Iditarod pioneer., 1916-06-03
THE MAIL SERVICE

of public service, and total lack of that consideration of the just rights and privileges due from government to people rather than have attached to hlm the op- probrious term. And th:s IS equally true of Alaska communities But once aroused, they can make Rome howl with then complaints, and their com plaints finally receive hearing instanced in the cases of Nome and Fairbanks in relation to the mali service provided for those communities.
 The people of Iditarod have been most patient under long term of neglect, incompetence, tavorlt- ism or what not ln connection with Its mai serVlce No organized effort has been made to remedy the abuses under which they have suffered and like true Alaskans they have taken what was gwen them under the impression that they were recelVng the best that was possible in the way of mail serVlce under the CIT cumstances They have learned different now, and have become convinced that instead of receiving the advantage of short and direct winter mail service to the coast which they had right to expect, they haze been the victims of series of blunders or which are entirely inexcusable.
 The second year of the Seward trail mail service has just terminated with the dumping of three con- sgnmens of more or less antlquated matter into the local postoAlce During the season there were con- stant instances of delayed conslgnmcnts and, as usual, there Was dissatisfaction with reference to matter sent over the trail and that reserved tor future trips At tune when pedestrians travelng over the trail made the journey from Seward 10 ldlt arod in from fourteen to twenty days, the ma car led by dog sled and horse sled, took the full time limit of twenty -four days, and in many instances even more In the latter days of the service there was no attempt at meeting schedules owing to the trail conditions
 ! 4l,,4 l>ol> 1,,rrbf from Seward to Iditarod in much less time than the present schedule calls for and yet has been seldom that the mail has been on tme It behoove5 the res- dents of the district to ascertain where the fault lies and whether the abuses can be remedled.
 Without any attempt at authoritative statement in the matter, The Pioneer puts forth the opinion that the whole trouble IS due to lack of management and to the fact that advantages for forwarding mail are not taken advantage of to the fullest extent Numerous instances have been reported of !ndlyid- ual carriers waiting for days at roadhouses the rival of the mail instead of continuing their journey to meet the expected carrier. Travellers over the trail constantly have reported passing mail conslgn- ments that started out many days ahead of them. When Colonel Revell was in lditarod prior to the inception of the service he promised the people twentv-day service 1t has been demonstrated that 1t would be by no means unreasonable to expect such service Yet 1t IS doubtful whether, except in few isolated instances anything approxunatlng such speedy trip has been made by the mail. It also has been stated that mail has been serious de- ayed by lack of horse feed at various relay statons which is, of course, lnexcusable.
 Suggesting the element of favoritis1n, The Pioneer is informed from a reliable source that the special consignment of mail which was the result of com paints of the inadequacy of the Alaska mail service and which left Seward on March IS, consisted en- tfey of parce post matter consigned by large Out side mailorder house to one particular locality, and that locality many miles distant from Iditarod It would be interesting to learn what influences were brought to bear in favor of this Outside concern to secure the prompt delivery of its merchandise while the ordinary mail was held up.
 The experience of the past two years has shown that it IS waste of time and effort to attempt to drag sccondc!a5s mail the route while the trail IS in process of disintegraton in the spring. The 6rst-cass mail could be carried through at thS tune with ease; but to attempt to carry hundreds of pounds of second-cass mail only results in delaying the whole consignment Furthermore, these last consignments have reached ldtarod each year after the opening cf navigation, and might just as we'll have been consigned by way of Skagway and White horse and would have arrived fully early and Tn much better condition.
 The suggestion IS offered that the government of- 1cials acting for Uncle Sam, should the same business acumen Tn the transaction ot hls business as do the agents of private business hrms and cor- ,,or,t;one There is a oood mail trail provided It