Ten Years Among the Mail Bags Part 32

though properly "addressed," as was fondly hoped, by the heavenly "Messengers" who beckoned him away from other duties, to "wrap" and "box up"--and now even the post-office itself had been prematurely "taken away" also.

Not many suns had risen and set, however, before the other side of the picture was prepared and presented at Was.h.i.+ngton, and now the ball had fairly opened, with the orchestra in full blast. A formidable remonstrance had received the signatures of all the "legal voters,"

and, as was charged on the other side, of many whose elective rights were not so easily settled.

The customary accusations of unfairness, improper influence, stealing a march, downright misrepresentations, &c., were called in requisition to show the Department that this "outrage" on the citizens was unwarrantable; and the important trust of conveying this evidence to the seat of Government, fell to the lot of a certain gentleman well known among political circles in that section of the country, and supposed to possess a fair share of influence with the appointing power. He repaired to Was.h.i.+ngton, made his first call at the White House, and labored hard to enlist the feelings of the Chief Executive in the case, but a few words from that distinguished official were sufficient to show that such interference in a comparatively unimportant matter could not reasonably be expected of him.

The President did however show his respect for his visitor, who happened to be an old personal friend, by escorting him down to the Department, and introducing him to the Post Master General. The Governor of the State was also in the case, the two United States Senators, and several of the members of Congress, as the files of the papers, _pro_ and _con_, clearly demonstrated. Not that they felt any personal interest in the result of the controversy, but because their political relations with many of those who did, were such that they could not well resist their importunities to come up to their relief.

On patiently listening to the statements of the representative from the seat of war, and re-examining the doc.u.mentary evidence, the Post Master General declined to reverse his former decision, but suggested sending one of the Department's Agents to investigate the whole matter. This course was adopted, and the responsibility thus transferred for the time being, to the shoulders of the to be author of "Ten Years."

For many days before he arrived upon the ground, the excitement both among the vanquished and the vanquis.h.i.+ng, was at the highest pitch; information that such reference of the case had been made, having been conveyed to both parties on the return of the distinguished politician from the Capital.

Post master number one, however, could not await the slow process of that form of justice, so he dispatched a semi-official private note to me, nearly as follows, if my memory serves me:

Sir:

Will you please inform me if you have been instructed to visit this place in connection with our post-office controversy. If so, I would like to be informed of the time of your visit, as I wish to post you up as to certain parties here whose true position you ought to understand before their testimony in the case is heard.

Yours truly,

F. B. S----.

P. S.--If I knew when you are to arrive, I would be at the cars.

To this I simply replied that I could not fix upon the precise day, but would call upon him on my arrival.

One lovely afternoon of a lovely day in October, the "Agent" might have been seen alighting from the car at the rail road station at M., fully impressed, of course, with the difficulty of the task before him, but with a sincere desire to carry out, if possible, the intention of Government, and to mete out equal and exact justice to all parties.

A new and flouris.h.i.+ng-looking store, the only one by the way in the neighborhood, with a small sign over the door, with the words "Post-Office" inscribed thereon, saved me the necessity of inquiring for post-office site number one. In a few moments I found myself in the presence of the merchant and post master, who proved to be a young man of prepossessing and business-like appearance.

A few questions on my part served to apprise him of the official character of the person by whom he was addressed, and also to cause his momentary neglect of a young customer for whom he was just then engaged in answering an order for a gallon of mola.s.ses. The little damsel who was there upon the saccharine errand, regarded me with open-eyed awe, having probably heard something of the Department in the course of the all-pervading Post-Office controversies of the last few months, and cast as many stolen glances at me as her modesty would allow, thus securing a mental daguerreotype, to be displayed for the benefit of her wondering parents, after her return home with the double load of news and mola.s.ses.

In his embarra.s.sment at my sudden arrival, the post master forgot the mola.s.ses, and in a moment quite a torrent of the thick liquid had overflowed its bounds, and formed a pool upon the floor.

