Idahonian July 5, 1976
In 50 years of Mail Service.
..lived due to his prior seven years with Union Delivery(a horse and wagon delivery service for 22 Moscow stores.)
He started out as a primary mail separator. This guaranteed him, and two others on duty, two hours of work a day. If any of the town or rural carriers or a clerk were unable to work, he substituted for them. "Whenever this happened I might work from 6 a.m. til 6 p.m. said the alert 80 year old. "I still had to sort the mail as well as do the other fellow's job. This made me an hour or more later getting started on a route than the regular. People didn't realize this and I was soon called "Rigor Mortis' by some and "Old Slow Mert" by others." He chuckled.
In those days there weren't any relay boxes which meant the carriers had to start out with a pack crammed full and make two trips of 14 to 16 miles each. "We wore a pedometer so we'd know how far we walked because the postmaster liked to keep the routes as even as possible." He said.
Seventy-five per cent of the people had mail boxes. Many were little tin boxes given to them by their bank. Those without boxes had slots in their doors or cardboard grocery boxes tacked onto their houses.
"I never was bitten by a dog. Some of the fellows carried revolvers loaded with bird shot with the postmaster's permission, but I never did." He said. "I always tried to talk kind to the dogs and made friends with a lot of them that way. If I did come across and unfriendly one I used the buckle end of my magazine strap to keep him at a distance."
For the rural routes he drove a two-door Model A. In deep snow he used a team of two horses and an enclosed postal wagon. At first, he used the regular's horses or rented a pair, but later on he bought a good pair of Cayuses.
"Before we could start on our rural routes we had to wait for the stores to open in case someone wanted meat delivered. This didn't happen often on the town routes as the person had to pay postage on it." He said.
In 1934. Two full time clerk jobs opened up due to Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to make more work. Merton was given one of these and from then on until his retirement in 1960 he worked within the post office. Today Merton resides with his wife Jennie at 595 West C…..
Contributor: Jan (47218723)
In 50 years of Mail Service.
..lived due to his prior seven years with Union Delivery(a horse and wagon delivery service for 22 Moscow stores.)
He started out as a primary mail separator. This guaranteed him, and two others on duty, two hours of work a day. If any of the town or rural carriers or a clerk were unable to work, he substituted for them. "Whenever this happened I might work from 6 a.m. til 6 p.m. said the alert 80 year old. "I still had to sort the mail as well as do the other fellow's job. This made me an hour or more later getting started on a route than the regular. People didn't realize this and I was soon called "Rigor Mortis' by some and "Old Slow Mert" by others." He chuckled.
In those days there weren't any relay boxes which meant the carriers had to start out with a pack crammed full and make two trips of 14 to 16 miles each. "We wore a pedometer so we'd know how far we walked because the postmaster liked to keep the routes as even as possible." He said.
Seventy-five per cent of the people had mail boxes. Many were little tin boxes given to them by their bank. Those without boxes had slots in their doors or cardboard grocery boxes tacked onto their houses.
"I never was bitten by a dog. Some of the fellows carried revolvers loaded with bird shot with the postmaster's permission, but I never did." He said. "I always tried to talk kind to the dogs and made friends with a lot of them that way. If I did come across and unfriendly one I used the buckle end of my magazine strap to keep him at a distance."
For the rural routes he drove a two-door Model A. In deep snow he used a team of two horses and an enclosed postal wagon. At first, he used the regular's horses or rented a pair, but later on he bought a good pair of Cayuses.
"Before we could start on our rural routes we had to wait for the stores to open in case someone wanted meat delivered. This didn't happen often on the town routes as the person had to pay postage on it." He said.
In 1934. Two full time clerk jobs opened up due to Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to make more work. Merton was given one of these and from then on until his retirement in 1960 he worked within the post office. Today Merton resides with his wife Jennie at 595 West C…..
Contributor: Jan (47218723)
Idahonian July 5, 1976
In 50 years of Mail Service.
