River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-07-28
MORE STAR ROUTES.
Ronte No. as.,al.


Route No. 2s.l3I.
This route is not to be found on the list
of So routes which formed the basis Of
the first official onslaught on the star
route thieves, but it is a sufficiently
bad specimen to find a place in that
document. 1t is located in Colorado,
and extended from Cannon City to Del
Norte, with Ii intermediate stations, a
distance of l5I miles according to the
department, and IA miles according to
local postmasters. The original service
was tri-weekly. In the advertisement
for bids it was stated that this service
previous to the. middle of 1878 had cost
81 ,S00per anhttffn. A bond Of So, 600
and check of 5000 were required.
There were nine bidders. C. w. Fos-
ter, whose address was "care Bradley,
Barlow, &c." was the lowest, at So 500.
The route was consequently in good
hands. Early in June, 1878, the usual
petitions from citizens, Endorsed by Sen.
Henry M. Teller and Rep. Il. M.
Patterson, arrived in Washington, and
on the oath the order went out increas-
ing the service four trips per week from
Canon City to Cleora, 60 miles, from
July /, and adding So, 1858 to Fosters
pay. Three months later Messrs.
Teller and Patterson returned to the
attack, being backed this time by ex-
Gov. John l.. Routt in lieu of ''citi-
zens," and presto, four trips weekly
were added to the service from Cleora
to Del Norte, sc miles, and the entire
schedule was reduced from 43 hours to
80 hours. Mr.. Foster having duly
sworn that the increase" and "expe-
dition" would require 143 per cent.
more men and horses than he had on
the route, he was accorded $4179.59
for the one and $18,S5144 for the
other. His compensation had thus
risen in three months from $500 to
S31, 1S4.97. The net revenue from all
the post offices affected by the last in
crease was exactly 81, JAG.
BRADY's EXTREME HURRY-PRoTEsT
AFTER PROTEST UNHEEDED.
ROUTE NO. "A, 149.
This route extends from Roseburg to
Empire City, in Oregon, distance of
70 miles. There were seven interme-
date stations, and the advertisement
called for % service of six trips per
week. The previous cost of running
the no ute was $5,988. A bond was re-
auired in $4,000 and check for $3.50.
Twelve persons put in bids. Q. e..
Huntley's, at 1914, was much the
lowest, and it was accepted July 81,
1873. Soon kilograms began to pour
in from the postmdsters on the route
complaining of deficient service, and
Special Agent G. A. Steel, stationed at
Portland, wrote several communities
tions on the subject, one ofwhich con-
cludes as follows:
"Whoop la Things are blue. 1t won't do
for any one in connection with the postofiice de-
partment from postmaster general down to a
fOurth-class postmaster to run for office for SO
years unless some contractors are heavily fined
or punished in some way, tout this way par
ticulariy"
At length official notice was sent that
Huntley had abandoned the route, and
that his stock had been seized by the
sheriff, and on Jan. 8, 1879, he was de-
clared a failing contractor. The de-
partment went up the list in accord
ance with custom, and as Usual the
ring men one after another dropped
out. Unfortunately for the scheme, a
local man, William CARL, whose bid
was $1,000, was sandwiched in be-
tween, and he had the bad taste to ac-
cept. In this emergency there was
nothing to do but to declare his offer
too high and to make a private con-
tract, presumably under private UNI
Outstanding, which was afterwards full
filled, with j. H. Warren at $500.
Early in April Sens. Lafayette Grover
and James H. Slater and Congress
men John Whitaker, John II. Mitch
ell, and r. Williams were pressed into
service as indorSers ola proposition to re-
duce the schedule from 80 to "a hours.
Brady did not happen to have his blue
pencil handy at the time. In his haste
he used ink, and the formula, ''Do
this, Brady" assumed for once a vi let
hue. Warren's pay was increased 81,
975 yzr annum, to $13775. Under
date of Roseburg, April Is, Joseph Lane,
evidently an old friend of Postmaster
General Key, wrote that dignitary as
follows:
II am requested to say to you, as |
eandidy do, that any shortening of the present
schedule time would be to render the service not
only extravagant but almost impossible. The
route is really over a rough and broken country.
ANY contraction of time on this route
would prove Of no material benefit and would Sc
riousy embarrass those who are engaged in car
rying the mail"
The Postmaster at Roseburg, under
date of May 2, wrote the department as
follows:
" / return the blank without filing in the new
schedule for reasons set forth in the certificate
herew h. The certificate is not on file. 1t would
certainly be impossible to run this route on "A
hours time any longer than three months, say
Jnly, August and September and doubt very
much if it could be run down to "a hours even
then. The Postmaster Mt Empire City concurs in
these views as you win see."
In addition to this special agent Steel
sent to Gen. Brady long communities
ton, in which he says
Some time ago l made recommendation that
route No. A, l49 be reduced to tri-weekly. II
is all that is necessary"
No attention was ever paid to any OF