Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-02-06
THEIR SECOND
ANNIVERSARY
Feb. 1st Marked Second Birth
day of Free Delivery

Last Saturday, Feb. 1st, marked
the completion of the second year of
free city delivery in Grand Rapids.
This convenience is so greatly appre-
ciated by the patrons of the four city
routes that discontinuance of the
same would be severe blow to all.
The four carriers have striven hard to
give the best service possible under
existing circumstances and, in fact,
are credited with doing their work ex-
ceptionally well considering the un-
usual size of their districts, the great
distance they must travel to effect
their deliveries owing to the scatter
ing location of houses in certain por-
tions of the city, and the lack of side
walks in many places.
The best service of free delivery is
not due entirely to the carriers. The
patrons themselves are in many cases,
responsible for belated deliveries of
mail by their failure tokeep side walks
clean, or paths shoveled so the carrier
need not wade and founder along in
order to get to and from the houses on
his route. Then again, some people, for
some unknown reason, do not put up
mail boxes or other suitable receptacles
on their homes and business places to
assist in facilitating the delivery.
Any one can readily see that when
carrier can step upon porch, place
the mail in mail box, and 60 on to
the next place without any delay at
all, he can deliver twice as much mail
in the same length of time that he
could if he was compelled to knock at
every door and wait till the maid came
down from up stairs where perhaps
she is dressing her hair and conse-
quently cannot come right away.
Then again the carrier may rap and
rap ana get no response because the
occupants of the house are away so
the carrier has wasted several minutes
of his limited time and in the end has
to.take the mail back to the postoffice
because there is no mail box on the
house in which to leave it.
In this respect and in several others
the patrons could materially assist in
giving better service and to more per-
SONS if each one would do their part
toward keeping paths shoveled and in
providing some sort of receptacle in
which the carrier can leave the mail
and hurry along without delay.
Another point which will facilitate
the delivery of mail is, for patrons
to call at the Office on Sundays and
holidays for their mail. Carriers do
not make deliveries on those days and,
consequently, on the following day,
they are loaded to the gunwales and
their progress is necessarily slow.
Every Sunday from l1:30 to 1:30 and
on holidays from $50 to 10 a. M,
the carriers route their mail in the
office and attend to their respective
windows where patrons will be given
their mail upon calling or sending Tor
it. This is convenience for those
who do not wish to go a whole day
without mail and for those who take
daily papers especially, as they like to
read the papers every day, and the
carriers work in the office for that
special reason.
The past two years have been very
successful and profitable ones from the
standpoint of relation between carrier
and patrons and let US hope that the
ensuing year will do more toward
furthering the present friendly rela-
tions and that patrons will assist per-
sonally in helping the carrier along
over his route with pleasant word
and by making conditions favorable
to prompt delivery.