Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-07
An Interesting Affair.

Tonight the commencement exercises Of the
Mount Vernon Seminary, SO successfully con-
Quoted by Mrs. ]. w. SOmers, will take place at
the Foundry church. The following program
| will be carried out:
PROGRAM
Chant.Prayer. Piano Duet, March Heroiqne,
cal ppet Ghser,nass sc9ys Ella pad1n vo-
Jennie E. Nisbet Essay, An Odd Wonder or Two
10 the world Of Books; Elizabeth Beall Leech
May somers. Vocal Duet Barcarolle, Rossini;
s Emma ~ Thompson. Alma Gett Essay Mar
Louise Lacy Mary Patton Song TSe
Serenade. Braga; with Violin obligato by
lG9mSs ;, KSaspar3 Rose Heman; Essay
solo, Una voce poca IA, Rossin1; Emma II. Thomp-
son. Plano duet, Turklscher MarSch, Beethoven;
Louise Prentiss, Frances II. Scoville. Essay,
| saws" Jessie Pixley Lacey Vocal solo. The Lost
Chord, sullivan; Jennie E Nisbet Piano duet,
Essay, Beauty for Ashes: Carolyn Ellsworth Porte
Vocal solo, Thou art so like Flower, Rubenstein;
E Ena FL Thompson Vocal SOLO Tost
Bishop E g. Andrews. BenedictiOn.
GRADUATES
Gertrude Burnett. Washington, DC; Regina
Calder Harrisburg, Pa; Jessie Pixley Lacey
Charlotte, Mich; Elizabeth Beall Leech. Mar
tinsburg. w. Va; Carolyn Ellsworth Porte
knightstOwn, Ind.
'eH1ss BrOWn'' In Behalf OF the Letter.
Carriers.
MY DEAR STAR:-When the cry was raised
that newsboys must not call out their papers on
Sunday l confess that thought it rather hard
that these poor boys should be interfered with
in their efforts to earn an honest living; still, as
the plea was announced that the beauty and
quiet of the Sabbath was destroyed by these
cries. the objection gained force enough to win
yuy0 on1of oA ko&
new order of things without complaint. Now
that serious movement is ON foot, however to
start a Sunday mail delivery through all our
cities, am somewhat curious to see whether
the beauty of our Sabbath will be considered
elastic enough to bear this momentous stretch.
Moses has been accused in these latter DAYS Of
making sundry mistakes, it Is true; but no one
has been found, SO far. believe, to deny the
wisdom, beauty, or perfection of his code. of
| laws. one article of which expressly commands:
six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work:
But the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God; in it thou shalt not do any work." and
thus shows pretty plainly that the observation
made in these latter days by scientific men, that
the mechanism of body and mind requires, alb
sOlutely, the amount Of rest represented by
every seventh day, in addition to that which
the night gives, was an understood and fully
appreciated fact even then. In view of this we
might well let business alone for that one day,
l imagine; still. if the rush and whirl of the
times requires the sacrifice of common sense
and time hallOwed wisdom. at least let Justice
have a chance to live. and add to the new regu-
latiOn the prOvisO that extra carriers shall do the
Sunday work
The working hours of the men who now bring
us our daily allowance of joy and grief in the
shape of letters are already such as to break
down any man not made of gutta percha or cast
iron; their longest days are from a. m. to D.
M; the shortest, from S a. m. to 4 p. m; and
during these hours they walk from fifteen to
twenty miles, through storm and slect snow
drifts or scOrchng sun heat. Surely, sir days
| in a week Of work like this ought fully to euti-
tie them to their poor salaries. ranging from
S4OO to 81 900 per annum, without being obliged
to do anything on Sunday. Yet they are on duty
on that day, even, from Z to 10 a. m, to receive
cancel and stamp. as well as to deliver (from 8
to 10 o'clock to those who call for it, all mail
that arrives at the Office. At p. m. they begin
again to collect the mail matter from the boxes
which they prepare for transportation, and after
that, from to p. m, are again on hand to
satisfy the calls Of the public Surely, anyone
who would add feathers weight to the burden
| these faithful servants of the public bear now
ought to be indicted for cruelty to animals, il
nothing else will reach him; and I, for one,
hope that, instead Of an increase of work, Just
and kindly Congress will grant them an increase
OF salary, for none amongst public servants
ranks higher than the faithful letter-carrier in
the estimation Of the reading, writing millions
| Of this country, as We'll as in that Of
miss BROWN"