The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-06-15
Time Schedule "a hours in Summer and 36 hours

John HALEY. II, ,44o Robert G. Wallace 1900
0. J. Salisbury 1900 Hugh F. Galen $500 900
The cost Of the existing service was $17,-
750. McDevitt must have known that the
pay would be raised to nearly that sum- The
reduction of running time from "a and 36
to Is and "a hours, with 1856 additional,
and the addition of one trip per week, at a
cost of So, ,084, were made six months after
the beginning of the term, or on January l,
1889, the same date of the similar changein
No. 36,115. The sub-contract of Monroe
Salisbury was filed July 1, 1879, as in the
case described above. McDevitt swore that
he was using men and % horses, and that
the change would necessitate the employ
ment of Is men and 73 horses. This state
ment, used in the ordinary manner, called
for $7,733 as the cost Of the reduction
of time but McDevitt very generously
threw off $147, and offered to do the addi-
tional work for $7,586. His offer was
promptly accepted. The changes which were
made were recommended by Governor Potts
and other officers of the Territory.
On route No. SO, 1923, from Silver Bow to
New Chicago, Salisbury's brother Orange
cot the contract, and Monroe's sub-contract
was filed to take effect on the very day when
the increase and expedition began.
Route No. s6,12s-silver Bow to New Chicago,
Montana.
Distn7,ce-s5 miles,
Time schedasle-sO hours or less than three miles
per hour
Bidders--The Dorsey, Kerens and Salisbury COM
bination were repre- ssented
Michael Duffy. .s7,e75 David Boerum. 8, 300
James NJ. Ryan. $3.50 John R Miner. s,7ss
j. D. Randall. 845 Orange J.SallsDury 2,5oO
| j. C. Kinney. 1880
| The bond required with the bid was $4,000
and each bidder was required to deposit
certified check Of $3.50. Salisbury had omit
ted this little matter. Against his name stand
the words mo check" but this defect seems
to have been overlooked, for the contract
was awarded to him. Six months after the
beginning Of his term 50, 1876 were added to
his pay by reduction of running time to q
little more than q miles per hour, and the
addition of four trips per week. These and
other additions raised the pay from So, 500 to
| $12,637. Salisbury swore that the reduc-
ton of running time from 5-6 miles to 81
miles per hour required him to just double
the number of his horses and men, and this
statement decided the cost of his expedition.
The changes were made apparently upon the
recommendations Of Governor Potts and
Delegate Maginnis and one petition. 1t
must be remembered, when the names of
members of Congress and other public men
appear in connection with such changes, that
men in such positions are generally anxious
to serve their constituents in matters Of this
kind also that very few, if any, of these
gentlemen knew the amount of pay which
the contractors would receive for the stexpe-
dited' work, Of the methods by which the
amount of that pay was determined.
| Now comes the amusing part Of the whole
matter, at least, to us Of Montana, who are
watching Delegate Maginnis with more than
passing interest It concerns route No.
36, 1856, from Fort Custer to White Sulphur
Springs, of which mention has previously
been made in these columns. John L. Fur
ray states in his report that he was told that
from Coulson TO Fort Custer, so miles of the
distance, the line passed through an Indian
reservation, and there was practically moth
ing in the bag For some time after the es-
tablishment of daily service on this route
there was only one piece Of mail-a circular
which sssaWed back and forth between
Fort Custer and CouIson until it threatened
to wear out the bag This was another hy-
pothenuse or cutoff route, Fort Custer and
Coulson being supplied by other routes. The
postmaster at Coulson complained because
Wintermute, deputy postmaster at.Fort Gus
ter, would not s'receive" this circular. Win.
termute reported the facts to the department
and the service was reduced to once week
Very soon afterward the daily service was
restored, and has since been in operation
The official record reveals some very inter
esting details. The entire route is 1913 miles
long. The intermediate stations are Coulsor
(supplied) Olden (recently established Mar
tinsdale and Copperopolis, established last
January.) The termini are also otherwise
supplied. On May Il, 1880, the route vas
given to J. w. Parker for one year on 6
temporary contract, really without compe
tition, and the term was afterWard extended
to June 80, 1881. The annual pay was 1888,
84O-an absurdly high allowance. This may
open the eyes Of Montana people and th'
neighbors Of Delegate Maginnis A. Fl
Brown, another temporary" man, kindly
offered to do the work for $4,000, foul