Washington telegraph., 1849-03-28
THE LITTLE ROCK MAIL ROUTE.


as we understand it, is, that the few old
broken down horses on the road, having
to perform double duty, are, like the
miserable old stages, worn out, and entire
ly unfit for service, and that in conse
quence, the concern is about wound up.
We hope it may never resuscitate, for we
should be much better off without mail,
than to be compelled to place our depen-
dence on such contemplate hunlbug-
ging concern, as John B. Hammond's
line. In fact, we have had nc regular
mail communication over this route, since
the first of July, 1916, at which time it
passed into the hands of the present en-
tealrasamg (.) contractor. A baser impo-
sition never was practised upon any COM
munity-they have been vilalnously i'm
posed upon: and have, time after time,
respectfully petitioned the Post Office De-
partment for redress, which has been as
often denied them, and their petitions
passed over with contempt. Instead of
calling the contractor to an account for
lereliction of duty, the Post Master
General, MIR. johnson, has winked at his
delinquencies, and suffered him to con-
tinue his impositions, until now, the route
is 100 per cent worse than none. The
contractor does manage to keep rider
with one horse on this end of the route, who
arrives occasionally, brings nothing, but
carries out what mail may be at the Post
Office here, and deposites it somewhere on
the road, to be disposed Of hereafter. This
has been the case for the last two weeks,
and for that length of time we have not
received a single Little Rock paper
Verify, our cotemporaries there, must be
good, easy souls, as they do not appear to
care a copper whether their papers reach
their destination or not.
Ever since the commencement of MIR.
Hammond's contract, in 1916, we have
not, to the best of our recollection, for a
month at time, had uninterrupted mail
communication with Little Rock; and
at no time since then, have the teams
on the road been sufficient to transport the
mail regularly. When it does arrive,
which it sometimes does, ONCE in fort:
night, instead of preaching this place by the
contract hour, 9 o'clock, Z. NJ, it rarely
ever arrives before one o'clock, A. M
The beggarly boxes upon wheels, yc<epe@
Coaches, have been left standing in the
road, with the mails in them, several days
at time, and no person to watch OR take
charge of them. For the truth of this,
we refer the present Post Master
General, to the affidavit of MIR. Moss,
which was forwarded to Mr.. Johnson, the
former Post Master General and is, or
ought to be, on file in the Department.
The mails have been thrown out on
the road, to- make room for passengers
baggage, by which they have been delayed
for several days, if not for weeks. The
truth of this charge, we hold ourselves IN
readiness to establish, whenever called |
upon. We have also been credibly IN
formed, that the mails Aave failed In con-
sequence of the contractor having made
no arrangement with the ferryman On one
of the streams, the Caddo, we think: for
crossing them. A gentleman who travel
led over the route, last winter, was in
formed by the Driver, that he was COM
pelled to turn back with the mail, when |
he had no passengers, who would prefer
paying the ferriage to being detained
when, if an arrangement had been made
with the ferryman, the mail might have
came through
These are only part of the grievances
under which, for the last two years, we
have been laboring, and for the redress OF
which, a petition numerously signed by
cur most respectable citizens, was for
warded to the Post Master General, and
which, has remained wholly unnoticed by
him. We believe he did condescend to
inform one of the signers. that MIR. Ham
mond had been notified, that in case any
more complaints were made. his case
would be attended to- and in this condi-
ton. affairs have been growing worse, un-
til they have become beyond endurance
Despairing of having the evils COM
plained of, remedled under MIR. Johnson's