Arizona republican., 1900-12-24
UNCLE SAWS SONS
DiIatOry in the Business of
 the Mail Service.
Some Cases in Point Showing the Difficulty Under Present Condi- tions of Communicating in This Country.


 When the transcontinental mail service
 is improved to such an extent that d letter or newspaper will not take longer to make the journey than an individual, life in Arizona will undoubtedly be
 plcasanter. The feeling of isolation
 that frequently comes over one resid
 ing in the territory is due largely to
 the inefficient mail service. One does
 not like to dwell on the fact that one is a week or so distant from the cen
 ters of civilization, so far as mail fla cilities are concerned.
 A letter was mailed to me bearing
 the postmark, Phoenix, December G."
 It reached me December 13. It should
 have been delivered two days earlier.
 Several other letters mailed at Phoenix have taken a week to reach me. When
 I was running the Republican l ire quently would receive letters from east
 ern points complaining of the non-at-
 rival of the paper: Investigation showed that the papers left the office
 on time, properly addressed. The fault
  | department
 Now that I am at the other end Of the line I begin to appreciate the feel | ings of eastern subscribers who fail 10
 receive the paper regularly. Five days after the beginning of the carnival !n Phoenix I looked anxiously for the Re publican. It did not come. On Decem- Der r I received a copy of the issue of l Vii zxrsa- Ina only paper of carnival week that came
 to hand. I went to the National Li- brary. where the paper is supposed to
 be on file, and found two of the desired numbers. The others were missing ant have not yet put in an appearance. The correspondent of the New York Times
 who also receives the Republican when 1 the postoffice people are disposed to let him have it, did not receive the copies l Cesired. And there you are. l am of the opinion that this nuisance will not be aba.ted until mail clerks are given to
 understand by their superiors that newspapers should receive as close at tention as letters. I recall the fact z h.: 'ast summer at Santa Monica the i postmaster at the South Beach told me
 that he gave out only letters on Sun ! to lie unopened until Monday morning. If the newspapers of the country would take up this question of efficient deliv-
 cry. I have no doubt there would be re- form. The letter service between PhOe-
 nix and Washington is bad enough, bus
 that pertaining to newspapers is abom-
 inable. It might not be a bad idea for Postmaster Adams of Phoenix to look into this matter. Of course, the blame
 dces not lie with him nor his assistants but the trouble begins before the pa pers get far from his office.
 If a bill introduced by Senator Hoar 1 becomes law, train robbery in the i territories will be attended by great CT hazard than the average bandit will care to incur. The bill provides that
 If any person or persons shall willful- ly and maliciously make any assault
 upon any railroad train, railroad cars, or railroad locomotive within any terri tory of the United States, or any place subject to the exclusive jurisdiction or control thereof, for the purpose and with the intent to commit murder, rCb- hery or any other felony upon or
 against any passenger on said train CT cars, or upon or against any engineer. | conductor, fireman, brakeman, or any
 officer or employe connected with said | locomotive. train or cars, or upon or | against any express messenger or mall
 agent on said train, or in any of the l cars thereof, on conviction thereof
 shall be deemed guilty of a felony and
 shall suffer the punishment of death.' Any person who shall 'cOunsel, aid or
 abet' in any of the cffenses set forth | in the above quoted section shall on conviction be deemed a principal and shall also suffer death. Section 3 of the
 bill reads as follows: That upon the
 trial of any and all persons charged
 with the violation of this act it shall
 not be necessary to prove, nor shall it | be deemed material to a conviction, 1 that the defendants specifically intend | ed tc commit the offenses. or any of 1 them herein set forth, upon or against | any particular person, but it shall be
 sufficient if it is proved to the satisfac> | ton of the court and jury trying the case that as the result of such unlaw- | ful assault some person or persons
 were killed, robbed or injured, as the | case may be, or that the assault was perpetrated with the design to commit
 some felony"
 Senator Hoar is very much in earn
 est in th1s matter and will undertake to
 secure the passage of the bill.
 The bill which is of so much interest | to Phoenix, authorizing the construc- | ton of a power house on an Indian
 reservation and the stringing of wires
 across the reservation, is still hung up | in the house committee on Indian 1 affairs, of which Mr. Sherman of New
 York is chairman. MT. Sherman prom | ised to push it, but forgot all about it. | While here the other day, Gov. Murphy called MT. Shermans attention to the
 measure and an effort will be made to | pass it. It is designed to supply elec-
 trical power from the Arizona canal l to Phoenix. There is a tremendous power available and with permission
 to cross the reservation the local cleo
 trical company ought to be able to
 transmit sufficient power to Phoenix
 to enable it to give first-class service i at a very reasonable rate.