The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-10-25
CROSS COUNTRY MAIL CARRYING BY MOTOR TRUCK Experiment of Post Office Dept. During Last Year
 Was Success. SOURCE OF REVENUE
 ON MANY ROUTES Better Roads Needed But System Will Produce the Revenue for Construction

Washington, Oct. 25-Cross-coun- trucks, tried out by the postoffice de- partment on an experimental but nevertheless big scale, during the last year, has been a great success. James I. Blakslee, fourth assistant post master general, has found that one truck route between Philadelphia and Washington, cutting chiefly through territory without direct rail connec- tion and costing $500 month to oD- crate, has in eight months developed a revenue of S16,000 monthly. An other route, into Washington, where 28 parcels a day were moved during the first month, now shows one ton of traffic each way each "A hours.
 Seventy lines now operate over the country, all but one east of the Mis- sissippi, and there are visions of system which will furnish $36O, ,000,- 900 annually in revenue for road con- struction or other purposes.
 Why, General Pershing has 5000 trucks damaged or ruined over on the other side,'' said MT. Blakeslee, telling of the growth of the system. T don't care what condition they are in. We want them all, and can fix up and put every one of them to work. What's even more important he's got some boys over there shy hand, or an arm, or leg, and we can use them all too, in good work at good pay, that they can do. Con gress gave us $3OO;00O to work with, and if we had the earnings of the lines themselves, we could expand almost indefinitely. AS it is, $9,00O,0 will be requested by the division for next year, and I think 1t will be appro- i priated. People realize what we are doing.
 l Operating at night is the most profitable, and we have but two ma chimes doing that, out of New York The typical route is about 18O miles l long, 90 miles out, and 90 miles l back.
 Almost always the constant opera 1 ton of the lines produces return l load, the universal character of the mail service allowing almost any | thing to be taken. The mail trucks | go, come rain, storm, or anything, and so the traffic develops. Rates are also pretty high, the lowest beine about $2O a ton. That is what makes the surplus revenues.
 Need Concrete Roads.
 "Of course, we'll have to have con crete roads, but the business can pro duce the money to build them. Ther' are some economies in distribution O produce that are simply amazing. I l has added an entirely new factor t. | transcontinental transportation, ant we shall just begin finding it ou when more extensive operation zoe into effect during the next two years. Just why MT. Blakeslee sees it tha way can be understood from just on commodity price list. Milk retail now in Washington at r cents quart Milk is coming in on mai trucks direct to consumers for l cents a quart Naturally the truck are being weighed down with five gallon cans as consumers learn of tn possibility. The trucks tap milk producing territory, outside the usua hauling lines, and off the rail arter ies.
 "Where'll the roads come from t run 5000 trucks?" he asks ''Wel
 there are 66, 900 rural mail and sta routes being operated in the Unite
 States now Sometimes I think ev eryone of them would make a true, line Food is being handled 10 time on its way to 8 consumer. We ca, 1 cut that to five.
 Watching these figures, since De
 cen'ber, when we started, has give
 me a new sort of inspiration. w
 shall be moving the mails and mail will include a whole unexpected var iety of things-in new modes befor
 the generation finishes. Airplane
 for the thousand mile distances, train