The evening times., 1896-04-11

and r. l.. Maddux, his CHIEF clerk.
The measure authorizes the Postmaster
General 10 appoint AMI assign for duty four
additional division supcrintendents OF Rail
way Mail Service, one of whom shall have
charge OF the Foreign Mail Service, to be
paid a salary OF $500 each.
The second section Of the bill says: That
the offices Of superintendent of foreign
mails and chief clerk TO the superintendent
of foreign ma lis be abolished, aud that the
duties of the office of foreign mails be
transferred TO the Railway Mail Service
1t is this section which is believed Will
result in The decapitatiOu or Capt. Brooks
and Mr.. MadduX.
IT is claimed that a peculiar feature about
the Introduction of this bill is the fact
that Postmaster General Wilson, who Is ai.-
thoriZed to make these appointments. Gid
not know that il had been presented to
the House until his attention was called In
1t by The Times representative.
MR. NEILSoN NiTHE AUTHOR.
The bill came directly from the office
of the Second Assistant Postmaster &C..
cral. and embodied his IDEAS as expressed
In his last annual report riding the
foreign mail service.
Gen. Nelson received The Times req
rescntaiive very cordially this morning and
at once Admitted that the bill originated
with him and that it had his earnest In"
dorsemcnt. In explanation nf the meas
ure lie said:
The object OF the department is to put
the superintcn cndcnt OF the foreign mail
service at n point where il is considered
that his services viii! be OF greatest value
to the department. The foreign service
at present consists OF large clerical
force, IN addition TO the proper detail
handing of the mail itself The great
Ma jority of this work is III New York city
The advancement and improvement of this
service is greatly III need OF the close
supervision of some officer dcsigna ted
forthat purpose, who, 1t is naturally thought,
should bc the superintendent OF the depart
mcnt. This work is now all being per-
formed 10y one OF the superlnlenLsnts of
mail in the New York postoffice.
In addition TO these reasons, the best
interests of the foreign mail are becoming
more closely int,rwovrn with the railway
mail service. Both time and expense Is 10
he saved by bringing them closer together.
The necessity of ma king them one ana the
same thing is apparent for these reasons,
therefore the suggestion That TINS service
should become part and parcel OF the rail-
way mail service.
The new ideas and plans that are being
perfected for relieving the New York post
office of tremendous amount uf the un-
necessary work and saving from SIX 10
twelve hours, III some cases as much as
twcnty-four hours now lost bel wccn the
ship and poStoT!lCr and post'filcc Ia ~ 10
! the railroad iS based upon tie hopes Of he
| ing able To make as quick aud direct
| movement of as much of the foreign mails
as poSsihlc that comes 10 this e uniry direct
| from quarantine III advance OF the steamers
| leaving there to the railroad direct: Il
| Srrvic. that should be developed for the
| benefit OF the whole country. This Sandmany
! other matters of Il similar nature are sui
| Grrin. for a want OF Il proper Supc rvi>iCn
| ana | think will clearly show the pro-
prirty of thercqueSt made thedepartment
| for this modification"
BROOKS FRIENDS OUTSPOKEN.
| The friends of Capt Brooks declare that
| the mea>ur is directed against him aud 1t
| is whispered that Gen. Nelson has no love
| for the superintendent of the foreign mail
| service.
They say the fact is apparent in the
studied puiitcncSs of these two officials
| when brought together III the transaction
| Of DcpaTtucnia. business. Sen. Nelson
| recommended the abO!ishmcnt OF the FOR
! eIgn mail service III his last annual report.
| That was the first intiniation Capt. Brooks
| bad that lie Was persona non Srata Ia the
| second assistant as he was not consulted in
| the matter then nor has he since been ap-
preached i'll regard TO it by Gen. Nelson.
| IL. L.. lIt h Is 'ilt 'tI4'l
official against whom the bill is directed.
He was appointed a clerk in the service in
/ 1887 and promoted To chief clerk in
| 1898, having AT that time the unanimous
| Endorsement of the Kentucky delegation in
! Congress.
| Capt. Brooks who is a Republican. has
grown gray in the government service, with
| an experience of twcnty-four years. He
| was made chief clerk in the office of foreign
mails in 1854. and was appointed superin-
| tendpnt in November. 1890. His history
| in the postal service is unique, in some re-
spects.
During all his services he has not been
| absent Il day from his desk on account
| of sickness, and was promoted 10 super
ntcndent on merits and military record.
| He was born in Philadelphia i'll 1913, and
enlisted as a private in Company b. Third
| Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infan-
| try. He was discharged in October, 1864,
| on account of n wound received in action
at Spottsylvania Courthouse, Va, during
| Hancock's famous charge on the morning
of May IL, 1864. which resulted in the
loss of a leg, being at the time a captain
of volunteers in the Twelfth New Jersey
| Regiment. He then served as captain in
the Volunteer Reserve Corps until De-
| cembcr, 1867.
HIS LONG CAREER.
On account OF his knowledge OF postal
| affairs Capt. Brooks was designated 10
| represent the United States at the uni
| yersal postal congress in Vienna, Austria.
| i'm May, 1891. He is a member of the
Loyal Legion, Grand Army of the Re
| public. and Sons of the American Revolu-
ton. His grandfather served in the Revo'
| lutonary war, his father In the war OF
| 1912, and his brother in the Mexican war
Capt. Brooks also negotiated the sea
postoffice arrangement.
Second Assistant Postmaster General
Nelson was formerly an official of the
| Chicago, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad
| Company. Leaving that service, he was
| appointed assistant superintendent of tho
railway mail service, and when Mr.. Bis
| sell was made Postmaster General pro-
| NOTED as his second assistant
| Mr.. Nelson has for some time been en-
dcavorng to reach an agreement with
steamship companies to bring foreign mails
from the New York quarantine up to GER
tain railroad stations in New York city tC
facilitate their delivery throughout the
country, but has so far been unsuccessful
although he has had many conferences with
steamship officials on the subject.
There are, il Is said. none of the principles
of economy in the proposed bill, as th"four
additional division superintendent would
cose the government ST 900 n year, while
the salaries of the superintendent OF foreign
mails and the chief clerk are $4,000 and
$4,000 respectively, making n total OF
$4,000 per annum; the difference being an