Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-08-19
4 SPEEDY LETTER-CARRIER
How the New Lightning Mail
Train from New York West
viii BE Run.

A special dispatch from Washinton
to the Tribune gives the following par
ticulars relative to the lightning mail
train between the East and the West /:
The most important event in the histo-
ry of the railway postal service occur
red to-day. The negotiations for the
express mail-train from New York to
the Mississippi Valley were completed,
and were approved by the Postmaster
General. This is the fulfllment of the
dream of the founders of the railway
postal service. Two years ago nego-
tiations were attempted to obtain fast
train for this purpose for the New
York Central. For various reasons
they failed. Since that time Geo. S.
Bangs, of Chicago, Superintendent of
the Railway Postal Service, has had
the subject under proper consideration,
Postmaster General Jewell, as soon as
he entered the department., was quick
to perceive the Importance of the
scheme, and entered fully into it. He
himself personally visited the railroad
: authorities, and directed Mr. Bangs to
conduct the details of the negotiations.
These negotiations were to-day sue
cessfully terminated.
The train starts from New York Oct
| at 4 o'clock a. M, and will reach
Chicago in 26 hours. 1t will be COM
posed Of four cars, which are now be-
ing rapidly constructed. The first car
will be so feet in length. 1t will con-
tain 1000 pi8eon-holes for the distri-
button of the letter mail, and boxes
suficient for the distribution of 100
separations of newspaper mail In
this car will be safe compartment for
registered valuable matter. and an Of
ficer for the chief clerk in charge of
the train. The entire letter distribu-
ton for the line will be in this car /.
The second car will be 60 feet long
1t will be managed for the distribution
5 of through newspaper mail and for
; storage. 1t is estimated that between
New York and Chicago, 20 tons of
mail will be sorted and distributed in
this car.
The third car will be SO feet long,
and Will be devoted TO undistributed
mails. The fourth car will be 48 feet
long, and will be used when necessary
for heavy mails.
The train will be white, and will be
called ''The New York Central & Lake
Shore Railroad Postoffice The trail
will arrive in Buffalo in eleven hours,
at Cleveland in fifteen, at Toledo in
eighteen, and at Chicago in twenty-six.
1t will leave and take mail at every
station. It will stop only for wood
and water and at the functions of rail-
roads. 1t will neither carry passengers
5 nor express. nor will it do any business
but carry mails. 1t will carry letters,
newspapers, packages, and newsdealers
packs. 1t will connect with every post
Office line between New York and Buff
} falo- At Albany it will pick up all the
5 mail from New England The timetable
will be so arranged that the fast mail
will connect with the latest New Eng
t land trains. It will leave the mail of
the morning at most every town and
hamlet in New York before sundown
At Buffalo it will overtake the train
S leaving New York on the Erie Road
the previous evening, and will receive
from it for the West the mails Of
northern Pennsylvania, southwest New
York, and the tributary country. At
Cleveland it will connect with trains
: which will deliver the mails to the
country fed from Columbus, Cincinna-
: tt, and indianapolis early in the morn
ing. The mail will arrive in Louis
vile in time to connect with all parts
Of the south, giving the south the ad-
vantage of all the time gained north of
the Ohio River. It will arrive in In
dianapolis at a. M, at Lafayette and
J Logansport at 1880, connecting there
with trains for all parts of Indiana,
and the adjoining portions Of Illinois.
| At Toledo, it will drop the mails for
the Wabash country. for Southern In
diana, Illinois, and Missouri, and also
for Michigan and the North. The
train will arrive at Chicago in time for
early outgoing trains, will reach Mil
Waukee at noon, and Dubuque, Gin
ton, Rock Island, Davenport, Keokuk,
Burlington, Quincy, and Hannibal be-
fore shutdown. The mail will be at
Omaha the morning of the second day
f from New York and in the afternoon
at Kansas City, St. Paul Minneapolis,
and will make direct Pacific coast con-
nections.
Returning, this train will leave Chi
cage late in the evening after the trains
are all in. 1t will arrive at New York