The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1902-04-03

change in our postal laws since | was
a boy | am prepared to say that moth
ing that has been discovered or in
vented has wrought such beneficial
results and so much comfort to the
people. What pleasure at home is
more valued than the reception of let
tiers from kindred and friends who are
far away? Postage is only one-tenth
what it used to be, but there are TWEEN
ty times as many letters written by
every person who can write and there
are ten times as many to write them.
The great northern mail used to come
to our town once a week and a single
sack in the boot of a stage contained
it. Now five times that quantity comes
twice a day. | used to write about
two letters a week and now l write
twenty-five or thirty and receive more
than | write. For | have quit answer
ing many letters that inclose no
stamp. The number of letters in
creases faster than the postage de-
creases. When the postage had to be
paid at the end of the line it was pref
ty hard to receive a disagreeable let
ter and have to pay for it. My father
was merchant for nearly fifty years
and sold goods on a years time, and
sometimes we had to write dunning
letters to his customers. He wrote one
to very slow man and got no an
swer, so he wrote another and the slow
man wrote back that he would have
to wait until he made another crop
and as postage was high and silver
was scarce, he advised very limited
CORES pondence. He wrote another
letter to a belated customer at Warsaw
and another and another and then got
a reply which said:
Il have received your letters, but
they were a long time on the way. If
you had sent them around by Atlanta
and Marietta and Roswell l would
have gotten them sooner for we have
two mails a week by that route, but
only one by the way you sent them.
Hereafter you had better send them
that way. Our mail system is very
imperfect. 1t takes six weeks for me
to get a letter from Jack, who is in
the Arkansaw. You remember Jack
But am always glad to hear from you.
Your friend, WILLIAM WATERS.
"P. S.-As for that account of last
year, which you say has run long
time-as the boy said to the molasses,
just let her run. w. W."
7 urnndor If nnnnlo
who was our first postmaster general?
He was the postmaster general before
the revolution and was turned out by
King George because he was sus-
pected of being a rebel and his name
was Benjamin Franklin. When the
Declaration of Independence was pass
ed, he established an independent line
and boycotted the English system and
afterwards organized system of our
own. Sir Rowland Hill was the post
master general of England, and in 1874
established what was called the penny
post. Before that the English mer-
chants hired men to carry their letters
When the battle of the Waterloo was
fought the Rothschilds hired private
carriers to bring them the news Of
the great battle. English credit and
bonds and consols were then away
down to % cents on the doddar, for
Napoleon was just running rough shod
over kingdoms and governments. The
Rothschilds got the news of his defeat
twenty-four hours sooner than the
I !, w
bought up all the bonds and stocks
and consols they could find, and when
the good news came of the great vic
tory these bonds and stocks jumped up
to par in a day and the Rothschilds
made many millions and this was the
beginning of their great fortune. 1t
was a mean, dirty trick, but they didn't
care. For nearly a century they have
controlled the finances of the civilized
world and nations could not go to war
without consulting the Rothschllds.
But now they have to take back
seat, for Pierpont Morgan and Rookie
Teller and a few others can control
more money than they can. Lat our
postage has not yet got to the lowest
notch. The people say it must be re-
duced to one cent, and bill has been
introduced in congress to that effect
and letters will soon be delivered at
almost every mans house, if he lives
on a public highway. Verify, it pass
eth comprehension. l received a let
ter and a paper this morning from
Australia. They had come $4,000
miles for six cents and found me, AL
though there are about a half dozen
Cartersvilles in the United States.
There is no system to perfect as the
postal system and no man can steal
from it without being caught.-Bill
ARD, in Atlanta Constitution.
Something New on Jupiter.
The great planet Jupiter has fire.