by Debbie Winchester, Staff Writer
With Christmas swirling in soon, mail begins to draw more and
more attention. Everyone knows that early mailing of cards and
packages will insure their delivery before Christmas, but hardly
anyone realizes the effect the early mailing has on the post office
and, more importantly its employees.
Retiring Wednesday, Nov. 27, just before the seasonal rush, Herschel
Johnston a mail carrier for some 31 years at the Warsaw branch
of the U. S. Post Office spoke of good and bad times on his daily
route.
A Warsaw native, the 64-year-old carrier graduated from Warsaw
High School in 1929. Before taking the examination that was to
establish his life-time career, Johnston worked for 13 years as
an apprentice pharmacist at the Lantz and Dufur Drug Store in
Warsaw. The drug store was located in the building at 124 South
Buffalo where Lord's Dress Shop is now located.
Johnson first became interested in working as a mail carrier through
his association with postman Adrian Coplen. "I had talked
to him a number of times," Johnston said, "and it always
kind of appealed to me."
When the decision to become a carrier was made and the time came
for Johnston to take the postal examination, it was Coplen who
gave him the books necessary to study for the written test.
Lengthy Exam
unlike the basice true and false test taken today, the exam Johnston
took required lengthy written responses to the questions. My hand
felt like it weighed a pound when I got through it," Johnston
recalled. He had ranked eleventh out of the 65 who took the exam
at the time.
Although he took the test in 1935, it was not until six years
later that he officially became a mail carrier.
Starting in the Christmas season of 1941, Johnston worked and
learned as a substitute for the first three or four years. And
there was a lot for him to learn, including how to "case"
the daily mail load so that it would be easier to deliver from
house to house.
Before going out to deliver, all the carriers must sort their
loads according to house numbers on the particular streets they
deliver. The sorting or "casing" has to be done accurately
and quickly because only a specific amount of time is allowed
for it each day.
Assigned as a regular carrier to the northwest section of Warsaw
when the carrier for that section of the city died, Johnston carried
deliveries to that part of the city designated Route 2, for more
than 28 years.
Route Motorized
Originally a walking route from start to finish, the postal organization
motorized the route around Christmas of last year. But the gray-haired
Johnston still walked nearly 15 miles a day. "The route is
still walking mostly," Johnston said. "We drive the
Jeep to the region we are going to deliver to and then use it
as a relay box." That accounts for the disappearance of the
hulking green boxes that were always so visible when one wanted
to mail a letter in a hurry, but could not find a "real"
mailbox.
Most of the businesses on Johnston's route had changed at least
once since he first started walking it, but a lot of the residents
stayed the same. "I carry mail to a lot of older, retired
people. They don't move much," he said. "They are bounded
by the lake on the one side and the swamp on the other."
3 Different Postmasters
Employed under three different postmasters, Johnston said the
first one he worked under had always said that a mail carrier
never makes a mistake. Of course, the carriers are only human.
Whenever he made a mistake, Johnston said the complaints were
usually waiting at the postoffice by the time his route was finished.
One couple in particular stuck in Johnston's mind. He said this
couple on his route complained about the mail service almost all
the time. They even went as far as to write a letter complaining
to the Postmaster General in Washington, D. C. about him. Then,
when they learned Johnston was retiring, they confessed they were
going to miss him. "I didn't have a very soft spot in my
heart for them at the time," Johnston said, "but you
kind of have to forgive them."
In the 31 years Johnston was a carrier, the location of the Warsaw
Post Office never changed from the corner of Lake and Market streets.
To reach the area where Johnston once cased his mail, marked "Herschel
Johnston Route Number 2 Mail, Only, a path had to be woven through
mazes of desks, baskets, leather pouches and other casing stations.
To people in the lobby, the great load of mail is not completely
visible. But behind those small windows where the clerks of the
post office operation stand, is an area filled with people and
tons and tons of mail.
Space Needed
Hesitant to cite problems in the local post office, Johnson consented
that the post office is in need for more space for its daily load.
The building itself is actually small. "It is congested most
all the time," Johnston said.
"We were, at one time, promised a new post office,"
he continued, "but something happened to it. There was some
dickering here and there, but nothing ever came of it. Eventually
we will have to have one if the town keeps growning."
At one time the mail was delivered from the main office to the
Warsaw branch by train, but in more recent years semi-trailer
trucks had taken over this end of the mail service. Since the
mail is presently delivered to and from the office in South Bend
by the big trucks, any new construction would need enough space
for the rigs to turn around. "We would need nearly a city
block to build a new building now," Johnston said.
All the mail collected at the Warsaw office is packed up and sent
to the main area office. There it is sorted and sent on to wherever
it is supposed to go for delivery.
Zip Code Important
Even the local Warsaw mail is sent there and then back in time
for delivery the next day. It is a round about trip for the local
letters but Johnston stated that it does not delay delivery unless
no zip code is included in the address.
