The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-02-19
SOME QUEER %POSTMASTERS.
ONE VINO rs A TERROR AND OTBERs
VINO ARE MERELY PUZZLES.

~ ARE MERELY PUZZLES.
"A Most Singular Ex.Onicini whose Fr,,..
hemn'ns Keep Beinu Found In Lonely
spots all Over the state OF Couuec,,c,,
NORWICH, Feb. IS. Connecticut has som.
peculiar Postmasters. whose conduct gricyc,
the Post Onlce Inspectors. Most of all Assist.
ant Postmaster woodhouse OF Hartford NJ.
fronts them. For nearly ton years they bay.
been trying to Dust Mr.. Woodhouse from his
Office, and periodically have preferred charces
against him. lilo still holds tho place. ona
treats them, they say, with open derision. Tho
fault they find with him Is that he rms
his Office independently Of tho Government
regulations, and with open disregard for
the rights OF his patrons. Ho has a
iree ana easy way of handling tho
mails. preierrinC to let some evening mails lie
over night in the railroad station, although nv
keeping n messenger Mt tho station twenty
minutes longer he could distribute them read.
lily the same evening. Also he was a suspicious
partisan OF the notorious II. |. Spencer manu-.
featuring concern, a%ttesting with his auto.
graph their credit as a trustworthy business
house. and permitting them to send through
the office advertising cards that were n fragrant
use Of tho mails for fraudulent purposes"
also lie allowed mails to come marked up
due" beyond the criminal limit, and money was
lost In making collections. One inspector
charged Woodhouse personally with accepting
a present, a fine gold watch. from the President
OF the Spencer concern.
All these charges have been presented before
the Government authorities many times, but
they have boon received with dead silence at
Washington, although the Spenccr Company
vas called to account for fraudulently using
tho mails. The inspectors infer that Woodhouse
must have a strong pull with Connecticut poli.
ticians who are powerful ut headquarters.
Lately the Assistant Postmaster has treated
the inspectors with undisguised contempt,
To one he said with. an oath: What are you
around" Another, who called n week or more
~ contemptuous. Mr.. Woodhouse. the inhspnc.
tors say. has returned the Spencer watch to the
donors, and that act is the only mark Of re.
tors. They assert that the Hartford Post Oifce
L the worst Of the size in New England. and
house be removed but Woodhouse. won't go.
John F. ssmnmis, Postmaster Of Cooper, in
cial., although his. term of office was prema.
ttH arGyts sno y BY his ambition 10 to give his
only postal centre they Know Of that consists
,6s yp OF 2 Post on ans enc pis house; a burn: and
Bario visited Cooper in January. and found
that Sammis was short in his accounts over
GOV. II Cune OUT tlluL DuInIulS nHu uSeu mat
musical instruction and to meet some other
&Se New hsSes esp Sn Fsb. "a Is. ths RlstriSs q ssnm e:
will submit his opinions on government in.
teE( srsnefm With itar The b s Stu dylb Of mu US n,r..,nm
probably is the most, inscrutable official Con.
n%ecticut has ever had. The whole Connecticut
pears, disappears, and reappears. The first
thnSg ne d iba, Pe hed a several ;n, weeks ,Ss a ago g it was
neon Trojan. and avery now md than fha
State press found, his stifrened remains
In Wsste 1PR lassasi far t fpSm human Mr ha G;i:
ing a few days later. and reappeSrins
mains. The intermittent character Of Mr.. Gil
bert is In quality and ei1HSt like q dissolying
s SaifSy S arS in ma a state late Of 5pn constants e esc ins rsTss
p aSstn1iensi appears pc cou he does in.o So publish Sanhnm but Ut
!Middletown on u train. says little or nothinGto
his acGuaintanees at the station. hires a car.
back to the station. and of he goes again;
that Of Ieyerett Barry. another ,htfaf and re-.
sbs pasa ta Slsa yssss! IT, anS sar rssgDs ss5is , is.
9THIfepnlt!y in,5te int Il thatt Of Mr.; :, Gilbert; Il NJ ":
Barry e on NJ Tie &c %p h1f Me to smile on SG mys ss4; MF;
in int his sb ise Ssr shaks w hii b hSnd fHri3m aK b and e. io, on
they swing around again to the railroad plat
form. board IN outgoing train. and away
they 60. Two, weeks ago last Wednes-
day, morning they were tracked as lar
rs Meriden, on their centrifugal course. and
there the clue was. lost. What it is that set
time. on n vague and %trackless journey. what
attraction brought them together In their revo.
lutions. whether they could stop going If they
wanted to. whether they would ii they could.
and what they go for, are questions that
deeply perplex the penetrating mind OF HiG-
ganum. Tho only crumb of news with which
gossip has fed her hunger lately is the state
town. who drove Mr. Gilbert to Higganum
on his enlry, Wednesday morning appearance;
but as Mr.. Wards report was made up wholly
Of taciturnity on the part Of Gilbert and his
very nourishing, About n week after the ride
Gilbert appeared in Higganum again he went
into the Post Office. shook hands with n few
citizens there, bowed. and disappeared. As
both MIR. Gilbert and Mr.. Barry are reputed to
be respectable and well-to-do periodical resi-.
Hutchinson is not looking for them on account
OF any crime. no justiiiable excuse for
their organizations Is apparent: and ifuny one
knows OF ono he is keeping it to himself. A
;Middletown %reDorter Of a Hartford paper, who
has an acute mind that refuses to DO baflled.
know all about the disappearance of Mr.. Gill
bert. "but, " he laments, .".they nre as dumb as
the proverbinl oyster" He concludes the ac-
count Of his Investigations with the confession:
What motives prompt these people to ho so
close mouthed cannot be easily comprehended,
but they evidently have motives. and, as stated
before. new developments are expected to DO
the mystery"