The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1882-11-18
A BLIND STATESMAN'S WORK.
Correspondence Chicago News.l
LONDON, Oct. Is, 1882

as little in England as it does anywhere
else, the world over, while sensational
ism rakeS down the pile. l am moved
to this observation by the conduct of
the British authorities at this moment.
They have in contemplation the pro-
ject of adding to the rewards of honor
dealt out to Wolseley and Seymour for
the noble way in which they purchas-
ed the Egyptian army, monetary pres
ents to the extent of S250, 900 apiece.
Meanwhile, the public official who has,
probably, done more than any man in
the country for the convenience of his
fellow-citizens, goes practically unre-
warded. except for that comparatively
unsatisfactory condition which comes
Of an easy conscience and the knOwi-
edge of having done ones duty. One
of the most remarkable men in the
world is the postmaster-gene of
Great Britain. His name is Eawcett,
and he conducts an institution that is
simply tremendous. The strange part
of it is that this most important official
is totally blind. l have sat in the
house of commons upon several occa-
sions in a condition Of hopeless amaze
ment, listening to his speeches, which
astonish the hearer not only by their
terseness of statement but by the array
Of complex statistics which they con-
tain. When you hear Il man quote ut
a moments notice figures enough to fill
half :; column of 4 newspaper, aud all
without reference to his notes, you
must grant him a large aud absorbing
mind. But when you come to reflect
that he has never seen the figures
themselves, and that he must have stor-
ed them up in his memory by simply
f,f,s tv,.r
ment assumes the form of speechless
admiration. I have not been so struck
with any of IIngland's public men as !
have with Mr.. Fawcett.
\ BUSl SlNESS Or GIGANTIC PRorOR-
TIOSS.
The post Office of England, you
know, covers a good deal more ground
than ours at home. In addition to our
postal system it embraces all the teIe-
graphic business done in the Kingdom,
and a most complete savings bank ar
rangement besides. Before very long
il will likewise do the great bulk Of the
small express business, as the details
arc almost finished of the new parcels
post, by which any package weighing
no more than seven pounds may be
delivered in the most remote quarter
of the united kingdom for % cents.
Ultimately the telephone companies
will be absorbed by this public depart
mcnt, and no person can sec where all
this absorption is going to end. In its
present form the post-ofiicc is not to be
managed by a small head, and that it
is successfully taken care of, down to
the smallest detail, by one who cannot
employ the most useful OF the senses,
seems to me supreme triumph of the
human intellect. Mr.. Eawcett was
not always deprived Of his sight. An
accident when he was out shooting, at
something like the age of 20, resulted
in the removal of both his eyes. Yet
in spite of this most distressing condi-
ton he is to-day at the head of the de-
partment of the state which, of all
others, must be the most difficult to
handle without the aid Of vision. Mr..
F;aWcctt is Il statesman, and Mrs. l'aW
cett, if the phrase may be allowed, is
another. The lady has published more
than one volume of great political sig
nificancc, and that she is always sure
to meet defercntial attention when she
has anything to say in print, in a
country where women are pcrsistently
snubbed, marks her as Il most cNtraor-
dinary person. Mrs. FaWcett has been
inc eyes anu IIic!it;tl stSSiSltttll vi HCI
husband through nearly the whole Of
his career.
RECENT POSTAL. INNpNA ALTON.
My attention is ut This moment at
tracted to the lostmaster-Scnefa by
his latest innovatlon, which is Il reply
postal card. 1t is a good scheme, and
consists Of two cards joined together
like pair of postage stamps. If you
wish to address an inquiry to anybody
through the mail, and expect reply,
you write your message on one of the
flaps, and your own address on the
other. Then you fold the card where
the puncturcu line joins it, and pop it
into the mail. 1t IS an inexpensive
and not troublesome plan. Its benefits
will be most kecnIy appreciated by
people whose lives are worried out OF
them by harassing inquiries. How
easy it would be for the editor Of the
Daily News, for example, when he re-
ceivcd his morning batch of anxious
inquiries, to simply turn over the
paper on which they We're written, and
scratch an answer. How much easier
it would be than it now is to get out a
sheet of paper, write whatever is ncces
sary, fold it, tuck it into an envelope
which one can rarely find at the pro