Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1880-03-21
TIE wELLs-FARGO POSTAL SERVICE
A BRIEF SKETCH OF ITS WORKINGS AND AD
vANTAGEs-How 1T SYSTEMATICALLY BEATS
THE u S. MAIL-soME GOvEkNMENT
CHARGES REFUTED


of the Wells Fargo Express Company, rel
alive to the proposed abolition OF Its postal
service by the United States Government.
THE CHARGES OF THE GOVERNMENT.
Reporter-What the reasons advanced
by the Government for abollshlng the service!
Tickner-It claims a good many things.
First that it dininishes postal revenues Now
this proposition Is simply absured. We pay
three cents for every stamped envelope Ihe
Company on this coast has paid for some year 8
past about 100000 per annum for their en-
velapes. and the Government derives an IN
come from every letter we carry.
Repsrter-Doyous endyour correspondence
| free
Tickner-Yes. This is allowed in our con
tract, There was time when the system was
loosely managed and taken advantage of by
the employees of the company. For instance,
man employed here would have some par
ticular friend employed by the company In
Virginia City or San Francisco and would use
an official company envelope for private cor
respondence. This practice, which at one time
/ was quite extensively carried Oh, tecame
| known at headquarters and was strictly pro-
| hibited As far as our own business cores
| sondence is concerned, the same privilege
is allowed all the Eastern Express Companies
and has always been in vogue. If there is
a reform to be inaugurated in this respect let
it extend to all the companies in the United
| States and not to US exclusively.
Reporter-Are you not also charged with
being formidable competition to the Gov
ern nent in the matter of postal patronage
SOMETHING OF THE WELLS FARGO METHOD.
Tickner-Yes, and this is the only charge
that can be substantiated. Our postal SER
vice is the most complete thing imaginable,
and We beat the .. S. Government from two
to four hours in San Francisco distributing
letters For instance, a Wells Fargo letter
here is directed to man in San Fran
cisco. The train is boarded by two
of Wells Fargo agents at Niles
Station, and by the time tho Oakland boa
is reached all of the Wells Fargo letters al e
sorted out and placed in separate packages for
the different districts in the city where they
are to be delivered The man who has charge
of the letters is the first to jump on the
wharf when the boat lands, and throwing the
bags into a light wagon, which is waiting, he
is taken as fast as the horses can go to the e1
press Office on Sanssm and Hallock streets.
He then throws these packages into boxes
representing the different districts, and in less
than minute the packages in the hands
of men who start out on horseback, if the dis
tricts are remote, and on foot for those more
centrally located; and in some instances the
Wells Fargo letters reach their owners before
the Z. S. mail bags have left the ferry docks.
THE INTERIOR SERVICE.
Rep-How many interior postal stations has
the company!
Tickner-I cannot say without consulting
the reports. Letters are delivered at places
can be reached by man on horseback or snow
shoes; you can send a letter by Wells Fargo |
to almost any place on the coast where the
man to receive the letter can be found. Some
men travel sixty miles on snow shoes in the
dead of winter with but half dozen letters to
deliver, going to places where the Z. S. mails |
never reach. | have known Uncle Sans mail |
to pile up along side a river for sixteen days |
when bridge was down, while the Wells
Fargo mail was taken over in boat every day |
and the service suffered no interruption.
THE USE TO BUSINESS MEN.
The business men all over the coast use the
Wells Fargo service almost exclusively, be-
cause they find it quicker, surer and more re-
liable in all respects than the U. S. mail. If
it were not, they would hardly pay almost
double price for its privileges. The Chinese
deal almost exclusively with US, and in some
large offices Chinese interpreters are employed
to deal with them.
Rep.-It is said thu you carry over weight
ed letters at less than the postal rates.
Tiokner-Such is not the fact. We fire.
quently send over weight letters for leading
business firms, but keep strict account and
notify them to pay the difference, which is
done in all cases. There is no reason why the
Government should attempt to interfere with
u.s. Instead of diminishing the Government
revenue we actually increase it. Thousands
of letters are carried by Us annually to remote
points in the soitudes of the mountains and
to hamlets and stations where the U. S. mail