Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-09

class post office is unfortunately in too
many cases the only contact that the
farmer has with the government. With an
emissary Of the Post Office Department
calling on him daily for the purpose Of
bringing him the latest news of the world,
OF the markets and from his friends, this
feeling will inevitably die out. The farmer
will realize that 1t is good thing to have
some one bring him his mail every day and
save him trip to the post Office on the
morrow to mail his letters.
Spread of Good Literature.
again. there Is the bigger and the
broader aspect of thorough system Of
rural free delvery-the effect upon the peo-
pie who dwell in rural districts and upon
the nation at large Of the increased dissem-
nation of good literature and the oppor-
tunity for receiving and reading the daily
newspaper. In the long days and evenings
of winter the residents of our rural dis
tricts have time and opportunity for whole
some reading and study that the people
who dwell in cities are either too busy or
are unwilling to take. The thousand
amusements. pleasures, duties and obliga-
tons which fall to the lot of the city man
do not distract his attention. With the
facts presented to him on the great public
questions, which are coming up in increas-
ing numbers as the years go by, through
the medium of his daily paper and through
the magazines and other publications he
has chance to think and to develop the
tues which are necessary to keep America
at the forefront of the nations of the
world in all those things which go to make
a nation truly great"
The idea Of rural free delivery Is by no
means new in this country. 1t was pro-
posed and condemned in the Fffty-third
Congress as a scheme impossible of exc
cution. Later, in 1894, Postmaster General
BlSSell failed to make use of an appropH-
alton of ten thousand dollars made to test
the feasibility of the scheme on the ground
that the proposed plan Of rural free deliv
cry, II adopted, would result in an addi-
tional cost to the people OF $2O,O00,0OO the
first year"
1t was not until 1896 that Postmaster
General William L. Wilson placed on its
feet an infant rural free delivery system
provided for by a $4,000 appropriation
from Congress. He established some forty
four widely divergent routes in twenty-nine
different states. This was the beginning
from which the present extensive system
of experiments has grown.
The Idea Grows.
AS might have been anticipated from anv
experiment of this nature many of the
routes proved useless to their patrons as
well as financial failures. Others. however
succeeded from the very start, and bv the
beginning of the present administration If
had been pretty clearly demonstrated to
students of the subject that a systern Of
rural Tree delivery judciously inaugurated
, .outu pe MADE less expensive and more
nearly self-sustaining than urban free de-
!Nery IN the smaller cities Mr. Heath
LouAd available an approximation of $40 NM
LOT the continuation of these experin1ants
q s stiss we're Almost Immediately of such
d satisfactory nature that Congress annrn-
Prlated FOR the fiscal year 1s97-9s s15d o0n
LOT rural Tree delivery. For the rurrent
i7 90 year the appropriation was doubled
~ idrte the popularity of the free delivery
system has increased by leans and ho'ndss
by the lst of October, four months aftar
tte last named appropriation became a,-afI
apie, the popular demand for the establish
hieht OF new outes was such that il had
peen entirely appropriated Rv tba 1st ae
november Ss3 separate services were in
operation and the requests for new So
ices, Whlch multiply like an endless chain
every route established e ioi
AT present Idaho, Montana ATissfss,,,;
ana wyoming are the only states of r..
SLio5i IN winch at least one satisfactory
Iree delivery route has not been estahlishnS
II Is noteworthy that complaints concarn;,,
the establishment of the routes come fror1
none or their patrons, while reouests for.
NV routes are pouring in from all sides
me NUMBER OF routes established has not
peen proporuoned to the population of the
various states, but has followed the re
quests TOT extension of the system. Thus
Rhode Island has five routes in succeSsf-,I
operation and Texas has two. sonfh g..
DINA has twenty-one routes in oneretion
ana Ohio has forty-nine as against fif.een
tor pennsylvania and twenty for New York
Under requirements Of the Post Once ~
partment no routes are now estahTsLa
where the roads are in other than nassabIe
conditions at all seasons of the wear Tbis
Is necessary because in most instances the
daiiy route exceeds in length tWenfv-hye
miles. 1t Is further required that NOT les
IMAM one hundred families be within easy
reach or the route.
Two Girl Mail Carriers.
Inc rural carriers are under the suner
vision OF the second. third or fourth-class
postmaster from whose office thew e+ort
daily. The pay Of the rural carrier 10 hv
no means large. He receives 500 per an,
mum and ts required to furnish himseIf ont
OF this with horse and a vehicle DC VII
II one Is required. While the remunerattn,,
for this hard and sometimes dana
work is not great no difficulty has been OK
perlenced on the part of the post office de-
partment in obtaining efficient and faithenI
carriers. In two instances girls have nua1i.
ned for this arduous position and n 10 sto+
ed that they are as faithful and unfiaggtng
In the performance of their duties al &c
devoted to the service as the men.
AS an additional accommodation to res,-
dents along the route carriers are allowod
TO deliver orders at the stores In town and
to bring out and deliver small ma rceIs md
four pounds weight For this work q reas
enable sum is charged by the carrier and
small additional source of revenue is thug
aHorded MIN. Carriers are also allowed to
stamp has been placed. 1t has been s,g
gested that the government ALLOW the car
riers to act in the capacity as we'll of local
road inspectors. For this they would ra-
oeive additional compensation from local
sources for a duty which would not inter-
fere with their daily routine
The method of rural delivery Of ,nails
by carriers is simple in the extreme The
carrier starts after morning mail has been
opened. The majority of his letters are ed-
dressed to the post Office and an additiona,
marking designated Rural Route No. -"
aids him in asserting his mail from that
which will be called for at the post office or
which belongs toaother carriers.
Along this route and at convenient inter-
walls are placed the improvfsed mali boxes
of the patrons. In some instances these
boxes are much more picturesoue than
suitable, but it is expected that the govern
ment will shortly adopt a standard TYNE
Of box. From this wayside post office The
carrier collects any letters that have hean
deposited. and in it places the mail for the
owner. Then blowing his whistle or horn
to attract the attention of his patron he
drives briskly on. As a rule, the rural de-
livery route is laid out so that the carrier
finds himself within few miles of home
when his last letters have been delivered
in the later afternoon or early evening As
yet but one delivery day is ATTEMPTED nv