Evening star., 1898-12-21

GUS. NOlluellul II IS, 100, III us Ie-
suits. 1t knits together families wide
ly separated. 1t carries across the
sea some tender lovers message or
perhaps little flower picked from
the daisied grave OF an English
churchyard. Every hour of every
day the commonplace mail bag is
packed with the secrets of life, words
which waken love and laughter, and
words which deepen the furrow in
the cheek and dim the falling sight
with bitter tears.
But with all this there is going on
through the mail service dissemina-
ton of human knowledge, reaching
out OF human help which is one OF
the crowning blessings of our cen
tury. The correspondence schools
led by Chautauqua, are sending to
every village and hamlet the broader
knowledge which is so eagerly
craved by many who are shut in to
the homely duties of humble life.
Without the mail system this plan
OF education would be utterly non
existent
Every mail, too, carries from the
great centers the advice of great ply
slcians, which it would be impossible
for the distant public to obtain were
IS not for the mails. Few people real
ize how many thousand people de-
pend on the mail service for medical
treatment. Not long ago when some
postal affairs were being discussed in
connection with the erection of the
new post office building in Buffalo,
\. Y, some light was thrown on this
subject by the statement that the mail
by DIR. r. V. Pierce amounted daily
10 something over 1900 pieces. OF
course this is not d common case, be-
cause DIR. Pierce's relation as chief
consulting physician to Buffalo's ia
nous institution, The Invalids' Ho-
tel and Surgical Institute, makes his
advice and that OF his staff OF nearly
score OF skilled and experienced
specialists much sought after, espe-
Clally by women, to the treatment
and cure OF whose special diseases
DIR, Pierce has devoted over thirty
years of almost constant labor. But
though this example is out OF the Or
! dnary, it may serve as an evidence
OF the amazing benefits reaped by the
| public from the mail service. 1t puts
every outlying hamlet in touch with
the most advanced medical special
ism OF the day. 1t gives at the cost
OF two-cent stamp, the skill and eX-
perience that it has taken years to &C
quire Literally at the cost of two
cent stamp, since Dr. Pierce invites
sick women to consult him by letter
without charge And this would
seem to be one of the most remark
able services rendered by the postal
system, perhaps the supreme service
OF all. For while it is a splendid
thing to be able to shop in New York
while living in Kansas, and a grand
thing to be able to command the
learning OF great professors while
working in the Michigan woods, i,
is still grander thing that by means
of this cheaply supplied service men
like DR., Pierce, who have the dispo-
sition to be helpful, are enabled to
place their skill and knowledge at the
disposal of those who are being
dragged down by disease, without
the possibility of help from those
about them. When one contem-
plates the vast and far-reaching bene-
fits of the mail service. so briefly
touched upon in this article, it makes
the familiar gray uniform of the post
man the most glorious of all uni
forms, for it is worn bv the soldiers
OF the army OF peace. 1t makes one
feel like taking his hat off to the on
rushing mail train, and cheering the
work and wisdom of Uncle Sam.
1