The Elbert County tribune., 1913-09-12
GIRL MAIL CARRIER.
Fifteen-Year-0I6 Miss Does Work
in Mountains.
Floe Brown Is a PIucIsy Resourceffui
Arkansas Maiden andsis Always
Equal to Any Emergency
That May Confront Her.

Henderson, Ark.-Floe Brown, a
bright girl, fifteen years of age. car
ries the daily mail from this little vii
lage in Baxter county. Arkansas. to
Bakersfield, in Ozark county. Missouri,
a distance of Is miles. and return. She
is one of seven sisters. daughters Of
Asa Brown and wife. and all have grad
uated on of the mail route, each hay-
ing had her turn at it. 1t has been a
part of their education and has helped
them in more ways than one.
,Floe. who carries the mail now, is a
small girl. but what she lacks in size
she makes up in nerve and ability to
get over the road in all kinds of wealth
er. The route lies over some of the
toughest country in the Ozark noun
tans. The roads are rough and over
a great part of it the houses are few
and far between. On a stretch of five
miles there is no dwelling at all. being
all over the mountains and through
the woods.
No thought of fear. however. ever
enters her mind. There are no wild
animals in the woods. and the birds
and squirrels are her trends and keep
her company. Most of the time she
carries the mail on horseback. At
times, in good weather, however, when
the roads are worn down hard and
smooth, she uses a single buggy. Be-
sides Henderson and Bakersfield, she
serves two other towns en- route.
Gamaliel and Custer. both roadside
villages, but with large post ONCE pat
ronage. The most dreaded part of her
trip at times is crossing the North
Fork river. a mountain stream nearly
as large as the White river. which at
times gets to be a raging mountain
torrent. The stream ia fordable at low
water, but when 1t goes on a rampage
1t is dangerous even for ferryboat
to cross. One time when it was pas..
fording she swan her horse across In
order to get her mail to its destination
Fthat night. She came out on the op-
posite bank with dripping skirts. but
with mail high and dry on her shoul-
ders.
In the spring and summer the route
Is pleasant to ride. az some OF the
finest scenery in the Ozarks lies along
the way. Wild flowers and grass cover
the woods floor and the hills are q
mass of green. with the rocks of the
river bluffe sticking out In bare splen-
dor. In autumn. too. 1t is beautiful.
when the woods present an ever
changing color. but when the winter
winds begin to blow and the days OF
falling snow and binding. biting sleet
come. it would try the nerves and
spirit of man, but Floe sticks to her
post. The winter season is short and
the warm spring days to come buoy
her up.
The family lives few miles north
OF this place, and in the worst weather
her sisters, Pearl and Hannah. help
her out Hannah or Pearl goes after
the mail at Henderson in the morning
and bring 1t to the house. where Floe
picks 1t up and carries 1t on to Bakers
field and brings back the morning mail
from that point. They take 1t then to
Henderson for her. letting her get OF
and rest
The parcel post has made the daily
load a great deal heavier for the girl.
and many times the horse is loaded
down with all he can carry. Some
times the load is more than can be car
ried on horseback. and then the single
buggy is pressed into service. good
roads or bad. She is very popular. and
does many favors for her patrons in
tho way of bringing things from the
stores for them when they are too
busy to go to town.
Asa Brown, her father. is an old
man. Ths family live on farm and
he specializes on fruit He says he
is glad his children were girls. and
that he could not get along without