"THE LION OP SOUTH AFRICA."
Cronje, the olJler,. ha carved his
niche beside that of Leonldas; Cronje
the man remains to be known ouUide
hia own brave land. The Sunday Post
Dispatch thus presents him to the
American people:
It la fltltng that he, beyond all hia
fighting countrymen, should capture
the admiration of the world, alnce he
more fully represents the Boer and hia
aspirations than any other general. He
Is second In command of the republican
forces, but he is first in the hearts of
the burghers.
They love Joubert, with his courtly
manners and his crafty generalship;
but Joubert's qualities are the product
of his French ancestry, and he does
not appeal to their racial Instincts with
the force of his subordinate, Cronje, the
veritable farmer-soldier, who will stand
for &fl time as the type of the Boer In
war and peace.
Cronje Is, first of all, a farmer. Ills
life as a civilian Is that of a patriarch
He rules his own little tribe with ab
solute authority. In the true biblical
way. and Imposes upon It the obliga
tions of worshiping God and of tilling
the soil.
His farm, which is near Potchefstrom
covers 12.000 acres. Any Boer farm
would strike an American as a crude
essay In agriculture, but Cronje's Is
somewhat suiwrlor to his neighbors .
Still, the greater part of It Is unfenced
and untllled.
The homestead Is a stone building of
one story. There are half a dozen
room, tho contents of which could be
replaced for tM. The floors through
out the dwelling consist of the native
earth, beaten flat and glazed with bul
lock s blood.
Thero are no pictures on the walls.
True Boer as he is. Cronje despises art
in all Its forma His reading Is con
fined to the bible, which he knows by
heart, and a weekly newspaper in the
Dutch tongue published In Pretoria.
That a man should find pleasure In
books or paintings or the manifesta
tions of nature, in to him beyond un
derstanding. Me comprehends such ec
centrics under the designations "root
neks.'' which Is applied Impartially to
Englishmen, Americans and other un
welcome foreigners.
He is a silent man, simple and God
fearing, inspired by a passionate deter
mination that Ills race shall be free,
nut alone from alien dominion, but also
from the Influences of modern luxury.
To him the old and new testament are
nllke literal truth. It Is recorded of
him that he laughed scornfully when a
"roolmk" whom he met In Johannes
burg ventured to remark that the earth
revtlved round the sun and not the sun
around the earth.
"How can that be," demanded Cronje,
"when the bible tells us that Joshua
caused the sun to stand still that he
micht slaughter his enemies?"
That settled the question.
Joshua is his favorite biblical charac
terhis military and religious Ideal. To
his family and dependents and the
stranger within his gates he loves to
read the story of the Hebrew leader's
bloody fights with bis enemies, and In
going forth against the English he Is
lifted with the spiritual exaltation that
nerved Joshua to vanquish the Philis
tines. He hates politics. He dots not com
prehend the ambition that would lead
another man to make political capital
out of the great regard that his gener
alship has won for him. In IMS he was
strongly urged to oppose Kruger for the
presidency, but he refused.
Roberts is an IrlHhman and a magnifi
cent fighter. Personal daring has had
no less to do with his advancement than
skillful generalship.
His most famous achievement was
the march from Cabul to Kandahar.
With 10,000 men he crossed the great
mountain ranges nf Afghanistan, a dis
tance of 300 miles. In twenty days, and
then crushed the formidable Ayoub
Khan. The empire rang out with that
march, and it was only one of the many
martial feats of the Indomitable "Little
UollS."
General Lord Kitchener of Khartoum
also bears a title which commemorates
his great achievements in arms.
He Is a type of the modern soldier.
He Is a student, an organizer, an en
gineer. He Is as cold as Ice. In his
eyes a line of infantry is no more than
a sty the, a body of cavalry no more
than a projectile. Of personal valor he
may be richly capable, but his method
of warfare does not give it opportuni
ties. He has a brain that can plan
great, tedious operations, foreseeing
difficulties and overcoming them in advance.
