Evening star., 1923-08-21

contract to carry all the mails be-
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific
! for $5.000.000. 1t was a fake offer,
but the agitation in its behalf aroused
| William II. Russell, who was en-
gagged in the business of frelsntIns
across the continent. Russell blurred
the Wall street gang with pet OF
service that would make the trip OF
1850 miles between San Francisco
and St Joseph, Mo-, the western ter
minus Of railroads, in ten Gays.
x y y y
Russelrs bet was accepted by Wall
street. He told his partner A. B.
Miller. what he had done, and they
enthusiastically agreed to establish
I a pony service.
| Russell and Miller secured the west
| for the fieetest horses. They bought
500 animals. which they stationed
from ten to twenty miles apart, along
their familiar route. They hired l25
OF the best riders of the west. They
| took their chances with their fleet
horses and expert riders. in out
| distancing savages who might give
chase on their inferior cayuses.
x X
There was great excitement at both
| ends of the line. The race against
time was to start from San Francisco
April s, 1860. Miller's private horse.
Border Ruffian, was chosen to make
the start. An immense crowd gath
cred. At the signal gun, fired on
the deck of a steamer in the harbor,
| he was off. He made the first twent y
miles in forty mine minutes.
! Then relay horse took up the race,
with Il new rider. and was lost for
hours in a snowstorm in the foot
| twenty miles. and the Salt Lake
valley and the vast plains were
passed In the quicksands Of the
River Platte the horse was drowned
/ but the rider. with his precious mail
swan ashore.
The half-drowned rider tramped ten
miles with his mail and reached the
/ next relay. The mall was then sixty
| miles from st. Joseph, an hour behind
schedule. Only three hours and thirty
minutes In. which to reach st. Joseph!
The roads were slippery with rain.
Johnny Fry was the name of the
! rider. Ever heard of Paul Revere e
wild ride? Not to be compared with
| that of Johnny Fry.
| X \
Five thousand spectators were gath
cred on the bank of the river at ST
Joseph, speculating on what Johnny
Fry might accomplish. Only seven
| minutes left. No horseman in sight
Six minutes-f1ve minutes. He can't
| make it. The roads are too treach-
| erous
4 "HurTah! Hurrah, Hurrah."
The vast crowd yelled itself crazy.
| Johnny is here" He had Just five
minutes to spare,
| The pony express had covered the
f. f.sso miles niles IN ten days $ the
worlds record. The full nineteen
/ days included the railroad service
from st. Joseph to New York
| Where is the monument that has
ever been erected to Johnny Fry and
| his wonderful horse, celebrating their
sixty-mile ride? Or even to the
| pioneers Russell and Miller?
X 4
| Five days before the start of the
great 100000 race the pony express
! set out from st. Joseph for the west
| April 3. 1860. The crowd at st. Joseph
| almost pulled the tail off the pony as
| IL was starting. In the eagerness of
| the men to possess a souvenir hair
from that tail. 1t arrived at Sacra =
mento in ten and a half days. just in
Francisco, arriving =. there the follow
| ing day. -. 49,
*g+*
The pony express was never able
to make expenses. although stheSpost-
age was So for a half-ource letter
1t was discontinued the next year
In the meantime. however. its daily
adventures were far more thrilling
than any experienced by the ali
| mail service, which has now been
running for five years. Its great
est rider was Buffalo Bill. who or
one occasion rode continuously 3S4
! miles. Its greatest message was
Lincoln's first inaugural address. Its
schedule time from st. Joseph to
Sacramento was seven days and
seventeen hours, making the time
/ from New York to San Francisco
| thirteen days for letters and eight
days for kilograms. The telegrams
1 were wired TO Fort Kearney, carried
! by pony to Carson City: thence wired
| to San Francisco. The telegraph
clear through was completed in 1851
from the pony express. The first
| all-rail transcontinental service die
not become possible until the com
pletion of the Union Pacific in 1869
! Not only does the twenty-eight
hour schedule of airplane mail out
rank the service of the pony express
with its boasted nineteen days, but Il
beats it as to cost. Instead of s;
postage for half lf-ounce letter, a spe'
cial air-mail stamp of s cents now
| takes the letter across the continent
! in day and a sixth.
/ The United States post Office is the
Largest single industry in existence
1t operates in the clouds, upon ht
| earth and through the tunnels under
| the earth.
! Copyright, 1923, by Paul v. Collns.)