The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-06-06
HE Has TROUBLES
TIA ARE HIS OWN
Postmaster Knight Receives All Kinds
of Letters.
NOT ON DETECTIVE FORCE.
One of His Correspondents Spends
Two Cents, But Gets Valuable
Intorn,ation-Thn Pathetic
and Ridiculous.
NOT ON DETECTIVE FORCE.
One of His Correspondents Spend.
and Ridiculous.

The average citizen has but a faint
conception Of what the position OF post
master OF Richmond-or OF any otner
CITY, for that matter-means. II IS not
one hoidav-a holiday Of four years
that the postmaster enjoys. his Eoao 10
rough and rugged very Often ana IS
never .one path OF roses he mas
troubles of his own, and plenty OF them.
The postmaster has something else 10
do besides draw his breath and his sal
airy.
OF course he is always busy supefih-
tending the workings OF the various oe-
partments which compose the Ihoueih
post-oi1lce, and the intricate Workil5s
of the entire system have been careiui-
ly studied by him, and he mas theiil
at his fingers ends. The actual work
is under the supervision OF the post
masters assistants, who are the headS
OF the various departments, but the
postmaster himself is, as the head OF the
office, and of the system, SO far as 1t
concerns Richmond or other sections OF
the territory over Which he has Juris-
diction thoroughly acquainted with
every detail of the workings OF every
department.
These. however, are TROUBLES" that
do not appear on ''the list and paie
into insignitcance when compared with
some of the requests that have oeen
and are daily being made on the head
of the average post-office. Ihere IS
scarcely a mail that does not BRING win
it q letter or postcard addressed ~
the POSTMASTER" and asking that Of
fetal representative of Uncle Sans Pos
tai Service to confer some favor or 1ur-
nish some information concerning TINS
or that The average postmaster IS sup
posed to be a bureau of general nlor-
nation and to be able to furnish on
hand any and all information desired
whether it be on the prospects OF the
next wheat crop of Siam or the imam
cial situation in Peru.
SOME OF THE LETTERS.
Mr.. Wray T. Knight, the head of the
Richmond postoffice does by no means
escane his share of the Enquiries
ooh, yes" said Mr.. Knight L get
letters of all kinds and from all sources.
Some of them are rather pathetic, While
others are ridiculous and would make
excellent material for the END men
of the minstrel troupe to work on
Take this for instance said the at
fable postmaster, as he produced let
ter from OF the hieS- 1tathel
pitiful plea, isn't it?"
The letter was written in neat, legl-
Bile hand and was evidently penned by
one whom, adversely had claimed Inns
is what the epistle contained:
ITO the Postmaster,
Richmond, Va:
"Sir,-I write you and request that
you will make some effort to locate =
-. my husband. who I have reason to
believe is now in Richmond.
HE left New Orleans nearly fourteen
months ago, in search Of employment
Being a mechanic, and knowing that
Richmond is a manufacturing town.
entertain the idea that he has found en-
ployment and located there. The last
letter 1 received from him was when he
was in Birmingham, Ala, and he then
smoke of going farther north, casually
mentioning your city.
s:Trusting that you Will make an Ell
fort to grant an anxious wife her re-
quest. and thanking you for any favor
you may render, I am,
..That is only one of many similar
letters that I have received said Mr..
Knight after replacing the letter IN the
files Hundreds of them reach me. Some.
as YOU can see from the one you nave
Just read, are in search Of lost husbands,
have gone from home, to say nothing OF
the inquiries after friends or acquaint-
ances You have no idea of the number
that I receive and of the questions they
ask.
mot long ago I received one from
man who lives somewhere in Wiscon-
sin. He told me that he had traced his
lineage and was convinced that under
a title grant one OF his ancestors owned
land right in the heart of what is Rich
mond at the present day. He wanted
me to look up the records and examine
the titles of the property.
NOT A DETECTIVE.
.sIt has not been a great while since
I received a letter hearing the postmark
of one of the cities in Texas, asking me
to call at certain house here in town
and inquire of a certain party what bus
was making, and TO furnish such other
information that I could The letter
contained eight cents in stamps, which
was for my trouble.
''What did I do, eh?" Well, I will
tell you what I did. l used one of the
stamps to send back the other three
and note to the effect that I was the
postmaster of Richmond and not iden-
tilted with any detective bureau at pres
ent.
But these are only samples of what
the stock in trade is. Yes, you are right
Some of them are pathetic and some
amusing, but it ali comes in lifetime
and variety you know, is the spice of
1ife''