BENJAMIN MILNER TURNER (1838-1900) was Captain of Co. C,
4th GA. He was badly wounded at Chickamauga and taken P.O.W. at Nashville.
2pp,
8” x 10 ½”, TLS, October 31, 1888, Atlanta, GA, on Railway Mail Service, Office
of Superintendent Fourth Division, to Hon. Samuel E. Dibble, Orangeburgh, SC.
“Replying to yours of the 27th instant in relation to Mr. M.O. Dantzler, of the
Wilmington and Jacksonville R.P.O., I beg to say, that on Monday last, I
forwarded statements of Chief Clerks Davis and Brennecke, supported by the
testimony of some other clerks, to the department. I can conceive of no motive
why Davis or Brennecke should misrepresent Dantzler. If he was a fit clerk for
the service after nine months experience, he would certainly be less trouble to
the Chief Clerks and to this office than a new man who has to be taken up and
instructed from the beginning. Mr. Brennecke and Mr. Davis, as well of myself,
know that neither of us will be consulted in the matter of filling the vacancy
caused by the retirement of Mr. Dantzler, from the service, should he be
retired. I can assure you that we feel a lively sense of the responsibility
which rests upon the Railway Mail Service, and I know that it is held
responsible for the efficiency and conduct of the clerks by the public and
press, without any regard for their being new and inexperienced and, so far as
their associate railway postal clerks, Chief Clerks and myself are concerned,
every reason exists why a clerk who can do the work should be retained, and I
can conceive of none for a desire to get rid of a competent one and take the
chances on a new one of whom we have never heard. On the other hand, Mr.
Dantzler, naturally, has very strong reasons for making the best possible
defense for himself because…his reputation is involved and his personal friends
among the postal clerks have, I have no doubt, gone as far as they
conscientiously could in their statements in his behalf, and yet only two, I
believe acquit him further than to say—he was not seen by them while under the
influence of liquor while on duty. I impartially considered the case from the
evidence alone and I believe a just conclusion was arrived at. I do not say
that Mr. Dantzler had any reason to suppose that your influence would be used
to have him retained, but I do say, I believe he acts on the idea or he would not
have gotten drunk and gone into the Chief Clerk’s office and told Renneker
that: ‘He would be darned if he would put up another examination until after he
had received his permanent appointment,’ as Renneker (not Brennecke) says he
did, and he would not have absented himself without leave from August 12th to
28th, as the record shows he did. “Very respectfully, “B.M. Turner”
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