Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-11-12
Chasing a Mail Train Across the Con-
tinent.

Chasing a Mail Train Across the Con-
tinent.
AMERICAN enterprise has Just achieved
a triumph which furnishes another illus
tration Of the superior efficiency of the
mail and postal service of the United
States. The feat accomplished presents
a picture of an American steamer with
British mails on board hurrying across
oceans from the antipodes to the West
ern Hemisphere, and arriving home two
days in advance of her scheduled time;
a mail train starting from the Pacific
coast some hours before the steamship
had reached her destination; a special
traiR with the foreign mails dispatched
on a flying trip of 1000 miles to over
take and transfer the mail matter to the
regular train, in order that it may be
placed on board a fast transatlantic
steamship which leaves this port to-day,
and through which it is expected the
mails will be landed at London in about
four and hall days less time than they
were ever carried before from Australia
to the British capital. The details
which follow were obtained yesterday
from Postmaster James, of this city.
The steamship City of Sidney, carry
ing the Australian mails, left the port of
Sydney on September 9, and after an
extraordinarily rapid voyage arrived at
San Francisco forty-eight hours ahead
of schedule time, but too late for that
days train eastward on the Central
Pacific Railroad. Having been imme-
diately notified Of the arrival of the
steamship at San Francisco, Postmaster
James was very anxious to have her
mails reach the steamship Arizona,
which sails at noon to-day for
Queenstown. On the 7th inst.
he called upon Mr.. Sidney Dillon,
President of the Union
Pacific Railroad, with whom he found
Mr.. Towne, of San Francisco, the Cen
eral Superintendent of the Central Pa
cific Railroad, and Mr.. Clarke, of Oma-
ha, the General Manager of the Union
Pacific Road. Colonel James, having
laid the matter before Mr.. Dillon, the
latter turned to Mr.. Towne and asked:
"Where is the passenger train that left
San Francisco on October 6Pn The re-
ply was: at is on the Humboldt Di-
vision.n "Then,n said Mr.. Dillon,
"telegraph TO put on special, take the
mail and overtake the train that left
San Francisco on the 5th." "Why,"
interposed Mr.. Clarke, "we shall have
to run 200 miles at an expense of over
900 to overtake that train" "Never
mind, - replied Mr.. Dillon, "put on the
special.n Having been thus assured of
hearty cooperation in his praiseworthy
design, Postmaster James lost no time
in sending a dispatch to Mr.. William B.
Thompson, General Railway Mail Su-
perintendent at Washington, making
him acquainted with the arrangements.
Superintendent Thompson accordingly
gave instructions to the postal clerks
ulong the route, as well as to the Post
masters at Omaha, Chicago and Pitts
burgh, to facilitate by every means in
their power the dispatch of the Aus
tralian mail. That the officials alluded
to were on the alert was soon manifest.
On the 9th inst. Postmaster James re-
ceived a telegram from Postmaster
Thomas F. Hall, at Omaha, setting
forth that the Australian mails had ar
rived there and had been dispatched
in the train which left Omaha at a
quarter to five O'Clock on that date.
From Chicago Superintendent James F.
White, of the railway service, telegraph
cd Postmaster James on the 10th inst.
that 243 sacks Of foreign mail had been
forwarded from there at ten minutes TO
four p. m. on that day via Pittsburgh.
The next dispatch, bearing date of yes
terday, was sent by Mr.. Cunningham,
local postal agent at Pittsburgh, to his
chief, r. G. Jackson, Superintendent of
the Railway Mail Service Division in
this city. This set forth that the foreign
mail arrived at Pittsburgh by train No.
G, on the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne
Railroad, at $3.50 yesterday morning,
and was forwarded by train No. 8, on
the Pennsylvania Railroad lat s 45 a. M.
The latter train arrived at Jersey City
about 10 O'Clock last evening, and the
British mail will be duly transferred 10
the steamship Arizona this morning. 1t
is expected that the latter will make the
trip to Queenstown in seven days, thus
making the time from Sydney to London
forty-one days. According to the latest
report of the Postmaster General of New
Zealand, the average time consumed in
the voyage from Sydney via San Fran
cisco has been forty-fye days and about
six hours, and by way of the Suez Canal
forty-six days and about four hours. 1t
will therefore be seen that the City OF
Sydney has reduced the time of the voy-
age nearly four and one-hah days.
NelU York Herald, oct. -.