The Washington herald., 1914-10-26
HISTORY BUILDERS,
When Gen. James Said GOod-by to
Jimmy" Mahr.
iwritten ExpEesSly for The Herah.l
By DR. Il. J. EDWARDS.

~ DIX. II. u. EDWAHDss
IT have retained many memories Of
those who were near me when / was
Postmaster General of the United States,
and all Of these are tender, delightful.
and OF a kind which furnish me with
qualification whenever 1 bring them to
mind" said Gen. Thomas L. James, who
was Postmaster General In the Cabinets
OF Presidents Garfield and Arthur. TO me
at a time when he was recovering from
an illness which. 1t was feared. might
prove mortal.
Gen. James had been out Of the Post
master Generals ONCE for nearly a gem
Grafton when 1 chatted with him. but
his memory Of men and events OF that
earlier day was as fresh as though he
had seen the men and had part in the
events only recently.
'T think the most affecting incident
associated with my entire service as Post
master General occurred upon the night
previous to the day when was to leave
Washington to return 10 my home in New
York City" continued Gen. James.
''one after another OF my friends
called upon me to bid me good-by. One
Of these was Montgomery Blair. who was
one OF my predecessors In the office OF
Postmaster General AS was the case
with me, Mr.. Blair was a newspaper
man before he entered public life. He
was cordial and kindly and spoke with
tones of sincerity when he said that he
could only regret that had found II eX-
pedient TO resign my office and to go
back TO private life.
Late in the evening there came to me
a venerable man of whom I had become
fond. He was, think. past eighty years
OF age, and he had been a clerk in the
Postofice Department for nearly fifty
years.
He was Jimmy Mahr, a clerk who
possessed the friendship OF all his asso-
ciates and the affection Of many of them.
Il was his distinction that he had been
longer in consecutive service in the Post
ONCE Department than any other clerk.
and ! could not help but feel that our
government could have been more lib
eral and just had 1t permitted a faithful
clerk Of so long a service as Mahr's to
retire with a pension. He took my hand
in both Of his and then he said:
I knew a Postmaster General-for
served under him-who had a battle with
Star Route contractors similar to yours.
He was Amos Kendall, and he was Post
master General under President Jackson.
He would not pay a bill which he be-
lieved to be fraudulent, although directed
by resolution OF Congress to do so. But
Kendall had a great man and a great
fighter behind him, for he had the au-
thority and support OF Andrew Jackson
When he said this. Mahr was over
come with his feelings. He dropped my
hand. which he had been holding all the
time, and threw his trembling arms
around my neck. and l saw the tears
rolling down his checks But they were
the tears OF a child, because they could
not be controlled, and when he had thus
embraced me he turned and went away
without saying anything more.
Il shall remember the parting between
myself and Jimmy Mahr. the Oldest en-
ploye Of his time, so long as l can re-
member anything"
tuODgHEht. 1914 by E. J. Edwards. All rights 70
sSrTed.l
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell Of
quite a Different Proposition"