The Winslow mail., 1898-11-05
POSTAL PIONEERING.
The Work of Opening New Offices
in Alaska.
Recent Visit of an Inspector Who In
troduced a New System-The
Old Way Was Rather
Clumsy.


After travelling 5000 miles through
the interior of Alaska, establishing
seven new post offices on the Yukon
river and six Others on the coast and
in southeastern Alaska, Post Office In
spector John p. Clum, who went north
from Seattle last March to reorganize
the United States postal services in
the far north, has returned to Sc
attic.
! Since leaving Seattle Inspector Clum
has Travelled altogether 10000 miles in
the performance of his duties. Over
LOCO miles of the distance was made
on the Upper Yukon in a Peterborough
canoe, accompanied only by his son, a
young man 20 years of age.
Inspector Clum describes in an in
teresting manner his rapid-transit
system of post office establishment. Il
is something new in the history of the
postal service of the nation. The
government at Washington had at
/ length awakened to the fact that the
conditions in Alaska consequent upon
! the discovery of the un paralleled riches
of the Klondike had never been du-
! plicated. To meet these conditions In
| spector Clum was sent into the new
| territory, clothed with authority such
! as has rarely, if ever, been given to
one man in the service before.
In the years preceding the discovery
of the K!ondike, Mr.. Clum states, it
| had been the cheerful custom of the
| government to allot about three years
! to the establishment of a post office
on the Yukon. One summer the would
be postmaster would send in his ap-
plication, the next summer he would
/ receive his appointment, with his
official bond in blank, with instruc-
tions to fill it out and return it in or
der to receive his commission. Some
time in the third summer the post
masters commission would arrive. BY
that time, the tradition of the depart
ment goes, the new postmaster would
have been eaten up by bears. died Of
old age or scurvy, or have left the
country. The system was not bril-
liantly successful.
! But Inspector Clum changed all this.
In a compact form he carried with
him to Alaska complete outfits for the
establishment of post offices. Be-
sides post office supplies, such as
stamps, postal cards. and what not,
he took with him dating and cancel
ing stamps, keys for mail sacks and
dozen and one things of that sort.
But most important of all the articles
in his outfit were blank bonds and
commissions for the postmasters.
These Inspector Clum was given full
power to select, appoint and commits
sion, with no one to say him nay. His
was the entire authority usually exer-
cised by the president, with the advice
of a score of subordinates and the di-
rection of congressman of all kinds
of politics.
The new system worked like a
charm, Inspector Clum says. What
/ had formerly taken three years was
/ accomplished in almost few minutes.
It is a fact vo1ched for by Inspector
/ Clum that one Yukon pest Office was
/ established ready for business in 20
minutes. The little steamer merely
showed her nose against the bank, the
inspector jumped ashore, selected
likely looking citizen, and made him
postmaster, almost willynilly. AL
most before the population of he town
could assem- bic to look on and wonder,
! the new postmaster was left standing
by his little heap of Office parapher-
MALTA. duly commissioned and sworn,
while the inspector sailed away down
the river. The operation, which had
o1, IoI oiY,cr of hn off
was complete.
After csta blishing the service in
Wrangle, Skaguay, Taiya, Pyramid
Harbor, Haines Mission, and ins specting
the offices already established in south
eastern Alaska. Inspector Clum pro-
ceeded to establish offices a Canyon
City and Sheep Camp. This took until
late in May. On May 20 his pioneering
began. Over the Chilkat pass he and
his son, IL. w. Cium, took their 18-foot
canoe, weighing but 100 pounds. and
about LOCO pounds of provisions and
post Office supplies. From Lindeman
down to Circle City the canoe was their
home. In "a days they made the jour
! ney of nearly 1000 miles, stopping two
DAYS at Dawson. 1t was a trip full OF
interest and peril, but was accom-
plished without accident to their little
craft.
After leaving Dawson the work of es-
tablishing offices began. Eagle City
was the first, at the mouth of Mission
creek, 100 miles below Dawson. Next
followed Star, at the mouth of Seventy
Mile, and then Circle City was reached.
Here there was already an office. At
this point the canoe was abandoned
and the Inspector took passage on the
steamer Seattle No. /. From this point
on the progress was rapid. The boat
was held at each point only long
enough for the inspector to do his
work. SO time was wasted. The of
fees established, in their order, were
at Fort Yukon, Rampant City. Tanana,
at the mouth of the Tanana; Koyukuk.
at the mouth Of the stream Of the same
name, and Anvik, at the mouth of the
Anvik river. The trip from Circle City
took only nine days, and 40 hours were
spent on sandbar,-Seattle Post-In-
telligencer.
| Same Missiles.