Evening star., 1948-01-17
| Senator's Plan 10 Study
Pay Raise Pleas From
5000 Mail Carriers

The Senate Civil Service Subcom-
mittee considering pay raises for
postal workers decided today to
study statements from 5000 rural
letter carriers showing increased
costs of operating their mail deliv-.
cry cars.
This was decided after the group
heard B. A. WinqueSt, president of
the National Rural Letter Carriers
Association, and his Board of Di-
rectors declare that operating their
cars is. cutting their pay as much
as $500 a year.
They all indorsed the LANCER
Chavez pay bill-which would give
postal workers about $500 additional
take-home pay a year. They cited
cost Of living increases in general
and transportation increases in
particular.
Langer Asks for Full Reports.
Willard Manning, Ponce de Leon,
Fla, explained that the Government
gives carriers cents a mile for
transportation, but that they must
buy and keep up their own cars for
country deliveries. Last year, he
said, this cost him $54414 more thar
the Government payment.
Mr.. Winquest then tried to read
statements on operating costs from
six areas, which he said he had
picked at random from an associa-
tion survey file.
'How many statements do you
have altogether" asked Chairman
LANCER.
About 5000, all together" be-
gan the official.
Bring all of them in," doomed
the North Dakota Republican.
Glenn Folkers, Mokena, Ill, said
a year of rural letter carrying just
about wears out a car. He added
that heavy SHOWS on bad roads were
partly responsible. Carriers from
Missouri and Florida added that
Ozark rocks" and Florida mud"
did the same thing In their sections
of the country.
Mr.. Winquest said that about 80
per cent of the rural carriers have
kidney trouble, brought on by "the
constant bouncing over bad roads"
He said his group represents about
$4,000 carriers, whose maximum an
nual pay averages $3,076.
Earlier Endorsement of the postal
pay increase was given by Luther
Steward, speaking for custodial
postal workers In the National Fed
Grafton Of Federal Employees.
The pay bill calls for $1,000 in
crease, before taxes, for postal en-
ployes. The subcommittee will con-
slider the Langer-Chavez measure to
give a $1,000 increase to all other
Government workers as soon as
hearings are finished on the postal
bill.
Members of the subcommittee list
ened with great interest yesterday
as the wives of letter carriers here
and out of town told of the hard
time they were having living on
their husbands present salaries.
The witness whose testimony
seemed to impress the Senators the
most was a pretty young mother of
three boys, Mrs. Jeanne Bolen, 2600
block Seventeenth street NE.
Butter "Too Expensive"
Mrs. Bolen, whose husband Is a
Washington mailman, said her hus-
bands $3,100 annual salary was not
enough to permit the daily neces-
stiles of life, let alone luxuries and
entertainment.
"One of my boys asked for a
pound of butter for Christmas" Mrs.
Bolen told the subcommittee with
smile. But he didn't get it," she
added-"it's too expensive" /
In an effort to economic, Mrs.
Bolen told the subcommittee, she
did all the laundry for her husband,
Leonard, the three boys and herself.
I'm. economical, really am,
Mrs. Bolen told the subcommittee
as she told how she had served ham
burger so often recently that the
family had become weary Of 1t.
How much does liver cost?" asked
Senator Chavez, Democrat, Of New
Mexico.
"Oh, it's so high I don't even
bother to price it, Mrs. Bolen re-
piled.
Both Chairman LANCER and Sena-
tor Chavez complimented Mrs. Bolen
for her very fine presentation of
the facts"