Milford chronicle., 1923-05-11
BILLANY TELLS OF
RURAL MAIL SERVICE
Continued from first page)

There are two propositions, 1t seems
to me, that should engage our atten-
tion:-one is good roads, which means
quicker and better service, and re-
Guires the aid of local agencies to a
great extent; the other is an allow
ance for the maintenance of rural car
rier's equipment, which is a matter
foraction by Congress.
Some of the changes which have
recently been made should be helpful
to the carriers without any curtall-
ment of service to the patrons, name
ly:
Upon reaching retirement age
those who are physically qualified are
continued in the service if they so
desire. 5S6 carriers have been granted
this privilege during the past two
years.
"a more liberal policy is being pur-
sued in reference to deductions from
the nav of rural carriers for failure
to perform complete service. A car
rier who starts out in blizzard when
the roads are impossible on account
of snow, or flooded by tOrrential rains,
and who does his best to complete his
schedule, should not be penalized If
he fails.
Another change is that instead of
counting the number of pieces of mail
delivered on rural routes quarterly,
a count is only required the first 15
days in January and July of each year.
OF course, this regulation applies
only where the delivery and collec-
ton on a daily route aggregate more
than 5000 pieces of mail month for
three consecutive months.
"The rural carrier is a travelling
postoffice. He delivers and collects
mail, sells postage stamps, registers
letters, issues money orders, insures
and delivers parcel post, and is bu-
reau of information for his patrons.
A carrier should be clean in person,
clean in morals, and beyond reproach.
81 want to praise the rural carriers
who make their trips under bad wea-
Their conditions during the winter
months. At times their duties are ex-
tremely hazardous. The average citi-
zen, and probably most postal employ
ees, regard the air mail and railway
mail service as particularly danger
Gus, but our records tell a different
story. During the past 20 months only
one air mail carrier has been killed
while carrying the mail, and during
the past year in the railway mail ser
vice two were killed and 159 injured.
In the rural service % rural carriers
were killed and 466 injured during the
past two years while in the line of
duty. During the severe snowstOrms
of last winter in the North and North
west, many of the carriers displayed
great courage and faithfulness in their
devotion to the service. Between
Rocky Bar and Atlanta, Idaho, from
December to May, mail is carried on
the back of the carrier who uses
snowshoes. Several carriers have been
caught by snowslides on this route,
their bodies not being found until the
snow disappeared in the spring.
Through Deaths Door
"The story of how the mail is car
ried through Deaths Door, between
Lake Michigan and Green Bay, is not
a yarn spun by the novelist. 1t is
tale of the Northwest which rivals in
the color of it's perils and the thrill Of
it's hazard any narrative of hardship
which has ever come out of the Arctic
Regions.
The task during the winter months
is exceedingly dangerous. Treacherous
ice is constantly moving and, at
moments notice, open water may be
encountered. Heavy snowstOrms and
blizzard add greatly to the hazard, |
but through all these the carrier goes. |
The carrier uses a boat when it is pos |
sible. He also uses a sleigh. Some |
times it is necessary to use both a |
sleigh and boat, it being impossible |
to get across without them. He takes
a sleigh as far as the open water, and |
then goes the rest of the distance with |
a small boat with the mail bags piled |
high around him. Two or three times |
in the last couple of years he has been
carried into Lake Michigan by power
full moving ice foes. His rescue was |
accomplished by the heroic work Of
the brave lads at the Plum Island
Coast Guard Station.
zone time last year with a single
horse and sleigh he was caught on a
field of moving ice. A stiff wind was
carrying him into the lake and his
condition was a most precarious one
when the guards at the Plum Island
Station discovered him, and he was
rescued. This is the spirit which is
displayed generally throughout the
country.
what rural delivery has done in
other directions may be summed up
as follows:
at has broadened the field of oppor-
tunity, touched as with magic power
the possibilities of human endeavor,
and transformed conditions to a de-
gree almost marvellous.
"It has secured good roads. It has
made farm lands more valuable, and
contributed to increased production.
1t has abridged time by rapid COM
munication, frightened all environ
ment, and made ordinary dull routine
interesting and instructive.
"In conclusion, just thought. Moth
ing stands still Change is constantly
taking place in one direction or an
Other-progress or reaction. 1t is true I
in nature. It is true in industry and
in business, and it is equally true in :
postal activities. We cannot stand still. !
We must progress. feel quite sure
that every one here will do his part '
to help make our postal business the I
best and most efficient service in the i
world.
There are three important funda- {
mentals which the postal worker {
should possess-from Postmaster Gen '
eral to laborer-integrity, industry, I