St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-04-14
Our New York Letter.

MAsTER-HoLDING THE FoRT-A wo-
MANS rowER-THE QUAKER BABEL.
NEW YORK, April Z, 1876.
To the Editor Of the tdIedOnidn
Considerable sensation was created
10y the circular of the Secretary of the
Treasury to the Postotfice aud Custom
House, stating, that owing to Il lack of
appropriation to cover such expenses,
these buildings must be ut once discon
tinued. 1t may not seem so great IA
thing to be deprived of these conlmodi
ties for Il few days, excepting for the
Inconvenience to clerks, but its serious
ness will he realized ut once if one re-
fleets for il moment on the relation which
the Postotfice bears to the commerce of
New York city, and through it to that
of the whole country. ;" perfect and
regular have become the workings of
our postal system. that our banks and
merchants have come to rely as implicit
| ~ upon the punctual arrival of their
mail rcmittances to effect clearanccS
and meet obligations. rs though the
cash Was being hurried to them 10y >pe-
cial messenger. SO true Is this, that
the detention for an hour OF two of IL
European OF other important mail. will
crowd the office with anxious business
men clamoring to know the reason of
the delay, and imploIin. the utmost
of the clerical work. which renders pos
slhle this prompt and efficient service.
is done at night. or III parts of the build
ing where gas is Il constant necessity.
With these points in mind. one can ca>-
~ imagine the CONSERVATION aud dis
treSs which the closing of the Po>totlicr
that if such Interruptions should hc con
tinued for Il single week. numerous fail
uleS must result.
But Just this was what the order from
aShInTton meant. and a> 40 di>.i-
langemcnt OF the mails had followed.
] ' !
office to learn how the difficulty had
been srIrmountcd. Here in his elegant
office. he found Postmaster james. 4
strlkingly tine-l""kIng man. with short
irun-gre hair. dark eyes and NOUS
| tachc. hearty voice and Il cordial man
ncr. with executive ability written all
over him. and from himself and his s,.c-
rotary learned the follow ing facts in the
cast.
The Postmaster also holds the posi-
ton OF Custodian OF the building, AN
office III which his immediate superior
Is the Secretary of the Treasury. and
which. while il involves immense addi-
tional responsibility and the giving of
extra bonds, is filled 10y Postmaster
james without salary. 1t was in this
capacity. therefore. that he received the
aforementioned circular. His reply
WAS prompt. and to the effect that as
| Custodian he should carry out the or
ders ut once. As Postmaster. however.
! his course was very different. and con
sisted simply i'll becoming personally
responsible for the Indispensable SUP
! plies. of which gas *. of course. the
main item. amounting to something like
500 per day. and he remains so at the
present writing. This prompt action
ON the part Of Mr.. james. hich avert
ed LOSSES and damage to trade which
would have cost lis dear, is fully ap-
preciated by the business community.
and the office L. in lrceIpt OF numerous
letters tcStltNing its gratitude. Through
the courtesy of the postmaster. Your
correspondent was also afforded an OBJ
portunlty of Inspecting the building
| from Sub-baSement to cupola, and also
the Interior WORKINGS of the different
departments. Many of the particulars.
when learned. would be Of interest to
your readers. but must he reserved for
another letter.
At the Custom House little trouble
was experienced, there not being the
same necessity there for night work.
and everything there is running as
smoothly as possible, considering the
recent cutting down of the force which
was rendered necessary by the spas
modic economy of the government. Six
ty employees have been discharged this
month, and the collector states that as
IL result. the government is being cheat
eel OF ten times the saving thus effected,
through the inSntficency of the remain
ing force to watch the importing bust
hess.
Plymouth can no longer boast of the
only tiIstclass church disturbance in
this vicinity. \ darkey Methodist con
gregation, also located in Brooklyn. is
eXerting itself strongly to attract its
humber share of notice, and is meeting
with encouraging success 81 far. This
sable society has Il pastor, who. some
weeks since. offended his Board of
Trustees, and then deliberately Scotfed
at their cordial invitation to him to step
down and out. This naturally argerrd
that august body, who determined to
no longer follow the headings of their
contumaciouS shepherd, hut to lock the
church doors against him. But they
had reckonrd without their host, for the
preacher getting ahead of them took
possession of the sacred rditice and lock
ed himself in. taking with him body
guard from the faithful of the flock
Then the trustees. being only mortal.
got mad and stormed the sanctuary,
but the good man ''held the fort" and
the bcSiegerS retired with the loss of Il
man or two who fell into the hands of
the police. The Reverend Murray for
such is the hrro'S name-stll remains
hhdSi'i VI lhr nitud'Ioil' b'i' u'">h ven
ture outside the sacred precincts for fear
of the wiles of the enemy. Aud ia or
der that the spiritual growth of himself
and charge may net suffer ny the dead
lock. he holds nightly revival meetings.
in which praying. shouting and singing
resound till Il late hour Whether the
parSon will ever come ont of his strong
hold is uncertain, but if he does. it will
doubtless be with victory upon his ban
uers.