By P. Louter Weasels, Secretary of
the National Boer Relief association:
Pleter Arnoldus Cronje, the general
from the Transvaal who is fighting for
and with the people of the Orange Free
State, may well be called the "Lion ol
South Africa." Ha has proved his valor
and has done his duty. It Is not the
habit of the people of South Africa to
worship a hero. Every man standi
ready to fight for his country.
General Cronje is known by reputa
tion In the Orange Free State, although
his life has been spent beyond the Vaal.
Like many of our people, he is of Hu
guenot descent, and settled in our part
of the world under the Dutch East In
dia company.
His people Joined In the Great Trek oi
1846, and he settled with them in the
north of the Transvaal.
We first heard of Cronje In 1881, when
he was elected Commandant General ol
the burgher troops of Potchefstroom di
vision. Against him was pitted Major
Clarke of the British army in that year
of warfare which ended at Majuba hill.
Major Clarke capitulated to General
Cronje. The peace papers were signeo
by them.
General Cronje ocupled a very Im
portant position and figured conspicu
ously In the settlement of these diffi
culties. Let me say here that we of
South Africa considered Gladstone the
fairest statesman England ever had.
Cronie has a great heart as well as a
great head. He treats his prisoners with
the greatest consideration.
Here Is how we of the Orange Free
State came to have Cronje at the head
of our troops: Our own commanding
general was General Gideon Joubert, no
relation to Piet Joubert, but he was too
old to direct the forces on the field, nav
lng reached hia eightieth year. It was
agreed between the Orange Free State
and the South African Republic mat
the Free State should send men to the
southern border of the Transvaal. Gen
eral Cronje for a time was at the siege
of Mafeklng, but he was ordered tc
Join Commandant Lubbe's Free State
forces at Magersfonteln when It was
learned that General Methuen, with
24.000 men, was on his way to relieve
Kimberley. Cronje brought 5,000 men
only with him.
Cronje took command of the united
forces. He Is a clear-headed and deter
mined man. A man of uncommon com
mon sense and a brave man.
I was in Hloemfonteln before the war
I saw Sir Alfred Milner ride through
the streets of our capital with his face
set. He did not want the ditticulty set
tirl lirnhant. now of Brabant's horse,
said he would ride the length and
breadth of the Free State with 4,000
horse, but he was told that he could not
do It with ten times mat iorce.
While we welcome Cronje as the lead
er of the Free State forces, we wish
that our brave old Gideon Jouhert were
able to take the field. He fought in the
ltasuto war. His strategical planning
was marvelous. Indeed, the art of strat
egy is born In South Africa. There is
something about the topography of the
country which leds Itself to such skill
and wars with the natives have added
to the Boers' ability to stand off the
enemy.
Like America, South Africa raises
men of the moment, and, unlike many
generals, our leaders confer with the
humblest private and follow advice, II
considered good, no matter whence the
source.
Although we do not allow an ordinary
burgher to come and make suggestions,
Interviews with men In camp are re
garded as part of the plan of cam
paign. Our generals and field cornets
mo Kn seen llstentne to an ordinary
soldier. In this way Ideas are developed
ami crnod nlans ensue.
If a man's advice Is followed his rise
from the ranks is Immediate, and thut
there are always men In line ior pro
motion. Mr iirnther. C. It. Wessels, Is chair
man nf the war council. He was in the
iin.ntr. ivnr fnit that was nothing. It
may be said that this Is his first ex
nerienee In warfare. He has read ev
erylhlng on the art, however. He Is a
SWEETHEARTS AND WIVES FIGHT FOR :
THEIR COUNTRY IN THE INTRENCHMENTS.
The Boer women fought side by side
with the men in their heroic defense of
Koodousrand.
This is a revelation at which even
England stands aghast.
It appears to be true, as many famil
iar with the Boers have predicted, that
the women will shed their blood with
the men in defence of the last inch of
Transvaal and Free State territory.
Again and again has this prediction
il
been made, but little attention has been
paid to it. It Is now beginning to have
a terrible significance. Statements
made from time to time by British sol
diers give confirmation of It.
A war In which women take part will
be awful beyond edscrlptlon. They will
surely urge their men to the last pitch
of desperation, while the enemy will
have the alternative of killing women
or being ruthlessly slaughtered themselves.
