The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-07
THE WICHITA POSTOFFICE.
A History of Uncle Sans Postal Establish
ment In This City.
How Il Has Grown From rs Original Start
il a Dug Out to Its Present Magnitude.
The Best Quarters in the State.

! To the Editor OF the Eagle.
! Thinking that short history of the es-
| Establishment, various locations, growth
and development of the postoffics of this
city from its first quarters in the sod COW
cred sfochade and its after meanderings
! around the town to its final location In a
I splendid two hundred thousand dollar
Government building, together with
statement OF its business for the past post
Office year from April lst, 1892 to March
lst, 1893, might not be uninteresting to its
thousands Of patrons, we respectfully
submit the following coming within our
own recollection, us taken from the rec
ords and from that reliable narrator of
early history the old settler.
Milo b. kellogg was appointed post
master of the Wichita, Kansas, postoffice,
| as it would be expressed i'll technical de-
partmental language, on the 11th day Of
February, 1862 and the postofIice was then
kept in trading ranch owned by Durfee
| & Co.-sod covered-and located just
north and west of the residence Of the late
| w. {. Woodman, little east of the resi-
| dence of William Greitfenstein.
| The mail was thea brought into this
| country as it continued to be for short
time by the way OF Towendo, down
through Cottonwood falls by Bronco ex-
| press, and arrived at this point two or three
| times a week as the high waters of the
! Cottonwood and Whitewater rivers aud
| the disposition of the messenger to over
come the temptation to stop and shoot
| buffalo permitted. That Milo B. Kellogg
| made a first-class postmaster CT fourth
class Office, those who knew him ia later
| years and knew of his spirit of accommo-
| dation, will never doubt. That the var-
Gus communications received for "Hurri-
can Bill, - "Curley Marshall. "s''Joe Lowe"
Red" and the Destroying Augel'' from
the Minnesota, as well as those received
| for the lesser lights of society like j. p
Allen, Ben Aldrich, James II. Mead, II.
/ Z. Siuss and many Others who have sur
| Vlved the environments of those times and
| who still get their mail at the Wichita
office, some of which still comes by the
way OF Towanda, but by lightning express
instead of "bronco," We're promptly de.
! I.yered by Milo there is no question
That Photographic view, life size and
correct IN details OF expression could not
! have been taken aud preserved of those
assemblies gathered at that postofficce on
mail days waiting and watching for the
| bronco express to sweep over the brow
of Paramount Hill, is loss To
many people of this community of an
Interesting Renaissance OF that early day.
That photograph could not have been
hidden away in a pile of furs-wolf and
buftalo-with just enough of an opening
TO have taken In the conversation of that
waiting crowd is also TO be regretted, how
delightful IL would be to turn it loose
among lot of the old timers and listen
again to the news of the first killing-''the
low-yoIced inquiry about IA lost boss, with
tremulous apology that no reference was
meant to any gentleman present"--the ex-
preston OF hopes and fears of those present;
| men who had come to stay, who had burn
ed the bridges behind them or were dead
broke" and knew that il was long hard
fight to subdue this great plain; to build
on 1t homes, cities; to provide it with
those comforts of civilization from which
most OF them had come; the talk of coun-
ty seat locations, railroads; that the big
Arkansas would be made navigable, that
there was great water power on the Little
| river; about the first baby born on the
new town site; that Wichita geographic
cally was in the center of the earth, and
that all things by force of natural laws
would converge to her site, and many
other talks and chats OF those times. 1t
would be interesting.
On the 2Sth day of March 1870 Darius s
Munger was appointed postmaster, he
plated what WAS known for several years
rs the North end in town, the post Office
was located in the residence of Mr.
Munger, the house now occupied by Mrs.
W. c. Woodman, which of course has
since been much modernized. Darius
Munger was one ofathe original characters
OF THIS country, he established the first
free delivery system of this city, be carried
the mail around under his hat and deiiv-
cred It to the patrons of the Office AS he
happened TO run across them, the after
noon mail perhaps at times was not de-
lirered until the next morning. You see
he might have been going in a Il. fferent
direction, from what you were. GA mail
days he read over to the waiting audience
the entire list of letters so shat if Doc
FabrIque called for his letter from the
girl lie left behind him. Doc WAS festi-
vous in those days, why he knew whether
Dan Hoover, and Joe Allen had received
their remittance from the "old man" or
not well AS they did. No kinder old
man to the new conner in this country ever
lived than Munger, for several years he
kept boarding house. and many young
chap who came down here to find fortune
aud fame, eat his grub very regularly and
then paid him at odd times The post
Office WAS then taken from his residence
and moved over TO the store kept by J. b.
DIckey and Ben Aldrlch, who were acting
assistant poStmasters for Munger and TO
hear Ben tell OF the way the fellow run his
shotgun through the general delivery win
dow and demanded the letter which he
and Dickey failed To deliver is calculated
10 make IA cold chill cling 10 the vertebra
of the delivery clerk of this day for Il week
1t was during Muuger's administration
that the fight fr supremacy of the nCrth
and south end town faction began, and on
September Is. 1899, w. Is. Hutchinson, one
of the pioneer newspaper men OF this state
ami OF this county, whose talk of the
earlier times aud men or this state is as
entertaining AS Il romance OF the border by
Cooper, was appointed postmaster, and
the postoffice took a run down Main street
10 a point on the east side of the street. Just
below Third street. Fhe postofhce build
ing was fitted up by Jourueyman Carpen-
ter Scott Corbett. now President Corbett
of national bank. On the 9th day OF
March. 1871, Josiah L. Holmes was ap-
pointed postmaster. and again the Office
was wabbled down towards The south eud
and was located III the vicinity of the
Eellers' butcher shop. On the l'Jh day
of NAV, 1913. Robert l.. West was APP
pointed postmaster, aud the office, one
starless night. jumped down 10 the EAGLE
block, IN the room now occupied by the
Boston Store as IL boot aud shoe depart
meut, but the triumph OF the
Douglas avenue crowd WAS short-liyed.
for again one night when the clouds were
flying low and men whisiled their way
past graveyarCis the Office took u hop-step.
and jump gait aud landed in one Of the
store rooms of the Occidental hotel. Oh,
then, my cUuutrymen, thai Douglas ave
nue. crowd was sight To see; this end of
cur beloved city WIS painted a bright
crimson, lis atmosphere was a steel blue,
there were EXPLANATIONS emen2ting from
those poor men. Steele. Levy, Greiffeustein
and the kOLn boys, that the papers ouly
represent by dashes-and the EAGLE has
not got enough dashes-but they oRckled
ca that armor which has made them sue.
cessful in MANY another fight in politics