The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-08-13
HOW
RAN
Some Musty Tones at Washington Which have inter
esting History Back of hem-Dlfflcultle IN rs
tablishing Service in Southern States.

haIf score of dilapidated old leather
hound books of the ledger type
saws the Washington Star. Iney
are as unromantic looking as the
day-book Of a grocery store. =
which they bear a most striking
with their pages filed
with faded entries or the appoin'-
,nent of some crossroads postmaS-
ters or a drearily formal letter 10
such pOStmaSterS asking toT al ~
counting. and Such-Hke commohplace
notations. To the cursory eye tney
appear about as exciting as d patent
office report ..aI
old manuscript books in the llgnt Oh
their history. they become tuli OF IN
terest. The entries in FADED INK
transferring some group Oh inail
clerks from a postal route IN nor'n-
crn Tennessee to a like poS1llon III
western Virginia becomes something
more than a dull business detail OF
the postal service: n sees benlno
those orders the marching columns OF
Blue and Gray and hears the roar OF
cannon and the scream or smell. Iof
the moving cause of these entries was
battles wherein North and SCUM
grappled in the deadly conflict or the
war against the union
III liz lSHt VI IiotohJ
pages Of yellow script become instinct
with life. with the hopes and fears
and Joys and tears of the dead south
eru COnfederaCy marking mere ana
there. as they do. the victory or defeat
Of the southern arms. as told dryly IN
those short formal statements. py
the pushing forward of the postal SER
vice into territory lately WreSted from
the enemy or by the withdrawal OF
postmasters and clerks from districts
lately overrun by the northern forces.
These old volumes are the Orlglnal
records of the post office department
of the southern C~Onfederacy. for
many years scattered to the four
winds, but lately collected and filed
for preservation in the Congressional
Library. In all, they consist Of ten Of
these old ledger volumes. with a sup
Elementary lot Of papers made up in
half a dozen packets. which latter are
mostly contracts for carrying the
mails. printing blank forms and such
other matters Of outside dealing.
The ten volumes do not comprise all
of these records. as may be gathered
from the contents Of the volumes
themselves. There were probably
half a dozen more Of them originally.
but where the others are. II. indeed.
they are now in existence IS not
known.
More ordinary and commonplace
looking tones never excited the inter-
est Of the student or rewarded search
er after the curious. The first vol
ume starts off in the most matter-of
fact name with the statement, en-
braced in a line and a half. to the
effect that. March Is. 1851. John H.
Reagan. Of Texas. was appointed post
master general of the Confederate
States of America, at Montgomery.
A l aha ma their ga initial There iS no
other entry for a fortnight. when is
recorded the appointment OF about a
dozen subordinate officials.
AS a matter Of fact. there were not
any entries to make. For here was
a postmaster general without a single
post office or postmaster under him
without even an office. except a small
room in the temporary capitol build
ing In Montgomery. Not only were
there no stamps. nor other medium
Of conveniently sending mail: there
was not wen a blank form in tn
paper department. Indeed it wa
not even a paper" department, for i
wrapping paper.
But where there is a will. mean
al be found. Chapters could b
written" SAYS the postmaster genera
in his memoirs. ION the expedients t
WHlCu we were UTlVen TO resort IN or
der that we might get our postal de
partment into some semblance o
form and substance"
Indeed. the position Of postmaste
general was one that had been "side
stepped" by several prominent south
rners to whom it was previously Of
fered-and was twice offered to Rea
gan before he was prevailed upon b
pressure of friends to undertake t h
ask He heSitated. as the others bt
fore him had done. because he sa,
that no matter how hard he worked
his efforts were bound to appear TAI,
ures in the eyes Of the public. VIII
were used from birth to the regula
service of the United States mail sci
vice. and would not be apt to max
allowances for the difficulties unde
which he labored.
This embryo postmaster genera
however. was a self-made man. rear
ed in the school Of the early Tex
frontier. where. oftentimes. when tv