Since it is sorted by computer, the machine kicks out any mail
addressed without a zipcode. It then must be sorted by hand. Although
the location of the local branch has not changed, the location
of the main office has changed several times. At one time the
main postal office for this area was located in Cincinnati. Later,
the postal organization "supposedly decentralized" according
to Johnston and Fort Wayne was named the district office location.
Now the bosses of the local area mail operation are stationed
in South Bend.
Fewer Magazines
Through the past 31 years the appearance of the carriers' loads
have changed. Parcel post has dwindled and fewer and fewer magazines
are appearing in their pouches. That mail so lovingly titled "junk
mail" by those on the receiving end, is getting heavier.
The reason businesses are turning to this advertising more and
more, Johnston said, is because of the price. "There has
been some increase in price, but very little," he said. "You
can always tell when the economy is getting tight. Every time
business gets tight, they begin to throw that advertising in there.
The mail carriers used to have to purchase their own uniforms.
Now they are supplied with a uniform allowance. "But actually
it is hardly enough to outfit a fellow when he first starts in,"
Johnston stated.
An avid hunter and fisherman, Johnston likes the outdoor work
unvolved in being a mail carrier. At one time, the post office
started to give him a job as a clerk, but shince he had spent
those first 13 years working in doors at the drug store, Johnston
decided he did not want to work inside.
Although the decision may have later cost him a position as a
carrier supervisor, he was placed back on the route. He applied
for a supervisor's position later, but since he had not logged
any official time as a clerk, he did not get the position.
Dogs Problem
Traditionally mail carrier have always had problems with dogs
and not because the dogs are overly friendly. "There must
be something about all the straps and the leather pouches that
the dogs think is threatening," Johnston said, stating he
had been bitten quite a number of times. "If the dogs gave
us too much trouble, we could always ask their owners to keep
them tied up. They were always pretty good about it."
Johnston said there was not so much of a problem with the dogs
since the city passed the ordinance stating owners must keep their
dogs tied up. "Only now they tiem them to the mail boxes,"
he chuckled.
Some dogs, however, always seemed more curious than vicious. A
dog owner himself, Johnston holds fond memories of one dog named
"Dopey".
Day after day Dopey would meet Johnston at the beginning of his
route and follow him until he was through carrying in the mail
for the day. Then the dog would go home. "He would go with
me the whole route," Johnston recalled. It was uncanny, he
wouldn't go with any of the subs."
In the years the dog walked the route with Johnston, he never
bit the mailman, although he would run a block to get a kid with
a cap gun."
Dopey Retires
Finally Dopey grew too old to run and play along the letter carrier's
route. There were even times the dog could hardly get up and down
the curbs, but he was always there waiting.
When Dopey did not show up to go with him for several days, Johnston
became curious and asked the owners about the dog. "They
told me they had been afraid he would get hur since he was so
old," Johnston said, "so they had him put to sleep."
Residents of 768 West Center Street, Warsaw, Johnston and his
wife, Irene, were married in 1932 in her home town of Grand Rapids,
Mich. Mrs. Johnston is a retired employee of the Kimble Glass
company.
3 Sons
The Johnstons are the parents of three sons, two of whom still
live in the Warsaw area and the third who resides in Scottsburg,
Ind. They also have three grandchildren, one a freshman at Manchester
College, one a junior at Warsaw Community High School, and the
youngest a one year old girl for whom Johnston is doing his grandfatherly
duty of spoiling.
During his retirement, Johnston has plans to do many things he
has not had a chance to do very much of in the past 31 years,
including visiting some of his wife's relatives in Florida. "Of
course, at Christmas time we'll be back here for the kids,"
he added.
Stating there is no mandatory retirement age for postal employees,
Johnston said, "I could have gone on for a few more years,
but I felt I was overdue already. "I never missed any time
at all.. no I want to do a little loafing and get used to it,"
he said. "I have got some fishing and hunting to get caught
up on. I never even got my boat in the water this year.
Daily Routine Gone
Having had two leg operations, Johnston continued, "Before
anything else hits me, I thought I had better quite while I am
ahead." He said it would be a transition to get the daily
routine out of his system after so many years.
Many people are going to miss the smiling, gray-haired letter
carrier, but they won't forget him nor will he forget them. On
his last day, several members of the National Association of Letter
Carriers, the carriers union, presented hi with a small pin honoring
him on his retirement. Johnston had served for approximately 20
years as secretary of the union.
The people on his route honored him too. A daily stop for a fried
egg sandwich and coffee, Johnston made his last regular stop in
Paul's Sandwich Shop on his last day. But this time 25 other people
were waiting for his appearance with a special cake and an ice-fishing
shelter for their long time mailman and friend.
(Note: Herschel Johnston passed away Jan. 16, 1999)
Warsaw Times Union, Spotlight Dec. 14-21, 1974