Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1894-06-18
EASY-GOING POSTMAATa1.
He Let Mail Accumulate in His
Office for Twelve Years.
From the Day of His appointment He Let
the Office Run Itself and Pigeon
Holed the Commissions OF His
Intended Successors.

There is quaint and curious old
town on the Colorado river in Arizona.
situated about one hundred and forty
nils above the town Of Yu,,,.. t!l:,t il
l:n"r:2 to the few who arc ;.,yarc OF It's
cNi,icucc by the name of EhrC,:burr.
1t now consists only of d few long
streets of crumbling and unirhaEitcd
ai"He houses anda population of about
twenty MeXicans and Indians with
perhaps half a dozen whites. But, ac-
c0ruing to the st. Louis Globe-Dcmo-
crat, it was not always thus. In for
mcr days, before the advent of the two
tranScontincntal railways that now
cross the territory, Ehrcnburg was q
pl::e of some importance and boosted
population, transient and permanent.
81 ncnr ono Thousand souls. In these
days. besides being the center OF Il
h"uri%hinG placer mining district, if
W." the entry port for all the freight
AID pa:%oa Tcr traffic between Cali
foHn:a "I:l northern Arizona, q line Of
river steamboats, from Yuma iu:;!ii:a.y u
w;'ESly landing and the overland stage.
between San Bcrnardino. Cal, and
Present.. Arizona, crossing the river by
fprrTboat AZ this point. In 1878. whCn
the Southern Pacific railway reached!
the territory, the glory of EhrenblilYc
cominHHcci to decline, and later, whom
the Atlantic and Pacific railway 6uilt
its hri.ierH AZ the Needles. sixty 1rilas
above, thc old town was soon deserted
by all save Il few miners VINO hold
claim; IL the vicinity. and since then,
both G!c town and its int,u1itG.t3 have
been enjoying a Rip Van NinlIlc re-
pose. If we are permitted 10 j"2ra
from the results OF an official invc. j ~
ton lately conducted at the Enren-
hurE Pc ''sic2. this statement must be
c"p-2'.liY true as regards the post
master 81 this forgotten 3wn.
1t seems that one Jesus Daniels. a
Mexican, rccc;:'el the appointment Of
postmaster to the town some ~, I've
year, ago, and has ever since hell the
position without the intcrfcrcnca Of
poS3"l authorities and without com
municaJing with them in any manner
whDtev2r. The population of the dis
tritL tributary to the post Office ills in
creased during the last cirhtcsn
months, owing to an awakening inter
est in some of the old mines in the vi
entity, and the failure of letters 20
reach their destination THROUGH that
Office led to complaints. until the mt
ter eliminated in Inspector George =.
Waterbury being sent from Na3hinr-
ton to investigate. He arrived (liere
some weeks ago, and his examination
brought to light a curious state of af-
fairs. In the Office were found one
hundred and fifty-cight letters, some
OF them postmarlcd twelve years a~a.
Among them were seven Registered
letters, ffty-seven with requests for re-
turn OF them; seven were addressed to
Ellisburg, WASH, and had never been
forwarded, and fifty-one were adj
dressed to persons living in EhrcnlrIrr.
These latter the inspector himself DO
ivcred to the parties to whom 3iluy
were addressed. Laid to one side ", re
sixty official letters addressed to the
postmaster, not one Of which had bee.
opened, and two full sacks of neys;,,.-
per mail lay in a corner, neither -
which had been opened. 1t was al23
brought to light that since ta!sil :,
charge of the office Daniels has nc,r1-
made a report or purchased stan
from Washington. Further search r.
vcalcd the fact that three year" AFRO
Thomas j. Goodwin, an old citizen IL
Ehrcnburg, had been appointed post
master Of the town, and his commi,.-
"i"n had been duly forwarded to hl:l.
tAH document was fouui unopened.
and of course had not been delivered.