The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-08-01

| NOW thetc ore houriSiiiiiS CiCicS dl diOuS
that side of the river, whose Post Offices do
rs much business now as ours did then. Up
! to the fall Of this year, there had been no
mail route anywhere in Minnesota, leading
out of st. Paul. st. Anthony, a town Of
eighteen hundred inhabitants, had been sup
piled in any random way from st. Paul.
Half the inhabitants received their mail mat
ter at St. Paul. There were no mail routes,
either, up the Minnesota river. The inhab-
itants of that valley were also dependent on
st. Paul for their mails. The St. Paul and
Fort Ripley route is the first one we find any
mention of as being established in the Terri
tory; permission ras gicen to supply the
Office at St. Anthony. This too, remember,
was when daily line of stages was running
/ from this place to the Falls.
\ change has come over the mail arrange
/ incnts in the North West since then. There
are now dozen mail routes running out of
St. Paul to different young cities of the Ter
ritoIy, scarce heard Of then. Half of these
are daily lines
! The revenues of the Office greatly increased
during that season, and Postmaster Forbes
looked about for some more commodiOus
quarters. The building on Bench street, OPP
posite Wahashaw, owned by w. G. LeDuc,
Esq, and still in an incomplete state, was
fixed upon and leased. 1t was then late in
Fall, but workmen were put upon it immedi-
atey, and it was finished before winter set in
the last plasterng on the inside was dried by
fire in the room. The west end of the
ground floor alone was used for the Post
Office. \ partition extended at THAI time
acr SIS the room, just to the left of the first
entrance door, and the east end of the build
ing was occupied as fruit store and confec-
/ tioneiy. Boxes were added as far as number
/ 440 not, however, till the following spring,
we believe. That winter-lS44-5-was the
I fist winter of IL. O. Walker e. Co.'S mail
contract, and the first of a tri-wcekly mail.
| The same difficulty was experienced about
the mails this winter as during the preceding
/ ores. arrangement, failure, and totaI loss
is complained of in the papers, as of frequent
occurrence. This winter the mail was carried
down on the west side of the river, and the
route was new. Now it is much improved,
streams lri.lsed, and good hotel accommo-
dati'ns all along the route Great delay was
! occasiened in this spring, at the breaking up
Of tho roalS, and thawing of the snow, rising
Of the streams, &c. 1t is complained of that
At one tiEo i'll the interval between land
navigation and water navigation, t,cen'yoae
daTs elapsed without mail from the East.
t During the sunmer-lS54-the mail was
ca's,ed 'iaiiy by the Galcna Packet Company,
AMI in the winter by Walkers stage line. as
| bef.re.
The next scaSOn-lS55-the business had
greatly increased. A demand was expert
c:.ccd for more room. The limits OF the Office
had begun to be too small The whole OF the
floor was then leased, the partition knocked
ont, and the boxes extended from No. 40. to
about 90o, besides many other improve
ments. Additional assistance had to be pro-
cured, increasing the number Of clerks TO
three.
The w.nte: Of 1866 exhibited the same
irreeula;itcs Of the mails. Towards spring.
th2,c failures increased Some Of the mails
We're lett behind entirely. Many, it is said
wee lad aside, as the roads grew bad from
III" Spring thaws and sent from the route
owe! 10 the nearest Post Office on the river,
to await the first boat" The last mail
Which started from Dubuque got opposite
s.. Paul at three O'Clock, z. H., on the 18th
OF April, anil two hours aficrward the LAZY
Franklin love in sight. This boat sent to
the Post Office i'oo huRdred anJ eighty bags of
"r3, much OF which was for different routes
TN oHs hout the Territory; but the clerks
were engaged for weeks on the back mail
Wiz oh WAS strewed all over the Office
On tie 2:,5tl Of March, Post Master Forbes |
waS removed and Chas. S. Cave. Esq, ap-
pointed in his place, who has held the Office /
since that Time
1t had now become one of considerable |
importance. The percentage, or ''commis- !
slonS' alone, from postage. amounted by the
report OF that quarter, to $1,000 90 per an.
mum. An effort was made to have it COM
missi0ncd as Il salaried or Distributing Office,
bat nothing was done for more than year.
or until the present spring.
During last summer, there was a daily mai
from Dubuque, by the Galena and Minneso-
TIC Packet Company, and three way mails
per week. This kept the force in the Office
busy employed, and a fourth clerk was en-
p,oyed during the summer.
The succeeding winter, that of 1861
commenced with a tri-weekly mail, but on
the petition of the citizens, aud the demand
OF the press, additional service was ordered
BY the Department, to furnish the Office here
with q dssiy mail. This was done, and dur
ing the rest o! tac winter it was as daily as
could be, as every fourth nigh: Oh an average,
the clerk who slept in the office was aroused
by the arrival of a sleigh load Of frozen snowy
mail bags However, as this vas better
than the trweekly arrangements, the Office
w%a more punctually supplied than any pre-
ceeding winter.
During the winter, p NJ. Cave visited
and suceseaed in getting the
Office in such shape as it should leng since
have been placed in. immediately on his re-
turn, he set about procuring suitable build
ing for the removal of the office. and the re-
sxit sas the fitting up of the splendid Office
in the cd Baldwin School building.
We now LsiHs ttis article to a close. hav-
ing extended It 10 greater length than we in
Tended, with word or two about tie amount ,
of business done in it.
Generally, there are from s, to 1900 let
'ers mailed to the Dubuque D. P. O., each
ie.y. got to mention the amounts to other
,.aees. u day or two since, $50, 90 worth
Of letters we're sebt TO this one office. The
stamp clerk sells On an average $4,000 worth
Of STAINS and envelopes each day. There
Ire generally received here daily from the
4 n b II, of