Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-04-19
view Yo.k san

View Yosk san
Here is queer story from the usually
arid literature of the Senate committee
looms. Il tells how Moses Peu1ergrass
Of Knob Lick. No., has been tied Up for
seven years sloBs with the cOyclnnenI
OF the United States In iAuEie 81
official red tape; aud ii is WORTH read.
ing even for those who never have been
10 Knob Lick, and never have Leard Of
Moses.
Mr.. PendergFass is a respectable ciii.
zen who can neither real nor write.
When we call him respectable We mean
what We say, for his moral qualities
have come out strong in the trouble in
which he lnds himself, through no
fauli Of lis own. Back in M CisYe.
lands first term, when Villas vast Pos;-
inaster-General. the department adyer-
lised for proposals for Carrying the mails
three times week over star route Is ,C39;
that Is 10 say, from Knob Lick BY way
OF Libertyyil.c and Avon TO Cofmsn
and back. 80 miles each round trip:
and six times week 10 Lioertyville
end back, l2 miles the round trip. For
this service, there were opened az Wash
ing.on 20 bids, ranging from 5000 a
year, the highest, down to 81 a year,
the lowest The 81 bid was Moses
PendeEgrass' and he therefore got the
contract
On July LIST, 1887. Moses began to
carry the mails, having duly qualified
and pu. in his bond, With his neigh bOrs,
Pfesne.! and Blanks, as sureties thereon.
Being uhcble 10 read or write, Moses
was Obliged TO depend upon Postmaster
Rudy Of Knob Lick, who was also JUS
iice Of the peace, for assistance in the
formeliiies and technica .iiies of the
business. The postmaster prepared tile
papers, and Moses signed BIZ making his
mark. Before he began the service the
department ordered the increase Of trips
oil the way 10 COffman from three 10
six times week, with additional pay.
pro rata, to the contractor. So when
the first quarter ended on September
31th, Moses had made rs round trips OF
20 miles each, riding altogether 2,34O
miles over Iron Mountain country roads
IN all sorts of weather, and delivering
the mails at Libertyyille, Avon aud
Cofman with fidelity, puncmality and
great cheerfulness of manner. II he had
Travelled the same distance in a continu-
GUS journey South, ne would have gone
about as far as to Bluetields on the
Mosquito coast; if North, he would hare
reached the Magnetic Pole, and gone 200
or 300 miles beyond it.
Moses Pcndergrass was astounded
when for this arduous service to the
government be received at the end of
the first quarter warrant or Treasury
check for one dollar and forty-three
cents, all of the Increased compensation
included.
Then, after good deal of official cor
resPondence between Washington and
Knob Lick, ii was discovered that
although Moses Pendergrass had in
tended to bid S400 for the contract, and
had so told Postmaster Rudy, VINO drew
the papers for him, and although Rudy
and the bondsmen had understood that
the bid was 500, by incomprehensible
carelessness or in some strange fit of
heterography. Mr.. Rudy had written
-four" instead Of "four hundred" both
in the proposal blank and afterward in
the blank contract and blank bond.
There is no suspicion of bad faith on
Rudy's part; he is merely responsible
for an act OF negligence which has made
seven years of trouble for Moses. When
the remittance Of SLAB was received.
the Knob Lick postmaster promptly
sent to the department the following
communication:
Third Assistant Tost,aast,y. General. Moses
Pendergrass's bid on route q, go was 500
per year. There is certainly some great
mistake somewhere. ANY one knows that
the mail could not be carried fifteen miles
and back six times week for 81 per
year. ! made the papers for Mr.. Fender
grass, and $500 was his bid.
\. A. RUDY, Postmaster, Knob Lick.
The Third Assistant Postmaster. Cen
eral respectfully referred the matter 10
the Second Assistant Postmaster. Gen.
erai; and after the necessary number Of
revolutions OF the wheels, the circumlo-
cution machine ground out a notice TO
Rudy that "the amount of the proposal
on tile in this office is very plainly
written 81 per annum; and, therefore,
the rate at which Mr.. Pendergrass has
been paid for service for the quarter
ended September Both is the most that
he can be paid for the service" Another
communication addressed to Fender
grass stated succnctly what Moses had
to expect in the future from the United
States Government:
Regular quarterly pay per the con.
. tract '''.'''.'''. ..-.............. 81 90
More per quarter, under order No.
1888 ........"............. .4S
Total quarterly compensation. ~. SLAB
1t was at this juncture that Moses
moral qualities came out illustrious. He
felt that money was not the only con.
sideratlon. He was, in his humble way.
the custodian Of Tublic trust. lie owed
certain duties, not only to Knob Lick
and to his bUndsmen, and TO the peonle
Of Libertyville, Avon and Coffman, who
depended on him and his mule for the
prompt receipt of their letters and news
papers, but also to American ideas Of
good citizenship and loyalty to the con-
stituted authorities. All who know the
circumstances testify that Moses CON
duct, at a crisis so important to him
self, was very honorable, disinterested
and patriotic. Greater men than he. in
greater emergencies, have manifested
less fidelity to the public interests
Actuated by such spirit, and com.
forted, no doubt, by the belief that so
obvious and simple an error as was in
volved in the matter of his annual nav
could be rectified without much DELAY
by government as great and powerful
as that of the United States of America.
Moses determined that to accommodate
the department and his friends AT
Lihertyville, Avon and Coffman, he
would continue to carry the mail bags
at the annual rate of S5.72, extra com.
pensation included, until the tangle
could be slaughtered out at Washing
ton; even though the pay was hardly
enough to keep properly shod the oil
hind foot of one of his mail mules. And
he actually performed the service at
mt rilinu lAI1o rnin Of