ELDORADO 137 



mail matter to the Pacific Coast had to cross the Isth- 

 mus ox i^anama, tlience by sceamer to isaii rrancisco, 

 irom 24 to 30 aays oeing occupied m uie voyage noui 

 Aew iork to iSan l^rancisco. 



it generally required irom sixty to ninety days from 

 the date ot writmg a letter to the receipt 01 an answer 

 by the isthmus route, i'ostage on tlie halt ounce in 

 those days was 10 cents when the distance was over 

 three hundred miles, 'ihe arrival ot the semi-monthly 

 steamer at ban i^rancisco was an event celebrated by 

 the bring of guns and the ringing of bells, and was the 

 signal tor a general rush of tne inhabitants to the post- 

 otnce, where long lines of anxious letter seekers would 

 take their position, "first come first served" being the 

 rule, and woe betide the unfortunate wretch whose 

 temerity caused him to attempt to break the restless, 

 anxious, swaying line of the gray and blue shirt bri- 

 gade, extending from the postoffice windows. 



As the lengthening columns swayed and wriggled 

 sometimes a half-mile in length, great anxiety and im- 

 patience were often manifested by persons wishing to 

 get to the all-important window of the postoffice. Rug- 

 ged miners who had not perhaps for a year heard a 

 word from home, and anxious merchants whose fate 

 depended upon their letters and invoices, seeing no 

 hope of approaching the office for hours, would offer 

 liberal sums to buy out some fortunate one in the line. 

 From five to twenty dollars were average prices, but 

 fifty and one hundred dollars were often paid for a 

 good position near the window. The expression of 

 countenance of those paying highest rates when forced 

 to leave the window without a letter, was a study be- 

 yond description. 



