The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-03-30
Moses and His Four-doIlar Contract.

Moses and His Four-dollar Contract.
Here is q queer story from the usually
arid literature OF the Senate committee
rooms. 1t tells how MOSES PENDERaRAss
Of Knob Lick. No.. has been tied up for
seven years along with the Government Of
the United States in q tangle Of official red
tape: and 1t is worth reading even for those
who never have been In Knob Lick. and
never have heard Of MOSES.
Mr.. PENDERoRAss ls q respectable citizen
who can neither read nor write. When we
call him respectable We mean what We say.
for his moral qualities have come utstrong
in the trouble in which he finds himself.
through no fault Of his own. Back In Mr..
CLEvELAHD's first term. when Villas was
Postmaster General. the Department adver-
tised for proposals for carrying the mails
three times Q week over Star route 2s.630:
that is to say. from Knob Lick by way of
Libertyville and Avon to Coffman and back.
thirty miles each round trip; and six times
O week to Libertyville and back. twelve
miles the round trip. For this service. there
were opened at Washington twenty-five
bids. ranging from 5000 year. the highest.
down to a a year. the lowest. The "a bid
was MOSES PENDERGRAss's. and he there
fore got the contract.
On July /. 1887. MOSES began to carry the
mails. having duly qualified and put In his
bond. with his neighbors. PREsNELL and
BLANKS. as sureties thereon. Being unable
to read or write. MOSES was obliged to de-
pend upon Postmaster RUDY OF Knob Lick,
who was also Justice of the Peace. for
assistance In the formalities and technicali-
ties of the business. The Postmaster pre-
pared the papers. and MOSES signed by
making his mark. Before he began the
service the Department ordered the increase
of trips all the way to Coffman from three
to six times o week. with additional pay.
pro rata. to the contractor. So when the
f1rst quarter ended on Sept. 80. MOSES
had made seventy-eight round trips OF
thirty miles each. riding altogether 2.340
miles over Iron Mountain country roads In
all sorts OF weather. and delivering the
mails at Lbertyville. Avon. and Coffman
with fidelity. punctuality. and great cheer
fulness Of manner. II he had travelled the
same distance In a continuous journey
south. he would have gone about as far as
to Bluehelds on the Mosquito Coast In Mic
araguai II north, he would have reached
the Magnetic Pole. and gone two or three
hundred miles beyond 1t.
NOSES PRNDERGRAsSw was astounded when
for this arduous service to the Government
he received at the end of the FIRST quarter
a warrant or Treasury check for one dollar
and forty-three cents, all of the increased
compensation included.
Then. after q good deal Of oflclal corre-
spondence between Washington and Knob
taE a NhaN al
MOSES PENDERaRAss had intended to bid
$500 for the contract, and had 80 told Post !
master RUDY. who drew the papers for him,
and although RUDY and the bondsmen had |
understood that the bid was $500. by incom- |
prehensible 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 neg |
hgence which has made seven years of |
trouble for MOSES. When the remittance |
OF sl.LS was received. the Knob Lick Post
master promptly sent to the Department |
the following communication:
= rAEd AssissnAi Pssimazs-GsaEal:
-hosEa PEsDERSGAss's bid on rOuss 1880 was s4oO
per year There 10 certainly mistake some
where Any knows that the mail could not be /
carried nftssn miles and back Six times week for 81
per year Imsds the papers for Mr.. PENDEEsRAss aAd
$500 wAI his bid.
- A EUDE Postmaster KRsb Lick"
The Third Assistant Postmaster-G General
respectfully referred the matter to the Sec
ond Assistant Postmaster General; and
after the necessary number OF revolutions
OF the wheels. the eircumlocution machine
ground out a notice to RUDY that 1.-THE
amount Of the proposal on file in this oflce
Is very plainly written four dollars per an
mum; and. therefore. the rate at which Mr..
PESDKRGRAss has been paid for service for
the quarter ended Sept 80 Is the most that
be can be paid for the service" Another
addressed 70 PENDERaRAss
stated succinctly what MOSES had to ex-
pset in the future from the United States
Government:
Regular quarterly pay. per the eon.FAct.....S 90
More per quarter uadsE sEdsE No. SSsJ....... as
Total 9aArtsEiy somPsn1Ation d a"
IL was at this juneturs that NOSES
moral qualities came out illustrious. He
elt that money was not the only consid-
'ration. He was. in his humble way. the
custodian OF a public trust. He owed GER
ain duties. not only to Knob Lick aud 10 |
Il hanAauna, - 4