessly directed. A good carrier never brings back a letter to253 the office until he is fully satisfied that it is not on his route. ”

“ Deliveries shall be made as frequently as the public interest may require. No carrier’s fee or extra postage shall be charged on letters delivered or collected by carriers. Separate accounts must be kept of the expenses of the carrier-service and of the receipts from local mail-matter; and all such expenses must be paid from the income of the office employing the carriers. Letter-carriers may be employed, under contract between postmaster and publishers, to deliver newspapers, periodicals, circulars, &c., but such contracts must be first approved by the postmaster-general ”

“ There is another portion of a post-office which adds another page to its romantic history; and that is the “Carriers’ Department.” Many a sad tale has the carrier to tell,—many a strange incident connected with his “constant round.” A glance into this room shows you a number of men busily engaged in assorting or “blocking” the letters on their route. These they receive in bulk from the distributor, which are passed to them from a smaller room through a series of pigeon-holes. And here we have a most remarkable illustration of what the human mind is capable of accomplishing. ”

“ It makes no difference with respect to the duty of the carrier whether the letter be genuine or a decoy, with a fictitious address. Coming into his possession as such carrier, it is his duty to treat it for what it appears to be on its face,-a genuine communication; to make an effort to deliver it; or, if the address be not upon his route, to hand it to the proper carrier, or put it into the list box. Certainly, he has no more right to appropriate it to himself than he would have if it were a genuine letter. ”

“ Perhaps no city in the Union can boast of a better-organized system of the carriers’ department than that of Philadelphia. Gradually, as merchants became aware of the facilities it afforded them, and the energetic movements and attention shown by the carriers to their interest, and of letters being delivered free of charge, they hailed the system as an important era in the postal department. In all large cities and populous towns the system became general, and four deliveries of a letter a day added materially to the confidence it had inspired. ”

“ And, if any person shall take any letter or packet, not containing any article of value, nor evidence thereof, out of a post-office, or shall open any letter, or packet, which shall have been in a post-office, or in custody of a mail carrier, before it shall have been delivered to the person to whom it is directed, with a design to obstruct the correspondence, to pry into another's business or secrets ”

“ SIR,—If it were the carrier's fault that you stayed so long for your letters, you are revenged, for I have chid him most unreasonably. But I must confess 'twas not for that, for I did not know it then, but going to meet him (as I usually do) , when he gave me your letter I found the upper seal broken open, and underneath where it uses to be only closed with a little wax, there was a seal, which though it were an anchor and a heart, methought it did not look like yours, but less, and much worse cut. ”

“ The welcome news is in the letter found;
The carrier's not commissioned to expound;
It speaks itself, and what it does contain
In all things needful to be known is plain. ”

“ Or, if there was no particular agreement, this case is such that between the defendant and a private owner of horses and carriages employed in transporting the mail I incline to think it could not legally be presumed a lien was ever intended or contemplated. A carrier of the mail is bound not to delay its delivery, under severe penalties ”

“ On the London and Liverpool Road (1839) it required the constant and active employment of two clerks to assort, receive, and hand out the mails: such is the rapidity of travel, and so numerous are the post-offices upon this route. Subsequently these cars were used for the distribution of letters in large cities, by assorting them on the routes. ”

“ A step towards the popularization of the registry system was authorized in December 1899; letter-carriers in many city districts now accept and register letters at the door of the householder. Sea post offices for sorting mails during the Atlantic transit were established in December 1890 on the steamers of the North German Lloyd and Hamburg-American lines, and later on the vessels of the International Navigation Company. This plan effects a saving of from two to fourteen hours in the delivery of mails from Europe. ”

“ As soon as the first or preliminary sorting is over, each sorter will proceed upon distinctive duties; some will prepare the letters for the letter-carriers, by sorting each man's letters together, according to their different number. When this is done, the letters are handed to the carriers, who retire to a separate room, looking with its desks very like a small schoolroom, and there arrange them in order to deliver them from house to house. Other officers will prepare the letters for the sub-officers and rural messengers. ”

“ The person to whom the letter is sent at once catches the idea of the person sending it, and informs the carrier with a very grave face that he is unable to grant his friend the favor asked, but if he will take a second note to Mr. ”

“ By § 208 (a) the certificate must specify 'the service to be rendered' by the carrier. As we have noted, a 'common carrier by motor vehicle' was defined in § 203 (a) (14) as one who 'undertakes' to transport 'passengers or property, or any class or classes of property, for the general public'. That definition is the same for irregular and regular route carriers. It is plain that a carrier's holding out and actual performance may be limited to a few articles only. That is to say he may be a common carrier only of a restricted number of commodities. ”

“ But let it be remembered that our opinion does not protect travellers in the stage coach, or the carrier of the mail in driving about any town to discharge or to receive passengers; and much less in blowing his horn to the disturbance of serious people either at public worship or in their own houses. The carrier may proceed with the mail on the Lord’s day to the post-office; he may go to any public house to refresh himself and his horses; and he may take the mail from the post-office and proceed on his route. Any other liberties on the Lord’s day our opinion does not warrant. ”

“ Twice a year the mail carrier braved first the heat of summer and then the rigour of winter, and when the contents of the mail-bag were emptied on the parlour floor what delight in once more touching the outside world. ”

