The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1910-01-13
GROWTH OF THE
RURAL ROUTES
MAIL HANDLED FISCAL YEAR
90 PER CENT OVER 1905.
Immediate Advantage Taken of Rural
Delivery. for Installation is Fol-
lowed by Increase.
AMOUNT HANDLED BY REPORT

Washington, Jan. 13-An increase
of SO per cent in the amount of mail
handled by rural delivery routes dur
ing the fiscal year ended June so,
last, over the fiscal year 1905. is
shown in the annual report of Fourth
Assistant Postmaster General p. V.
Degraw, which was transmitted to
the postmaster general. DeGraw says
that "the installation OF the rural de-
livery, as a rule. has been followed
by an increase in the amount of mani
delivered and collected within the
territories respectively covered by
that service"
During the last fiscal year the total
on the rural free deliv-
cry was S35,c61,O3l, an increase
over the previous year of s1,2S9,095.
The revenue derived from dead mail
matter for the year amounted to
$29,234. The report says in part:
Growth of the Service.
"The number of petitions for rural
delivery service filed dunlng the past
fiscal year aggregated 3,S76. a de-
crease Of 6SS from the previous year.
OF the petitions filed 2.1OS have been
accepted for Investigation. and 361
are still under consideration.
ION June 30. 1909. the service was
IN operation on 40,G2S routes. and
4O,499 carriers were employed. On
G67 routes the service was tri-weekly,
an increase of S as compared with the
previous year.
During the year 1.415 new routes
were established; 4 routes discon-
tinued prior thereto were re-estab-
lished. and GS routes were discon-
tinued. leaving the net increase in
the number OF routes in operation
1851. The number OF new routes
is 257 hess than were es-
tablished during the previous fiscal
year.
During the caller years this in
crease was gradual. as a whole. In
order to ascertain the percentage of
mail carried on rural delivery routes
"a count was kept during the months
of March, April and May. and taken
las a basis OF conservative calculation
which showed that rural carriers
Throughout the United States handled
during the fiscal year ended June 80.
1909. the enormous bulk of 2.723,-
.2G2. 900 pieces. During the four years
June 80. 1905. the num-
Der of routes advanced 20 per cent,
but the increase in the amount OF
mail delivered was 81 per cent, and
mail collected ISL per cent, or an IN
crease of sc per cent in the whole
lamOunt handled. There was an IN
crease Of 149 per cent in the number
of money orders issued. and 81 per
cent increase in the number OF let
ters registered. In 1905 the average
number Of pieces of mail handled per
route per month was 5000. Based
upon the count kept during March.
April and May mentioned, the aver
age number of pieces now handled
per month Is 5.GOO-the largest in
the history OF the service. Another
significant fact is that on only 2.117,
VI 90 pei .Ntllls VI int iuTN IOuit-
was the quantity OF mail handled less
than 5000 pieces per quarter. which
IL considered a fair average Tor a
standard route.
Additional evidence of the in
crease in the amount OF mail passing
through rural delivery Is furnished IN
the fact that 992 routes handled 25,-
600 or more pieces of mail during
the three months ended June so,
1907, and 3.2S2 routes $4,000 or
more during the three months ended
May 81, 1909.
I'm 1907 twenty-seven routes han
died more than $4,000 pieces of mail
during the quarter ended May 81.
On 35 OF thesc routes the value OF
the stamps on mail collected for the
period Indicated exceeded 5000. On
"a routes this item exceeded the car
rier's salary