The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-03-13
GREAT NORTHERN
MUST BEAT
HARTMAN
Big Mail Contracts Are at
stake-Exclusive Mail
Train Probable.

The Great Northern must shorten
its running time from st. Paul to
Seattle by some six or eight hours or
they will lose big United States mail
contracts. For the past three or four
months there, have been rumors and
surmises that there would be some
sort of change in the through train
service of the Great Northern and at
last the change takes definite shape.
Harriman's little flank movement in
getting foothold in Seattle and the
building northward from Portland to
that city and probably into British
Columbia, connected with the facts
that Hartman has cut some eight
hours out of his service between Chi
cago and the coast and that this is the
year when Uncle Sam makes his four
year mail contracts. has caused Presi-
dent Hill and his officials to sit up
and take careful notice of things.
The mail service over the Great
Northern from st. Paul to the coast
is enormous. For instance. Sunday
morning train two from the coast
carried five tons of marine mail going
to Chicago, and it was considered q
light day. Ordinarily there are from
$4,000 to 10000 pounds of mail loaded
onto one daily for the coast.
If Hartman succeeds in shortening
the haul from Chicago to Seattle, as
he will II the Great Northern does not
get faster service. he will secure con-
tracts for large amounts of the mail
of the Great Northern. amounting in
all likelihood to s1.OO0,0OO a year. In
four years this would aggregate quite
sum.
Just what will be the nature of the
change no one at present is able to
say, as the schedule makers have not
formulated definite plan. All that
is known is that there will be at least
six hours cut out of the Great North
ern service from ST. Paul to the coast.
At present neither of the coast trains
can shorten the time. Numbers one
and two are loaded to the doors with
traffic Of all descriptions. while three
and four are doing local work and
quite as heavy traffic. It Is probable
these trains could handle the traffic
IT the time problem was solved. It is
more than probable that a fast mail
train. carrying a few if any passen-
gers will be put on in the next few
weeks to run from st. Paul to Seattle
without stops except for fuel and
water. 1t would be light train and
would cut from six to eight hours out
of the time. 1t would be very light
train-and everything would be sacri-
feed to speed. 1t would doubtless run
via Larimore and, latter via Aneta.
Another plan is to make the fast
trains out of three and four and re-
lieve them of the local work they are
now doing by another local train. This
would relieve five and six, which are
doing more business now than they
can handle and Keep to their schedule
Another proposition is that one and
two will be made the fast trains, but
as the passenger traffic is very heavy
all along its line, there Is little prob
ability of this.
Indications now seem to point to
either another local via Larimore or
Aneta to relieve three and four or else
a new coast train to do an exclusive
mail and express business over the
same route. Six hours could easily
be cut out of the time at present and
when the Aneta line is finished, Gan
other hour could be dropped.
1t goes without saying that there
will be change in schedule from st.
Paul to, the coast shortly and that the
Great Northern will beat Mr.. Harri-
man into the north Pacific coast