The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-12-07

q q eaten by tigers ana Othef
4 On y Wild beasts last year in In
pCR dia while no fewer than
13o inet their deaths through being bit
ten by poisonous snakes. But then,
says pearson's Weekly, India is a large
country, and the ordinary rural carrier
will not take precautions.
lie insists on going barefooted and
bareleggcd in regions known TO be III
tested with venomous reptiles, and he
will calmly lie down for a nap in n
tiger haunted jungle. Nor can he be
induced TO arm himself properly. All
his forcfa;hers carried, when on sim-'
liar errands, was a small spiked stick,
and that Is all the true native postmm
will consent to carry to-day.
There are several postonices in Swift
zerland Mt height Of 1000 or more
feet; and n lcttcrboX on the very sum
init of the Vanguard, from which four
collections are made daily, is nearly
10000 feet above the sea level. Near
here, some few years ago, three letter
carriers were crushed to death by an
avalanche. In an adjacent canton, in
the summer of 1863, postman fell into
u crevasse while crossing a glacier. his
two full bags on his back. All efforts
10 recover either the body or the mails
were fruitlcss: hut thirty -four years af-
terward, in 1897, the glacier cast forth
its prey many miles lower down the
valley, and the long-lost letters were
delivered to as many OF the addresses
as could he traced.
Not infrequently, too, these Alpine
postmen are attacked by the huge,
fierce eagles that soar hungrily above
the less frequcnted passes. Usually
the men are able to beat off their feath-
cred assallants, but not always.
In July, 1890, postman who carried
the mails on foot between the villages
of Sospello and Puget Theniers was IA
tally mauled by three of such birds. OF
two men who attempted to avenge his
death, one was killed outright, and an
other injured so severely that his life
was for long time In danger.
The camel postman of the Sahara
-Hinterland is another letter carrier
who has need of plenty of pluck. The
wild trlbesmcn of the desert look upon
him as their natural prey, so that he
never knows, when he sets out in the
morning, whether he will reach his dcs-
tinatlon at night But he trots his
eighty miles day, and regards stray
shot from lurking "sniper" or an am
bush OF spearmen as part of the ordin-
ary routine incidental to his business
In Japan the rural post runner still
lers precisely as his ancestors did cen
turtles ago. In Formosa also the mails
are carried TO this day by man on
foot, who jogs along with a paper Ian
tern and an umbrella.
Siberia except along the line Of
the new railway, has TO rely on post
sledges; and there are towns, and fair
sized towns, too, where more than two
deliveries a year would be exceptional.
The postmen of the Landes, in south
western France, strike across the waste
on gigantic stills, their feet a fathom
or more above the ground.
In the interior of China, except in n
few districts, there Is no regular letter
delivery, and consequently no post
men. But many of the mandarins and
taotais maintain semi-public services
of their own, and keep their runners
up to the mark by the simple eXpedient
of beheading aggards.-Youth's Com
panion.