| From the New Orleans Times Picayune |
| |
| February 26, 1861 |
| |
| The Mail Route North |
| The following letter, which
speaks for itself, has been handed us for publication by the Postmaster
of this city: |
| |
| Knoxville, Feb. 21, 1861 |
| Dr. J. L. Riddell, Postmaster, New Orleans |
| Dear Sir, |
| I arrived at this place at 8
1/2 A. M., just in time to be tool late, yet in time to see the train
leave the depot. Two minutes delay would have taken all the mails and
about ninety passengers. As the weather is fine, and the railroad in
good order, there is no good reason why we should not have connected; as
it is, all have to lie over twenty-four hours. |
| There is a bad feeling
existing between the two routes, for which the community must be the
sufferers, and that a local matter, in the great chain of routes from
New York to New Orleans. The East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad is
running a schedule by Washington city time, and the East Tennessee &
Georgia Railroad by mean time. There is about forty minutes difference. |
| I will recommend to the
Postmaster General that the New Orleans mails going North be sent from
Chattanooga via Atlanta and Augusta, Ga., until there is an
understanding they will go through. Your will please inform the
traveling community that if they take this route they will be delayed at
this place twenty-four hours, which has been the case since the 1st
inst. |
| Respectfully, your obedient
servant, |
| George Whitman |
| Special Agent Post Office Dept. |
|