Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-06-27
DIFFICULT MAIL CARRYING.

have any real idea of the manner OF
delivering the mails to the frontier
mining camps in m~idwinter, or of how
late the snow lasts on some slopes and
valleys. No one needs be told that
carrying the mail over the Rocky noun
tain ranges, when the snow is five feet
deep on the level and fifteen feet deep
in drifts, is a most perilous undertake
ing.
The mountain mail carriers" said
Mr.. John Palmer, an engineer in a
Montana mine, visiting his home in
New York city, ARE a race of athletes.
No man, unless he had an iron consti-
tuition, could endure the exposures and
hardships of climbing the mountain
peaks loaded down with a heavy mail
sack. This has been a severe winter
for these mountain carriers, and sew
eral poor fellows have lost their lives
in the service.
The people who live in the frontier
mining camps of Colorado, Idaho,
Utah and Montana have been showed
in for the past three months. They
are as much out of civilization as if
they lived in Alaska. Nevertheless,
these people want their letters and pa
pers the same as dc the people of our
towns and cities, The post Office de-
partment is enterprising, and it under
takes to give them an irregular mail
service.
This branch of the postal service is
called the 'Snowshoe mail. because the
mountain carriers travel on snowshoes.
There are forty or fifty of these mail
carriers, who are not afraid to brave
the dangers. 1t Is no easy task to climb
the steep mountain sides in summer
time, but how much more difficult in
snowy weather, when the trails are
obscure and misleading, when the snow
Is four and five feet deep on the level,
when the thermometer is below the
zero mark. when the snow and ice cover
dangerous places, when a misstcp
would send the carrier ovcr the preci-
picc!
o course the mountain mail car
riers take their lives in their'hands
every hour of their journey. The first
thing they do is to provide themselves
with good warm underwear and cloth
ing. Some of them buy silk under
garments, stockings and gloves. Their
clothing may look rough, but it is
strong and comfortable.
when the mountain mail carrier is
ready to start on his perilou. Journey,
there is usually a group of friends and
aeq~uaintances to give him a 'send-off.
Some of the people have verbal mes
sages for him to deliver.
Take good are of yourself, JIM
says one friend.
Hope you have a good time saws
another, half jokingly,
Tell Al ZONES III be over in the
spring exclaims a third individual.
with these and other messages
ringing in his ears the carrier on snow
shoes starts on his journey over the
mountains. He has the mail sack.
usually a No 4 size, strapped to his
back. He also carries a long guiding
pole. The wonder to me is how these
mail carriers ever find their way over
the ranges, and how they manage to
keep on the right trails. Yet some of
them know the peaks and passes just
as familiarly as the city carriers know
the streets and houses.
The critical period of the Journey
comes during a snowstorm. Then the
carrier is liable to lose the trail, but
with compass in hand he gets his bear
ings. All day long the travelling is
slow and tedious, and at times the
man is almost ready to sink down ex-
hausted. Night comes on, and the
heavy weight of the mail sack begins
to tell OF his strength. His safety lies
in finding shelter in some friendly
cleft in the rocks, The mercury is
down, perhaps, to ten degrees below
zero. usually he will dig a bed in
the snow, but he is afraid often to fall
| aSinnn Loot hn owe r-o1yo W. ~ 49,
morrow.
And SO, day after day, the snow
shoe mail carrier picks his way over
the mountain ranges. lie must be as
s~ure-footed and agile as a chamois
hunter, lie must have steady and
strong nerves he must be watchful,
cautious and careful every minute of
the day and night. Danger turks on
every side of him.
when the snow is covered with a
hard crust the carrier finds travelling
much easier. You should see an old, ex-
perienced carrier slide down the
mountain side on his s~nowshoes. It is
like a toboggan slide. Faster and
faster the carrier rushes along, until
he reaches the bottom, where he
tumbles, heels over head, into the
SADNN L II " easy W Rllu0 OOWI
on the snow crust, but unless you have
had experience you don't van to try
it. Those who know how to make the
trip say that the shoot down the
mountain on snowshoes is as bracing as
a cocktail, and just as stimulating.
"Finally, after many hairbreadth es-
capes and exciting experiences, the
carrier m in sight of the camp.
There are times, as a mail carrier once
told me, when he'd rather see the
smoke and houses of the camp than
fall against a gold mine. For the
camp will do for a man what all the
gold mines in Montana couldn't do,
and that is give warmth, food and
drink. You can imagine the feelings
of the mail carrier when he is once
more indoors by a blazing fire.
Meanwhile the people of the camp
have looked for the arrival of the mail
carrier, and as day after day passes
predictions are made at the post office
concerning his probable fate. 1t does
not take long for the news of his COM
ing to travel through the camp. No
visitor could be more enthusiastically
received or more welcome than the
suowshoe carrier. For he brings news
from the great outside world; letters
from home, mother or father, from
brother, sister and sweetheart."-N. Y.
Journal.
Adam Smith, the author Of the
Wealth of Nations" regarded his
book with the genuine love of an au-
thor. He was often seen reading II
: with apparent satisfaction.