The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-18

press did not pay a tenth part OF the
cost of the service, not to mention IN
terest or profit on the investment Dut
we never expected that 1t would. we
were only trying to establish tnrousn
stage route and freighting business
| to the coast along the central route anu
tSsrehv make enormous profits We felt
sure of earning. Although the time
was limited to ten days, on two occa-
sions a special effort was made to cut
down the time. President Buchan-
ans message to congress In Decemper'
1860. was carried from st. Joseph, MO-
| IN sacramento In eight days ana a rev
hours. the inaugural address OF Presi-
dent Lincoln In March, 1861, was dis-
matched in seven days and seventeen
hours. ,.,..,ro1
"The pony express was maintained
at a heavy cost Indians raided the
stations and killed the men; riders
we're shot while on the road; horses
we're continually dying from exhaus-
tion and many teams were employed
| in freighting supplies to the dlstah'
posts and in keeping the ROAD open
across the mountains In the WINTER
time so that the pony riders would not
be delayed.
TELEGRAPH LINE IS EsTAB-
LISHED.
"The success of the pony express in
shortening the distance between the
frontier and California encouraged the
Western Union Telegraph company 10
extend its line across the plains. ED :
ward Creighton, of Omaha. who had
built a number of lines in the west for
| the telegraph company, had long
nursed this plan and In the winter or
1860 he rode to Salt Lake City on one OF
our stages, where he Interested Brig
ham Young in the enterprise, tneh
pushing on horseback over the Nevada
desert and the Sierra Nevada noun
tains In the winter time he secured the
cooperation of the California State
| Telegraph company. Returning to
Omaha In 1861 the work of building the
| line across the plains was undertaken
The stage stations of our company anu
the relay stations of the pony express
| made it comparatively easy Tor the con-
structiop parties to operate ana III
October of that year the pony express
gave way to the telegraph company
During the summer of 1861 a stage
route was established from Salt Lake
City to Sacramento and In time the
mails were TOuteu tldt way iHotSuu Va
by the Buttertield line.
THE pony express and its daring rid
ers hastened the opening of the over
land route and / have no doubt that
had 1t not been for our firm the tele-
graph, stage and even railroad lines
across the plains must have been re-
tarded for years"
One of the riders of the pony express
lives In this city and he delights to talk
of his experiences during that exciting
year. The life of Jay G. Kelley. we'll
known mining engineer, Is full of in>
teresting inucidents. AS q mere lad
he ran away from his home in Boston
and went to California on u clipper
around Cape Horn. From that time
until rheumatism compelled him to
settle down to a quieter existence his
life was full Of adventure.
KELLEY AS AN EXPRESS RIDER.
II Joined company of California
volunteers In 1859" began Mr.. Kelley,
''and under Colonel Jack Hayes, a Tex
as ranger, and Colonel Hungerford, a
Mexican war veteran, we proceeded in
to Nevada to exterminate the Piutes,
who were on the warpath. After a
decisive battle at Pyramid lake. we
thought the Indians would settle down
and behave themselves. so | left the
volunteers and settled In Carson City.
In the spring of 1860 Bolivar Roberts
came TO Carson City to engage riders
and station men for the pony express.
He wanted men of light weight who
could ride well and who knew how to
shoot. / suited him and was engaged
at salary Of SIS month. We started
out with bull teams to establish sta
tions, our party mastering fifty men.
AS soon as station was located the
men would be dropped off to wait until
the pony express should appear. At
that time was % years old, weighed
about 10 pounds and was as full of life
as a boy could possibly be. 1t was all
fun In those days and now / wonder
how ever survived at ALL
When We got out on the desert east
of Carson we found that the pesky
Piutes We're still on the warpath, so we
had to halt at the Sink or Carson lake,
and built fort. There being neither
timber nor rock in that vicinity we
had to go down to the edge Of the sink
and mix the abode soil in order to make
sun-dried bricks. We tramped mud
with our bare feet for q week until the
strong alkali in the soil caused our
feet to swell and crack and our suffer-
inge were most acute. In fact. my feet
never did regain their normal size af-
terwards and ever since / have worn
shoes several sizes larger than when I
started out from Carson City.
MUSIC FROM A MOUNTAIN.
"Our next station was at Sad Springs.
where good water could be obtained by
sinking wells into the sand and wall
ing the holes with lava powders found
in the sand. We constructed fort 100
by 76 feet of these lava powders and
ponies were kept In these rooms with
the men to prevent their being shot or
carried off by the Indians Just back
of that fort was sand mountain and
when the wind blew the sand fairly
darkened the air. There was curious
phenomenon about that mountain
which l never solved. When the wind
was i'm certain direction musical
sounds could be heard coming from the
mountain. rising and falling with the
wind and changing tones like a great
organ. Often l lay at night on my
bunk and listened to those beautiful
tones laundering from that sand NOUN
tain. and 1t was delightful change
from the mOnOtony of our lives out on
the Nevada desert.
~ thC uCAt StdtIOu, u uIStdHct vi
thirty-seven miles, there was a stretch
Of sandy country which In these days
passengers in Pullman cars find dis
agreeable to cross. There was not "a
drop Of water along the way, and in
the heat of summer or In the bitter cold
days Of winter that ride was awful.
But at that station, called Cold Springs,
a beautiful stream Of water ran right
by the station from a timbsred can
yon. and 1t seemed paradise after
that ride over the thirty-seven miles
Of trackless sand. In going from Cold
Springs to Sand Springs, on the day
that l carried the Buchanan message.
l killed my pony when twelve miles out
from the latter place and had to trot
into the station on foot. carrying the
dispatch bag. When the men at. the
station saw me coming afoot over the