Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1831-02-24
eIycrrSATI, Feb z.


sry Of fire en- Thursday morning last, about
one o'clock 1t broke out in the brick build.
ing occupied as a grocery, corner Of Elm aud
Frent streets lis origin is ascribed to some
defect in the stove pipe This building, with
the warehouse aud stable attached the pro-
pertv OF Mr. WhetstoEe, were consumed,
witt an adjacent frame building, owned BY
Mr.. Mansiield-no insurance, loss estimated
at about Il, 600 The night was one of IN
common severity. The morning previous
there was awarm rain; the streets almost i'm
passable, and yet at noon, SO sudden was ths
Change, they were frozen quite hard. The
exertons OF the fire companies have received
grnei al commentator.
II is with great regret, we are obliged to
record the death Of an estlnable fellow cit-
Zen--Mr. James Armstrong, attached 10 the
| fire company. He was among the foremost
in lis attempls.'to subdue the raging fire,
| when as explosion Of keg Of gun potcdsr IN
| The GrocerJ threw down one Of the partition
walls and nearly buried him in its ruins. At
tempts were I~ade TO extricatc him, but SO
intense was the heat OF the FIRE, that for
while thew were unavalling Several gentle
men, 10 their great credit be it said, risked
their own lives in these laudab!e efforts, but
nearly half an hour elapsed before they sue
Yceeded He was taken alive indeed, only to
endure for a few hours the most excruclatinE
| sulfering.. Mr. Armstrong has left a uJe and
four children.
I On Saturday morning the 9Th inst. the
dwelling house and work shop Of Mr.. Peter
| Cosntz in Winchester, were destroyed by
| fire.: slr c. who is an industrious mechanic.
( With large family, is supposed TO have sus-
tanned less of fren 2 90 TO S2,5C0, and 10
at this Indictment season, turned houseless
upon the svmpsth ies of the world. The fra
originated from accident; and, owing to tho
scarcity of water, il was found Impossible to
aFrest the devourips element, before Mr. Us
property was consumed.
I.ternsl Improvement. In the following
answer of the Postmaster General TO reso.
! luton introduced into the House OF Repre-
sentatives of the United States by Mr.. Lei
per, we have palpable argument III favor Of
| the exercise OF the power OF Internal I'M
proYement, for which we have always con-
| tended, by the Gen. Government. NO one,
| we presume, will venture to deny to the Co.
vernment the power to transport the mail
Does not the power to facilitate its transport
tpton necessarily result? And if link Of
read, Of the highest Importance in national
view, as the post road from Philadelphia to
Baltimore undoubtedly is, though OF compa-
ratiyelv small importance as 4 State road, be
| so defective as to be next to impossible, can
ans one deny the power of the Government
the agency Of The Post Office Department,
| if YOU please, to remedy the evil? We are
obliged to Mr.. Leiper for having extracted
this letter from a member Of the Cabinet,
whose admissions We have right to lay hold
of.--.Nai. Int.
Letter from ths Postmaster General, IN reply
to a resolution Of the House Of Representa-
tires, upon the satject Of the causes q the ~
regularity q tie a'riUatof the Eastern .Nait.s
Posi- OFFIGE DEPtRTMEST,S
February 10, 1881.
Sir:-In obedience to resolution Of the
House Of Representatives. requesting the
Postmaster General. to ''conmunlcate 10 the
House The causes Of the irregularity Of the
arrival of the Eastern mail, 10 what the fai-
lure is attributable. and remedy can be pro-
| vidcd To prevent the delay" have the honor
| 10 state that the recent snow storm SO OBJ
| etructed the roads as 10 render them in some
| instances, wholly impossible; and nothing
but the unwcaried aud almost unexampled
| eycrti0ns Of efficient and enterprislng con-
tractors, in the midst OF the tempest. corld
| have procured passage for the mail thToL.sh
| the immense drifts Of snow, which are repre-
:entsd TO have been, in many places, from
| FIVE to twenty feet in height. This impedi.
alsnt, it is presumed, will not be Of frequent
eccurrence;yet it is anticipate d'hat the melt
| ng Of The snow. especially if attended with
| rain, viii SO swell some Of the stream. on the
| route as to cause a few r0ors failures. am
| further advised that this mail is occasionally
| retarded in its progress by the rise If water
ana floating of ice in the Susquekannah III
yer, aud the condition Of about A mics Of
the road between PHILADELPHIA s. Baltimore,
which Ike most other roads net tufnpiked is
rendered bad by rain, &c.
The only "remedy" viii, b. il is conceived,
''can be provided to preveat tue delay" is TO
sbvate the difficulty in crossing the streams,
and turnpike that part Of the road to which
al!usion has been made.
/ have the honor to be,
Respectfully, your ob't seryt.
w. Z. BARRY.
Hen. ANDREw STEVENSON,
Speaker y Tie House Of Representations
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