West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1881-11-09
WIRT G. H., w. VA, !
Oct. 3lst. 1881. {

i''ii'y IL the =. .. Mails, caused
oy the "Star-route" jobbers, set in.
our people have been cut off as I'll
were, from communication with the
great busy world that surrounds
US, and much complaint is made,
especially by the business portion
OF our community on account there
of.
AS you are aware, the Little Ka-
nawha river, upon which the citi-
zens of Writ depend so much as a
means of transportation and travel,
has been so low for months that
navigation has been out of the
question, and our only way of com
munication with your city has been
over the turnpike" so called,
which, to say the least, is not
pleasant route to travel; and the
time when navigation should be
resumed was looked forward to with
anxiety and pleasure by our peo-
pie, who, Of course, anticipated the
immediate establishment of the
mail route, to be carried by the
boats. But, alas, for human hopes
The boats are again plying between
this point and Parkersburg, and yet
the U. S. Mails are not permhted-aye
that's the word-ont permitted to be
carried by them. Verify, it would
seem that the business Of the Uni
ted States in this section of Uncle
Sans domain is an exceeding
small affair in the eyes of the astute
and accommodating superintendent
of the great corporation known as
the "Little Kanawha River Navi-
CATION Company" who, it appears,
arrogates to himself the power of
deciding what the boats shall and
what they shan't carry, on the river.
The citizens of this county have
invested in the Little Kanawha i'm
provement about $4,000, npon
which they pay an annual tax, in
the way Of interest, of $2,400, and
yet when our steam boatmen, in
order to accommodate hundreds of
our people living along the river,
offer to carry the mails, their offer
is nipped in the bud by the afore-
said astute, obliging, &c, superin-
tendent, stepping in and saying :
mo, sir; IU not permit any such
thing! If you carry that mail TU
charge you.double toll on your boat
and freight" Now, this is the way,
| am reliably informed, Mr.. Del
Ticker talked to Captain Murray,
last Saturday, when he learned that
the Captain contemplated bringing
up the mail; and the Captain,
rather than have any trouble with
the superintendent of the aforesaid
great corporation, declined to take
the mail, though it had been made
up by the postmaster, and was
ready to be sent out, thus dlsap-
pointing and mountaineering our
people to a very great extent. And
| it is not reasonable to suppose that
this same superintendent could,
with as much propriety, command
our steamboatmen not to bring up
cargo of coal, corn or dry-goods,
for a particular person, or class Of
persons? Truly, it would seem So
Our Circuit Court which adjourn
ed last Thursday morning, did a
considerable amount of business,
and Judge J. NJ Jackson's charge
to the Grand Jury was unusually
clear and emphatic, and if we Go
not have law and order in Writ
county, it will not be the Judges
fault,
The Grand Jury returned the fol-
! lowing indictments:
State VS.. Bell Evans, indictment
for assault and battery on X. K.
Petty, a constable. -
state VS.. J. P. Bumgarner, Z. Il.
Thorn, Deputy Sheriff, John Coss,
and Robt. McCutcheon, indictment
for riot and assault and battery.
Same VS.. Same. (No. p
State VS.. Graves Smith, Joseph
Smith, jr., VIM. Murray, Lom m
Sixton and Lewis Tanner, lndlct-
ments for assault and battery.
State VS.. J. NJ. Copen, indictment
for petit larceny. :.
Safe VS.. George Nutter, Francis
Blair and Henry Swisler, lndlct-
e.. +onrinm down in part q