200 TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 63. 1847. From Oak Grove, via Laurel and Elhah, in Dodge county, to Columbus, in Columbia county. Oregon. Oregon. —From Oregon City, via Fort Vancouver and Fort Nesqually, to the mouth of Admiralty Inlet. From Oregon City, up the Willamette Valley, to the Kalamet River, in the direction of San Frisco. When said Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the above routes shall go fggwgpejgjfgu g° into operation on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and forty. ' seven, or sooner, should the funds of the department justify the same: Proviso. Provided, That as soon as a responsible contractor shall offer to transport the mails over any portion of the routes included in this bill, for the revenues arising therefrom respectively, the Postmaster-General shall have the power forthwith to put them under contract. Mails from New Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General ({Q§"“S *0 T"““‘ be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to cause a mail to be P i transported once a week, and oftener, if he shall think the public interest requires it, from New Orleans, via Galveston, Passo Callo, Brasos de St. Iago, to Tampico, with return mails, the service to be performed by contract, or by the use of the public steamers now in the service of the War Department in the Gulf of Mexico, with the consent of the head of that department; and for this service the sum of thirty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated. Letters, &c., Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all letters, newspapers, {gng{’;’gS°l‘§ B; and other packets, not exceeding in weight one ounce, directed to any army in Mexitco officer, musician, or private of the army of the United States in Mex-
- ° be f’°°· ico, or at any post or place on the frontier of the United States,
bordering on Mexico, shall be conveyed in the mail free of postage: Preview Provided, That all letters or other packets directed to any person in the army shall contain, as a part of their direction, the words, " belonging to the army." The two pre- Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the two preceding sections €§‘l*‘;§nti;°;;‘°Q; shall continue in force during the present war, and for three months {Om., during the after the same may be terminated, and no longer. present WM Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General be, Cglggston {mf; and he is hereby, authorized to contract for transporting a mail from Chagygg, and Charleston, South Carolina, to Chagres, touching at St. Augustme K<;g:AI;¤¤¤m=¤ te and Key West, and also at Havana, in the Island of Cuba, if deemed ‘ expedient, and across the isthmus to Panama, and from thence to Astoria, or the mouth of the Columbia River, touching at Monterey, St. Francisco, and such other places on the coast as the Postmaster- General may direct; the mail to be conveyed from Charleston to Chagres, and from Panama to Astoria, in steamships, and to be transported each way once every two months, or oftener, as the public in- Expense not to terest may require z Provided, That the expenditure for said service
·$l°°#°°° shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars per annum.
Pospomcc to Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General b0, be established at and he is hereby, authorized to establish a post-office and appoint a A"‘°““· deputy postmaster at Astoria, and such other places on the coast of the Pacific, within the territory of the United States, as the public interest may require; that all letters conveyed to or from Chagres Rm °fP<>S'¢¤€e· shall be charged with twenty cents postage ; and all letters conveyed to or from Havana shall be subject to twelve and a half cents postage; and letters carried to or from Panama shall pay apostage of thirty cents, and letters to or from Astoria, or any other place on the Pacific coast, Contracts to Wlthlll the territory of the United States, shall pay forty cents p0S¢i1g’f?- pmvidc for the Sec. 8. And.bc zt further enacted, That any contract madé m porches? Op the pursuance of this act shall provide for the purchase, by the United 'teamshlpe cm- States, Of the steumships to be employed in conveying the mail, at its
