Wichita eagle., 1888-05-20
OUTRAGEOUS POSTAL DELAYS.
Letters Gin Transit Nearly Year Going
Few Miles.

Letters 'in Transit" Nearly Year Coins
Few Miles.
Another striking instance Of the imbe
ciity and mismanagement existing In I'll.
demoralized postal service Is furnished This
Leader by Mr. w A Harrington, Of
Greensburg. o. He has sent to Us six en-
| velopes, within which were letters t.
members of his family The first, plainly
addressed to W A Harrington. Greens
burg. Trumbun county. O.. was mailed al
Farmdale, O.. Feb. %. 1881 It passed
through the Sunbury, O.. postotfce April
Z, through the Cleveland postoffce April
8, and was received at Greensburg, It's
destination. April TO- 1888, having been
All DAYS in transit. 1t should have reached
there in two days
The second was mailed at Oberlin, O.,
April %, 1887. addressed plainly to Miss
Minnie Harrington, Greensburg, Trumbun
county, O. The date of transit through
the Sunbury and Cleveland offices was the
same as in the preceding instance. and
the date of receipt was the same. 1t was
351 days in transit, and should have
reached Greensburg in three days at the
outside.
The third case is letter mailed at Chi
cago, July 9. 1887. The postmarks of
transit are similar, the address clear and
the date of receipt the same as in the pre-
ceding cases. 1t was 276 days in transit
The fourth case is that of letter mailed
at the same time and place as the third,
and similarly delayed.
The fifth is that of letter mailed at
Chicago June 25. 1887. which was SINH,
larly dated in transit. and was received on
the same date, having been 200 days on
its way.
The sixth and last case is the most ag.
gravated of all. The letter was mailed at
Larned, Kan, Feb. /. 1887, and was re-
ceived with the balance of the delayed
mail at Greensburg. April 10. having been
434 days in reaching its destination
From the time that all these letters left
their starting points they seem to have
been wandering aimlessly over the United
States until some strange law of attraction
drew the entire six together at Sunbury.
in Delaware county. o.. postofice over
100 miles in an air line from their true
destination. This is one of the worst in.
stances of inexcusable delay that has come
to public attention since the Democratic
party began replacing the competent
postal clerks with an ignorant set of ward
heelers and bosses. These letters were all
of considerable Importance, and those for
whom they were intended were put to
much trouble and caused great anxiety
by the delay.
Maj. F H. Braggins, of this city. has
in his possession two letters which were
mailed to Chicago in 1885. the envelopes
of which bore plainly written requests to
be returned to Cleveland if uncalled for at
the expiration of ten days.
Recently both were returned to him
from Chicago direct. instead of the dead let.
ter Office. having lain in the Chicago post
office three years without attention from
the shiftless Democratic clerks appointed
by Mr.. Judd. the Chicago postmaster. the
same individual who declares that he has
q right to tear open the wrappers of news
papers and read them to discover If there
is anything rejecting on his official con
duct. 1t is no longer a mystery that our
merchants depend upon the telegraph and
express for reliable service. Nobody cares
to intrust anything of value to a service
SO thoroughly demoralized as the Demo
cratic mismanaged postal service of tbs
United Saskatchewan Leader.