Ira Dannel opens the household allocation book and the ward’s signed objections at the Upper Chamber of Measures. Before anyone moves a cart or changes a mark, the crew checks a slate board on which each ward marks the days its reserve will last. The grain fall air brings its own pace to the passage.
The latest page holds 49 registered households. Ira Dannel reads the previous count (50) before the next mark is made. It is a small pause, long enough for the people at the rail to hear what the number leaves out.
The old rule favors wards by population; delegates from the steepest passages argue that travel time and storage loss also matter. The current record does not settle that disagreement. The difference between those accounts is visible here: a rule on the board and a working condition just beyond it.
A public vote has approved a narrow change while leaving the larger question open. The entry belongs to the follow-up survey file at the Upper Chamber of Measures. The next check will be made by another crew, asked to repeat the measure without borrowing the first crew’s conclusion.
When the shift closes, the file remains beside the marked place. Ward delegates will return with separate estimates of loss and delivery time. Until then, the route, schedule or allotment stays as it was at the opening bell.
