The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL 4
. INFORM ALTON
Blu RE AU
FREDERIC J. HA6KfN, Director.
Washington. D. G.
TURKEY BY TRUCK.
Washington. D. G.

keys sold TO as many families in PARK
View, which is a part of the city oil
| Washington. In this transaction Miss
Love acted as the agent of the new
motor transport corps of the postof'
| flee department, and also as the repre-.
sentative of the Maryland Springs
community organization. The money
was paid over by J. G.. McGfath, rep
resenting the Park View community
| center, who also saw that everyone
| got his turkey.
The strong points of this turkey deal
are that Park View people paid onlS
AZ cents a pound for their turkey
| when Washington retailers were get
| ting from so to 60 cents pound, and
that the turkey-farmers of Maryland
Springs received 6 cents per pound
more for their turkeys than would
have been paid them by the commits
| sion men.
| In other words, this motor transport
service of the postoffice department
| took the place of all the middiemen,
| and even the government made a
profit on the transaction. There is
now opposition in congress to an APP
! preparation for the extension of this
new service Congressman M. Clyde
| Kelly, who is the congressional spon-
| sor of the scheme, in defending the
appropriation. showed that the govern
| ment is making money out of it, and
| that the few routes already estab-
lished have done a gross business of
more than two millions on an initial
appropriation of only $300,000
The system, in its essence, is parcel
post trading made easy. Ever since
parcel post was established there have
been great efforts made to encourage
trading between country and city peo-
pie direct by that medium. The thing
has never worked. If you want to
buy = dozen eggs by parcel post you
have to pay a dollar for a container.
three cents postage on the letter to
the farmer and about seven cents
postage on the eggs. You will prob
ably get nice fresh eggs and pay more
for them than you pay at the corner
store, or at least as much, and have
Your trouble besides.
This new service eliminates all of
these difficulties at a stroke by or
ganizing both the farmers and the
consumers about the school house in
each city and country neighborhood.
The community secretary, who is also
a postal official and paid in part by
the government, writes all the letters,
and orders things in large quantities.
The organization provides the contain
ers. The individual consumer is re-
lieved of all the trouble and most of
the expense. He not only gets fresh
people are now doing, about twenty
per cent cheaper than he could buy
them at the corner store.
Whatever the arguments against 1t
may be-and there will doubtless be
some strong ones--the truck service
is spreading at a great rate on its
merits. It is a reform that speaks
language all can understand Fresh
er eggs cheaper is a magic shibboleth
in any American city about this time
of the year, and six cents pound
more for your turkeys" is the kind of
eloquence that will make a farmer
pause and listen.
Three months ago there were two
of these parcel post truck routes.
working on an experimental basis;
Now there are eight. They extend
north as far as Portland, Me-, west as
far as Chicago, south into Georgia and
Alabama. OF course. this enormous
territory is by no means covered.
There are just a few routes radiating
from each of the principal cities. and
only few thousand people are bene
flied in all. But the system is grow
ing daily, and its growth seems as
sured by the welcome it gets from
the people, and also by the fact that
it is self-supporting.
E. J. Ward of the bureau of edu-
cation, who is an originator of the
idea, is travelling about the country es-
tablishing new routes. He reports that
the women especially are for it. A
of the agents are women.
Anna May Love of turkey fame is one
of them. Another especially energetic
woman agent is Mrs. Anna p. Mckay
of Surrattsville. Nd, who, like Miss
Love, is the school teacher at the
school house about which one of the
rural communities is organized. When
the agents of the government called
at the Surattsville school house, they
a T1T<
tory oak log with a fine overhan
swing and evident enjoyment. She
took to the truck service idea at once,
and invited all hands to dinne.. for a
further discussion. Complimented on
her southern hospitality, she explained
that she hailed from Montana and had
come south last winter looking for
Mrs. Mckay makes an ideal |
community secretary.
The Mt. JOY community association. !
which is the organization of a rural |
community adjoining the battlefield |
of Gettysburg, Pa. has set an Interest |
ing precedent by petitioning the sec |
rotary of war to give them one of |
the buildings at Camp Colt. an ada |
cent eantonment, which has many |
empty buildings to spare. The Mt.
Joy people propose to move one of |
-hese light frame buildings bodily to |
-hc vicinity of their principal school |
house. where they can use it as a /
storage plant for the things they send !
20 the cities via the auto trucks. This
seems to be good way of using the |
buildings and building materials at |
santonments all Over the country, and |
he promoters of the truck service
nope that the Mt. Joy idea will be
widely followed.
The bureau of education believes
hat this auto truck service is going
o be means of improving education
n the country. 1t Is generally known
hat a large percentage of rural
schools in this country are Inadequate
Lffairs with underpaid teachers, crude
months, and no practical vocational
courses such as every school should
lave. One of the chief reasons for
his condition is that the children
'annot walk far to school, so there
must be a school house every few