The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-04-25
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.
A Correctional Beautiful City-Excur.
sion Facilities-Appointme and
designations, sc.
WASHINGTON, D. c., April 21st, 1885

WASHINGTON, D. c., April 21st, 1885.
Editors Union Your compositor made me
make considerable error in last weeks letter.
He stated that there were nearly q, 900 Presiden
tial postoces in the country, which, II that were
the number, would make more than 1000 post
offices in all in the United States. said that
there were nearly 2,400 Offices of that class The
exact number of postofices in the country on the
2Sth of last month 81 277, classified as follows:
Presidential Offices, offices of the first, second
and third class, 2,346, and offices of the fourth
class, 4S 931 of these two classes 6992 are money
order offices, where money orders are issued and
paid. 1 thought this mistake was of sufficient
Importance to require correction.
Spring, or rather summer, for the weather was
warm enough day to be designated by the lat
ter term, is now really upon us. The grass in all
the parks and grounds has come up beautiful
and green; the flowers have begun to come out,
the buds swelling and soon the young leaves
will burst forth. AS I have said before in my COR
respondence, this is one of the most beautiful, If
not the most beautiful city, in the world and when
the numerous trees are in full foliage and flowers
have all put forth, its beauty is then certainly I'M
excelled. All this is just in embryo, but
gives an earnest of what the beauty of the city
will be after awhile.
There is no city anywhere with better facilities
for excursions and suburban pic mics in summer
than this, and soon its population, old and young,
will be enjoying them to the utmost extent. The
Potomac river is one of the most beautiful in the
country and there could be no p'easanter excur
sion than on its placid bosom to any of its MAN.
Cedar Point, Colonial Beach, Fortress Monroe, etc.
Then also there are the B. & o., the B. l. p, the
Metropolitan Branch of the B. & 0. and several
other railroads, few miles out on either of which
are the pleasantest of picnic grounds. The Great
Falls, up the Potomac river few miles from this
city, is a romantic resort, where both lovers and
fishermen often go.
There is but little news from the Departments
here to write. Everything is working along
smoothly in them under their new heads and the
chiefs of bureaus, so far as the latter have been
appointed, all of whom are endeavoring to famil-
iarize themselves with their offices. In the Trea-
sury Department committee was appointed some
time since to investigate and simplify the work
and see if any retrenchment can be made in the
expenses, but it does not seem to have made much
progress yet, not having got beyond the Internal
Revenue bureau.
A few consular appointments continue to be
made by the President, besides quite number of
postmasters. However, all who are appointed to
the former positions do not seem inclined to ac-
cept, the salary paid foreign consuls not always
warranting in every case. For instance, Mr.. Boyd
Winchester, of Kentucky, is asked to give up a
lucrative law practice to accept the consulship at
Nice, France, with salary at $1,000, which he
declines, and another to 60 to Persia, when it
would cost the whole of his first years salary to
transport his family there. Gen. Lawton, recent
ly mentioned in this correspondence, has also de-
clined the Russian mission for other causes.
One of your county papers stated last week in
an editorial that the Office hours here in the De-
partments in the past have been from 9 a. m. to 2
p. m, with an hour for lunch. I hope this state
ment, as well as the apparent aninus of the edi-
torial in which it occurred not wlful, for the
official hours here have never been other than from
a. m. to p m, except one or two summers ago,
in the midst of the hottest of the weather. the en-
ployees, with their daily work completed, were
allowed to go at half past three o'clock in the
afternoon. This only to correct the above state
ment. ANON.