Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-12-24
WHO WILL GET PLUMs

WHO WILL GET PLUMS
Who will be the assistant postmas-
ter?
This question is the one that is agitat-
ing the minds of the postofflce employees
publicans in the city.
The office of assistant postmaster Is
appointive, and is in the hands of the
postmaster The appointment Of Hugh L.
Mckee as postmaster means, of course,
that there will be a new assistant.
The place is good one, paying 5000
a year, or just half what the postmaster
/ ship itself pays.
Speculation is rife as to who will get
the plum. Nobody seems to know, least
Of all, the new postmaster himself. Mr..
Mckee reiterated his previous statement
to the effect that he has not given
thought to the personnel of his staff.
Most of the positions in the postofice
come under the civil service regulations,
and there are really only three people
whose positions are at the disposal OF
the postmaster, these being the assistant,
secretary and a stenographer.
SEVERAL ARE NAMED.
Numerous names are being mentioned
as possible appointees to the assistant
postmastership. Among these is that of
the former head of the Atlanta office, e.
F. Wlodgett.
As postmaster of Atlanta Mr.. Mckee
will Be directly in command of small
army Of postal employees. OF htese, in
GLIDING clerks, carriers, substitutes, spec
ial dilvery men, laborers, stenographers
and the assistant postmaster, there are
something like 300 in all. Their monthly
payroll amounts to about $4,000, and in
addition, some 300 railway mail clerks,
with a monthly salary of about 100000,
are also under his supervision.
It would have been hard or President
Taft to find a man in the Republican
ranks who wound have been more ac-
ceptable to the Atlanta people than Hugh
L. Mckee as appointee to the postmas-
tership of this city.
The son of one of the most prominent
families of the old south, Mr.. Mckee
was born on the family plantation in
Conecuh county, Ala, in 1866. His A years
sit as lightly on his shoulders as care
upon those Of school boy, and he is as
athletic as many a man Of q.
His first school education was received
at Milton, Fla, and in 1879 he came to
Atlanta, where he took a course in a To-
cal business college.
His first position was as office boy In
the establishment Of 8. NJ. Inman & Co.,
where he early made himself valuable to
the interests OF MS employers. ne says
that he owes his success in after life to
the gentle and courtly kindness and
watchful supervision of Mr.. Inman, whose
attitude toward him was that Of a IA
Their.
Later on in life Mr.. Mckee left the en-
ployment of Inman & Co., to accept a
position in the Atlanta National bank,
where he remained for about Il years.
perfecting the business training whichH
has made him the capable. shrewd man {
he is today. When he left the Atlanta
National bank to accept the positionF
which he has occplied in the postoficev
since 1904 he was paying teller for that
institution. He has been cashier at the
Atlanta postoffice for five years.
The political life Of Mr.. Mckee has
been particularly quiet and uneventfuI.
When the Chicago Democratic conven-
ton declared for free silver in 1894 he
decided that he could not support Mr..
Bryan and since that time has been act
i've in Republican politics, acting as pres
idential elector for the Fifth district and
as elector at large.
Mr.. Mckee married Miss Jessie Moore,
the charming daughter OF William A.
Moore. of the firm of Moore g. Marsh,
which was at one time the oldest bust
ness house Of Atlanta He stands at the
top Of the social lalder and Is a prominent
figure In the affairs OF the city. He has
always borne an enviable reputation as a
progressive. liberal man of the highest
professional and personal attributes.
In speaking of the future to a Journal
representative Tuesday he said:
'I have made no plans with reference
to the office OF postmaster. 1 did not
count on getting the appointment in the
slightest. There is time enough for that
later"