Amador ledger., 1900-07-27
Interesting Notes About the
Mail Service.
AAAD0R CITY, VOLCANO AND South JACKSON
Entertainment at mador.-Sanitary
Conditions of Volcano
Tomatoes.
OGDEN, July 1s, 1900.
Editor LEDGER:

Editor LEDGER:
Having received copy of your
valuable paper to-day and enjoyed ex-
ceedingly the perusal of its familiar
pages (after reading that the same had
been thoroughly disinfected) 1 shall
attempt 10 reciprocate the favor by
sending you a few items which may be
OF interest to your readers.
After having traversed the greater
part OF California on various r. P. O's.
an order came on June 25 which caused
me to leave my native State for the
| first time in my life. | was now to see
the real work of the Railway Mail
Service.
The trip from San Francisco to
Ogden might be divided into three
distinct parts: the valley; the noun
tains and the desert. After leaving
the characteristic California scenery
behind as we approach Reno, we enter
the land of sage brush and alkali, and
the scene is not shifted once-if we ex-
cept the occasional narrow meadows
which sometimes relieve the monotony
until we reach the land of the Latter
Day Saints.
The alkali dust is very disagreeable
at first, and produces stinging sensa-
tion in the nostrils and throat. But,
like many other things, it's nothing
when you get used to it,"
l suppose some of the juvenile read
ers of the LEDGER can tell what I
found when l compared my watch with
the town clock at Ogden; but out of
respect to the memory of ''Old Callfor-
MIA" the watch was not changed, and
when the Ogden clock strikes six in
the morning 1 say five o'clock" and
turn over and take another snooze.
Although Ogden is surrounded by a
great farming valley, its chief support
is the railroad lines which center here,
the Central Pacific and Oregon Shor,
Line running west, and the Union
Pacific and Denver and Rio Grande
east. Our mail supply comes chiefly
from the Union Pacific lines, and one
does not get good idea OF the vast
ness of the mail service until he has
seen the piles of sacks and pouches
which are transferred from the U. P.
to the G. P. at Ogden.
After the dozen Or more transfer
men have finished piling the sacks,
like so many sacks of potatoes, in the
storage car, the mail clerks, six In
number, strip far their work and begin
emptying one sack at time, handling
one piece of mail at time, until all is
done and the mail for the sixteen hun
dred post-offices of California is all
directed to the proper channels to
reach the anxious reader as soon as
possible,
1t might be interesting to one who
gets letter from New York, for in
stance, to know how often it is handled
before it reaches Its destipatipn. We
will suppose that letter addressed to
the Mayor of jackson for expect to
hear soon that Jackson has incorpor.
ated) is posted at New York, The
New York Office puts it INTO q pouch
directed to Ogden g. San Fran. Tr. 6.
The clerk on Train distributes the
contents of the pouch in his letter case
and tiles out' the Jackson letter with
all others for the same county, except
ing two or three towns, and, tying up
the package, throws it into the pouch
for Sacto. & San Fran. Tr. 81. This
pouch is thrown off at Sacramento.
Train 81 takes it next morning and
throws the package of Jackson letters
into jackson pouch, which is put off at
Gait, aud taken to the end of its Jour-
ney by the we'll known 'Lightnlng
Express" and Raggio's stages. So,
counting the handling at Jackson, a
letter is handled separately four times
between eastern points and California
towns.
The prineipai religion here is, of
course, that of the Latter Day Saints,
Or Mormons. In this city they have a
church in each ward, and tabernacle
in the centre of the city. attended a
church service recently, and at a
future time may describe same for the
benefit of your readers. l also expect
to test the floating properties of the
waters of Great Salt Lake soon and
may include description of same In
my next including Of course Salt
Lake City with its many objects of
interest.
With sincere hopes that the dreaded
epidemic has been conquered without
single victim, l am
Yours truly.
CARL BARTLETT.