Such a war as this has never taken
place In modern times. The most strik
ing Instance of it Is the great struggle
of the Dutch, the ancestors of the
Boers, against Spanish tyranny, In
which women not only fought, but In
several Instances led men. Motley tells
how the Dutch women tore out -the
hearts of the Spaniards and flung them
In the faces of the enemy.
The Boer woman is a strange figure,
apart from this age, uncouth, heroic
possessing boundless courage and the
bigotry of her husband in an exagger
ated degree.
With the 3,000 Boers who resisted for
a week the assault of 50,000 British
troops In that death hole In the Modder
river were the wives, sweethearts, chil
dren and other women relatives of the
defenders. They had accompanied the
original army of 10,000 Boers which re
sisted Methuen's advance and slaugh
tered the Highland brigade at Magers
fontein.
It was not that the Roers took their
wives. The women Insisted on going,
They said it was their right. The free
dom of their country was as much to
them as to the men. As the mothers
went, they had to take their children
for there would have been no one left
to look after them at home. They
would have been left to the mercy of
the Kaffirs.
To set the example, Mrs. Cronje, wife
of the ablest general of the Boers, ac
companied her husband. He is a rich
man, probably a millionaire, but in the
Transvaal the rich are as ready as the
poor to give their lives In defence of
their country. It may be added that
there are no poor, in the European
sense, In that country.
What a spectacle was that the wife
of the great and rich man of the Trans
vaal doing her duty under the murder
on fire of 50,000 soldiers! That simple
old Boer housewife made coffee, cooked
food, nursed the wounded, carried am
munition, while a hall of rifle bullets
and lyddite shells charged with poison
ous vapor filled the bend of the Mod
der river with death and disease. Dy-
ng men and animals lay all around.
But she calmly went on with her work,
her own safety being the last thing
she thought about. There Is no more
heroic spectacle than this In all history.
Even when the British general offered
to suspend hostilities while the women
with their children went out, they would
not hear of It. It was Cronje who sur
rendered first. The women stayed with
him to the last, and perhaps we shall
arn that they opposed the surrender,
whic h appeared Inevitable to his calm
er wisdom.
In one of his reports Lord Kobens
states that there were 170 wounded and
sick Boer women and children In his
hospitals.
These Boer women were not a nuraen
to their husbands, as ordinary women
would be. They cooked the food, car
ried ammunltion.and nursed the wound
ed at moBt times, but whenever neces
sary they fought with their rifles. It
Is owing to them that the Boer gen
erals have no occasion to worry about a
commissariat. The service which these
women, perform for the Boers occupies
about 10,000 men in the British army
n South Africa, who are thus with
drawn from the fighting force.
The Boer women are almost without
exception god shots, good horsewomen
student of Napoleon and Washington.
Ho reeentlv vliilted England, as a re
suit he is carrying on the work like
nn old eamnalener.
I have been in the United States but
a short time, but letterB and visitors
are overwhelming In their expressions
of good will. I accept no offers from
those who want to fight for the Boers,
but I tell them to wait. The time may
rome.
if you see a boy and a man fighting
and the boy Is doing pretty well you dc
not Interfere, do you? But once let the
man overpower the boy and you wu
senarate them.
The South African Republic and the
Orange Free State never will be slaves
A CHISEL IN HIS HEAD.
One of the most difficult and peculiar
surgical operations ever attempted In
Maryland was successfully performed
at St. Joseph's hospital. In Baltimore,
when Prof. Iuls McLano Tiffany, as
sisted by Dr. Carey Gamble and other
surgeons of the hospital, removed from
the heud of Charles C. Barker a steel
chisel four and one-naif Inches long,
one Inch wide and one-qunrtcr of un
Inch thick. The operation lasted only a
111 tie over half an hour, and there are
good chances of the man's recovery.
Mr. Barker Is employed by the Gelser
aianufacturlng rompeny of Waynes,
boro. Pa., and was attending a wood
working machine which contains two
Steel chisels that made 1.200 revolutions
a minute. He was leaning over the
machine when the chisels were driven
out by the tremendous centrifugal
force. He was wounded over the bridge
of the nose, and the wound, which was
a cut an Inch wide, was dressed as any
ordinary wound. One of the chisels
was found, but the other one was not.
