Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-04-04
RURAL ROUTE INCREASE
Mail Delivery Service to Be
Doubled This Year.
THE CARRIERS HIGHLY PRAISED
Employees 10 the New Department, They
Contend, Prove TO Be Efficient and
Trustworthy.

lfuSANW wy
Congress appropriated S12.50o,000
for the rural delivery service during
the next fiscal year. beginning July
/, ard the department viii establish
1900 new routes on the money, says
William E. Curtis. the Chicago Rec
ord-Herald's Washington correspond
ent. On the 18th OF March there were
IAO95 routes already In operation, and
by tie ia Of July this number win
be Increased by the natural growth of
the service to 1900 routes. Thus 1t is
expected by the end of the next fiscal
year, which viii be June 30, 1904, to
have 10000 rural carriers in motion,
ard 15,OO0,000 people living outside of
towns and cities viii have their letters
and newspapers delivered daily at
their doors.
The officials of the postoffice depart
ment boast frequently concerning the
character and efficiency of the great
army of carriers employed in the rural
delivery service. who, they contend,
are the true, typical citizens of the
American republic, the backbone Of
the nation and all that sort of thing,
and have exhibited remarkable intel
ligence, capacity and fidelity, perform
ing their duties under the most trying
circumstances, especially during the
present season of the year, when the
weather is cold and stormy, the roads
- -.I AAI DaTrIIrr nnI nf%An
blocked with snowdrifts. The post
office officials declare that the same
class of men could not have been OBJ
tanned in any other country on such
short notice, because the rural delivery
service is a new thing and has spread
over the country with such enormous
rapidity that not more than fifty men
in that branch of the postal depart
ment have had the benefit of the ex-
p~erience of two or three years.
During the last year out of a force of
14,095 carriers only thirty-seven We're
removed, and of this number only six
were guilty of criminal violation of the
postal laws and regulations. The total
separations from the service were less
than one-half of l per cent of the force,
a record which excels that of any 9th
err branch of the postal service. The
city carriers have always stood very
high for honesty and efficiency, and
during the last year only 157 out of a
total of 17.7S5 were removed for cause.
OF these ~forty-eight were removed for
int~oxication and the remainder for VIC
lations of the laws and regulations;
eight resigned from physical disabili-
ties, 231 for other reasons, and the
death roll numbered 1872.
Since the introduction of the classi-
fed system there has been a notable
Improvement in the character and be-
havior of the rural delivery carriers.
In 1S93-94 the removals for
amounted to 4 per cent of the entire
force. The following year they were 3
per cent. In 1S96-97 they dropped to
LOG per cent, and in 1902 they were
only eight-tenths of / per cent, notwith-
standing a large increase in the numer-
ical strength of the force. In 1902 there
were twenty-one less removals from
the service than during 1901, although
HOO green men were added to the
rolls.
From the beginning of the rural de-
livery service the department has had
little trouble in securing suitable car
rfers. although the salary is very small.
All carriers are now selected by com
petitive examination. and the applica-
tons average four for each route. In
n humber of cases more than thirty
publications have been fled. At a spe-
cial examination recently conducted at
Austin. Tex, thirty'two candidates APP
reared. and every one of them passed
with high marks. They all bore certlti-
Gates of good character and answered
all the requirements, hence the board
was embarrassed and could only rec
emmend the appointment of the appli-
cant who received the highest rating
for scholarship.
The rural delivery service, with A.
Oo5 routes. now covers more than 300,-
GOO square miles, or nearly one-third Of
the available territory Of the United
States. 1t win require the employment
of $1,000 carriers in addition to those
nov. in the service to complete the eX-
tension through the entire country, at
an annual rost of about $24. 100000.
LOOKING OVER COAL FIELDS.