Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1899-07-06
POSTOFFICE ON WHEELS.
NEW SYSTEM OF DELIVERY FOR
RURAL DISTRICTS.
Trial Wagon Covered Area Of Twenty
square Miles, Delivering tn Three
Hundred Families and Is
Decided Success.

The postal wagon has been intro
duced for the first time in the system
of rural mail free delivery for Carroll
county. which has been inaugurated
by the poStoflice department. The ex-
pertinent was eminently successful,
says the Baltimore sun.
The mail taken out by wagon for de-
livery was large, there We're 23S ordi-
nary letters, six postal cards, 26l
newspapers and circulars and five
packages. The wagon collected thir-
ty-siX .ctters, four postal cards and
two registry receipts, received one ap-
plication for money order, two regis
tered letters and collected and deliv-
ered three letters along its rodte.
To-day'S work does not indicate the
volume of business that will be done,
as many persons did not know the full
extent of the experiment. Then, too,
there is opposition TO the new system
by some of the country postmasters,
who look with disfavor upon the
scheme. This arises from the fact
that if the experiment is IA success and
the government adopts ii throughout
the United States, thousands of coun-
try postohices will be abolished. The
trends of each postmaster will also
naturally patroniZe him. The new
system will also cause the star route
system TO be gradually abolished. Sew
eral sections of star routes were COW
In IN N
county arriving ahead of the regular
carrier
The plan will give to rural residents
throughout the United States the same
coGveniences rs TO collections and de-
llveres Of mail as city residents enjoy.
The iCea of such a service originated
with Edwin w. Shriver OF Westmin-
ster. who submitted plans and esti-
mates TO the government, with a de-
Sign az the wagon to be used, known
as the 'tra, cling postoffice" or post
Office On wheels"
The selection of Carroll county was
mad, FIRST, because it was the home
of the originator of the scheme, and
sec, nj, for tie more practical reason
thai the physical formation of Carroll
cuunty is such that if the experiment
proved successful here, taking into
consideration its hilly and rolling
country, It's population. etc., ii would
prove successful in any county or state
of the union,
The route was as follows: West
minister 10 Warfeldsburg, four miles;
to EGiic. two and one-half miles; to
Denpinga, two and one-half miles; to
I.ong. one and one-half miles; to Craw-
ford'S store. Two miles; to Taylorsville,
one mile TO Winfield, two miles; to
Gist, five miles; to Klee's mill, one
mile: to Birds hill. two miles; to
Smallwood. two miles; TO Fenby, two
miles; TO Westminster. two and one
half miles, making a total round trip
Oh thirty miles.
This route takes in about 800 famil-
les, covering territory of twenty
square miles. seven miles broad at it's
widest point. The wagon received an
ovation at number of places, notably
wehcre large crowds were congrega-
at Crawford's store and at Winfield,
where large crowds were congrega-
The people everywhere showed great
interest in the experiment. In some
places along the route private mail
boxes had already been erected, with
the owners names stamped on them
in large letters. The wagon travelled
over an earth road the entire distance.
More than half the trip was covered
by IL o'clock. when the wagon reach
ed Gist pOstotfice. Here the party
rested for an hour, the guests os Fran
els j. Albaugh, where they took din
ner. Westminster was reached at $3.50
p. m. nearly two hours ahead Of
schedule time.
The postal wagon is a well-built COW
cred conveyance, with side doors, fit
ted up inside with facilities for handl-
ing and distributing mails and doing
all the work of a well-equipped little
postoflice. The postal clerk inside the
vehicle may do his work while riding
along quite as comfortably as one in q
| postal car on railroad.