, 1854-07-15
Postal Arrangements.


The citizens of this county, and a great
er portion of the territory, are at present
afflicted-with the most miserable of all con-
temptible postal arrangements with which
they have,been subjected to since the intro
duction of mail facilities this side the Co.
lumbia river In order that all may be able
to know, as far We do, the present situation
of the mail affairs of the territory, we will
briefly state our understanding of the mat
ter, as at present presented.
In the proposals issued from the post Of
fee department, under the sanction of the
Post Master General, for carrying the
mails, and published in this paper some
months since, we find the following:
1902 From Rainier, by mouth OF Cowlitz Monti
cello and Cowlitz Farm to Olympia, IS miles
and back, once week.
Leave Rainier every Tuesday at ami;
Arrive nt Olympia next day by p. IN;
Leave Olympia every Thursday at Q a. m;
Arrive at Rainier next day by p. m.
Bids to extend 2S miles to StcicOOm are invited
The contract of Mr.. A. B. RABBEsoN
of this county, for carrying the mail
between this place and Cowlitz Land
ing, having expired this spring, it appears
that a Mr. tGRAY, of Portland, Oregon,
bid for the ebove contract, and that his
proposal was closed in with by the depart
ment at $3l00 per aunum, 10 ertend the 90
miles, to SteiidcOOm 1t seems, however,
that since the contract has been awarded to
Mr.. Gray, agreeable to his own bid, he re-
fuses to enter upon the performance of the
same, and the mail, therefore, for the last
two trips, has been carried under the d.
rection Of his securities, in which manner
it is said it will be continued until they can
be released, or make some satisfactory ar
rangement relative thereto.
1t is a matter perfectly immaterial to the
people of this part of the country, aeho has
charge of the contract, or tchere the ter
minus of either end Of the route may be,
SO that regularity is insured, and mail mat
ter transmitted with promptness But
when it is understood, (Which is strictly
true, that the mail starts from Portland
for Rainier, about the same hour that the
mail at'Ranier leaves that place for this d.
rection-thus depriving us of our Oregon
and States mails for Oae reek after they
should be due here, it must be acknowledg-
ed that our people not only have good cause
for murmuring, but downright rebellion at
such an arrangement.
To demonstrate that there must have
been some misunderstanding with the de-
partment, with regard to localities in this
territory, as well as to distances from point
to point, it is sufficient for our purpose to
remark, that in connection with the above
proposal to receive bids to ertend the con-
tract to SteilaeO0n', from Rainier ria Olym-
pia, that another proposal was made for
carrying the mail from Olympia to Seattle
direct-thus having dOHJie contract and
mail route the distance between Olympia
and SteiLdcOOm.
No person can carry the mail from Ra-
nier to Steilacoom for $3lOO, unless he
should feel sufficiently patriotic to be at
about half the expense which will necessa-
frily be incurred, as nothing short of be-
tween $4,000 and $1,000 will reward the
contractor. In fact, according to the strict
terms of the proposal, the mail cannot be
carried in compliance with its provisions at
all.
We expect to hear considerable com.
plant from our subscribers residing between
this place and Cowlitz landing, inasmuch as
there is new mail carrier on the route who
is entirely stranger to their respective To-
calities. We will seek every opportunity,
however, to have their papers conveyed to
them-hoping that some permanent mail
arrangement WILDE made, and Postal
Agent appointed for this territory to keep
matters straight. In the meantime we will
depend on Stuart's Express for our mail
In conclusion we would observe that
even under existing arrangements the mails
neither leave Rainier, nor depart>on their
return trips, in accordance with the above
proposal. They leave Rainier on Monday,
instead of Tuesday mornings, and thus it
is that they are a week old at that place
before being started in this dircctiou-as
they are under way few hours before the
arrival of the Portland mail at Rainier.
RB- The puget Mill Co.'S" schooner