The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1949-05-26
Prominent Officials Will Attend Inauguration
OF Hiway Post Office Service Between Duranf
And Columbus Fri. Morning; Public Is Invited
$500 Requests From
Collectors Pour In
To Duront Office


Highway postoffice service by
bus between Durant and Column
bus will be inaugurated Tues
q ay morning at Z o.
clock and the first trip will be
launched with considerable cere-
mony attended by q number of
high ranking government and
railway officials.
The public is given a cordial in
vltation to be at the Durant post
office at ZOO and inspect the
new highway postoffice bus. It
IS the first to be placed in services
.inder government ownership in
the state of Mississippi, according
to officials.
About fifteen officials of the,
pestoffice department will he i'm
Durant Tuesday morning to make
.ne first trip. Among them are,
mr.. W. H. Hubbard, president OF
the Railway Mail Association
nonita; MIR. J. c. Jacqua, secre-
tary-treasurer of Railway MaiI
ASSOCIATION, Meridian; Mr.. A. c.
hodges, superintendent of Air
Mail Transport Service. Fort
worth, Texas; Mr.. Eldon Lewis
assistant superintendent of Rail-
way Mail Service, New Orleans
Mr. o. G. Hackett, district super-
intendent Of Railway Mail Serv-
ice, Meridian.
The purpose of the first trip is
to give the public a chance to
look the bus over and to carry
philatelic mail. The bus will stop.
on this first trip, at every post
o1flce enroute in order for the
public to inspect it.
The bus on its maiden trip will
leave Durant at 7:20 and reach
Columbus at S o'clock in the.
afternoon. -
Flooded with Mail
Inc Durant postoffice has beeu
Hooded with mail from every
state in the Union, Canada ana
Germany by collectors who want
letters stamped with the cachet
carrying the mark of the fuxf
trip. The cachet reads: "Colur1-'
bus to Durant, Mississippi. june
l. 1913, Trip 2, Highway Post Of
flee"
Trip 2 is the designated num-
Der of the trip and the route from
Columbus to Durant has, been
designated as Trip l. :,
To date some $500 REQUESTS
have come in, according to esti-
mates OF local employees Of the
postoffice. :.
| The list of those citizens inter-
ested in philatelic mail includes
many prominent citizens Of the
country, among them Col. Char
les A. Lindbergh, several con-
gressmen. members of the New
York Stock Exchange and many
men and women prominent in, the
business life of the nation. Il
could literally be said that every
group of citizens is represented
from plain John and Jane Doe to-
firm of Philadelphia lawyers.
Many OF the letters enclosed
cards or special forms with min
ute instructions as to the exact
spot where they wished the ca
Chef placed. Some sent a block
OF stamps for the imprint and
many asked for the autograph OF
the postmaster.
Mr.. M. T. Williams, Durant
postmaster, and his entire staff
have working hard to see that all
requests are granted in full and
through their efforts nearly 5000
collectors in every state will learn
It they do not already know, the
name of Durant, Mississippi.
Attention Collectors
The postoffice department has
announced that special first trip
cachets and cancellation stamps
will be provided persons in
Holmes county who are interest
ed. Those desiring first trip
cancellations should send their
covers properly prepared, with
postage prepaid and ready for
mailing, to the postmaster at CO.
lumbus for "trip l" cancellations,
and to the postmaster at Durant
for "trip 2" cancellations.
Improved Service
The highway postoffice is being
instigated to give improved mail
service to the section of the state
from Durant to Columbus. Begin
ming June 2, the handling of air
mail on trains 24l-242 will be dis
continued.
Mr.. and Mrs. E. S. White and
\