The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-01-18
Transcontinental Mail Schedule
Reduced Still Further.
RAILWAY RecoRos BROKEN.
Rival Roads Befwe~s Chicago sna
E~afSsct-Avesage speed of .
Little Less Thas ene NILE . Mfa-
ste-Faster Passenger Service 20
Ressis--southern Pa~fac slowest.

VIII Ssssso mail contract ar The prize.
ts1Tee American railways entere5 E.soss a
Ectab.e Speed contest from Chicago 20
tsIsahay q distance " Ter s8ias. alta the
rsesaif that al railway Fseorsss fog long
Distance running have been ssfuken.
The cosnpetftion Was bel wssa tie Chi-
cage. Huntington & Quincy. mere tasnsI-
taEay knswn as the BisliEg or the Chicago
K Northwestern, better known as the
Norih western; and the Chicago, Rock Is
land K Pacific. tia popular aDbfegl2tloss
Ter which is the Rock Island
Isas occasion OF This contest Was tire
determination os he soetoffIce depart men;
10 reduce the mail seheslsase betwesl At
ianfsc ard Pacific parts Isy q rossna t1ir-
1een hours How thls sa accomplished be-
-. Men York and Eeaft5e. by means
q the ssrrat .scrthsru Flyer from 81.
Pasa tn Seattle. has already BEEN tod in
the Post-fnteiiigencsr Prom New YORK 20
Chicago al the Western mails travel the
Same route. thai Is by way Of the New
York Central and the Lake Shore l. Mich
ignn Seafhefn.
On leaving Chicago sne mails for Seattle
turn norfhwara to 81 Pant sftiie tflos.-
for s+an Francisco turn xouthwagl toward
Omaha Fer thts particular portion OF the
run this RasiiExton nov holds the contract.
and has he'd IL for several years On this
very account there IL a eeFtaln disposition
ROAD One Of the highest officers Of that
department. stated r-esg tIy that ne thought
the department Shouts stand ~ the bar
HngtCE because that road mad taken the
mail contract from the government years
ago when none Of The other roads wanted
IT, ard haf performed efficient and salts
factory service. However tho contract
WA thrown open ard the several roa1a
were invited to make weeks trial FOR
round trips between Chicago and Omaha
Each of the three roads entering iEle con
test has = certain advantage Tie Bur
lin&&on has fHe nrassf31 contract the good
VIII al tie department and an almost
ssrfvaIed road bed assd train service. The
Northwestern has The advantage Of
shorter rtsn by ten miles than the Bur
uagtof. the distance from Chicago To
Omaha being 51 by the Burlington. while
n - only 49, by the Northwestern The
Rock Island. which was thr latest 81 the
contestants 20 saser the race, has the adj
vantage OF q possible connection with the
Lake ahore IT Erslewood a station seven
or eight miles south ef the business center
OF Chicago The time through tie city Is
necessarily sow. and II has been estimated
that fse transfrr OF the transcnntineutaf
mails AZ chi->xo hAs been costing the
government t&ean a year.
Tho phenomenal runS that haze been
made In .his contest have been reported
from day 10 dag through the Associated
Press All previous records for spaced taee
been dissanred each 81 the roads making
the erstsr. 90 mixes a, an average speed
Of little LEES than a mile minute. while
over sofas portions ~ the run a misa vas
covered ia thirty seconds. The official rec
ord OF the Rock Island on ita first ran
shows considerable sections of the road
covered st the rate of seventy miles asl
hour
One incidental benefit arising from the
contest Will probably 10 the regular con-
unslatlpn OF q faster passenger service on
ali the roads from Chicago 20 Omaha, ex-
p~r4aurs having demonstrated thai quick
er time Than the old schedules can bs cas-
ily mad. and that tA~r. II paying de-
mani for n by the towns along the roads
The poorest showing made by any OF
the vaffeus roads concerned in the nsw
time schedules II by the Southern Pa
ciar, whose average speed Is huf twenty
six mics an hour not sftt faster than
II h~s been making. Once more the San
Fvancssrc papers are 'swaiing the unfof-
fnYmse rrreiiennsrnt OF that city IN having
only onA railroad.