Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-12-17
PosToFFcE MATTERS.
WHERE THE DIFFICULTY IS IN THe
WEST VIRGINIA SERVICE.
Statistics Of sae Wheeling 0fRee- What Free
Delivery Rss Done-cOl. Steding's
Views on What is Needed to Perfect
ssry- si,s vi. the System.
'HaRPeR's FERRY, WHAT TO DO WITH IT
specta, obrrsspozsnce Of The Register.

| Special Cbrrespor1ltnce Of the Register.
WASHINGTON, December 16.-I had con
| siderable talk yesterday with Col. Hugh
| Sterling, who is here looking after the in
| terests of the Wheeling Postofice and
postal routes adjacen5to Wheeling, as well
as the general appropriation for the Post,
Office department.. He says it is mistake
tosuppose that the attention paid by the
department. to the: matter of insurfRg fire.
quent deliveries by carriers, in cities hay
ing the carrier-delivery system, takes
away any of its ability to serve the country
routes acceptably. On the contrary, he
claims that frequent delivery by carriers
is a means of profit, not only by stimulat-
ing correspondence and securing the addi-
tional penny paid when o drOp-letter IS de-
ivered, but also in the
Saving OF Clerk Hire
in the offices which have the carrier sys
tenn. Taking Wheeling. for instance,
which, he says, is one of the most profta-
bic offices to the Government of the class
to which it belongs, the increase in the
number of pieces handled last year was
nearly treble that of the year preceding
the introduction of its carrier system, the
difference being something like that be-
tween nine hundred thousand and two
million three hundred thousand pieces.
The extra stamp on drop letters delivered
brought in about 81 800, and whereas, the
office before the Introduction of carriers
brought in a revenue of $23, 600 with an
expenditure of about $l4a0G for salaries
and clerk hire, it yielded last year some
SSS, 900, with smaller outlay for such ex-
penses; and is likely next year TO yield in
the neighborhood of $4,000, the receipts
for the last quarter
Being Nearly $4,000.
OF course something of this is due to the
general growth of population and business,
but Col. Sterling claims that itat least dem
onstrates the value of the carrier service to
the government, and their right to ask for
an allowance sufficient to enable them to
continue it satisfactorily, and without
breaking down the employees by overwork.
AS to the failure to provide proper facili-
ties for interior routes, throughout the
State, of which too much complaint has
been made, Sterling says the main trouble
consists in the fact that no preference is
given by the department to contractors liv
ing along the line of the route proposed
to be served. The route is left to the
Lowest Bidder
who will give security for the fulilment
of his contract. Bidders who live near the
route know:.what it wn cost to serve it,
and bid accordingly. Those who have no
practical knowledge Of it, resulting from
residence in its proximity, take it at un.
renumeratiye figures, serve it for brief
period and then throw up the contract.
The Trouble Begins.
The Department can offer the contract to
the next lowest of the original bidders un-
til it finds one who will accept, and can
collect the difference from the bondsmen of
the defaulting contractor; or it can read
vertise and relet the route. But all this
takes time, and meanwhile the service on
the route is suspended, and the people
along the line make cursory remarks, as
they have been doing in the back counties
of West Virginia for some time past Some
times the postmaster of the nearest distrib-
uting Office is authorized to secure
Temporary Service
until the new contractor is found provid-
ed he can have it done. at the
same figure at which the defaulting con-
tractor agreed to do it, but it is not very
roasted the thumbs Off the last man wnt
undertook to perform it. In nine cases
ont of ten he will not do. ii for twice the
amount. The contractor whs formerly
carried the mail from
wheeling to Csdiz, o.,
for about S75 month, threw up his con-
tract, and the best offer that could bc Lad
for temporary service was $3.50 month for
the same job. -.
From these premises, one Of two things
seems necessary. Either the Government
ought to let the contracts to people wholly
their nearness of residence to the route to be
served, have some practical knowledge OF
its requirements, or it ought to exact such
security from a contractor and his bonds
men that they would be compelled to carry
- hot hor ~ nrpya1 nrnfltQhlp not.
The fewer facilities a man has who lives IN
the backwoods for receiving intelligence
from the outside world, the more reason is
there why those which are given him
should be preserved
Among the bills prepared by the mem
ber from the Second District are several
| relating to dealings of the United States
with purchasers of
Harper's Ferry Lots,
and these bring up the subject OF the pref
ent condition of that celebrated possession
| of the Government. 1t is probably tie
! best known Iiece OF property owned by
| Uncle Sam at this particular time. John
| Brown advertised il considerably, and it
has been brought into public notice sinte
as we'll as before the war, but for some
reason it does not sell worth cent. 1t las
a waterpower that would turn the spindies
of the world, and there is almost enough OF
the old arsenal and armory buildings left
to construct any modern factory; the sur
rounding scenery is the grandest and the
climate the most healthful in the State, and
vet nobody seems to want it bad enough to
pay the price OF
The Old Material,
that is yet uninjured by the storms of war
| and the ravages of time. One reason for
this is its remoteness from the markets
| which supply the material for large manu-
factures and dispose of their products. l
am told that there was once a cotton fac
tory there but beside the fact that the cot
ton had to be brought long distance over
land the finished article had to be sold in
district markets accessible only by rail,
and factories which had facilities of water
ways for transportation, undersold 1t from
one to two cents per pard. Accordingly,
when first offered for sale, it attracted little
attention from large manufacturers, and
the only bidders were the B. 4 U. and q
rotten syndicate. headed, am sorry to say,
by some impecunious newspaper men,
who hadn't cent to make their bids good,
and only went into the affair with the hope
of securing an opportunity to bleed the
railroad, to which they imagined the prop
erty was a necessity. These gentlemen
were under the impression that If they
got the property knocked down to them
they could stop the B. & o. railroad from
using their tracks on the viaduct and com
pei the company to repurchase from them
at a considerable advance. They outoic
the road, but the company would not buy
and the syndicate was enjoined by tho
courts from interfering with the roadway
This ended the career of the
Journalistic Operators.
They could not pay the auctioneer's fees