The Somerset reporter., 1903-12-10
Our Washington Letter.

Free Delivery In skowhegan. BEGINNING
of Session. Improvement of Kennebec
River.
special to the Somerset Reporter
Washington, ID. {, Dec. 7 In the
course of d few mouths, Skowhegan will
probably have free delivery of mail.
fon tn Assistant Postmaster General
Bristow has the matter under considera-
ton and today assured Representative
Burleigh that he expected TO issue an
order for establishing free delivery at
an early day. The earliest date possible
for ils establishment is probably March
l The gross receipts of the Skowhe-
gan office now exceed the required sum
OF $4,000 annually r Brlstow wants
To be certain that this condition is likely
to be permanent. 1t usually takes sew
eral weeks to establish free delivery.
The Department requires that resi-
dences be numbered and then there
must be civil service examinations for
clerks and letter carriers, the establish
ment of letter boxes and other equip
ment. 1t is usual to name a civil ser
vice examining board for every free
delivery office, these examiners to con.
duct the examinations of those who
wish the places that are created. An
eligible list is made by these examina
tions and those passing most acceptably
are appointed. The government is gen
erous in putting in free delivery of mail.
although the establishment of the ser
vice means a considerable decrease in
the net revenue to the government.
Several Maine towns and cities within
the last few months have qualified for
the free delivery of mail, among them
Camden and Rumford Falls.
The beginning of the regular session
of Congress Monday was welcomed by
the Maine members of both houses.
There has been quite wait for all of
them during the last two weeks of the
extra session, when practically no pub
lie business was transacted The meet
ings of Senate and House at intervals of
three days were only of formal charac
ter and little was done except The intro
ductiOn of bills which could have been
quite as we'll introduced this week or
next week. 1t has given the Maine men
however chance to catch up with &C.
cnmulated correspondence. Represen
tatives Allen, of the first district and
Burleigh of the third district have been
in town all the time with their families
and both spent Thanksgiving here.
Quite share of Congressman Bur
leigh's time, the last week before the
assembling of the regular session, was
put in at the mammoth brick building
ON Judiciary Square where the pension
office is located. He has on his books
the names of over fifty Maine veterans
of the Civil war, who have pension
cases at the bureau, awaiting the final
decision of the authorities. There are
long delays usually in having these
claims for pensions or for increased al
lowances adjusted. A Congressman,
who scans the papers carefully, is often
able to suggest to his constituents how
their claims can be expedited. That is
the work Gov. Burleigh has been doing
for several days He had big batch of
letters from these veteran constituents
and with their individual statement of
the cases at hand was able to make sug-
gestious in most of the cases which are
calculated to hasten the day when the
claimants will be put on the rolls for
increased pensions.
Representatives Burleigh and Little
field have been taking initial steps here
towards securing extensive improve.
ments to the Kennebdc river between
Augusta and Bath, which it is hoped
will prove more or less beneficial in the
future TO all traffic up and down the
Kennebec valley. There are five shoal
places in the river, which should be
deepened. The two Congressman took
trip down the river last autumn, dur
ing which they gathered considerable
information to be presented to authori-
ties in Congress and at the Var Depart
ment, as work of that character is largely
under the surveillance of army engineers.