Evening star., 1914-04-05
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

In IHE NIAk
The Washington city post Office was a
most important station fifty years ago.
fortthrough it passed a
washington great part of the mail
p.,4 nm intended for the northern
'' 0e' soldiers. In The Star of
March %, 1854, is a news article which
describes the activities of this office:
Our readers can hardly form an idea
Of the amount of labor performed in this
monster establishment, for on an average
the number of letters received daily
through the mail for delivery in this
city is 1859 besides which there are
$500 drop or local letters making a grand
total of 49,169. which are disposed of in
the following manner: On receipt Of the
mails the pouches are unlocked. the pack
ages opened and the number of letters
in each package compared with the bill
forwarded by the postmaster or clerk
making up the same. after which those
FOR Individual or private boxes are Sc
lected, which requires the services of old
and experienced clerks. There are about
J, 400 boxes OF this class. into which 5000
letters are placed. OF 40 100 letters men
toned Lilo letters go to the general de-
livery, where they are assorted into
pigeon holes. There are fifteen carriers
and 1850 letters are taken to their room,
where they are again separately handled.
The number for the departments con-
sisting of letters, papers, packages, ETC.
is. say, 1900. and the remaining $500
are placed in proper receptacles, to be
called for by messengers of tie army
(These figures do not total and there is
evidently a misprint in The Star of 1864. }
The estimates made above do not in
clude the matter received from the army.
The army mails are much heavier than
any others, as was shown during one day
last week, when 5000 letters were re-
ceived and arranged for sending off. One
hundred clerks, messengers and laborers
are employed on the city and military
mails. and this force is found to be in
adequate to the demands of the office
the duties of which are increasing every
day"
The problem of making change on the
local street car line fifty years ago was
occasionally the cause OF
Street Car some difficulty between pas
cl sengers and conductors. In
oose' The Star of March sc. 1864
case had been at last arranged to deter
mine the obligation of the company to
change bills of 81 and over. A passenger
got on a car and offered dollar bill
which the conductor could not change
and requested the passenger either to
give him ; cents or leave the car. which
the passenger declined to do. The CON
ductor stopped the car, and putting his
hand on the passengers shoulder re-
quested him to leave. which he did ano
went at once before justice and OBJ
tanned a warrant for the arrest of the
conductor for assault. In court the next
morning the conductor admitted the al
legged technical assault, and the attorney
for the company argued that it was moi
the conductors duty to change bill, anG
although conductors had frequently
changed bills as high as $40, they had
done so merely in spirit of accommo
dation, and were not under any obligation
to do So The question was taken under
advsement for future decision.
James Hendricks and Emanuel Pollard
colored, both convicted of murder, lay
i'll the District Jail al
Murderers Try this time fifty years age
awaiting execution. the
70 Escape. date of which had beer
set for April /, 1864. The Star of March
80, 1854, describes their fruitless attempt
to escape:
They managed to detach a piece oi
brick from the wall of their cell and with
it succeeded in breaking the links of the
chain that connected their leg irons They
then went to work and cut through the
colored, a convict not sentenced, is con-
fined, and together they managed TO open
the cell door. Mr. Roberts. d guard or
duty. going his regular round of the
prison at / o'clock Monday morning, dis
covered the cell open. He took the pre-
caution to call the guards, and they en-
tered the cell and secured the prisoners
The attempt was a desperate one, and
might have proved successful but for the
regularity with which the guards mane
their visits to the cells and examine the
doors and locks to be sure of their Sc
curity The insecurity OF the miserable
old building makes it a work of constant
vigilance on the part of the keepers to
secure the prisoners.
Hendricks and Pollard, however. We're
not hanged on the day named, but on the
contrary their sentences
Execution We're commuted to inn
prisonment for life owing
to doubt regarding the
legality OF any execution in the District
by the civil authorities under the divided
jurisdiction between the District and the
national government. A large crowd as
sembled in the ncighborhood of the jail,
located on the north side of Judiciary
Square where the pension office now
stands, to witness the execution, the gal
lows being visible from the roofs of ad-
jacent houses. Some of these spectators
had paid considerable sums for the privi-
lege of occupying these vantage points.
The Star of April 1. 1861, thus describes
the scene:
Twelve o'clock came and went by and
presently it was whispered that the sen
tence of the criminals had been COM
muted to Imprisonment for life. Others
called out not to believe it, saying that
the story of the Communication was a first
of April hoax, put afloat to enable the
originators to get better standee seats.
1t was not until the last minute of the
time designated as the limit, . pm. had
expired, that many of the spectators were
willing to leave the vicinity.
For some days it has been doubted
whether the prisoners could be lawfully
executed. Marshall Lamon being under
the opinion that the late law of Congress