The Arizona sentinel., 1902-03-05

separated It 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 isi 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 Ill this there is going on through the mail service a tisseniina- ton of human knowledge, a 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 c-aved by many who are shut ill to the homely duties of humble life Without the mail system this plan of education would be irnpracticable.
 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 for 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. Y., some light was thrown on this subject by the statement that the mail by Dr. R V. Pierce amounted daily to something over I,5oo pieces Of course this is not common case, be- cause Dr. Pierce's relation as chief con sulting physician 10 Buffalo's famous institution, The Invalids' Hotel ard SuE- gical Institute, makes his advice and that of his staff of nearly a 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, 1t may serve as an evidence of the amazing benefits reaped by the pub lie from the mail service. It puts every outlying hamlet in touch with the most advanced medical specialism of the day Ii gives at a cost of two-cent stamp, the skill and experience that it has taken years to acquire. Literally at the cost of a two-ccnt stamp, since Dr. Pierce invites sick women to consult him by letter without charge. And this would seem to be one of the most remarkable services rendered by the postal system. perhaps the supreme service of all. For while it is splendid thing to be able to shop in New York while living in Kan. sas, and q grand thing to be able to command the learning of great pro fessors while working in the Michigan woods, it is still grander thing that by means of this cheaply supplied service. men like Dr. Pierce. who have the dis position to be helpful, are enabled to place their skill and knowledge at the disposal of those who are being dragged down by disease, without the possibility of help from those about them.r When one contemplates the vast and far reach ing benefits of the mail service, so briefly touched upon in this article. it makes the familiar gray uniform of the postinan the most glorious of all uniforms. for it is worn by the soldiers of the army of peace. It makes one feel like taking his hat off to the on-rushing mail train, and cheer ing the work and wisdom of Uncle Sam.