The age-herald., 1902-05-15
Say the New Free Delivery is Unsatisfactory, and Want AvondaIe Made a Full Sta ton.
Postmaster Hughes Says the New System is Working as Well as Could be Ex- pected.

Several citizens of Avondale in cards to l The Age-Herad make complaint of the new postal free delivery in that suburb, claiming that it is inefficient and that the system is not as satisfactory as before | the change was made. Postm aster James W. Hughes, to whom the statements were shown, declined to discuss these particu- lar complaints on the ground that they l should have been made to him, but in speaking generally of the new free deliy- cry system, says that It is working well, that he has only had two complaints from Avondale, and none from Elyton, West End or Woodlawn, the other three suburbs besides Avondale, which are in- eluded in the extension of the free de- livery.
 Mayor Starbuck's Statement. w R. Starbuck, mayor of Avondale makes the following statement: The present mail service in Avondale is far from satisfactory. Inside the city limits. which contain about one square mile, there are 40O0 people. and there are 25Oo imm ediately outside of the limits. large number of the latter now have no mail facilities outside of the general delivery in the Birmingham postoffice.
 Before the present regime we had three mails a day each way to the Birmingham postoffice. Now it Is impossible to send mail the same day it is written except by special messenger to the Birmingham postoffice. We want as good service as we had before and this can only be done bv making Ayondale full station under the present system.
 w. s. Meroney's Statement.
 w. S. Meroney, deputy clerk of the Criminal Court, writes:
 We are not pleased with the change. Our service before the inauguration Of free delivery was very fine. We had three malls daily with prompt and &C., curate service. In the shuffle this service has disappeared entirely. What we get now is not of the kind to keep us in congenial frame of mind. I have a letter addressed to my street address. It was received in the Birmingham postoffice May 8, s D. m., and was delivered on May 10 at 1O:15 a. m., about thirty eight hours in travelling less than two miles. The peo- pie who live just outside of the corporate limits of Avondale have to go to Br- mingham to get their mail unless they happen to be on rural delivery route, and a large part of them are not near any rural route. l can see no reasonable excuse that can be offered for not giving us better service to start with. The citi- zens have compiled with instructions in regard to numbering houses etc. If we cannot have our postoffice back give us A full sub-station. It is right and just and we demand it.
 John R. Elard's Statement. John R. Ellard of the firm of Price & Ellard writes:
 For the past thirteen days we have ex- perienced the Greater Birmingham rural free delivery" in lieu of a first-class post office service. The people are not at all pleased with the present system and get but two deliveries day. as the carriers are only allowed to work eight hours day and owing to the distance from the Birmingham postoffice, the great area to be covered and the small number of car riers, it Is impossible for them to give the desired service, though believe they are doing the best they can The mistake was, I think, in making Avondale sub station; and the only way 1t can be rem edied Is to make Avondale full station and let the mails arrive and depart and be delivered from this office, as they did under MT. Hawlins' administration as postmaster. The volume of mail will jus tify a full station. I hear complaints on every hand that q used to get mail, but don't get any now"
 Postmaster Hughes Explains.
 Postmaster Hughes when shown the foregoing statements said:
 "I have nothing to say as to these par ticular complaints, which I think should have been made direct to me. So far as I can recollect I have had no complaints from Elyton, West End and Woodlawn and but two from Avondale. One of these was about a letter from Meridian, Miss, which I answered satisfactorily and the other was complaint where some mail had been put in the Avondale postoffice on the night of April 30 with one-cent stamp on 1t without either street number or address. I cannot understand why these persons should not make complaint in the regular channels so that errors, If any, could be corrected,
 "I will be exceedingly obliged to every citizen of Avondale if they will notify me of each and every error where they think they have cause for complaint but in making these complaints I urge that they invariably send the envelopes in which the letter was mailed as by that means I will be able to see what depart ment is responsible for the error.
 No Addresses Given.
 q have received less than one dozen mo- tices of addresses from the entire town of Avondale and what we have were ob- tained by the carriers It is impossible for the postoffice force to know the ad- dresses without they are furnished the office, or the mail is directed to street and number. The service has not been in operation yet sufficiently long to be- come perfected, but when 1t has, I think