The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-07-24
HAROSHIPS OF
MAIL CARRIERS
Inspector Linn of the Spokane
Division Relates Some In
teresting Incidents.
FEATS OF REAL HER0lSM
MANY LIVES LOST IN THE
SERVICE.
(snecia1 to The HeraId.l

Spokane, Wash, July 23.-'In erecting
monuments to our heroes, our soldiers,
our sailors and our firemen, we should
not forget that army of men which sup
plies US with out daily mall"
G. d. Linn, inspector in charge of the
Spokane division, which includes in its
Jurisdiction the states of Washington,
Idaho. Oregon and Montana and the ter
ritOry of Alaska, said this while going
over the official reports in the Spokane
postoffice. He added:
{ I'm the territory covered by the Spo-
kane inspection offices the United States
mail is carried in every conceivable man.
ner. In Alaska reindeer have been
brought Tito service because of the nee
essity to cross great barriers OF Ice ana
snow. Eskimo dogs are used on the long
eross-country runs. By railways, steam
boat, electric lines, stages, on horseback
and in every other manner except that OF
being transported in airShlps, the mails
are taken to- residents and dispatched all
over this continent, the Orient and Eu-
rope.
Strategic Distrust.
1.-The United states government has
recognized Spokane as one of the strategic
places in this country from a postal
standpoint and it is fast bearing out the
convictions. Several years ago one of the
fifteen inspection stations of the mail
service was placed in Spokane, and the
northwest and Alaska was allotted to this
station as the field to be covered. Four
teen inspectors are employed in the ter
ritOry.
In the Buffalo Hump district and
Thunder Mountain country in Idaho,
south of Spokane. the horses and their
drivers and riders are equipped with
snowshoes III the winter while in the
northern parts Of the territory all means
of conveyances are employed. Mail car
riers in the Rocky mountains and in the
wilds of Alaska pass through the most
rugged parts of the country superintendent
Of 1r-r1a
enacted by carriers in these wild districts
are frequent, but seldom recorded.
Yukon Carrier Frozen.
In one case, brought to the notice of
this office, the driver of one of the dog
trains in the Yukon country stopped dur
ing the night at one of the cabins on his
route and while bathing the feet of one
of his dogs, to prevent them becoming
sore in crossing glaciers, the candle ne
used was knocked over, setting fire to the
can of alcohol he carried for emergency
AN explosion followed, the result be-
ing the destruction of the cabin and the
pack of mail, the carrier barely escaped
with his life. His dogs were burned to
death and the man was forced to walk
miles to the nearest settlement. Both legs
were frozen off and the carrier was dead
when found by a party of 'mushers.'
People in eastern, middle western and
southern states, clamOring for their mail
and demanding that it should arrive on
time, DlllS ItdAlLC the OllCh
displayed by the men in getting it to
them. Carriers have lost their lives in
the mountains of Idaho, Montana and
Oregon, some being carried away in snow
slides, others drowned in crossing turbu-
lent waters in Washington, but seldom is
case reported where the mail has been
deserted by the carrier.
I'm our cities and more or less densely
populated rural districts, the problem of
transporting the mails is not so difficult
to solve. The uniformed carrier is IA
miliar figure in the cities, and of late
familiar on our country roads. OF the
latter class 10 per cent are women. In
the state of Washington there are more
than 200 free rural delivery routes and
the time is not far distant when practic-
ally every farmer will have his mail de-
livered daily OF his door the same as his
city cousin"