The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-01-12
OLD POSTAL DAYS.
lGentlenan's Magazine.

~1@~eAf &ss St> %8AA&3A8AM Iu&HST gave very vsud description of the postal ser. vice as he remembered it years ago. No, in the wild mountain regions where xe were-foT these were at that time an up. known wilderness-but on the gre., plains where the Pacific railroad runs so smoothly. In those days a heavily laden wagon starting from the eastern states took SIX months to cross the consinen,
 and emigrants travelled in large com.
 panies for security. So it vas reckoned
 a great feat (equal to Jules Verne's
 l" Round the World in Eighty Days
 when party of keen. hard riding. fear
 less men resolved so carry letters from
 the shores of the Atlantic to those of ,hr
 Pacific in fourteen days, and carried or,
 their promise in the face of all difEiculties.
 A company xas formed, known as the
 Central Overland California and pike's
 Peak Express. Almost the entire dis
 tance from ocean to ocean was divided
 into runs of sixty miles each, and at all
 such points rude log huts were erected.
 as stations for the pony express. Here
 the most experienced scouts and trappers
 linen noted for their horsemanship and courage-were placed in charge of strong.
 swift ponies, selected, like their riders.
 tor powers of endurance and hardness.
 They were a cross between the stout.
 sure-footed Indian pony and the swift American horse. Perilous lives these
 men led, m constant danger of attack 5y
 highway robbers or wild Indians, but ,he
 wages paid by the company were su:i..
 cient to secure staff of determined men.
 hard as nails, and accustomed to face danger and death without shrinking
 Twelve hundred dollars, equal to s.,.o. was the monthly wage of an express rider. or course, under such circum- stances, the postage was high. the charge for quarter-ounce letter being {, in
 gold, equal to one sovereign. The to,al weight carried was ten pounds As d commercial speculation, the experimen;
 proved failure, and, after running stead lily for two years, the express company was found to have lost S,oo 900, at which period it collapsed, leaving no trace of its existence, save few ruinous log huts. The telegraph being then completed. i,s continuance was no longer deemed neces- sary. On the east the railway was al- ready constructed as far as St. Joseph. which consequently was the first pony station on the New York side. The vas, expanse of the prairie and mountain !y- ing between St. Joseph and San Francisco
 had to be traversed in 20 hours, which was reckoned good time,n and no mis- take about II, the distance being fully
 900 miles. Once a week messenger started from either shore of the grea; continent. Squirting his steed to its u:- most capacity, he galloped over hill and dale for miles at a stretch till he reached his destination, where the next express man was waiting, ready to start without the delay of one moment-the ineomer not waiting even to dismount. but tossing the precious little bag to its next guard ian. Then man and beast enjoyed well earned rest till the arrival of the messen- ger from the other direction, when they
 started on the return journey. So mar velously punctual was this mail service that the last man generally delivered up his charge within few moments of the time fixed, notwithstanding all the usu6- lous chances it might have encountered on it's journey Of ,,ooo miles. of wha; might truly be called a great lonely land" The general post, with heavier bags, reached California via the Isthmus of Panama, to which point steamers ran twice w4ek from New York and San Francisco. From one city to the other was a whole months journey. The ar- rival of the eastern mail was a signal fer wild excitement in San Francisco. Merchants eager for their business letters. miners longing for word from home. rushed to the postoffice the moment the gun was fired to announce that the steamer was in the harbor, each eager to take up position as near as possible to the postoffiee window. In few moments a line was formed perhaps literally half a mile iong, of anxious letter seekers. and late arrivals knew that hours might elapse before they could hope to get near the window. Then sort of auction com menced. and men who had rushed in and secured good places in the front of the line loften without the expectation of a letter, but simply as a speculation). sold their position to the highest bidder. Five, ten. twenty pounds, were sometimes paid down by eager men, Hush of gold. rather than wait five or six hours for the letters they longed for, but which, too often, were expected in vain, and griev- ous was the disappointment with which. al last. they turned away. Some were even so anxious that they took up a post at the window hours before the steamer arrived. even waiting through the night. and after all, were compelled to abandon their position and go in search of needful food. Perhaps at that very moment the firing of the mail gun called them back. 10 find long line rapidly forming, at the end of which they had to take their places with the prospects of again waiting for hours. What a different scene from the San Francisco of to-day, the busy, bus ling, vast city with its intricate postal service, daily mountains of mail bags. brought from and dispatched to all cor ,ers of the earth. by railways, steamers. md sailing ships