KinSource - Tale of the Week - The Reason Why We Had No Mail On Saturday

KinSource

Minnesota Tales

The Daily Minnesotian, June 4, 1855, p. 2

The Reason why we had no Mail on Saturday.

The Golden Era, in port on Saturday morning, was the first arrival of a boat of the Daily Packet Line, since the line got fairly into operation after the opening of navigation in April that has failed to bring a mail. Some of our contemporaries have complained at the non-arrival of mails when the boats were detained aground; but this is unreasonable. Of course the packets are bound to come through daily whenever they can; and if they can't come themselves, they are not expected to infuse into the mail bags the power of locomotion necessary to go ashore and come up by land - although we have known mails old enough to go alone.

The Golden Era was unable to get into the "harbor" of Dubuque this trip, on account of the low stage of water in the slough. She was compelled to land on the outer shore of the main island. The Captain felt that he was not compelled to send in for the mail, and the Dubuque postmaster thought he was not compelled to send it out to the boat. And the boat came away without the mail.

This is the substance of the matter, as we learn from the Captain of the Golden Era himself. A little accomodation on the part of either party would have obviated the difficulty. We should state, however, that on the trip previous, Capt. Atchison sent in his yawl for the mail, and was detained thereby some considerable time.

The postmaster at Dubuque is a very accommodating officer it appears when it suits him and the Dubuque interest to be so. But if he can get a "lick" at the packets, by "hook or by crook," the dogs may take Minnesota and her mail accommodations for all he cares. He is willing and anxious that we should have our mails regularly, but more anxious to get up an apparent cause of complaint against the carriers of our mails. He puts the chip on his shoulder, boy fashion, and dares the packet Captains to knock it off. He makes the transportation of the mails entrusted to his charge a personal matter of Dubuque feeling toward Galena; and rather than yield a jot to accommodate us, he will cavil with the boats "to the ninth part of a hair." There are plenty of loafers at hand, to swear that the waters in the Dubuque mud hole is four feet deep when there cannot be found a sufficient depth to swim a duck; and so what cares the Dubuque Postmaster if the packet officers swear to the contrary, and protest they cannot get into the "harbor."

So, between the Galena boats and the Dubuque postmaster, we are likely to have great irregularity in the arrival of our mails, now that the water is getting low. Well, then, the next best thing to be done is, for Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Western Wis. to unite their influence; have the distributing office removed to Dunleith, and leave the Galenians and Dubuquers to settle the relative merits in regard to the adaptation of their sloughs and ditches to the purposes of navigation as best suits the two belligerent parties. The fact is, we are determined up this way not to suffer by mail failures through this foolish controversy - if we can help ourselves.