The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-04-26
FAST MAIL IN
The YEAR 1860

Los Angeles Times: When the
hardy pioneers of the whitewinged
wagons and pioddinG OK teams Of 1S4S
had demonstrated beyond all doubt
that California was holding out u
golden hand, alert industrial captains
prepared to meet the demand for a
union between the east and the west.
The slow going * caraFan was fol-
lowed by the swiftest stage coach.
Then the miner cried out for still
y more rapid news from home, and the
| L0ny express was offered to meet the
emergency.
1be government pledged Russell.
MaTvs & Waddle, freighters, the con-
tractEs If the mail were transported
from VI. Joseph, Mo-, to Sacramento
1850 rniles-in eight days. 1t became
a matter of high Importance to sue
coed on e trial run.
Tone Napoleon Might Have Used.
From the Mississippi river to the
Missouri the mail from the east was
to come over the Hannibal & st. Joe,
a northern Missouri road, which had
been cd-npleted Feb. 10. 1859. The test
mail run was made April 3, 1860.
ThS best engineer, the best engine
and a specially prepared mail car were
selected to carry the tissue missives
to the waiting rider at st. Joseph.
'InstruCtiOnS?' asked Add Clark as
he climbed up the gangway of the
Missouri at Hannibal this morning of
the run.
And J. T. X. Hayward, the general
superintendent, responded:
You are to make a record that will
stand for fifty years"
1t was said in a tone Napoleon
might have used at Austerlitz:
"Chausseurs! Take for me yOn AUS
TRAN battery"
Engineer and soldier, the danger
was equal. The rails were light and
the juncture was not always even.
April is always a capricious month in
Missouri-rain, sunshine and high
winds, with mud all the time. The
track was not ballasted. AS a pre-
cautionary measure George H. Davis,
the trainmaster, issued orders that all
switches were to be spiked securely
and no train was to be allowed on the
main line within an hour of the fast
mails time. The agents at Macon
and MoOresville were instructed to get
ready to load up the tender with wood
80 as not to occasion any delay what
ever.
Wood by the ArmIoad.
L. L. Coleman, agent at Macon,
obeyed instructions this way: He cal
| culated how many armloads it would
takey and then had as many men
standing on a specially prepared plat
form, so when the train "~hesitated'
each man emptied his arms and the
train scooted along.
1t Is 206 miles from to st.
Joseph, and the run was made in "A
little more than four hours, or about
at the rate Of fifty miles an hour. NJ
sustained run across the state on the
Joe" line has been made in shorter
time.
With all the precautions taken the
officers of the road realized the peril
involved by the order given to the en-
gineer Of the fast mail, and they were
Of a sort who scorned to demand of
an employee that he face a danger
they would not share. So in the little
mail car that wabbled in the trail of
Add Clark's flying machine like the
tail of a kite were Joshua Gentry, as
~sistant; J. T. X. Hayward, superin-
tendent: o. N. Cutler, assistant sup
e~rintendent; G. II. Davis, trainmaster;
Jack Harris, conductor.
mo Cake, Thank YOU
There was a brief stop al Brook
field for lunch. Captain Dennis, who
ran a hotel, had prepared something
nice for the officers and crew, and was
awaiting them when the train cafhe
in. All ate heartily but Engineer
Clark, who said he didn't care for any
thing till he got to the n of the run.
Try some cake, Add said Hay
ward; youth need something to
strengthen YOU"
No cake, thank you," replied
| Clark.
Everything Clark said or did that
eventful day was remembered by the
boys of the road, and ever afterWard,
when asked to do something they
would rather not, they would repeat
Clark's expression: NO cake, thank
you"
"The Missouri" was a low engine
with a wide balloon stack" which
was changed to a diamond when it
began using coal Its drivers were
low and painted a bright red. All it's
brass and copper parts outside We're
bright. BY comparative tests it was
demonstrated that the Missouri was
the crack flyer of the road and the
best to handle. They make a great
deal bigger and stronger locomotives
nowadays, but the old engine of the
sixties--or the ghost OF it-still holds
the horns for activity.
G~m-nh~1.. wa..-& hn.vnB Auf~M~ 49,. 49,