Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1938-06-02
Smith Purdum Speaks
At POstOffice Dedication
Continued from page y

tablished here under the name of
Darcey's Store on October 10, 1862
According to available records, the
population of Bethesda at that time
was approximately 25 people. But as
Bethesda has grown through the
years, it has been ever mindful of the
three important factors in the build
ing of a communicative spiritual,
the educational and the material-the
spiritual as represented by its
churches and clergy and reverence for
the Divine Providence; the education
al as represented by its schools, Ii
braries, and civic organizations; and
the material as represented by the
secular affairs and the business life
of the community. Bethesda with its
many fine churches, schools, business
houses, and splendid citizenship, is
one of the finest places in the state
CT Maryland for home and family.
Bethesda has shown remarkable
growth in postal business. It's receipts
have increased from 1898 in 1927
to $31,419 in 1887, gain of approx
mately 300 per cent. 1t is eminently
fitting that a postal unit doing this
amount of business and serving a
community as large and as important
as Bethesda should be housed in
aforementioned structure.
"At this time, there are 1894 eligi-
BILE projects for which funds have not
yet been appropriated, involving total
limits of cost of over $171, 900, 900.
Twenty-Five of these projects are in
the State of Maryland.
"Credit should be given the citizens
of this community who interested
themselves long time prior to the
setting up of the project; to the
House Of Representatives, where ap-
preparation bills originate, and to the
United States Senate; and especially
to a man who is so closely identified
with all of the people in the five
counties of Western Maryland. l
believe that he is very happy today
to see the contamination here in
Bethesda of his efforts and interest to
the end that your community might
have a Federal building to serve its
needs. He is a man well known to all
of you-Honorable David ]. Lewis.
"As Americans, we are not forget
full of our traditions, and neither are
we forgetful of those great figures in
cur history.
"We must all lend our efforts to the
continued building of our nation.
There is much work yet to be done
before it can be said to be a COM
pleted structure. We are fortunate at
this time in carrying forward our eff
forts under the guidance and leader
ship of one of the greatest Americans
and one of the greatest builders =
Franklin d. Roosevelt"
Senator Tydings asserted that con-
struction of Post Office buildings
throughout the country was sound
way to help solve the nations eco
nomic ills. He said he had always
favored building useful projects which
are of lasting benefit. "There is no
sounder way of spending public money
than in the construction of Post
Offices"
Representative Lewis, father of the
parcel post, hailed the Post Office
system as unequalled as means of
distributing knowledge and serving as
"bond for a scattered family" The
Post Office system delivers mail, he
said, over one million three hundred
and thirty-four thousand miles of
rural routes, utilizing every known
means of transportation from air
planes to reindeer.