Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-03-10
Vermont Mall Service.

Our attention has been drawn to q letter
from St. Adams. published In the Boston
Journal some days since, in which the mail
service of Vermont was the subject OF com
plant and on a little inquiry We find
there is good cause for it. On the st. Al
bans and Boston line there are two trains
by which, for instance. Montpelier receives
mail from the north one leaves st. Al
bans at a. m, the other at 6 p. m. The
former, starting out so early, does not get
so much matter as the latter, which brings
the Canadian, and necessarily the bulk OF
the St. Adams, Burlington ana way mails.
These have to be assorted on the train, and
put into bags for the various stations, BY
one man. 1t is a cause of general fault
finding that letters dated, say at st. Adams,
the 5th, are not received here till the next
day, with mail from the South. A glance
at the work to done shows, however, that 1t
is impossible fer the one agent Government
at present puts on this evening train, TO
avoid carrying mails by on almost every
trip. de receives the Canada bags only IN
time to begin their asserting on leaving 81
Adams; and this mail, besides being very
heavy, Is, as any man who has bad expert
ence amongst the mail bags will " swear,
the hardest of all mails to distribute. Mon
siehr seems to have peculiar faculty for
pulling ones linguistic wits. The agent
has hardly made out where" Monpealieare'
goes before he is at Essex Junction with
scarcely beginning in his heap OF letters
and papers but he hastily puts together
what fortunately there may have been time
to get out for that place, pulls in the Essex
bags and takes up the sorting again.
The number of - registered letters to
receipt fIr on the way, take account Of, and
a. nd FIR IL In
nothing else. sOmew hat harrassing to q man
DO lover of red tape, who has more than he
can attend to besides. At Richmond, Mont
pelier. Randolph, and other stations, be
rides into the same fix, and is obliged TO
carry by as much, perhaps, as he delivers.
Scarcely any night can he more than say
" caught mp when be arrives at White
River Junction. But, in plain words, one
man cannot distribute the mail that accu
mulates for this train. 1t skes one all the
time from ST. Adams to White River june
ton 10 - get through 1t once" and have
what Is carried by ready TO go back the next
day Yet while this Is more important, and
carries heavier mails than the morning
train. 1t is not 20 well appointed as the lat
ter which has two agents ; though at Con-
cord. y. Ii II l. noticeable that an extra
man l. provided, Oy whose aid the rest Ct
the line l. well accommodated. II you
compare the mail service Of Vermont with
the service OF New Hampshire, even on the
least important Routes, you cannot but no.
tee that The latter : much the more COM
piete, and one naturally wonders how it
happens. Ii seems reasonable at least II
inquire why the most important route IN
Vermont, running through ST. Adams, Bur
llngton. and Montpelier, Is not furnished
with a service equal - the wOrk.-M0nf-
peiler Freeman.
The above, evidently written by some one
with an inside knowledge of the situation,
explains, 10 some extent, the cause of the
Irregularities in the mails Of which SO many
Of our subscribers along the line Of the
Central have 50 justly complained. We
have received recent assurances from the
Superintendent of Railway Nail Service,
that all cases Of default on the part of the
agents shall receive attention. and We trust
that the present condition Of the Nail ser
service east from Burlington-which i
certainly worse than We have ever known
it to be since the railroads began running
will show a change t)r the better
If our subscribers along the line Will,
ergy tune the mail from Burlington Is car
ried by. or fails, be it once, twice, thrice or
more a week, drop line or postal card to
T. p Cheney. Superintendent Railway Mail /.
Service. Boston, stating the fact, it will /
greatly assist our, and his. endeavors to get |
the thing Strengthened out.