Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1901-01-02
fsssI asaI!I DslIyssy,

proved mail $t8cll tics for rural C0iiiss
ll lmllu,nities. Pen pears ago ws began
TO call for the extension of the ned
delivery System TO the farming ooln-l
mpnity The benefits viii not beI
fully 9Su resognized until they ags lex-2 s, &
perienced, but enough has BEEN done
to demonstrate the value of the ava
TEN In his report the r Postmasterj
General says
3ssNVe are now carrying the post
office to the door OF i81 900, coo soffl 81
people massed lin towns and oities.
The task before us lis the more com.
plicated work Of carrying the post
office TO the door Of about q !, 900, 900.
scattered overS1 600, 600 square miles,
ofiterritory. It's magnitude III not toy
be under-estimated England, France
and Germany make rural free deliv-S
cry, their postmen going on foot.
But England contains 60,867a square
miles, France 204,092 and Germany
2O8,88O. We are already covering
with rural delivery a larger area than
England, 'all effected within the past.
two years. BY the end of the orr
rent fiscal year we shall reach one
sixth of the 81, 100000 to be served.
What has already been substantially
accomplished is certainly capable Of
six-fold expansion.
aOn July |, 1899, there were 891
rural delivery routes in operation.
Within the fiscal yaar, under an
appropriation of $45O,OO0, this num-
Der was increased to 1914. OnJuly
l, 1900, the appropriation Of 81, ,75O,-
600 became available, and on Novem-
Der 15 2,614 routes had been located
and established, 81, ,979 miles in aggre-
gate length, covering 66,842 square
miles, divided among A States and
Territories, and serving a population
of 1,801,524. The number of appli-
cations pending at that date and
awaiting action or under investiga.
tion was more than 2,100-- nearly
enough to double the existing service
and every day brings more. The
close of the present fiscal year will
see about 4,8O0routes in operation,
carrying the mail dali = to the doors
of not less than 3,500,O0O residents
of the rural districts.
"The actual results where the ex-
pertinent has been tried are emil
nently encouraging. Perhaps the
most interesting and instructive Of
all the tests thus far made is that
which was applied to Carroll county,
Md. Instead Of a fragmentary UNDER
taking, it was determined to extend
a complete service, covering the
entire county, and accompanied by
all the measures Of retrenchment, on
the one hand, and of full facilities on
the other, which would give a fair
illustration of what was practicable.
Carroll county covers 458 square
miles. The experiment began by the
discontinuance of 68 of the 94fourth-
class postofiioes in the territory and
Of 88 star routes, and by the substitu-
tion of a free delivery service with four
complete postal wagons and 20 rural
letter carriers in their own convey I,
ances. So radical an innovation, natui.
ally at the outset, excited some antag-
onism. But the service proved SO sat
isfactory and the advantages of uni
versal delivery were SO great that the
opposition speedily subsidized, and
there is now an undivided sentiment
of cordial approval and support"
1t is years now since this subject
was first agitated., Now the Post
master General says, and says truly,
cit cannot be abandoned when it has
been once established, and it cannot
be maintained without being ex-
tended" s.
Free rural delivery in the begin
ming met with the same opposition
aroused when cheap letter postage
was proposed, but the very argu.
ments against it were a confession of
its justice and necessity, and already,
it has yindicated itself.
There is no reason why dwellers In
cities should have free deliveries four
times day within half an9hour's
walk of the postoffice, whereas farm
ers and dwellers in the country,
denied free delivery, have to give a
day or a half a day to getting their
mail from the office. Home and
Farm. IA
Many persons have had the experience
OF Mr.. Peter sherman, of North STRAIT
ford, N. H., who says, "For years Istif-
fered torture from chronic Indigestion.
but Kodol Dyspepsia Cure made a we'll
man OF mo-" 1T digests what you eat
and Is q certain cure for dyspepsia and
every form Of stomach trouble. It gives
relief at once even in the worst cases.
and can't help but do yOti of,nd saSSS lt IiR'