The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1912-01-18
BIG SUM PAID TO MAINE
MAIL CARRIERS
Every Year Uncle Sam Pays $685.
236.s7 for Carrying Mails In this
State.

carrying united states mails. I0lS is
quite sum of money to be disbursed
steadily in a state of that population.
1t is more than goes to any other New
England state, with the exception of
Massachusetts, where the total paid
is 1916, 974.13 and Connecticut, where
the total is $610,76S.49.
This service in Maine covers car
rying mails over 246 routes, some by
steamboat, some by electric road,
some by railroad and some by mail
messenger which is another term for
describing the old time star routes
But with rural free delivery in many
parts of the state the number of the
old star routes, where the stage
carried mail and passengers between
the towns far back i'll the country that
were not connected by rail has been
steadily diminishing.
The total length of all these mail
routes in Maine is 2S0307 miles and
the aggregate distance travelled over
these routes during the last fiscal
year in carrying the mail was 4,432,
901.79 miles. That is getting into dis
tances of a planetary character, al
most beyond the comprehension OF
the human mind. But it emphasizes
what vast amount of effort there is
at getting letters and papers and
other mail matter to Names popula-
ton. However, in Massachusetts,
! which, in area, is a much smaller
state than Maine, the aggregate dis
lance of travel with mail was H.
3S2.067 miles. In Massachusetts there
are but 331 mail routes of all kinds
but few more than in Maine
There are railway mail routes in
the State of Maine, numbering an
even 30 and of total length of
2095.64 miles. This corresponds
closely with the total railroad
mileage of the state. The travel of
Railroad trains in Maine, carrying
mail during the last fiscal year
aggregated 3,72S.S34 miles. For this
service the Maine railroads are paid
annually $2S3,52047 on account of
transportation and $l9,6S9.37 for pos
tai cars, which makes total to the
Maine railroads of $3O3,2lO.37; as
compared with $139, 925IS paid to the
railroads in New Hampshire for
similar service and $l65, 1866 paid to
railroads in Vermont; 50,726.94 paid
to railroads in Massachusetts; ST.
092.49 in Rhode Island; and $751;
014.79 in Connecticut.
OF course the railroads are the all
important factor in rapid mail trans
portation as there is no other means
of getting the mails quickly between
important points. On some of the
roads there are half dozen trips
daily, where mail is carried and on
all of them, with rare exceptions,
mail cars pass at least once or twice
a day.
The steamboat service and power
boat service play more important
part in mail distribution in Maine
! than in almost any other state There
are % of these water mail routes in
Maine, with an aggregate length of
401.l3 miles The distance travelled
last year in distributing the mail by
water routes was pos, 1882 miles for
which the government paid the CON
tractors $32,364.56. Some of these
routes, especially those on interior
waters, operate only in the open
months of the year but some of them
along the coast are i'm operation the
year around. The adjoining state of
New Hampshire, with many lakes
across which communication is had,
is credited with but six water routes
/ for mail and the amount of money
paid annually for this service is
/ $2,320.15. Massachusetts had three
water routes for mail and the pay for
the service on those three routes is
$4,000 a year.
For a state that is now covered
with electric lines, to the extent that
Maine is, one would expect to find
more than 10 mail routes. But in
many cases these lines compete with
the steam railroads, on which routes,
for obvious reasons, the government
find it more convenient to carry its
mail pouches. The II mail routes by
electric car in Maine however, have
an aggregate length Of 1896 miles,
The entire distance Travelled with
mail over those roads last year was
217322.05 miles and the government
paid to these electric roads for this
service last year $76S0.76.
In Massachusetts the electric car
lines are used much more generally
for this service. There are 81 such
/ Massachusetts routes of an aggregate
length of Gil miles and the cost of the
mail service on those electric lines
per year is $70,504, more than in the
state of New York or in any other
state than Illinois, where it is $71 .0OO.
There are l57 mail-messenger
routes in Maine, with total length of
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