"Post master," said I, "you have left your mola.s.ses running over." In his eagerness to stop the leak, he went plump into the sweet puddle, with both feet, and any time that day his tracks might have been seen all over the store.

"Never mind," said he, "accidents will happen;" at the same time drawing his feet across some waste paper upon the floor. The young customer smiled, but during the running over process, she had said not a word, for by the means she was getting "scripture measure." She handed the post master a bank-note in payment, who, still laboring under considerable excitement, made her the wrong change, doing himself out of at least half the cost of the mola.s.ses, which, together with the loss of the surplusage, made it anything but a profitable business transaction for him.

But the little girl was honest. She counted and recounted the change that had been given her, and with that peculiar expression that in one like her attends the consciousness of an honest act, she threw it all back upon the counter, remarking, "You have given me too much, sir."

The countenance of the post master gave evidence by this time of not a little mortification at the occurrence of two such awkward blunders in the presence of a dignitary all the way from Was.h.i.+ngton; and in his hurry to turn my attention from them, he forgot even to thank the child for her honest conduct, as he returned her the change "revised and corrected."

But I did not. Wis.h.i.+ng not to cast an implied censure upon sweet-foot, I pa.s.sed to the piazza of the store, to throw aside the stump of an Havana, (or a "Suffield," as the case may have been,) and un.o.bserved by him, handed her a quarter, which she acknowledged by a blus.h.i.+ng smile, and a low courtesy.

Returning, I missed the post master for a moment, and stepping within sight of the floor behind the counter, I could distinctly see the mola.s.ses tracks going toward a small enclosure at the other end of the counter. It proved to be the apartment used for the post-office.

Stepping a little further behind the counter, I spied my new and confused acquaintance, arranging the books, letters, and papers, apparently in great haste. Seeing that I had returned to the store and now observed him, he advanced towards me a few paces.

"I usually keep things in better order in the post-office," said he, "but I was away this forenoon, and my boy has got things a little mixed up."

"Never mind that now," I replied; "I am in something of a hurry, and want to enter at once on the business upon which I came. What is all this fuss that the people of the old village are making about the new post-office arrangements? By the row they are kicking up at Was.h.i.+ngton, the Department are almost led to believe there was something unfair in the means adopted to effect the change, and that they may have erred in their decision."

This plain and informal opening of the case seemed to restore his self-possession.

"Well, they have tried to make a fuss, that's a fact, but it's more s.p.u.n.k than anything else. You see this is a new village, and although there are not yet many buildings, business is fast centering here, and it's bound to be _the place._ The folks up there have to come to the depot constantly, and if they only think so, can be just as well accommodated here. They hate to lose a good place to loaf in, that's all there is to it. They don't need a post-office no more than a rail road wants a guide post.

"They will tell you a great deal about their Academy, and talk big about other things. As to the Academy, it has got reduced, and most of the pupils who do attend, either belong to the upper village where they have a post-office now, or have to pa.s.s right by this door in going to school. But few of them being from abroad, they have but little correspondence any way. Then you will hear tall speechifying about a flouris.h.i.+ng hat factory which perhaps did something once, but can hardly be said to be in operation now. I hear they claim to have three extensive stores in the village. Now if you will look for yourself, you will see two small affairs that don't both together sell half the goods that I do, and as to the third, it was closed some time ago, and if the owner went away in broad daylight, then common report does him great injustice."

After a few remarks in the same vein, in the course of which he waxed quite eloquent, he closed by offering to take me in his wagon and show me the other two villages. He had been standing quite still during the delivery of this speech, and considerable effort was required to raise his feet to go in the direction of his hat, the adhesive qualities of the syrup still holding out.

I thanked him for the offer, but said I must decline it, as I desired to avoid all cause of jealousy in my mode of investigation, and further remarked, that I would prefer to take a general view of all the localities, without the aid or explanations of any of the parties interested; and that after this had been done, I would give all hands a fair and impartial hearing.

