The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1901-02-14

separated. II carries across the sea
some tender lovers message or perhaps
a little flower picked from the daisied
grave of an English churchyard. Every
hour of every day the mail bag is packed
with words which waken love and laugh
ter, and words which deepen the furrow
in the cheek and dim the failing sight
with bitter tears.
But with all this there is going on
through the mail service a dissemina-
ton of human knowledge, reaching
out of human help which is one OF the
crowning blessings of our century. The
correspondence schools led by Chautau-
qua, 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 impracticable.
Every mail, too, carries from the great
centers, the advice of great physicians,
which it would be impossible for the
| distant public to obtain were it not Tor
| the mails. Few people realize how
many thousand people depend 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 postofice building
| in Buffalo, n. ", some light was thrown
on this subject by the statement that
the mail by DIR. r V. Pierce amounted
daily to something over 1900 pieces.
| of course this is not a common case, be-
cause DIR. Pierce's relation as chief con-
sulting physician to Buffalo's famous
institution, The Invalids' Hotel and Sur
pical Institute, makes his advice and
that of his staff of nearly score OF
! skilled and experienced specialists much
sought after, especially by women, to
the treatment and cure of whose special
diseases DR.. Pierce has devoted over
thirty years of almost constant labor
But though this example is out OF the
ordinary, it may serve as an evidence o.
the amazing benefits reaped by the pub
lie from the mail service. 1t puts every
OUTLYING hamlet in touch with the mos
advanced medical specialism of the day
} 1t gives at a cost of two-cent stamp
the skill and experience that 1t has takei
wears to acquire. Literally at the cos
of two-cent stamp, since Dr. Plerc'
, invites sick women to consult him o,
letter without charge. And this woult
seem to be one of the most remarkably
l. services rendered by the postal system
j. perhaps the supreme service OF all. 10
while 1t is splenCiiu tnlhS 10 oe aore
! shop in New York while living IN Kan
n sas, and grand thing to be aole L
command the learning of great pre-
fessors while working in the Michiga
woods, it is a still grander thing that b
means of this cheaply supplied service
men like DIR. Pierce, who have the di'
position to be helpful, are enabled
place their skill and knowledge, at tn
disposal of those who are being dragge
down by disease, without the possibliit
one contemplates the vast and far reacl
inc benefits of the mail service, so brief
to11ched 1 upon in this article, it max
the familiar gray uniform of the postma
the most glorious of all uniforms, for it
worn by the soldiers of the army OF peac
II makes one feel like taking his hat
to the on-rushing mail train, and chez
ing the work and wisdom OF Uncle Sai