Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-12-10
Star Routes.
The story of a Curious Monopoly.

Ihe STORY OF Curious monopoly.
From 40 to 60 per cent of the star mail
route business. which costs the govern
ment about 100000 600 year. is held by
shrewd contractors who live in or near the
little mountain town of London, the seat
of Laurel county, Ky. The star routes are
those over which the mail is transported by
stage line, horseback, afoot, or in private
conveyance At the close of the last fiscal
year there were nearly II 900 of these star
routes in the United States
The history and operations of the noun
tain combine, which soon after the war
actually held 81 per cent of the star route
contracts of the country, are interesting.
Some memb rs of the company frequently
made more money, year in and year out,
than the president was paid, and a number
of them are numbered now among the rich
men of kentucky-men who are prominent
in the business and the politics of that
state.
Leading pioneers in the industry were
ex-Congressman Frank Finley, now living
at ease in beautiful home at Williams
burg, KY Judge Vincent BOreing of Lon
don, also extremely wealthy, and pro-
spective candidate to succeed Congress
man ID. q. ColsOn; Judge Robert Boyd of
London, one of the richest men in Ken
lucky, and Il. ID. Hill, one Of the formula
bic applicants for the position of United
States district attorney under President
Mckinley. OF these Judge Boreing is
still largely interested in mail routes. In
the younger generation-worthy chips
from the old blocks-are eX State Senator
Ed Parker, who ran up against the Platt-
Quay combine as a candidate for sergeant
alarms; W. b. Catching, w. II. Steele,
p. f. Stillings, j. &. johnson, II. p.
Brown, j. l.. Gaden, j. NJ. Boreing and
K. A. Chiffon, all of London.
The heavy operations of the old-timers
began with the organization of the South
ern Mail and Transportation company,
made up principally of London and Will
liamsburg men. This was Just at the
close OF the war. Prior TO that time Judge
Finley and few other individuals had
handled small star routes here and there
with good success, and, recognizing the eX-
traordlnary possibilities of the business,
organized TO carry out a scheme of huge
proportions. Their intentions were no
less than to bid for the entire lot of con-
tracts, sublet them u second parties, let
the subcontractors do the hard work, and
the members Of the company draw the sur
plus, which was TO be in fancy figures.
The United States was divided into four
postal districts, as ii is today, and the star
route contracts for the four districts were
made to run for four years, expiring al
terna.ely so that bids for one Of the four
would be taken every year.
The southern Mail aud Transportation
company, having carefully investigated the
cost OF carrying the routes in various sec
tions Of the country, went into business
with bold front. The company bid on
every star route in a quarter section OF the
country. The bids were not made as
company, but by a series Of firms. Smith
a Jones would bid on a lot Of routes,
Brown ~ Bender on a lot, and so on. all
bids, however, under one general manage
ment The reason for his is unique. II
the government awarded a route for four
years for $4,000 the contractor had TO
make a bond good for double that SUN to
the government. Had the Southern Mail
and Transportation company as a body Sc
cured Sl,O00,00C worth of contracts, 1t
could not probably have made bonds good
for 100000; but if Smith a Jones
made a $4,000 contract. their friends,
Brown Il Bender, could go on their bonds,
and when Brown a Bender made a similar
contract their friends, Smith & Jones,
would be their bondsmen. BY this scien-
titic method of see-sawing, an aggregate
capital of 800, 900 could be made as far
reaching as the mantle OF charity. Be It
too, that the contractors ran
no risks in making such bonds, for while
the government demanded bond of twice
the amount of the consideration of the
original contract, when the professional
stsr-router sublet it he eXacted from the
gentleman who was to do the work a gilt
edged bond of four times the amount of
his bid, this bond being made to the gov
eminent and according to its rigid exac-
tions.
Such were the plans of the Southern
Mail and Transportation company, and
for years it sailed along smoothly. Every
year ii harvested rich crop of routes
throughout the country, sublet the con-
tracts through travelling agents, and then
awaited another letting. The government
and the subcontractor did the rest. Every
three months the United States treasury
sent the subcontractor his share OF the
pay and RENTED the balance 10 the origi-
nal bidder at his home in the Kentucky
NHNN' fAA9AhE AhNh AhOAShh AlO
more of bidding on all the mail routes in
Maine, Michigan, New York and Califor-
mia than they did of making a two-mile
near their own villages, nor did
they hesitate about tackling the fancy
work in the big cities. At times the Ken
tuckians held every contract for carrying
the mails in cities like New York and Bos-
ton, as they now hold them in Brooklyn.
The greatest profit, however, came from
the country business and from the noun
tains, where they had no competition at
all. Mail utes through the highlands of
the Carolinas, Virginia and Kentucky and
other states brought them many thousands
of dollars. A favorite method was TO sub
let contracts to "circuit-riding' preachers,
who made regular trips on horseback and
who would carry the mails for almost any
sum they could get, frequently for less
than one-tenth of the amount the star
reuters were receiving for the work.