Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1905-06-27
Is LARGEST DISTRICT
CHICAGO MAIL DELIVERY SERy-
ICE AHEAD OF ALL.
Has 1871 Mail Carriers Who Make
; Free Deliveries in 1919 Square
Miles Of Territory-Is Sec
ond in Receipts.

"NuA6tou, ". C.-CnlCaSO is Tue
largest free delivery district in the
United States. Its 1.571 letter carriers
cover 1872 square miles every day, and
deliver more mail from the Chicago
post office and its branches than is de-
uvered in any other city. except New
York city.
Illinois ranks fifth among the states
in the number Of post Offices having
free delivery service, 66 towns in the
state having over 10000 inhabitants,
with $4,000 gross postal receipts, and
having their streets paved and houses
numbered. This equals the total num-
Der In the United States 80 years ago.
These facts are brought out in an in
teersting report complied by the SUI
perintendeut OF city free delivery.
Taking the service by states, New
York heads the list with 100 free de-
livery post Offices. Pennsylvania
comes next with 81, then Ohio with
70. Massachusetts with 10, Illinois
with 66. Indiana with So, New Jersey
with 65, Michigan with So. and Iowa
with As. The total number Of city
free delivery olnces on January 1,
1905, was 1.104. Bearing in mind what
are the requirements Of free delivery.
this indicates how great has been the
development OF the country since the
service started in 1864, when there
were only 66 cities complying with the
conditions.
New York with Brooklyn combined
has 1872 square miles Of territory,
served by 1884 carriers, an increase
of 128 since January. 1904. Philadel-
phia has exactly the same area as New
York and Brooklyn, but has fewer car
riers, 1,147, an increase OF 40 during
the past year. Boston has IS square
miles and 957 carriers, an increase Of
80. Cincinnati has IS square miles
and 30l carriers, a very slight I'M
crease.
Baltimore has not increased its car
rier service, probably on account OF
the fire. It has 357 carriers, covering
an area of IS square miles. Washing
ton. or the District of Columbia. once
known as "the city of magnificent dis
tances," still has 40 square miles Of
territory. served by 259 carriers. This
Is only four square miles less than
New Orleans, which city gets along
with only 125 carriers. 1t has great
er area than Indianapolis, which has
81 square miles and lit carriers, and
greater than Minneapolis, IS square
miles, 1876 carriers, than ST. Paul. 43
square miles, 143 carriers, or than
Buffalo. AZ square miles, 246 carriers.
Wichita. Kan, has almost freak
service of 40 square miles and only
! % carriers. but it's postal receipts
measure up we'll, amounting to $110,-
306. making the percentage Of cost OF
free delivery 1894.
Pennsylvania, the birthplace of our
postal system, has the distinction of
having the two costliest free de-
| livery of1ces-Nanticoke, with four
carriers. whose pay amounts to 55.18
per cent. Of, the gross receipts, and
Plymouth, with six carriers, costing
64.13 per cent. of the gross receipts.
Each Of these cities acquired the free
delivery service by reason Of a popu-
lation, according to the last census, Of
10000 or upward. The gross postal re-
ceipts in both cases fall far below the
| $4,000 mark.
Michigan has both the cheapest and
one of the costliest services, Marshall
costing BAL per cent. and Calumet
costing 40 per cent Camden and Au-
| gusta. Me-, have each inexpensive
| sery J, the former costing 3.51 per
| cent. nd the latter 5.44 per cent.