The anteroom of the post office in a little Ohio town was crowded.

The train had arrived from the west, but it went as soon as it came, for it did not stop.

A scream of the whistle, the rumble of the wheels, and the mighty monster dashed through the peaceful town at fifty miles an hour.
But the inhabitants were not so interested in the train, for they had seen it pass in just this fashion year after year.

But from the baggage coach there came each evening a bag of mail, and this was the cause of the gathering at the post office.

While the postmaster and his assistant were opening and distributing the mail behind the closed window in the post office, the restless townspeople occupied themselves in social chat discussing the local happenings of the day, or in reading the notices on the bulletin board.
Everybody was at the post office at this hour.