Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-11-24
Stage Venture Improved Mails

to Australia at the end of the sea-
son, and we suggested to him that he
stop over at San Francisco for a few
weeks and give Henry " there. He
wouldn't listen to it. His success had
been so great in New York that he
had got case of badly swelled head.
But the idea was born, and Mr..
Palmer and I undertook to carry 1t
out in another way We saw Law
renee Barrett, and offered him the
part of Henry v, on our part agree
ing, when he consented, to furnish a
great company and as perfect stage
settings as it was possible to procure.
Then we determined to see if the
railroads would undertake to carry
us from New York to San Francisco
in half a weeks time.
my, when l think of it, that was
daring proposition. This was in
1878, and the railroads, in the far
west at least, were far from being as
perfectly equipped as they are at tina
present time. However, the idea ap.
peared to appeal to the railway man
ayers, and they made the contract.
We were to leave New York one hour
after midnight and be delivered at
San Francisco three and one-half days
later. And the contract was kept to
the letter But I never want to ride
again as we did then.
"Of course, that trip has become
tradition. Now I am going to tell
you of another feature of it which has
never been published It occurred to
me that, if we could get the postof-
fee authorities to consent, we would
undertake to deliver a mail, made UP
in New York, in San Francisco three
and one-half days later. I went to
see Thomas L. James, then postmas-
ter of New York, in fear and trem-
bling lest he might turn the PROPOSE.
ton down.
Instead Of that he grew enthusiast
tic. That's a great idea, Mr.. Jarrett
he said, and by means of it we can
show the government the feasibility
of establishing a fast railway mail
service that will bring New York and
Chicago within less than tWenty-four
hours communication, New York and
Omaha in less than thirty-six, and
New York and San Francisco in less
than kCur days. We will make up
mails for Pittsburg, Chicago, Omaha
Ogden and San Francisco. We will
have the postmasters at those places
on the lookout for the mails. Then
we will make reports of the result to
the government, and l think the re-
ports will give us the long desired
fast mail trains
do you know" continued Mr.. Jar
rett, that the head Of the express
company which had the contract for
carrying mails from the railway sta,
tons to the New York postofice him.
self actually drove the mail wagon,
rich a man as he was, from the New
York postoffice to the Pennsylvania
station? We took on the mail just
before one o'clock at night Before
eight o'clock that morning the mail
for Pittsburg was delivered and with
in an hour distributed. By nine o'clock
in the evening Chicago, for the first
time, received a mail the same day
that it left New York. Omaha got it's
mail early in the morning of the Sec
ond day, and San Francisco's mail
was distributed on the afternoon of
the third day.
That experience demonstrated to
the government the feasibility of
adopting through fast railway mail
trains. And as l recall the history of
the passage of the theatrical special
from New York to San Francisco in
as yet unbeaten time, I am convinced
that, after all, the greatest service
that it performed was to show both
to the government and the railroads
generally that the latter were capabS
of cutting down time for the deliver!
Of mails by one-half."
Copyright, 1910, by E. ]. Edwards All
Rights Reserved.)