The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-12

their published reports, has been Tor years
uullsily treated IN these matters
we received notice from the depart
ment on Jan. ., that mail would p
Melghed on All routes on our line sonth OF
Weldon Tor thirty consecutive WQEA4nE
days, commencing Feb. p, and on March
Ing date OF March l.:
Sir, Your telegram of the 18Th in
slant 10 General Superintendent White,
feial-Ee TO continuing the WelenlnS OF
your lines for additional days, has been
referred 20 this Office. In reply YOU are IN
formed that 10 Is the uniform rule Of the
department 10 weigh the mails on railroad
mall routes i'm state OF section AT the
same time and for thirty successive Work-
ing days, as required ny law. This being
the case, the department could not 10 a.
you require without throwing itself open
10 the charge Of doing for your company
that which IL is frequently compelled 20
refuse 10 10 for other companies. This %
must decline 10 DO. The reports Of the
weighing, 50 far as received. indicate that
u is progressing satisfactorily and THAI
the results are likely 10 De as IaNoIap4e
10 the railroad companies as can be rea-
s0nably expected. Very respectfully. c.
Nelson, second assistant postmaster sen
In confirmation OF the above. receiv-
ed at my office on March p, the following.
Railway Mail Service, once of Superin-
Jendent THIRD Division. Washington, ID:
G, March 3. 1886 Subject: Completion of
Mall Weighing. To Y. Il. MCBee, Esq,
general Superintendent. Portsmouth, Va.
board Air Line routes viii be discontinued
after Tuesday, the 3lst inst Kindly have
scales kept in mail and baggage cars on
an trains departing iron any point on the
line up TO y o'clock midnight of the Slst.
Very respectfully, Chas. W. Nickery, SUI
perintendent'
ION receipt Of the above official notice.
we arranged for the adoption of our sum
mer schedule. and on March % discon-
tnued TWO trains, which had been car
rying mail for over two years, for which
service we had received no pay from the
government Under these circumstances,
il was a matter OF much surprise when
l received, on March 81, two days after
the change. Of our schedule, a telegram
from the department stating that the
Weighing would be continued for thirty
days more. on the 30 of April l called
Of railway mail service, and
asked him why he proposed
TO continue Weighing mails, af-
ter notifying me that he would not do
50, and his reply was because we had
changed schedules. / asked him If FL was
usual to reweigh every time schedules
changed. He said it was not. Now, /
do not object to weighing every month
in the year. but l claim the right Of
proper notice, and the privilege of re-
establishing the two trains which We're
taken off. / was not given the proper
notice, but, on the contrary, was deceived,
as shown by the second assistants letter,
and thereby lost one thousand pounds of
mail per day, which he arbitrarily di-
verified from the Seaboard Air Line. /
had advices from the postofiice department
the latter part OF April however, that
the weighing would be discontinued on
May 5. and / have received tabulated
statements of the weights over our lue
for April which are signed by the Sec
ond Assistant Postmaster General, and
certified to by the superintendent of rail-
way mail service as follows: Il do here
by certify that the foregoing statement
of weights of mail is correct according
to daily returns made by sworn employees
of the department, and the statement of
service is correct to the best of my know
ledge and belief. Chas. W. Nickery,
Superintendent Railway Service, Third
IL. NJ. Terrell.
Superintendent Railway Service. Fourth
Division.
1--WE have had no notice from the post
office department to the contrary that the
weights were not correct, and we are en-
titled to our pay under the legal methods
of computing weights and their sworn
certificates of the correctness of the same.
The published statement alleged 20
have been authorized by the Postmaster
General is unbecoming and lbeious, ana
l am prepared TO court full free and
fair investigation throughout, with a
further investigation of other lines, in
GLIDING the different methods and pre-
vailing customs by which the mail pay
is adjusted, or will the Postmaster Cen
eral authorize the publication Of another
statement and give his reasons why the
Seaboard Air Line was singled out and
made the object of unjust criticism or
why we are discredited for carrying pub
lie documents, when it was known to him
that other lines had carried tons of public
documents in March, which had been
shipped and re-shipped, weighed and Ie-
weighed, besides thousands of pounds of
other matter, including extra carload lots
of patent medicine advertisements, all of
which passed apparently unnoticed by
him; or could he have been deceived
by a lack of vigilance on the part of his
inspectors, or were reports withheld from
him? 1t is certainly a new departure
for the head of one Of the chief depart
ments of this government to use the great
statements in the press to injure a rail-
road company.
~. E. .McBee, 1O4 Court street, Ports
mouth