Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1896-07-30
DIFFICULT MAIL CARRYING.
LIS Interesting Brsnch Of tho United
Htatcs Postal Service

"AAO NV oSOh - bA4S 49, WV SSA
have any real idea Of the manner Of
delivering the mails to the frontier
mining camps in midwinter, or Of how
late h SHOW 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 nave been snowed
in for the past three months. They
are as much out of civilization as ii
they lived in Alaska. Nevertheless,
these people went their letters and pa
pers the same as do the people of our
towns and cities. The post Office dc.
partment is enterprising, and it under,
takes to give them an irregular mail
service.
This branch OF the postal service is
called the 'snowslloe 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 fee deep on the level,
when the thermometer is below the
zero mark, when the snow and ice cover
dangerous places, when a misstep
would send the carrier over the preci.
pice!
"Of 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
EtttOy " SItl : ou IL pcIllOuS Journey,
there is usually a group of friends and
acquaintance to give him a 'send-on.
Some of the people have verbal mes.
sages for him to deliver.
"'Take good care of yourself, Jim,
says one friend.
'Hope>you have o good time says
another, half jokingly.
Tell AL Jones I'll be over In the
oprtrr ., o~o1.t,no q <J,ir5 ,rJssIrl
"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 owe,
the ranges, and how they manage to
keep on the right trails. Yet some OF
them know the peaks and passes Jus.
as Familiarity as the city carriers know
the streets and houses.
1.-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 on 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
asleep, lest he never wake up on the
morrow.
"And SO, day after day, the snow
shoe mail carrier picks his way over
the mountain ranges. He must be as
sure-footed and agile as a chamois
hunter. He must have steady and
strong nerves. He must be watchful,
cautious and careful every minute OF
the day and night. Danger turks IN
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 Snowshoes. 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
snow bank. 1t looks easy to glide down
on the snow crust, but unless you have
had experience you don't want 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 comes 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 hat is give warmth, food and
drink You can imagine <he feelings
of the mail carrier whe@h he Is once
more indoors by a blazing fire.
Meanwhile the people of the camp
nave looked for the arrival OF the mali
carrier. and as day after day passes
predictions are made al the post office
concerning his probable fate. It does
not take long for the news of his com
ing to travel through the camp. Nc
visitor could be more enthusiastically
received Oh more welcome than the
snowshoe 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, tho author Of the
wealth of Nations," regarded hfl
book with the genuine love Of IN gu
thor. He was often Seen seading 4
W4kh appaxen4 satisfa0HoQ -