The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-10-15
RURAL LETTER CARRIERS
Mr.. T. E. Wicker Writes of tbo A.
Ianta Convention-Good
Talks.
Editor Herald and News.

to say that we southern rorr;nrs
should thank God that we were born
under The sunny skies of Diyic r
nave heard carriers from all over t,c
union speak Of their hardshins
through the winter season which in
many states last the greater part Of
the year Sn"wStorms that last for
days ami SnoW-rovrrrl roads thar re-.
mann III ;i''1 condition f"r months II
ti'n'. N>noW drifts l'rai ,lr.aor., ,h,.
carrier and barry hin and hi> horse
upsrt'in% his vehicle, breaking and
tearing ny his harness anil ,rIayinm
ann Tor ;n hour or moro before he
can resume his tcdiols and miSrrnbIc
journey: or perhaps return to the Of
lice and report the roads impaSsablc.
Roads ont west where the wheels of
your vehicle miro in the mud and he
come solid as block wheels makiur il
Impossible for the vehicle to be drawn
by horses and ncccssitatiny the de-
livery OF mail on horseback for sever
al months in the year. Tircsomc noun
tam routes where the ups and downs
Of life Is not by any means Il irur,
Of Spccc! but solemn reality. These
are some OF the troubles that | have
listened To since min"lin~ with the
other delegates here.
On my way over | met and rot ac-
qnamtcd with the president Of the
New Jersey state association and the
president and the secretary Of the
state association Of Maryland. /
found them as most other carriers to
be jolly, good hearted fellows. I ar
rived ahead of my two colleagues,
Messrs. a. w. Hill, of Greenville, and
S. G. Mcdaniel, of Laurens, by sew
eral hours. Yesterday morning
(Tucsday) the convention assembled
in the senate chamber Of Georgia s
capital where We listened to a num-
Der of welcome addresses which were
along the usual line Of such addresses.
The speech of the day was delivered
by Congressman Livingston Of The sta
district Of Georgia.
Today We had with us Supcrintend-
ent Of Rural Free Delivery w. II.
Spilman. Of Washington, ID. C. To-
morrow we will have Fourth Asst.
p. M Gen. p. Y. DcGraw. After
hearing President Lindsay's report
and attending TO some other matters
of minor detail among which was the
taking of Il picture Of the association
in body on the steps Of the capital
We returned 10 the senate chamber
and The president introduced the Hon.
W. r.. Spillman.
Among other things Mr.. Spillman
said that there was an advantage in
the meeting together Of rura. ear
ricrS in state and national convcn-
tionS and it was always IA pleasure
for him TO be present, an advantage
because it brought together the rural
boys and permitted them to get ac-
quanitcd with each other and with
the officers Of the department when
they were present. At first rural de-
livery was an experiment which the
residents Of rural districts were at
first unwilling to accept saying that
the star route and old postollicc was
good enough for them. Since then
rural delivery had gone beyond the
experimental stage and now every
state in the Union has rural delivery
service.
In inspecting the routes the de-
partmcnt naturally turned to the
routes whose reports showed the least
patronage and where the route could
moi be revised so as To increase The
mail, the department found it ncccs-
Sary 10 discontinue the route though
it gave the department no pleasure
to do this.
European countries have preceded
us in rural delivery and perhaps their
service has been superior TO ours but
1t is because Of our more extensive
territory and a less dense population
but we are profiting by their expert
cncc and rapidly forging TO the front.
Every carrier should gain the con.
fidcnce Of his patrons so as to in
crease the business Of The route. TO
maintain the dignity Of thc service
and to show the public that we are
representatives Of the government
why should not the carriers wear a
uniform?
4 L.. ,.A-., i Gt. 49,.