The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-12

put dlSO dllOWeu III ui 6NhSs N~''N~
 bill of that year an additional appropri-
 ation of $150 900, so that a total of $45o.VoV
 was availabl for the extension ana man :
 tenance of the service. At the end or
 that year 1,z63 rural carriers were ser ".
 ing as many routes. The demand Tor
 rural fee delivey now began 10 assume
 proportions never before equalled in the
 history of our postal service
 The Department made no estimate TOT
 the fiscal year 1901. It felt that figures,
 based upon the constantly increasing de-
 mands of the people and of Congress Tor
 the speedy establishment of routes mlght
 appall those who had in charge the
 preparation of the postal appropriation
 bill. The Postmaster General preferred
 to leave the matter entirely in the han1s
 of Congress. It was left in generous
 hands. The amount used during the pre- ceding year was almost quadrupied Tor
 the appropriation for 1901, was fixed at $1, ,750, GOO During that year the numoer of routes was raised to 4,3Ol.
 For the year ending June 50, lSUz the Postmaster General requested an appro- priation of $3,5Oo,o00, which was promptly granted by Congress. In fact II u hao | not been for the firm position, taken ry | Postmaster General Smith against Con- | gress giving the Department more money
 than he believed could be sproperly used | to advantage, the appropriation would 1 have been $5,OOO,o 900.
 | At the close of the last fiscal year | 8,600 routes were in operation, showing an increase of 100 per cent. In tWelVe | months. Congress, in it's last session, was | especially generous to the service, and an appropriation of S,0OO,oOO was set | aside for the salary of carriers alone | the aggregate appropriations on account of the rural free delivery service reach- | ing almost $S.0Q0,0O0. ....
 | Notwithstanding the phenomenal in- | crease from year to year in the amounts | provided by Congress for the extension l and maintenance of rural Tree QelVeIy' | Nr,fI fEa | service as promptly and as rapidly as the l people have demanded 1t. Up 10 August l 15 over 5000 petitions for the service nau l been received, and on the same date 2
 total of 10,1A routes had been estaDltsheu tsn tt | leaving more than 12,000 petitions still tC | be examineSi 1 estimate that at the enc | of the current year 15,OO0 rural carriers | serving as many routes, will be aeilverIns
 mail to 9O0O.0OO of our rural inhabltants | Now that we have some idea or the | rapid growth of this very popular seTVlce
 I will undertake to show what rural free l delivery does for the people-What It re- ally is. ,,. |. | was thought that the system would be | confined principally to the mere delivery 1 and collection of ordinary mall ana al first the duties of rural carriers were nm | ited to that work. As the service pro- | gressad and its possibilities became more | apparent, the department was qulck to | adopt any method or extend any facility l that promised to make the service com
 plete public convenience. The nrst iot aa- | dition was the delivery of registered le.' l ters This was soon followed by an or der authorizing rural carriers to register l letters on route, giving, receipts TOT the same, which insure patrons as much SC, curity as if the letters were leSiSt0i'" | in a postoftice.
 The introduction of the service also | stimulated the use of the special dellV- cry stamp and a largely increased mum, | lat a | to residents of rural communities. To | make this system as effective as possi- | ble. the department requires rural car | riers to deliver special delivery letters to | the houses of the patrons, ordinary mall | being delivered in boxes which patrons | are required to erect along the route.
 | About two years ago, provision was | made for the extension of the money | order service to rural routes Rural ca ca = | of receipt, which they give to patron | for money for the purchase of a money order When it Is explained that the | first year 175,0O0 money orders were lssuel | to about 2,000 rural carriers for patrons ! on their routes and during the second | year soc, ,000 one can easily see now | quickly the people take advantage of the l facilities extended to them. One by one l the facilities of the ''ostoffice were add | cd to the rural service, until today the rural carrier may be looked upon as a | Veritable travelling postmaster, SeillnG | stamps and stamped envelopes, register | ing letters en route, receiving money for
 money orders. and in many instances
 paying money orders at the farm gate
 The Department does not limit the good | work to be done by rural free delivery | It takes up the work of other depart | ments as we'll The Weather Bureau | finds the service a valuable medium for | the distribution of weather forecasts. The carrier becomes a sort of tray | cling signal station. At many offices
 where the proper information can be ob-