4 few davs later Mr. Barker suffered
uartlal paralysis and was brought to
Baltimore and taken to St. Josephs
hospital. There Prof. Tiffany examined
or,,t mmneeted the chisel was in
his head. The X-rays were resorted to
and showed his surmise to be correct.
The sharp tool hurled with the force
of a bullet, had entered where the
wound was over the nose and had taken
a downward course. l ne Keen edge
came coremost and cut through flesh
muscle and bone until It rested against
the vertebrae.
In tho otx'ratlon the sufferer was
chloroformed and an Incision made
from the under lip to the right side of
the nose at Its top. The flesh was then
laid back and a portion of the superior
maxillary removed with bone forceps
Through this opening the chisel was
removed with forceps, without muen
force being exerted. The wound whs
pewed up and the patient put to bed
He will recover.
and accustome dto all the hardships of
campaigning. These qualities have been
developed by the successive treks, or
Immigrations, they have made and the
ordinary life they lead in the Trans
vaal. In middle life the Boer woman
weighs from 160 to 200 pounds, without
any of the helplessness tnat womu im
ply In an American woman. She can
shoot a lion or an antelope from horse
back, or a man, if there is occasion
native wars. Often the trekking Boers
would to construct a laager to resist
the onslaught of a horde of Zulus. The
great trek wagons would be placed in
a cirole, while the men, resting on them,
would shoot the advancing blacks with
their unerring rifles, while others would
eland behind with axe in hand to chop
off the heads of any Zulus who should
crawl under the wagons.
With all these combative qualities the
Boer woman sets up an example of true
womanhood by raising an enormous
family. In personal appearance she is
not displeasing, as many ill-natured
and ill-mannered writers assert she is.
Only upon the artificial and unwhole
some theory that women ought not to
be robust can she be criticised. She
has almost invariably a fine complexion
bronzed, but ruddy which lasts even
to old age.
The Boer woman is the absolute ruler
of her household within doors. Her
husband spends much of his time hunt
ing and looking after his cattle and
Kaffirs. When he comes home to smoke
his pipe on the stoep he interferes in
no way with his vrouw. Mrs. Kruger
has no opinions on politics except those
of her able husband, but at home she
is the ruler and saves every cent of
the president's salary, it is said.
The dress of these women is exceed
ingly picturesque and varied. One In
evitable feature of it is a large sun
bonnet, necessitated by the fierce Af
rican sun. This is evidently a modifi
cation of the national head dress of
the women of ancestral Holland. The
various types of Dutch coiffure may be
traced among the Boer women
There Is no doubt that we shall hear
more and more of the fighting qualities
of the Boer women in this war. As the
situation of their country becomes
more desperate, they will come to the
front. Many reports which have been
made on this subject have received too
little attention
A colonial soldier with Buller's army
writes that before the battle of Colenso
he heard the voices of women and chil
dren In the Boer trenches. He could
hardly believe his own ears, but after
the battle a drummer of the King's
Own Borderers told him that In the
middle of the charge he saw women
carrying belts of cartridges to their
husbands. They walked across the open
ground behind the first line of trenches,
which was swept by bullets. Behind
were llttleo hildren carrying bags of
bullets. Many were killed
When the women went back from the
trenches carrying empty belts the Eng
lish thought the Boers were retreating
and redoubled their fire.
A sergeant of the Scots Fustleers
says that the Boers bury their dead In
a sort of well and that In them were
many bodies of women and children
Many foreign observers have warned
the British that if they conquer the
Boer men they cannot conquer the wo
men. One of these observers Is Dr. A
Kuyper. an educated Dutchman and
member of the States General of Hoi
land. He writes in the Revue des
Deux Mondes, the leading French mag
azine. He explains that he is an ad
mlrer of British institutions and that
for that reason he is particularly grlev
ed to see England engaged In a war o
conquest against a free people,
He declares that England can only
succeed by exterminating the Boer race,
because the women will fight after all
the men are dead. He concludes
"As long as the lioness of the Trans
vaal, surrounded by her cubs, shall roar
against England Irom the summit
tnr If
Every Boer woman of middle life has the Drakensberg, the Boers will not
had some experience in the innumerable be forever subdued."