..lived due to his prior seven years with Union Delivery(a horse and wagon delivery service for 22 Moscow stores.)
He started out as a primary mail separator. This guaranteed him, and two others on duty, two hours of work a day. If any of the town or rural carriers or a clerk were unable to work, he substituted for them. "Whenever this happened I might work from 6 a.m. til 6 p.m. said the alert 80 year old. "I still had to sort the mail as well as do the other fellow's job. This made me an hour or more later getting started on a route than the regular. People didn't realize this and I was soon called "Rigor Mortis' by some and "Old Slow Mert" by others." He chuckled.
In those days there weren't any relay boxes which meant the carriers had to start out with a pack crammed full and make two trips of 14 to 16 miles each. "We wore a pedometer so we'd know how far we walked because the postmaster liked to keep the routes as even as possible." He said.
Seventy-five per cent of the people had mail boxes. Many were little tin boxes given to them by their bank. Those without boxes had slots in their doors or cardboard grocery boxes tacked onto their houses.
"I never was bitten by a dog. Some of the fellows carried revolvers loaded with bird shot with the postmaster's permission, but I never did." He said. "I always tried to talk kind to the dogs and made friends with a lot of them that way. If I did come across and unfriendly one I used the buckle end of my magazine strap to keep him at a distance."
For the rural routes he drove a two-door Model A. In deep snow he used a team of two horses and an enclosed postal wagon. At first, he used the regular's horses or rented a pair, but later on he bought a good pair of Cayuses.
"Before we could start on our rural routes we had to wait for the stores to open in case someone wanted meat delivered. This didn't happen often on the town routes as the person had to pay postage on it." He said.
In 1934. Two full time clerk jobs opened up due to Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to make more work. Merton was given one of these and from then on until his retirement in 1960 he worked within the post office. Today Merton resides with his wife Jennie at 595 West C…..
Contributor: Jan (47218723)
In 50 years of Mail Service.
..lived due to his prior seven years with Union Delivery(a horse and wagon delivery service for 22 Moscow stores.)
He started out as a primary mail separator. This guaranteed him, and two others on duty, two hours of work a day. If any of the town or rural carriers or a clerk were unable to work, he substituted for them. "Whenever this happened I might work from 6 a.m. til 6 p.m. said the alert 80 year old. "I still had to sort the mail as well as do the other fellow's job. This made me an hour or more later getting started on a route than the regular. People didn't realize this and I was soon called "Rigor Mortis' by some and "Old Slow Mert" by others." He chuckled.
In those days there weren't any relay boxes which meant the carriers had to start out with a pack crammed full and make two trips of 14 to 16 miles each. "We wore a pedometer so we'd know how far we walked because the postmaster liked to keep the routes as even as possible." He said.
Seventy-five per cent of the people had mail boxes. Many were little tin boxes given to them by their bank. Those without boxes had slots in their doors or cardboard grocery boxes tacked onto their houses.
"I never was bitten by a dog. Some of the fellows carried revolvers loaded with bird shot with the postmaster's permission, but I never did." He said. "I always tried to talk kind to the dogs and made friends with a lot of them that way. If I did come across and unfriendly one I used the buckle end of my magazine strap to keep him at a distance."
For the rural routes he drove a two-door Model A. In deep snow he used a team of two horses and an enclosed postal wagon. At first, he used the regular's horses or rented a pair, but later on he bought a good pair of Cayuses.
"Before we could start on our rural routes we had to wait for the stores to open in case someone wanted meat delivered. This didn't happen often on the town routes as the person had to pay postage on it." He said.
In 1934. Two full time clerk jobs opened up due to Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to make more work. Merton was given one of these and from then on until his retirement in 1960 he worked within the post office. Today Merton resides with his wife Jennie at 595 West C…..
Contributor: Jan (47218723)
Gravesite Details
On stone with Jennie M. Waterman.
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