| From the Richmond Whig |
| |
| January 16, 1865 |
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| The Confederate Postal System -- Piedmont Railroad |
| Mr. W. D. Coleman, the Postmaster at Danville, has
published a card in the Register, in which some interesting facts
relative to the transportation of the mails on the Piedmont Railroad are
given. We copy the following: |
| "When the Piedmont railroad was first finished an agent
was appointed for the Post Office Department, said agent being exempt
from military duty by reason of physical disability. He entered upon
duty and continued in discharge of it to the satisfaction of the
Department and of the public, until removed by request of Gen. Braxton
Bragg for discourteously treating that General, when he applied to him
for some information about his baggage. It was some weeks before his
successor could be found, owing to the fact that none but exempts were
eligible, and it was difficult to find an exempt who would accept a
position at a compensation of $150 per month, the maximum allowed by an
act of Congress. At last the Department instructed me to make an
appointment subject to the confirmation of the P. M. General. I
succeeded in finding a competent and efficient agent, but his
appointment was not confirmed, because, in the meanwhile, it appearing
that the route being in North Carolina, it was claimed that a North
Carolinian should have the appointment. The agent I had appointed had
entered upon duty, but the P. M. at Greensboro', N. C., was instructed
to find a suitable man, exempt from military duty, from that State, to
supply the place. The postmaster at Greensboro' failed to do so;
meantime the agent I had appointed, being an old man sixty years old,
broke down and was prostrated upon his bed from illness contracted on
the road. Since then the Department, being informed of the facts, has
labored assiduously to supply the place, but unsuccessfully, being
limited in its choice to exempts. |
| On the 5th instant, I received authority from the
department again to "employ some competent person exempt from military
duty." On Saturday, the 7th, I obtained the services of a competent
gentleman, who agreed to run temporarily until permanent arrangements
could be made. In discharge of his duty he was at the Piedmont deport on
Saturday night at one o'clock; he announced his functions to the proper
officer of the railroad, and was informed that there was no mail car for
him. Subsequently, I am informed the mail was sent in charge of the
conductor, who was compelled to store it in a common freight car,
formerly used for hauling cattle. The mail bags were piled up in the
car, and all the available space left was filled by passengers. |
| The Piedmont Railroad never has complied with the
regulations of the Department which require a separate car, or at least
an apartment to be furnished for the use of the mail agent. The only
attempt at such a thing was the conversion of one end of an old freight
car into a miserable box, without fire or any other comfort, in which
the Agent had to ride, and which comfortless and inconvenient
arrangement caused the old gentleman whom I have alluded to, to lose his
health and endanger his life. |
| One other fact and I am done. During the late
interruption of travel upon the line, a special agent of the Department
arrived here in charge of a large number of mail bags known as the
"through mail," to be carried South in bulk. The Piedmont officers
refused to allow it to go even on a freight train, and it had to lie
over until it pleased them to send it. |
| The quartermaster General has issued instructions to
his officers here which will prevent any delay in the transportation of
the through mails, and if the Piedmont Company will only provide a mail
car, there will be no further trouble about the local mail. |
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