Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-07-31
MAY ESTABLISH ROUTES.
Postmaster Johnson Has Received Te1e
gram Stating Rortes Are Held for
Rcinvcstigation.


gram Stating Rortes Are Held for
Reinvcstigation.
/ Postmaster Johnson received {
telegram, last Monday, that give.
a little encouragement to ihose
who still hope that Corvallis free
rural delivery routes, numbers Z
and 3, may yet be established.
The telegram, "Held not sufi
cient number of houses" re.
ceived from the fourth assistant
postmaster general. July 2Ist,
came as a great surprise to pa
irons of the proposed routes
who were given assurance that
the service would be established
August Ist. 1t was believed by
many that some mistake had
been made, and that the depart
ment would redeem its promise.
Support was given to this view,
Monday, when Postmaster John
son received the following dis
patch: "Rural routes two and
three held for reinvestigation. !"
MI. Johnson has not ceased
his efforts to have the service es-
tablished. In a letter to the
head of the Rural Free Delivery
Division, written this week, he
said:
l am at a loss to understand
the action of the Department in
this matter. These routes were
regularly inspected by special
agent OF the Department in Feb
ruary last, the petition for same
having been on file since the first
of last August. The favorable
report on these routes by the
special agent was later approved
by the Department and on the
9TH of May last I was Informed
by the then acting General Su-
perintendent of the Rural Free
Delivery Division that service on
these routes had been assigned for
establishment August Ist, next.
About the same time similar in
formation was furnished by the
Department to Senators Mitchell
and Fulton of Oregon, and
through them and myself found
its way to the public.
Since that time patrons along
the proposed routes have quite
generally purchased boxes, many
of which are erected along the
roadside, relying upon the repre-
sentations SO made by the De-
partment as above.
The Department having once
ordered these routes and set a def
mite time for the commencement
of service, and having caused
the patrons of the proposed
routes to expect the service and
to prepare themselves for it,
every requirement of justice and
good faith would dictate that the
routes should be established un-
less the order establishing the
routes were procured by the mis-
representations of the petitioners
as to material facts, or at least
unless facts not known at the
time of the order of establish
ment have since come to light
rendering the establishment in
The grounds upon
which the routes are now held
up, namely, an insufficient num-
Der of houses, were as plainly ap-
parent at the time the order was
made as they are now, and for
this reason do not in my opinion
a sufficient reason for
delaying the establishment of
these routes.
AS matter of fact there are a
number of families whose resi-
dences were not visible from the
road and were consequently not
by the inspector, which
would nevertheless receive and
take advantage of this service on
route No. 2. Furthermore the
community is growing one and
with its natural increase OF pop
ulation will very soon not be sub.
ject to the objection of INSULT
cient number of families.
Trusting that you may see
your way clear to establish this
service without further delay, I
am VorrS tr111v.