The Postal War: How Snohomish’s Star Exposed Seattle’s Corrupt Postmaster

The Snohomish Star, in reply to our article alleging specific acts of gross negligence in the Seattle Post Office, has been worked an injury to the STAR. Articles in reply were published last week in the Olympia Courier, the Seattle Tribune and the Intelligencer. The Dispatch also noticed the matter.

We have not seen the Courier article, therefore can make no reply to it at present, yet presume that what we now have to say will cover the whole ground. Our charges were not made until after we had carefully investigated the whole matter, and found it repeated claims that nothing else would reach the ear. Even then we should have delayed, for a time at least, making them public through our columns had not so many of our patrons in Seattle inquired why the STAR was scarcely ever distributed until several days after the arrival of the Snohomish at the Seattle Office.

Although Mr. Preacht's attention had more than once been called to these irregularities in that office, yet until we had such strong evidence of delay, we made most of our complaints directly to the clerk in charge of the office.

Not until we found by experience that nothing we could do would induce the Seattle postal clerk to treat us fairly did we write directly to Mr. R., who promised to do all he could as a gentleman to do, to set the matter right. He now promises to personally notify us of anything wrong and to see that our subscribers get their mail at the proper time. This is all we ask; therefore we have nothing to say against Mr. P., nor long new are trading, do we.

Mr. P. editor of the Tribune replies in our charges of poor service in that office in such a manner as to impliedly admit part of the guilt, and to extenuate the same by attempting to show that there was no design against us, or the STAR, but the office clerk rendered us many extra services, and that the STAR must come to the office in very bad shape, so that the blame must lie no great on our side or elsewhere, each one of which we will notice in detail.

The lengthy reply of the Tribune, while gentlemanly in tone, prevents the recantation of his subordinate, and seeks to create an impression that we wrote from prejudice, not from a full knowledge of the facts. In his language, 'went all half cocked' yet he admits that he knew but little about the affairs of his office and gave us many rather than facts of which he had personal knowledge.

A clergyman of Seattle, who was present at the meeting described in our article, of the Seattle clergy, was the first one to give us a full account of D.B.'s language at that meeting in reference to the STAR, as well as the manner of the persons who volunteered to come to Snohomish and carry on D.B.'s work with his proposed mailer of action. This information was given us a few days after their interest was lost in Seattle under D.B.'s supervision.

The 'squib' is ours (a great many in Smith County) that if 'so powerful in our indignant course' it would be to our profit, and not making it as 'an enemy.' And at this time we fear the threat which may aim at value in Snohomish, with two adversaries, are none standing; Vs ill any clerk to A of rest. He 'saw us there if... Mr L Hf'. '11: 3. mv- 124.1; {ht'lpl .‘n 1 Ha'. Ending nut Hut wr- '\v w Vunli» inr mlh Iln-H'Jusu‘lh‘. uml ln‘l up, 1'; hwkummi thv-m, Yin y drm m Ivl :im nunw nl‘nnx‘ }nlurxnnnt.

Now this man has known in common with hundreds of others, that everything that resulted to our injury, provided that it remained until we were mad, could not fail to please his master.

Now upon this man's removal from that place, Daniel Huxley took counsel, in the presence and doubtless as we of the most reliable business men, doing business on Commercial street in Seattle, as to how he could grasp [Preston's] hands as a postmaster, at low days after Huxley's brother-in-law again became clerk of that office. This last change was not informed in this manner.

The only remaining matter to be noticed is the way our mail arrived at the Office.

As it is well known, we travel a large part of our time, more than all the other editors of the Territory combined, and always make it a matter of special inquiry to see if our subscribers get their mail regularly, and we also try to ascertain if there is anything else that can be done for the improvement of any amount of the honor of our patrons. Consequently, every irregularity can exist, for any length of time, without our finding them out.

We have been doubly careful in this respect, ever since our trouble began with the Seattle postmaster, to notice every omission, and correct it as soon as possible thereafter.

No complaint was ever made on to the manner of our mail being done up until after Mr. P. became post-master. Upon our employing a new foreman of extensive experience in the printing business, at least twice or thrice as great as that of the editor of the Tribune, he folded the STAR in a different form than before lastly in the office, and did up the paper in such a shape that would have been properly secure, with ordinary careful handling of the mail.

The manner of the Nollie, in place of looking after the mail himself, as is usually done on other steamers, left the matter wholly to the steward, who handled the mail very roughly, throwing the mail bags a great distance oftentimes into mud and water on the wharves, and with such force as to loosen or break any large packages, not done up with extraordinary care, taking the whole mail ashore in this manner at Lowell and Mukilteo.

As soon as this was observed by us we immediately took steps to remedy it, so that no mail for Lowell or Mukilteo was put in the large paper mail sack, making it unnecessary to carry it ashore except at Seattle. Soon after we noticed that a few packages had failed completely to reach their destination as proof that the source of it must be in the way the mail had been handled, we went to the Seattle post office, found these broken packages in that office, done them up but poorly, and sent them to the proper destination. The clerk there informing us that the Seattle mail had not arrived at the office so that he could distribute all of it, but asking a different mode of doing up the papers.

Now this was given as an argument, taking his last mail, if a large contents in the postal package, tried to wait until the very last of the press mail sat THE NORTHERN STAR.

But relying upon Mr. R's word that he will hereafter personally attend to the matter; and requesting all officers of the office as well as subscribers to aid us by every means in their power to make the service prompt and efficient, we close this article, hoping that the like may not occur hereafter.