The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-14
L. S. PoSTOFFICE.


Brewer said it was the first postoffice
sign that ever required the letters ~,
S." because it was the first time an
office of the United States postal de-
partment had been established o for
eign soil.
An auxiliary cruiser left Daiquiri two
days later and 1t carried the first pouch
of mail. Brewer was elated with the
promise of success n set about 10
provide means of gathering the sol
diers' mail to be forwarded. He worked
day and night with extraordinary zeal.
! met him one day in Siboney and he
told me he had just received the first
consignment of mail for the army.
i've got two tons of mail at Dali
quiri and as soon as i can get wagons
| will bring Ii forward n deliver It,"
he said. He was travel stained and
rain soaked, but he hurried on.
Day after day the men in the army
were looking for letters and Brewer
was still vainly trying to get means to
carry the great amount of mail to a
point where he could distribute 1t. AT
last he got the mail to Siboney just as
four nail clerks came to help him. But
Brewer had fatally exposed himself to
the sun and the rain and he was pros
trated. The doctors tried to keep him
i'm bed, but he wouldn't stay there. He
left the hospital and went to see about
the dispatch of the mail. The next day
the doctors got hold of him again and
he had yellow fever then.
He died and was buried on the slope
of the Altares hills, a victim of honest
zeal in public office, one of the early
sacrifices of the incompetency of the ad-
ministration of the war.
Senator Genovar of Florida a ac-
companied him to Cuba as his interpre-
ter and friend, but was compelled to
return on account of the fever while
Brewer was still In the hospital. He
did not learn OF Brewers death till he
got to New York. One who was with
him said he sat down and wept. When
the news of it came to u camp in the
woods there was none of us who was
not depressed by It for days.
There was no more heroic sacrifice in
the army than Eben Brewers. 1t would
be an appropriate thing for the thou
sands of postal employees 10 raise a
monument to his memory They will
wait a long time for an example of gall
lantry in their ranks more distinguished
han his.
After the death OF his first extra
territorial postmaster, his aide, CHIEF
Clerk Kompfer. took charge of the office,
but what his chief could not do he could
not ACCOMPLISH. Inc EDlnlcTS anu OAntIE
with the army received some of the mall
hat came in the first lot. At long in
tervals other boats came with tons OF
letters. These were heaped up at ST.
honey and as many of them as could be
distributed were given to those Tor
whom they were intended.
The greatest number of these letters,
however, has not been delivered yet, ]
Many letters were lost and
NL~arrn NAV hnantICn thaU yuarn in
trusted to somebody else TO deliver. No
one seemed to care much for anybody
else after the climate had flattened out
his intellect. and l know Of cases where
men carried letters for somebody else
about for awhile and then threw them
away.
When a soldier did get a letter II
seemed to give him unmeasured JOY.
The other fellows in his company who
did not happen to be so fortunate
would regard him with envy. They
also expected that he would read his
letter to them. 1t might be a letter de-
voted to purely family affairs. but that
didn't count. They calculated 1t would
have some bit of news that might con-
Germ them. Letters from sweethearts
were no more exempt.
OF course, the soldier who got such
a tende epistle didn't want to e IL
out to the fellows who were dividing
their meager comforts of life with him.
but they were memorable. 1t may dis
concert the sweethearts TO learn this,
but they can take comfort from the
knowledge that everybody appreciated
their letters who was fortunate enough
to be entertained by hearing them read.
Once when Private Cooper Of the saith
Michigan got a letter with an Indiana
postmark on IT he called to his COM
p~anions to hea IL read.
Co.. he raf1 stffC frArn thAt AfNlr
blonde at Indianapolis that I gave my
address to as we came through. 1 bet
It's a peach"
He opened II and glanced into 1t
before reading II aloud.
We'll. she's a good thing, I guess
not" ne said, with an air OF disgust.
"She hasn't written a thing but bible
talk and scripture and she wants me
to have open air bible readings in camp
every night"
That's the way II goes" said one
OF his companions. listlessly reaching
for the disappointing letter. You think
a girls going to pan out all right n
she don't. She don't even say what she
did with all the buttons you took of
your blouse and gave her. does she?"
ono, but wait till I heal from the
girl in Nashville. ! thlnk she knows how
10 write a letter"
Getting letters out OF Cuba was as I'M
certain as getting them delivered to you
there. One day the postal clerks said
the Harvard would leave the next morn
ing at 5 O'Clock with mail for the United
States. There was a rush to get letters
written in time to send them at that
hour. The Harvard did not leave for
five days. and there was no other
chanc Of getting other letters aboard
all that time.
Every transport returning was ex-
pected 10 carry mail. and letters were
intrusted to all OF them. have since
learned that some Of them brought
back their mail cargoes for lack of op-
portunity to discharge them. az they
were being subjected to all kinds of
Countermanding orders.
Useless.