The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-04-29
RURAL POSTMASTERS.
Useful Citizens In More Ways
Than One.
MR.. HAwLEY's PLEA FOR THEM.
Odd Things Mr. Wellman Unearths ut the
National Capital-surviving Veterans Of
the war-where They Are Largely Lo-
cated-Pension Facts.

WASHINGTON. April 2s.- Special. J.
Not In long time has there been heard In
the senate chamber a more interesting
speech than that which Mr.. Hawley of
Connecticut made short time ago In de-
Tense OF the country postmaster. The SEN
ate had under consideration proposition
TO extend the civil service rules in limit
ed sort of way to country postoffices and
Mr. Hawley, whose remarks often have
the genuine New England flavor to them.
greatly TO the delight of his fellow SEN
ators, came to the front with an argument
against the plan which was almost class
ical. The senator said he did not like the
idea of making mere substations of coun-
try postoffices. He preferred the old fash
toned postoffice in the suburban villages
and country districts. He was fair enough
TO admit that in Boston and other large
cities, perhaps, where there are half
dozen municipalities practically one, with
easy methods of communication between
them by electric and steam cars 1t may be
well enough to establish branch postoffices
responsible to the central or metropolitan
Office.
fountains of News.
but that is different thing" said
Senator Hawiey, from reaching out 8, 10
or 10 miles into the country and taking
the old fashioned, rural postoflice, which is
an institution in tho affections and tradi-
tions and feelings Of the people. Going out
of my own town in New England or any
other town you care to name, we come
upon some suburban village or country
settlement where one country store by
general consent has contained the post
Office for a generation or several genera
tions In the past. Very likely 1t Is place
Of resort. 1t is fountain of news. 1t
answers the purpose of clubhouse, in a
certain way, for the people of the neigh
borhood
1.-The postmaster and his father before
him knew everybody in the town. If he
saw country wagon moving along, he
would go to the door and hail the man TO
know If he was going by Oak Lane On
receiving an affirmative reply he would
say: We'll, take along this letter and this
copy of religious paper to the Widow
Jones, who lives out there She hasn't
been in town this week, and perhaps she
is ill., OF course the mail is taken out.
This sort of thing is going on all the time.
1t is one of the regular incidents of the
country postoffice. Now, under the pro-
posed new scheme. there would go to that
postoffice your young man who has been
lucky enough TO pass civil service exam
ination in the city, 90 miles away. He
does not know anybody out there, does not
understand the people, he has no house, he
has no wife. he has no shop, he has no
place to put his postoffice, and the old
postmaster does not look upon him with
friendship and does not intend to let him
have corner of his store. What Is he go.
ing to do? Who wants him, anyway"
Veterans on Both Sides.
Odd things are coming TO light every
day TO show us what great and magnifi-
cent country we have. Just TO think, IL
is 80 years since the great war of the re-
bellion closed, and, according to the census
figures of 1890, now first published, it
would take seven enormous books, each so
big that a small boy could not lift it, 60
contain the names of all the veterans of
that war still living. The official figures
show that nearly 1900, 900 men who took
part in the rebellion were alive when the
census was taken, about six years ago.
The exact figures are as follows:
Union soldiers, sailors and marines. l,03iO73
Confederate veterans. .................. $4,000
Total ,466 o93
All but per cent of the men who took
part in the war on the Union side were
white, and the remainder were colored or
civilized Indians. OF the white soldiers
80, 600 were born of foreign parents and
172, 900 were born in foreign countries.
In other words, considerably more than
one-fourth of the Union soldiers were for
eigners either by birth or parentage.
Quite different are the facts as to the Con-
federate soldiers. In the armies on that
side of the line the colored troops numbered
less than per cent of the whole, and the
soldiers who were foreign born or born of
foreign parents numbered only $4,000 out
of total of 432, 000
Distribution of Old Soldiers.
Some interesting facts concerning the
geographical distribution of the surviving
veterans have been CLEANED from the Off
cial reports. A surprising number of
northern soldiers have settled in Dixie
since the war. Union veterans are sprinkled
all over the south, from 80, 80 in Kentucky
down to 1858 In Georgia, but the number
of Confederate veterans In the north is
much smaller. The entire northeast, in.
Guiding New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
contained In 1890 only 2,433. of whom
l,O74 were In Pennsylvania and 7S7 In
holders of 1.-THE lost cause in Vermont,
but they had the sympathy of IA Confeder
ate widows. The western states along the
Ohio river make little better showing
for the southern veterans, Ohio containing
1877, Indiana /, 1853 and Illinois /, 759, and
Kansas has ,916, but the number dwindled
TO l15 in Wisconsin and As in North Da-
kota. Southern widows were much fewer
in these western states outside of Missouri,
where they numbered lao against IL, sos
southern veterans.
Texas contains larger number of
Confedt aterans than any other state
or $1,000, against $1,000 in Virginia, AZ.
900 in Georgia and $4,000 in North Caro-
lima.
Pennsylvania contains the largest num-
Der of surviving veterans from the Union
side, OF 10, $50, Ohio is second with 101,
6O2, New York third with $4,000, Illinois
fourth with $1,000 and Missouri fifth
(greatly to the surprise of many people)
with $4,000.
A comparison of these figures of the sur
viving veterans of the Union with the
number borne on the pension rolls indi-
Gates that more than two-thirds of the vet
..o,a ora aIraadv drawinu pensiops Tho