The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-04-24
Rs@askabts Progress MsAs q De,
- II Establishment o. SERVES
n cssatry Districts.
s7,7ss CARRIERS on THE LIT.
Appropriation Has Drown to % I'll.
lion Dollars, and the Ultimate
limit cannct h Estimated.
ws.hInxtos corr~sponaence .

ws*hinxssn correspondence.
The close OF thu year 1907 served
d call n mind several OF the radical
changes this country iys Witnessed in
the precrSiing decade" said q postal
ofnciai. -and Of these the institution
and expansion of the rural free de-
livery xysfesn. begun in 1897. IL ons Of
many inviting brief attention.
beginning win n modest initial an
preparation of $4,000. or which only
about tii.otO was expended. this now
fa~r-reaciaing postal schesne started iss
exisienee With essasy-three carriers. In
seven years the cost OF the service
Jumped TO xf2. tss0,o0o. with 25,I66 car
riers. while the appropriation last year
was <~eS.350.cxO. with 1852 carriers
on the rolls and total of SITS routes
on the list.
NO such ~ssupendous figures as thesa
were contemplated by those who at the
outset favored rural service. as the
proposition at the time met with on
siderable opposition la some quarters,
a. the small, tentative appropriation
evidences.
Indeed, IL was then considered that
about S~o0.o00.000 would be the maxi
mum ultimate appropriation when the
service would he fully extended, but 70
great WIS the popularity Of the move
mes1t In all parts Of the country that
this sum was eqnaled during the frst
eight years Of It's life, and while the
service IL now well extended 1t would
b hard to state with accuracy Its ulti.
mate maximum limits and probable
cost. Ii has now. however, been pretty
well developed. the system has settled
down to a good working basis. and has
become a positive factor OF the postal
scheme OF the country along the lines
Of the city free delivery.
'Tfe steady growth of the service at
present Is shown In the net increase
last year OF 1862 new routes. and these
ngnrss may be taken as = reasonable
basis Of probable future yearly cxpan-
sion though the number OF petitions
for new routes fell OF several thousand
during the year rs compared with the
preceding year
Cost Of service -IncrSases.
The country is increasing In popula
ton. however. so rapidly that new SER
Vice 10 destined 10 keep pace Herewith
The cost OF new service for last year
was approximately $4,000, and these
figures, as against the total cost Of the
old service, will give the public and
the student OF postal Affairs an idea
Of the probable future yearly expendi-
ture for this item.
There are fifteen States In the I'm
Ion In which there are Ia operation
over 1000 rural free delivery postal
routes. The three States containing
the largest number OF routes are: iii.
n0iA. the banner rural free State with
z.77l routes; Ohio being q close second
with 2y0A3. and Iowa third with 2,31A
Tho other principal States with their
respective number Of routes are a. fol-
lows: Indiana. Alb: Pennsylvania
2,O6S: Missouri. 1913: Michigan
1.oS3; New York. 1.769; Kansas, l,62Ss
Texas. 1.005; Tennessee. 1.544; Wis
co0sin, 1,541; Minnesota, 1879; Geor-
Sia. 1.469. and North Carolina, 1.170.
The fact that over 1900 p~ostofhces
hare been discontinued and their pa
irons are being served by rural car
riers tells a story in itself Of the xami-
ncstions Of the system and what u
means to the millions Of rural residents
from Maine 10 California who are dat
II placed In touch with the outsidA
world
As q result Of the establishment Of
rural delivery and the necessity for thu
maintenance OF good roads TO insure
its continuance great activity has been
displayed In various parts Of the coun-
m looking toward the improvement q
rad conditions
~Taken MI in al. the establishmsnt |
q the service ~ m entirety may y
0aid - be q Of the accomplishments
cf the times In which we live, and g
Great ~ have bean the results already |
attained they may b considered small
% what will accrue In ths next esnses
at3m."
SHORT UEWB DoTA
firs ~ the Joy line pier h New YEA