FILIPNOS AND AMERICANS.
Melbourne, Australia, a city with 500,
000 population and rapidly growing, has
taken an advanced stand for municipal
ownership. It owns absolutely Its owr.
gas works, and last year made a profit
of over 11,500,000. The street railway
system will soon revert to It, when It
will transport passengers a distance of
three to five miles for 1 cent. Long ago
It adopted the eight-hour law for all
city employes. It provides for tho free
transportation of school children, it
furnishes free employment exchange
and one of the finest school systems
In the world. Next to Paris It Is the
equal of any.
When Good Btomnch, one of the Hloux
Indians with the Nouveau Cirque In
Paris was picked up In tho street
drunk and Inarticulate, the police spent
the lime In which he was sobering up
in hunting all over tho city and sur
rounding country for an Interpreter at
,h Sioux language. They did not find
one When the noble red man regained
h mastery of his vocal chords It was
o?nd that he spoke nothing but Eng.
Uih.
One of Ihe newest forms of the bolerr
Jacket appears lo have no fastening ol
nil, but Is hooked Invisibly under the
fronts, toward Ihe side seams. TIip mosl
dressy styles aro of open guipure cut
round and low at the neck, reaching to
the waist In a point at the center ol
the back and front, and arching up
slightly beneath the arms, so that a
portion of the silk or satin under t'
bodice is in evidence.
Das Marinas, Province of Cavlte, Jan.
"Your soldiers sometimes get drunk
, ,, ..
and our Moros never ao, sum m
the Sulu chieftains to General Bates,
and your soldiers are equally strange
about women. If they find a strange
girl alone and unprotected In the woods
they give her food and take her to a
place of safety, making her weakness
her strength. Our Moros have always
thought her fair game."
Even the natives of Luzon are now
aware of the superb characteristics of
the white soldier. They recognize It as
a fact, If they do not understand It, for
they understand very little about us,
and we understand very little about
them. Before the outbreak u was inex
plicable to them how a soldier who
gets drunk ran flgl.t. Now they know
that the soldier who gets drunk will
tight. The process of education Is slow
arid costly.
Last spring when our forces entered a
town, If there was any one left behind,
he was cither ol dor feeble. In this
province of Cavlte, where we are the
most bitterly hated, as our column
marched unopposed from Imus to Das
Marinas yesterday, the women and
children were In the nipn houses which
lined the roadside. Some of them had
fruit to sell to the soldiers. Many of
them smiled as If they were really sin
cere. As long as they are present we know
that we shall not receive a volley from
cover, at least within the next quarter
of a mile. But excepting the old men,
not a single male adult was present.
The Filipino man who appears within
range of our skirmish line runs the
risk of being shot as an insurgent. If
he is In the open very often he Is Bhot.
With a view to his own Interest, the
insurgent soldier wears no uniform.
Our skirmish line does not always dis
cern whether or not the figure ahead
Is carrying a rifle. If he runs, the
chances are against him. Instead of
saying that we outrage the women, the
Insurgent leaders now try to Keep up
the courage of their men by asserting
that we give no quarter.
We waited until the natives of Cavlte
had harvested their rice before we sent
out an expedition to harvest their rifles.
It Is estimated that there are tnreo or
four thousand rifles In tho province.
General Otis, who made all the plans of
the campaign, hoped to round up mosl
nf these by sending Schwsn around In
their rear, only to llnd that they could
march as fast, If not faster, than
Hchwan.
Considering Its purpose, the campaign
has been a failure, We went at It as If
we expected stem resistance, Terhaps
wn got as many as two hundred rifles.
The rest of the enemy simply walked
away. They are now In Batangas prov
ince, or In the mountains between Ba
tangas and Cavlte. We shall have to
follow them to the end of the Island.
General Otis may have to wait some
time before he has troops enough to
spare for this. With the Islands of
Samar and Leyte as yet unocupled, he
needs every man of the 65,000.
