Evening star., 1899-02-02
SENDING MAIL TOTHEYUkON
The Contractor Fails TO Keep His Trips Up to
the Schedule.
Two Months of the Year when IL is
Impossible to Get Through
to the Miners.

The Post Office Department has been
making an effort to get mail to the Yukon
this winter from Juneau There is little
trouble in supplying the coast towns of
Alaska with a regular mail service. To
get to the interior where the miners are is
always a difficult proposition, especially so
during the winter. The United States has
two routes. one extending from Juneau to
Tanana, and the other from Tauana to St.
Michael's. At the present time p. c. Rich
ardson has the contract for carrying the
mail between these points. His compensa-
ton is $4,000 for the first route and $23,o
for the second route. He has been a cause
of trouble to the department, however, and
according to Mr.. John P. Clum, he defaults
many times. 1t is required by the govern
month over the first route and one over the
second route. In the route from Juneau to
Tanana the trip is by way of Chilcoot Pass.
Dawson. Eagle, Star Circle Yukon and
Rampant. AT each of these towns the
government has established a post office.
On the second route from Tanana to st.
Michaefs the following post offices are
passed: Kozukuk, Anvik and st. Michaels.
Difficulties of the Task.
The government has a special post office
agent in Alaska to supervise the carrying
of the mails. Because of the unreliabiIity
VI lIe COIili dNlOi, foupl NlUHi VI iIS
mail depredatons division says this officer
has to engage special carriers to take the
mail. There are two months in the year,
however, he says, when ii is Impossible to
deliver the mail. One is during the early
fall, when the ice is forming on the rivers
and lakes, and the other is in the spring.
when the ice Is breaking up. Until the rail-
road is built these difficulties cannot be
overcome.
Mail Taken to the Miners.
Superintendent Clum has just received
report from the postmaster at Juneau show
ing the amount of mail carried overland to
the mining region. 1t must be remembered,
he says, that the government does not con-
tract to carry all classes of mail 10 the
miners. Only letters Will be carried. 1t
was thought better to limit the mail to
this class because friends would send news
papers and all manner of things through
the mails, paying first-class postage to in
sure tEeir receipt. Now, no matter what II
is, the government will take nothing but
letters 1t is interesting to note the num-
Der of pieces carried by the contractor dur
ing the winter months. As soon the ice
had formed tNovember - the first trip car
ried 6,2oI letters. The trip of November 10
had 1852 letters.
The contractor failed to make the Decem-
Der trip, and a special carrier was sent by
the department with 1921 letters. The De
cember - trip took 1,y65 letters, and when
ed again, and the government sent a special
carrier with l DOL letters. The government
representative in the Klondke is w. L.
Wilcox.
Reindeer Starved to Death.
In the last annual report Of the Secretary
of the Interior 1t is stated that the rein
deer sent by the government from Lapland
for the succor Of the miners had been turn
ed over to the post office authorities and
We're being used for the carrying of the
mails. This, Superintendent Clum says, is
a mistake. Not one of the reindeer sent
has been used and far as he is aware
no contractor has ever employed one. He
was present when the herd was disembark-
ed Originally il consisted of 53S head but
on the trip 23S had died. When the remain
ing few were taken off shIpboard, the seri-
Gus part of the expedition was manifested.
There was nothing to feed the animals with
and some of them literally starved to death.
The drivers who accompanied the reindeer
pushed north in the hope of finding moss.
When the herd was last reported but IA
remained. and they were in the vicinity of
Hutshi Lake.