The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-11-05
CARROLL COUNTY AHEAD.
An Important POStOffice Experiment to be
Made from WeStminSter-H Successful 1t
VIII be Adopted Throughout the Country.

A few OF The Intimate friends of Mr. Edwin
w. Shriver, of this city, have known for some
months that he was perfecting plans for
"Postoffice on Wheels and that he had sub
mitted the same to the Postofice Department
at Washington. On Tuesday the plan was
accepted and Mr.. Shriver was informed of it,
and the information was given to the various
newspaper correspondents in Washington.
We copy the following from the Baltimore
American Of Wednesday:
To no department of the postofiice work is more
time and attention devoted by the present admin
stration than to the rural delivery First Assistant
Postmaster General Heath is constantly devisng
improvements in the service and he is ably sec
onded by Superintendent of Free Delivery A. w.
Machen.
Today Mr. Machen ordered the trial for xperi-
ment in free rural delivery, which, if it realizes
part of what is claimed for it, will literally
establish postofice on wheels for every country
community contiguous to a country town of mod
crate size.
Mr.. Machen has selected the town of Westminster
| ss the central point of his experiment. He has
closed a contract with Mr.. Edwin W. Shriyer, of
that town. whereby Mr.. Shriver, for $3.50 per an
num- binds himself to make tour daily, except
| Sunday, over circuit of more than thirty miles,
! collecting and delivering letters and mail of every
other kind, issuing and paying out money orders,
registering and delivering regist cred letters-in
word, performing for the farmers in the vicinity OF
Westminster all the functions performed by the
! postmaster at Westminster Mr. Shrlver is to furn
sh a two-horse covered wagon, the necessary as
sistance in the way of driver and postal clerk and
is to establish perambulatory postal service. He
has designed wagon expressly for the service not
unlike the wagons employed i'll some of the larger
cities used for collecting the mail and preparing it
for forwarding route.
MR.. SHRTvER's CIRCUIT.
Mr. Shriver's wagon will leave Westminster at
seven o'clock every morning except Sunday. Be
fore that hour the fast mail from Baltimore and the
East has arrived. The local mails from the West
and the star route mails are also in the office, and
the mail for his route has been sorted out. He
drives first to Frizellburg which is four and a-half
miles from Westminster. Here he delivers all the
mail for that Office and takes up the mail intended
for all the other points on his route including
Westminster His next stopping point is Wake
field five miles Distant then Medford, two and
a-half miles, then Avondale, two and a-falf miles;
then Warfieldsburg, three miles; then smaliwood,
four miles; then Reese, two miles and thence back
to Westminster four miles, making total circuit
of thirtyone and a-half miles This is the circuit
mapped out for the first experimental route. II
it succeeds similar routes will be established all
over the country. Mr. Shrivers wagon has been
DullI MIN DN lIle government II Plofi-
sion of his contract that if the plan proves to be
feasible the government will pay him Il fixed sum
for every wagon it builds for future routes.
1t will require nine or ten hours for Mr.. Shriver
to make his route. He will return to Westminster
every evening in time to catch the mail trains East
and West. There eight postoffices on his route
At every postoffce he will exchange mails. Thus,
at Frizelburg he leaves the mail from Westminster
for that Office and for all the little offices between
those two towns. He takes with him all mail
from Frizellburg and the intermediate points be-
tween it and Westminster intended for other points
on his route and all the railroad mail AS the SER
vice now exists, all matter for the points on the
route are brought first Westminster by the star
routes and the railroads. and then sent out again.
For example, n letter mailed today at Frizellburg
for Smalwood goes back to Westminster, and is to-
morrow delivered at its destination. Under the
new system, Mr.. Shrivers wagon picks up the
etterat Frizellburg and carries it directly to Small
wood delivering it a few hours after it has been
mailed.
FARMERS CAN HAVE BOXES
Matter can be mailed at any point along the route
where person meets the mail wagon. Matter will
be delivered any point along the route where the
person desiring his letters delivered will put up
suitable small box. Every farmer living within a
mile or two of the route can put up box with his
name plainly marked Oh it, and Mr.. Shriver will
drop all mail intended for him in this box. There
will also be made arrangements by which the
wagon will collect all letters left in these boxes.
1t is intended that farmers desiring to adopt this
easy method of receiving or sending mail will pro-
vide Mr. Shrver with duplicate key to their let
ter-box so that he can unlock the box and take
out letters to be forwarded. Villages along the
route that have posofices can thus supply them
selves with daily postal service Farmers living
along the route thus have quick communication
with one another. which is impossible under the
old system. Money orders and registered letters
will be delivered by Mr.. Shriver and he will be ap-
pointed n postal clerk to authorize him to issue
money orders and register letters. If the project
turns out successfully us the department believes
it will every farmer along the route will have
complete daily postal service as the resident of
any city