The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-07-17
Mail Men Feast
Have Good Time
From saturdays Daily.

From Saturdays Daily.
Delegates who were In the city in
attendance at, the Minnesota rural
letter carriers state convention were
! given q feastof vlands, wit and wisdom
at the Knights OF Columbus hall last
evening. The delegates were the
guests Of the Blue Earth County
Rural Letter Carriers association.
i The supper was served by the
ladies OF the Christian church. Eek.
cellent music was furnished from
time to time by the Loyola orches.
ira. James G. Bowman OF Mapleton
acted as toastmaster.
The first address Of the evening
was delivered by John II. Hohmann,
whose subject was The Man with
the Mail Bag" Mr.. Hohmann said In
part.
There Is perhaps no other class
OF men In the United States service
who attend to their duties so prompt.
ly and regularly as do the men with
the mail bag. Uncle Sam is and al
ways was dear. old uncle, but he Is
strict and exactlng; In fact, he seems
to be growing stricter now that he is
| growing olderl He requires of his
men punctuality, regularity and hon
esty, and I know of no class of men
who possess these qualifications in
higher degree than you gentlemen
do. Day after day. week after week,
year after year, you may be seen
covering your routes at the appointed
time. We do not so much say. 1t
Is ten o'cock; It's tim for the mail
man to be around. as we say,
There's the mail man II must be ten
o'clock Neither extreme heat nor
icy cold, neither heavy rains In sum.
mer nor snow banks In winter, neither
billiards nor electric storms deter
you from doing you daily task, not
only faithfully but willingly and oblig-
ingly. When even the lowliest laborer
may remain home for holiday, the
noble man with the mail bag must
turn out. And indeed, what would
Christmas day and New Years day be
II he did not come? In fact, Is IL not
he that brings most Of our Christmas
cheer, that gladdens our hearts with
greetings of the New Year from
friends In the four quarters OF the
earth2 And I maintain that IL II is
true that greatness doe not consist
In outward display and ostenation.
but rather In mans disposition to
do good to his fellow men, especially
at cost OF personal Inconvenience and
discomfort, | maintain that we ought
to count the men in gray, the men
OF the mail bag, among the truly
great ones of the nation. And L
can assure You. gentlemen. that even
II we, to whom you do these kind
turns, do not often acknowledge
them verbally and openly. deep ap-
probation, nevertheless, for you and
your way. of dong your duty will al.
ways remain with us. ati 90 go
Regularity and Punctuality.
your regularity and punetuality
and your daily exercise in the open
air contributes much to your well.
being, and is. In my opinion. largely
responsible for the good humor dis
played by the man with the mail bag,
under conditions and In situations
that would make any other man
sullen and impatient. Your work does
not confine you to dingy shop-rooms.
and lock you up with a handful OF
men whom you probably dislike. On
the contrary, II affords you plenty of
light and fresh air; II brings variety
with sameness in letting you see new
faces, new combinations OF things
and new happenings, even as you
pass along your accustomed way. I'm
like other men. who In their occti-
patton usually get TO see but one side
OF things. you get to see many. II not
all sides, and therefore he pleasant
and funny side. which fact. too.
may account for your proverbial
good spirits.
Indeed, you are a good. Jolly class
OF men. wide awake, alive and active
and for this very reason a most de-
sirable element in society. You al
ways have been respected I'm the
past; you shall ever be respected
in the future. When but a mere boy
I learned from my dear old father to
respect the mail man and always TO
treat him with kindness and consid-
Grafton and I am trying to inculcate
the same disposition in my children"
Address BY Mr.. Deets.
John d.. Deets addressed the as
scmbly Immediately after Mr.. Hob
man was through. He paid high
compliment 10 Mr.. Holman remark
ing that Mr.. Holman had taken
many Of the best thoughts that he
himself had Intended to expound that
evening. Mr.. Deets said he wished
Mr.. Holman had talked to the gath
ering about good roads. He said he
could see by the arrangement Of the
hair of those present that they had
good roads at heart, for when a
mans head was bald In. the middle
and had growth around the edges.
that head represented the cross sec
ton OF good modern highway.
Mr.. Deets said that the rural car.
riers certainly knew what good
roads meant to them, and he