"Very well," said he, "all we ask is fair play, but you will have to make a good deal of allowance for the extravagant statements of the leaders in the old village. I can prove that they have got democrats to sign to have the office restored, who are on our paper, and who say they were deceived when they signed theirs."

Having heard about enough of this, I had gradually moved along to the store door, when my eye rested upon a large wooden building near by, several stories high, and with an unusual number of windows, about the only building of any size in the vicinity.

"What is that?" I asked, at the same time pointing to it.

"That?--that is a shoe manufactory."

"How many hands are employed there?" I inquired.

Just then, a fine-looking, elderly gentleman, with an air which denoted that he had a right to do pretty much as he pleased, stepped upon the piazza, and was introduced to me by the post master as his father-in-law, not omitting of course to inform his respected relative that I was no less a personage than the identical gentleman expected from Was.h.i.+ngton.

"Ah," said he, "I am glad the Department has seen fit to send so competent a person to look into this business, and I hope, sir, it will be thoroughly done."

This was said in a gentlemanly, dignified manner, and he pa.s.sed into the store without any further conversation. But the term "competent person," as applied to me, warned me that I should probably find it necessary to guard against "soft sodder" also, as one of the means of persuasion, and made me half suspicious that he might not be the impartial and disinterested individual that he appeared at first sight.

The suspicion was just, for I afterwards learned that he was a wealthy and enterprising whig citizen, owning a beautiful mansion and a good deal of other property in village number three, (one of the new sites,) and that he was the proprietor of a good share of the real estate at the depot village; and further, that he had been mainly instrumental in getting the changes effected. His personal interests in them footed up as follows: A post-office established at the village of his residence, and a post-office at the depot village, (where the store in which it was kept belonged to him,) and his son-in-law appointed post master! A shrewd Yankee operation that, though I could discover the adoption of no dishonorable means in securing these advantages. It was decidedly smart, though, and it isn't every body who could have successfully executed such a programme, after it had been arranged.

This interruption of the conversation between the post master and myself, came in just in time to stave off an answer to my question about the large building in view, and my friend no doubt considered that an effectual stop was put to further inquiries on that subject.

But not so. Failing to discover any signs of thrift or vitality in or about the huge edifice referred to, I now repeated the inquiry.

"I was asking how many persons are employed in that shoe factory?"

Before I had fairly finished the sentence, however, he had darted into the store and returned with two Havanas, (?) saying, "Come, have a smoke, and let's walk over and take a look at the saw mill," which by the way happened to be in an opposite direction from the aforesaid shoe establishment.

I consented, however. The mill was in operation, and the stream, such as it was, kept up a pretty respectable roar, though you could hear yourself converse, I noticed, quite as easily as by the side of old Niagara just after a smart shower!

Feeling somewhat humorously inclined, owing to his persevering evasion of my researches as to the boot and shoe enterprise, I remarked as we stood observing the perpendicular thrusts of the saw through a submissive-looking log, "This is the _board_ing house spoken of in your post-office pet.i.tions, isn't it?"

He did not "take," however, but gravely replied that they _had_ turned out stacks of boards since the mill was started, and that they had thought of keeping it running nights as well as days.

As I could conceive of no very direct connection between a saw mill and a post-office, and not caring to have too much saw dust thrown in my eyes, nor to countenance any log-rolling operation, I moved off toward the store again. But not a word was volunteered about the "factory," so I marched straight over to it, and trying one of the main doors, found it all fast as I had suspected. I was about to repeat the attempt at another part of the building, but the post master had now arrived on the ground, and his reluctant explanation saved me further trouble on that head at least.

"Owing to the hard times, it is not occupied now, but until lately it has employed some thirty or forty hands. They'll get agoing again soon, and intend to employ some eighty workmen. The suspension is only temporary."

"Worse off than the hat factory of which you spoke, at the other village," I observed. He made no reply.