The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1883-09-19
HOW WE PROGRESS.
The Malls ms They Were Ran During the
Last Century.


Less than two hundred years ago patent
was issued creating the Office of Postmaster
for the colonies of America, but nothing
came of it. because there were not enough
letters mailed to justify the establishment
of a service. Ahout 1920 line of riders
extended from Philadelphia to several points
in Virginia. but the service was extremely
Irregular, because the post was never sent
out with mail until enough letters had
been gathered to pay the expense of the
trip, and no one could, therefore, tell when
his missiye would be forwarded. The speed
was usually about thirty miles day, anc
when, at the first of this century, the rider.
by changing horses, made 100 miles in the
twenty-four hours, the achievement was
maryeled at More mails are now received
in single day in New York than were then
in six months and more letters there in
one day than then in the whole country
during year. The mail then between New
York and Boston was carried in a single
pair of saddle-bags, and when the quantity
increased so that two pairs had to be used.
the carriers demonstrated so loudly that the
matter became of considerable conse.
quence.
TO receive a letter then was great event
in neighborhood, since years sometimes
passed without a letter being brought to q
country town, and when one came, it was a
signal for all the neighbors to come in and
hear it read. Letters often took six weeks
to go from Philadelphia to the country
| towns of Massachusetts, and during this
time the carriers had abundance of leisure
! TO read them and get their contents by
heart, an opportunity they were not slow tS
use There was no law forbidding them &c
do this, and as they enjoyed telling tho
news they bore, and the people liked te
| listen to them, this arrangement was very
satisfactory. This practice, so abominable
to those who correspondent, continued for
many years until the number of letters and
greater expedition in their carriage prevent
cd the carriers from reading them. For
this reason the majority of the public men
correspondent in cipher of some kind or
another, habit which has been mistaken
/ for evidence of craft, when, in fact, it WAS
| merely desire to render correspondence
1 private. Bad as the system Of postal service
VAS, it was so superior to the facilities fot
travelling that few were disposed to COM
plain. In those days the man who, for any
purpose, attempted to start ON "a journey
from Virginia to Massachusetts, called his
friends together, gave them n farewell din
ner, made his will, had prayers for his safe
ty offered up in the church, and made his
! general arrangements as o man now would
/ If intending to go to India or Africa for .
! ERIN of years. In Washington's time tive
/ stages carried all the travel between New
York and Boston, posting eighteen hours of
each day and reaching their destination in
only six days. When the stage stuck in the
mud all the passengers turned out, rs they
do now out of street ear, got rails and
helped the driver When New York WAS in
| Eight the wretched passengers Were some
times compelled to whit for ten days, il
there CHANGED to be wind, before they
could cross the river, and not infrequently
when ice was running, q ferryboat would
be crushed in the foes and the passengers
forced to chamber out on the cakes, where
they would float for hours at the imminent
danger of being carried out to sea.--Cor.
st. Louis Globe Democrat.