THE OLD CALIFORNIA MAIL.
Chicago, Ill.
By what route was the first California and Oregon mail, via the Isthmus, carried; where was it first opened; what was the postage on letters: and what was the distance run?
John Albright.
Answer.—On the 1st day of December, 1848, the Falcon sailed from New York to Chagres, stopping at Havana en route, and carrying the first regularly established United States mail via the Isthmus. From Chagres it was carried up the Chagres River, thence overland to Panama, where it was taken by the California Steampacket Company’s vessels to San Francisco, Cal., and Astoria, Oregon. The distance between New York and Chagres, by this route, was given as 2,860 miles, and from New York to Astoria, 7,500 miles. The postage on letters between places in Oregon and California and places on the Atlantic was 40 cents for each half ounce, or fraction thereof; while local postage between offices in Oregon and California was 12½ cents per single letter.
MEASURING HAY.
White Lake, D. T.
How many cubic feet constitute a ton of hay, and what length of time is required for it to settle sufficiently to make measurement correct?
W. A. Rogers.