The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-11-04


Its mother in the days OF yore.
The baby play cd upon my knee
She must have known, it seemed to me,
Why l so fondly kissed her child.
Ernest Bross, IN Chicago HteT-Occdn-
THE TRUE FABLE OF THE CAR.
RIER.
The question that is puzzllng the
Post-office Department at Washington
just now is, how much mail matter of
any class is letter carrier required to
convey from the street boxes to the
office? The case which brought this
question to the attention of the Post
Office Department occurred in the city
of Burlington, and for little while it
was feared that an International High
Joint Commission would have to sit
upon it.
1t seems that Mr.. f. C.. Stiehlpen,
secretary of the Lightning Rod Mems
Mutual Assurance Society, had pub
lished for. distribution among the
agents and policy-holders of the asso-
citation, and for general advertising
purposes, pamphlet of some fourteen
pages, the edition numbering about
79, 900 copies. These were placed in
single wrappers, addressed, stamped
and ready for the mail. Carrier x,
speeding among the boxes On route
number oughty-ought, met the beck
oning gesture of Secretary Stiehlpen
and peeped into the Office. The ge-
nial secretary told him he had some
mail he wanted taken to the Office,
and pointed to huge pile of tie-sacks
stacked up in a corner of the room.
Carrier X pointed to the limited ca
pacity of his pouch, and suggested
that Secretary Stiehlpen buy himself
q pack saddle and load himself up and
open q new route between his Office
and the post-ofice. The secretary in
sisted that the carrier take charge of
the mail, but Carrier X cut the discus
sion short by saying his duty lay en-
tirely with the boxes, and that he
wasn't allowed to stop on his route and
talk politics. And he went his way.
The next day, however, when he
came to the letter box nearest the
Office of the Mutual Assurance Society,
the carrier found two large tie-sacks
of these circulars leaned up against
the lamp post, and Secretary Stiehlpen
standing beside them, with a pleasant
look in his eyes, which somehow or
SthCA hiooS thO SoAkiCt ShANSk-
He looked pleasant enough" said
Carrier X, "but somehow or other, he
didn't look neighborly."
When the carrier unlocked the box,
it was chock full of these circulars.
1t seemed to him, he afterward told
the postmaster, that they had been
tamped in, like a blast. 1t required
some effort Of. physical strength to pull
them out, and great effort of the will
to look pleasantly unconcerned and
innocently unapprehensive while he
did so.
Then, as he pulled the pamphlets
out from below, the secretary, with the
same calm smile wreathing his lips,
chucked new ones in from above.
The carrier laughed, but feebly, and
the secretary laughed, gently, but
firmly; and he poked in more PAM
phlets.
The carrier thrust in one hand after
the other and yanked out the PAM
phlets in wild haste and utterly regard
less of condition. He wanted to
empty the box and get away. He was
surprised at the marvellous rapidity of
his own movements. The pamphlets
flew out of the box and into his pouch
in q perfect shower of literature.
The secretary showed in the PAM
phlets like aman loading a Gatling gun,
held short club under his arm, which
Carrier x at first thought was intended
for purposes of intimidation at the tele-
graph poles or lamp posts. 1t was not
put to any lawless or criminal use, how
ever, nor was it so intended. Once in
. while pamphlet. carelessly wrapped,
would stick fast in the receiving slit of
the letter box. With one vigorous
whack of the club the secretary would
drive it home. and it would shoot down
inside the box, rapping the carriers s
fingers like a stray bolt from some
neighboring archery party.
81 think" the secretary remarked
on one of these occasions, "the Gov
ernment should have large round hole
in one end of the boxes to receive
pamphlets; say a hole about as big
around as q tomato can"
"H 1 were the Department" said
Carrier X, 81 would have q pamphlet
bomb placed in every box, so that every
time a man dropped in q newspaper or
pamphlet it would blow him over the
moon"
And he scooped out fresh handful
of pamphlets and made q hasty move
ment to close and lock the box.
"You are a spy of the enemy and no
true Burlingtonian," calmly replied
the secretary; "you want to destroy
our population until we would take rank
in the census with Keokuk. Don't stop
yet, there are seven more pamphlets in
there"
And he thrust two more into the slit
and pounded them in with the club.
And when the perspiring carrier opened
the box to get at the rest of the mail,
the secretary made flank movement on
him and crowded about a dozen PAM
phlets into the big hole, along with the
carriers hands.
"Hold on" shouted Carrier X, "play
fair! That doesn't count! This is the
place to take the mail out; Government
doesn't allow any mail to be put in here
no more than it can be taken out at
the other place. That beats you; un-
lawful disposition Of mail matter"
And he cast them all out upon the
ground, and triumphantly locked the
box.
.sWell," replied the secretary, who
saw his error, but resolutely addressed
himself to the work of retrieving it, II
lost by that move, but here we are, start
again, there's lot more in"
But the departing voice of Carrier X
came gaily back from the other side of
the street:
..Not this morning! They were put
in since madem my collection. Have to
wait for afternoon collection"
81 lost by my unfair greed" said Sec-
retary Stieeipen, looking after the disap-
psaring figure Of Carrier x, with Q