THE SEPTEMBER MAIL.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2398, 23 November 1880, Page 2

THE SEPTEMBER MAIL.

The following telegram explains itself : —The “New York Tribune” of October 12 gives, editorially, an interesting story of a fast mail from Australia to England. “On Wednesday,” it says, “Postmaster James (of New Yoi’k city) learned that the Pacific mail steamer City of Sydney, which left Sydney on September 9, had reached San Francisco on October 5, two days ahead of time. She was just two hours too late to catch the mail train of that day, and a delay of 21 hours was unavoidable. The schedule time from San Francisco was two hours 100 late to catch the first departing British steamer. Mr James went to the Union Pacific office in this city, and represented the facts to Sydney Dillion, and asked if a special could not be put on to catch the regular mail train of the day before. S.H.H. Clarke, general manager of the Union Pacific at Omaha, and A. N. Towne, general superintendent of the Central Pacific at San Francisco, were present. ‘ Where is the train Tviik Die mail at this time?’ Dillon asked of Towne —‘ On the Humboldt Division somewhere,’ was the reply. ‘ Can a special train catch the other train?’ he asked. Clarke replied in the aflirmative, but added—‘ We shall have to run the special a thousand miles, and it will cost a thousand dollars.’ ‘ Don’t care what it costs, replied Dillon. ‘Do it.’ The telegraph -was put into requisition, and it was done. The regular mail train was overtaken at Omaha. The Australian mail car was attached, last night at 9 18 it was lauded in tho city, and to-day it goes by the Arizona to England. If the vessel makes schedule time, the trip from Sydney will have been made in the shortest time on record —about 40 days.” The Arizona was expected to reach England in 7 days, but did not arrive at Queenstown till the evening of Oct. 21. The mail was delivered in London 42 days from Sydney. A correspondent wrote to the “ Tribune ” inquiring who paid the thousand dollars, and Postmaster James replied that it was the Union and Ceutriil Pacific Railroad Companies, that he was proud of his country and the enterprise of its railroad meu, and that such a thing was not possible in any other country in the world.