The Brookhaven leader., 1884-04-24
Meadville Notes.

This village was thrown into Il fever of
excitement on last Wednesday by the
clopcmcnt of Miss Ada Porter, one of our
pFettlest girls (and by the way of parcn-
thesis, we have some mighty pretty ones
lett) with our new merchant John CyEan,
Now, John, that's too bad. f0u Apll
fooled the whole community. When last
heard fIoln, they were in Natchez, slipping
the honey moon, and enjoying lie hugely.
Appropriate Faster services were held
in the Methodist church. The services
were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Saddler,
tn" preacher III charge OF this cirFuit. The
sermon on the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
was IA good one and was listrrcd To with
marked attention hy an intelligent audi
cnce The arguments of the preacher to
prove that Christ actually arose from the
dead, were simply unansW erahle. Mr.
SandIc, is beloved Ivy nearly everybody IN
this circuit. and is GouVtless Going good
work.
"Tne spring, the spring, the beautiful
spring rs sang tn" poet, Is now upon u.s.
with ITS sweet flowers, genial showers and
ilssful hours. stop a minute, until re-
view that sentence a little. IcS,-a1l
right, but tie flowers are not as abundant
az might be expected on this 18th day of
April on account of winters lingering so
long in the lap of spring. Hold on again,
WELL | rather think it laps over little.
We had frost three consecutive mornings
last week, which has retarded the growth,
without killing vegetation.
4 Mr.. Philips, agent for a Missouri
company who have the contract for car
rVing the mails on about forty routes in
this State, is here to day looking after two
short routes from this place. One route
from here to Veto, Il distance of 10 miles,
the other from here 10 Little Springs,
distance of II miles. The mails to be car
ried once a week on each route. This
agent is locking ont for sub contractors on
each of these routes, as we'll as for many
others in this State. This thing of sub
letting contracts is getting to be a great
nuisance in this part of the country.
These northern and western men bid of q
number OF routes all over the country of
which they are totally ignorant, and at so
| low a figure that no one can carry the
mail for the sum bid, and live hy it.,.Thesc
contractors never intend to carry the mail
on any of these routes but intend to make
money by sub letting the routes to others.
! They generally manage to get them off
their hands to other parties, who soon find
| that there is 10 money in 1t, and sub-let
| to another and him to another, until final
/ ~ III gers GOWN 10 SONIC ISloIiul HcSIu,
who soon sinks all that he has in trying
to keep the route mp, and the whole thing
tizzles ont, and the people have to do with
out mails until it can be started
again by a new party. This is not the
only nuisance about it; you can hardly
find a man living on these routes but
what has suffered more or less from the
sub contractors, who have failed to pay
for the board of the carriers, and for pro
viding for their stock. There are IA few
honorable exceptions, of course, but this is
the rule. 1t occurs to me that there is
something exceedingly wrong in this
whole system. There is never lack for
bidders who live in the vicinity of the
route, who know exactly what it will
cost to carry the mail and put i'll bids as
low as it can be carried and living made
at it. But it has been so long since one of
these local bidders has got contract that
in the language of Blackstone, 'the
memory of man runneth not to contrary"
am convinced that Congress would do
we'll to pass an act prohibiting the suh-let-
ting of mail contracts. | can see no reason
WHY these contracts should be hacked and
peddled over the country, any more than
| other government contracts. Dor.