Postal Shots

Two shots rang out in Douglas, Ga., last week, and reverberated as far as Washington. L. S. Peterson, recently relieved of his job of postmaster for shortage in his accounts, had killed his clerk, then himself. He left a letter asserting that $2,000 had been demanded of him in five years for Federal patronage.

In the Senate, Georgia's Harris declared: "Ninety per cent of the post-office appointments, I believe, are sold in my state." Said Georgia's George, "The sum of the exactions made would be fairly staggering." "Ridiculous," commented Postmaster General Harry Stewart New. Then two Florida postmasters--Alvin L. Durrance of Frostproof and Leslie D. Roberts of Avon Park--talked of paying "levy" for their posts. Postmaster General New discharged them forthwith.