Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-29
THREE NAUTICAL PosTMEN.
Dangerous Work of Delivering Mail
From a Rowboat at Detroit.



Detroit. which is one or tho s,roo,os,
shipping ports in the world, is the Masses
for OF unique mail service. 1t is nothing
more nor less than the delivery and cnil,4c-
/, ton of mail matters from ships going, at
full speed. This extension of IN, free do
liVery system is the work of Postmaster
Dickerson of Detroit
thousands Of vessels enter and c,aar n.
Detroit, and other thousands pass without
stopping. There is mail for all of these
and many times it is of the first irnport-
ance that this mail be received as soon
as possible. City. town and country re-
ceiVeu their mail promptly on time, and
Mr.. Dfckerson determined that the shin
plng interests should be equally well served
FROM this sprang the system. which has
worked so well In practice though :, was
pronounced visionary by all who knew of n
pefore 1t was put in operation. The Milan
adopted was to make use of a Yacht yvhtcl,
towcd the rowboat directly I'm front Of n
passing vessel and left it there. Then
came fine exhibition of watermanshin
just before the steamer crashed down on
the rowboat and its occupants a dextero,ts
twist of the oars placed the littia koat
under the flank OF one Of the bows of the
steamer. VI ''4e
The bone" In the teeth of the staa,,o-
'heh gave the rowboat a sharp thrust 10
one side. and as soon as the little craft had
tldden the foaming wave the carrier rose in
ms seat TO send light line to the deck of
the vessel. and then resumed his seal Tho
line was made fast and soon the kissing
coil Of eighty feet was paid out from the
foWDoat and with a leap like that Of a mon
ster hsh attached to the line the rowboat
sPrang forward, while the carrier in Il hung
on with fierce grip 10 prevent himself
from being hurled overheard
AS soon AS the rowboat reached the mo-
Inehtum OF the passing vessel a pail was
lowered from above with mail to go ashore
and in 1t was placed the mail for the shin
after which the line was cast off and the
rowboat was picked up by the Yacht n
which 1t was attached. This feat of deliv-
erlng mail was always difficult in smooth
water, but on stormy days and when IN.
river was plowed up by strong southwesters
II was exceedingly dangerous as well
Darkness added more danger to the task:
but week by week the service grew AMI
became success. 1t is proposed now to
ask Congress for an appropriation TO build
a swift and strong vessel for boarding pur-
poses-one that VIII be fast enough TO catch
any vessel that passes through the river
and one also that will not be damaged by
the shock of contact when the mail boat is
made fast to the other vessel.
The service is a continuous one Of twenty-
four hours a day during the entire season
Of navigation. no matter what the weather
may be During the busiest months Of
the season these large vessels sometimes
pass ct the rate of one per minute ard n Is
almost beyond belief that none of them is
ever missed Upon one occasion last year
hfty-seven boats passed during the space OF
an hour, 1886 pieces Of mail were delivered
and % pieces collected during that time
with vessels both ways
The first month that it was in operation
only ninety letters were delivered 20 pass-
Ing ships. but before the close of naviga-
ton there were 500 pieces of mail delivered
every day.
AT present there are only three men who
are actively employed in the work of deliv-
ering and collecting the letters These are
NJ. 5. Randall j. Hammes and W. Yates.
Three nervier men do not exist They have.
gone out with mail in the teeth of storms
that make even the most Contagious skip
pers on the lakes think twice before facing,
and never yet have they had an accident or
lost so much as postal card