“ The common carrier is one who offers to carry for all who may choose to employ him. The private carrier is one who transports by virtue of a special agreement. The private carrier appears more frequently in water carriage than in land transportation. Most ships, for example, carrying bulk cargoes by special arrangement are private carriers. Most passenger ships are common carriers of passengers. Ships carrying miscellaneous or package freight, and running over regular routes, are common carriers. ”

“ A carrier's first duty, and one that is implied by law, when he is engaged in transporting goods by water, is to provide a seaworthy vessel, tight and stanch, and well furnished with suitable tackle, sails, or motive power, as the case may be, and furniture necessary for the voyage. She must also be provided with a crew, adequate in number and sufficient and competent for the voyage, with reference to its length and other particulars, and with a competent and skilful master, of sound judgment and discretion ”

“ It seems to me undeniable, that a carrier may select the particular line or description of business in which he engages, and that, so long as he with good faith adheres to that description, he cannot be responsible for any thing beyond or inconsistent with it. ”

“ Where the goods of a consignment are not all sent on board at the same time, it is usual for the master, mate, or other person in charge of the deck, and acting for the carrier, to give a receipt for the parcels as they are received, and when the whole consignment is delivered, the master, upon those receipts being given up, will sign two or three, or, if requested, even four bills of lading in the usual form, one being for the ship and the others for the shipper. ”

“ Russell, (10 Johns., 7,) decided in 1813, that it has long been settled that a common carrier warrants the delivery of the goods in all but the excepted cases of the act of God and public enemies, and there is no distinction between a carrier by land and a carrier by water; and the same learned judge also held that the character, duty, and responsibility of a carrier continues to attach to a master as long as he has charge of the goods. A master, says a learned commentator, should always bear in mind that it is his duty to convey the cargo to its place of destination. ”

“ The White City, 285 U.S. 195, 52 S.Ct. 347, 76 L.Ed. 699. But though a contract carrier, the tug may as effectively command the market and have as complete control of the tow and cargo as any common carrier. ”

“ If he be not present, but live at or in the vicinity of the place of delivery, the carrier must notify him of the arrival of the goods, and then he has a reasonable time to remove them. If he be absent, unknown, or cannot be found, then the carrier can place the goods in its freight house, and if the consignee does not call for them in a reasonable time, its liability as a common carrier ceases. ”

“ The result was that he had to settle his damages at what he could get. What have we done? We have made the initial carrier, the carrier that takes and receives the shipment, responsible for the loss of the article in the way of damages. ”

“ The railroad company receiving the freight from the shipper has no means of compelling the servants of any connecting carrier to answer any question in regard to the shipment, or to acknowledge its receipt by such carrier, or to state its condition when received. ”

“ It shall be the duty of every carrier to make a record at the place of shipment of the receipt of any liquor transported, and he shall deliver liquor only to persons who present to the carrier a verified copy of a permit to purchase which shall be made a part of the carrier’s permanent record at the office from which delivery is made. ”

“ Numerous secondary tests had been used to distinguish contract carriage, but each shared a common feature: the criterion of 'specialization, either in the nature of the physical operation, or in respect of the shippers served, without some showing of which contract carriage cannot be found to exist.' (At 711; italics in report.) A carrier might engage in specialized operations and remain a common carrier if it held itself out to perform similar service for any shipper that might want it, but unless it did so specialize it could not be a contract carrier. ”

“ Whenever the goods intended for transportation are shipped on board, or delivered to the carrier or his agent for that purpose, it is the duty of the master, in the absence of any stipulation as to the period of sailing, to commence the voyage within a reasonable time, and he must proceed on the voyage in the direct and usual route to the port of delivery without any unnecessary deviation. ”

“ Sears, 21 Wend. 194; which show that, as common carriers by water, under a contract for the carriage of goods, and especially valuables, deliberately made, we should be entitled to the benefit of the terms of our special agreement with Harnden, under which the libellants must claim, if at all. See 2 Kent's Comm. 601, 608.
But we were not common carriers of this crate and its contents. A common carrier as to some things is not necessarily a common carrier as to others. ”

“ The winter was extremely cold, with deep snow and heavy ice. The mail carrier always stopped with us over night each way, going south and coming north, our people knowing his parents so well he always felt at home with us. It was always a pleasure seeing the mail carrier coming with his dogs and great pouches full of mail. The tinkling of the bells around the dogs' necks always made us drop our work to see them coming on a fast trot, for the dogs enjoyed being noticed and petted. ”

“ The carrier may hire his vehicle, or his team, or his servant, for the purposes of transportation; or he may undertake to employ them himself in the act of transporting the goods of another. It is in the latter case only, that he assumes the liabilities, and acquires the rights of a common carrier. ”

“ The carrier is no more an angel than other human beings, no matter whether pink or black; he has all the imperfections and the love of self-preservation of the brother who calls himself white. I remember once having all the loads laid out ready for the start and then giving the order for each man to choose his load. It was evident the carriers had mentally marked the load each would like to seize, for a dash was made for a small box only about 18 inches square and having the appearance of a 20 lb. load—but it was a case of cartridges weighing 80 lbs.! ”

“ A common carrier is such by virtue of his occupation, not by virtue of the responsibilities under which he rests. Even if the extent of those responsibilities is restricted by law or by contract, the nature of his occupation makes him a common carrier still. ”