Savannah morning news., 1886-03-20
Our Mail Servtee.

Our Mail Service.
Attention has been called frequently by
the MORNING NEWS 10 the unsatisfactory
mail service between Savannah and sew
eral important points in Flerida. There
has been some slight improvement lately,
due to the opening Of new railroad lines,
but there is still great r0em fer better
service.
Ia this State there is a railroad sched-
ule which, as far as the mails are con-
cerned, is simply an outrage upon the
people. The schedule referred to is that
OF the East Tennessee, Virginia and Geor-
gia railroad between Jesup and Macon.
The country between the points named
is large naval stores pro-
ducing section, and as such
is dependent on Savannah for its supplies.
1t should be furnished with the malls
regularly, and as promptly as possible.
AS far as the mails are concerned, how
ever, 1t iS as far away from Savannah as
it is from New York, although it is
only tifty-seven miles from this city to
Jesup.
The train on the East Tennessee, Vir-
Savannah morning mail beyond Jesup
does not leave the latter place until 8 p.
M, so that letter written on Monday
night by merchant In this city
cannot reach his correspondent
living beyond Jesup until Wednes-
day. 1t is almost incredible
that in these days of fast mails such
state of affairs exists In any part of this
country.
The post office authorities are trying to
give the section in question earlier mails
by sending a mail from this city to Macon,
191 miles, by the Central railroad and
thence down the East Tennessee, Virginia
and Georgia towards Jesup, but this does
not improve the situation except to a very
limited extent. r~f
The fastest fast mail in the South
is that by the Atlantic Coast
line, via Richmond, Charleston, and
Savannah. BY arranging for lateral
branches of this mail Augusta, Macon,
Atlanta and all intermediate points could
be given a much better service than they
have at present.
The schedule of the East Tennessee,
Virginia and Georgia railroad is step
backwards. The mail service in the
South is worthy of the attention of
Congressional investigating committee,
and the Southern members should make
1t their business to see that the money APP
propriated for mail purposes in the South
is so applied as to produce the results in
tended. 1t would not be just to say that
the money is misapplied or squandered
because thre are no facts, as far as known,
which would justify such a charge; but
there are facts to justify the charge that
in no other section of the country
are there so many reasons for complain
ing of the mails. The most annoying,
worrying and utterly unsatisfactory
thing that a business man in this section
has to deal with is the mail. Instead of
promptness there is delay, instead Of reg
ularity there is irregularity, and the worst
of all is that those who have the trans
porting Of the mails don't seem to care
whether the duty they are paid to perform
is performed satisfactorily or not.
Complaints which reach the office of the
MORNING News indicate that with many
long suffering people forbearance is ceas-
ing to be virtue. What the people in
this section endure IN the matter of mails
would not be endured by the peo-
pie OF any Northern community a
month. Congress and the Post Office
Department clearly mean that Georgia
and Florida shall have as good mail SER
vice as other States have. Let the Con-
gressmen from Georgia and Florida see
that this purpose is carried out. Let those
who are paid for carrying the mails be
made to live un to the letter and spirit of
their contracts, and if larger appropria-
tions are needed to secure better service,
let us by all means have larger appropria-
tiOns. The statement that it requires two
days for letter TO reach an address on a
railroad less than a hundred miles from
Savannah is sufficient to show that there
is something wrong with the mail service
in this part Of Georgia.