A good proportion of the troops that
have taken Cavlte will be needed to
garrison It. In this hotbed of the in
surrection we have absolutely no
friends. The women who smiled at us
from the roadside will assist with in
formation their brothers, their hus
bands or their fathers who are beyond
our line.
The great surpassing military virtue
of Ihe Filipino soldier Is that he keeps
contact. This is especially and wonder
fully true of the Cavlteltes. They keep
Just without the range of our rifles,
going before us or following us up. An
other unarmed man acts as courier,
carrying the information of the out
posts back to headquarters.
As an organization for dodging our
blows, the Filipino army Is superb. Con
sldertng Its number, Its poor marks
manship and the Incapability of the
Filipino soldier to fight In the open, it
accomplishes some remarkable feats in
wearing out our troops. The enemy s
soldier finds food at any nlpa hut where
he may pause on his march. We must
carry our food with us.
The three regiments under Wheston
here are volunteers: who have but late
ly arrived, of course their outposts
brought in a great many prisoners at
first. It is a proud thing for an outpost
to take a prisoner, but his enthusiasm
soon dies out, for he meets with no
encouragement.
What we want Is rifles and not pris
oners. In fact, it Is generally under
stood that prisoners are not to be
taken any more.
We kill all that we can of a band
that 1" retreating, take the rifles of
those we rapture and let them go. A
prisoner Is simply an elephant on our
hands.
General Bates has been releasing man
after man that has been brought In,
and tomorrow the outposts will not be
miltlnr themselves to useless trouble.
The evidence that the outpost has
against the prisoner Is that he Is carry
ing a nolo knife. But every Filipino
carries a bolo. It Is his agricultural
nnd cullnarv apparatus. lies work
with It In his garden; he builds his
house: he slits his bamboo and he
oiens his coconnut with It. Unques
tlonnblv. If he can get behind on Amer
icnn soldier unseen he will kill him
n-lth It.
One of the prisoners brought in last
night h.id a large and suspicious look-
in bundle. It was opened In the pres
enre of General Bates, who Is always
patient and broad-minucu. it contain
I about six pairs of American soldiers'
awers.
"I picked them up in a field," he said.
"That is a very straight story. Very
likely he could, and very likely he did.
Let him go," said the general.
The opinion of the whole army is not
the opinion of General Bates. We often
hear the expression "That the only
good Filipino is a dead one. Shoot ev
ery man Jack of them that we find
snooping around our lines."
The plan which many officers openly
favor Is to drive the whole population
of the southern provinces before us
until famine and distress make them
cry for mercy. Post-Dispatch.
Cannibal Don't Like White Man,
Cannibalism Is not so prevalent today
as It was a quarter of a century ago.
It Is necessary to penetrate to very re
mote parts of the world where the ex
plorer and the missionary have not car.
ried civilizing influences. There are
many tribes of savages, however, now
in a semi-civilized state, who, not so
many years ago, were the worst kind of
cannibals. A missionary the other day
who has Just returned from a sojourn
of many years among cannibals, gave
some Interesting information about
this. All the present generation, he
said, are converted to civilized prac
tices, in large part, and only the old
folks retain memories of the barbarous
orgies the tribe used to indulge in.
'Once," said the missionary, "when a
new young man came to Join me,' one of
the first things he confided to me was
that he was very anxious to see and
talk to a real live cannibal. According
ly I sent for one of the old. gray-headed
men of the tribe, who had been a fierce
warrior In days gone by. He was a
tall and stately fellow, and he saiuted
us profoundly as he entered. As he
could speak only his native language,
I had to Interpret for the curious young
man.
" 'Have you really eaten human
flesh?' he asked.
"I Interpreted this, and the tame old
ravage grinned and nodded his head.
" 'Yes. frequently, when 1 was a
young man,' was the reply, with a grin.
" "Did you eat white men?'
""'Yes. whenever they could be
caught.'
" 'And people of your own color?'
" 'Always, when we made war, we
ate our captives. If we were victorious;
If not, they ate us.
" 'Which tasted the best white man
or block r
''Black man best; nice and Juicy
White man tough and too salty.'
HE RURAL MAIL
DELIVERY SYSTEII
(Homestead.)
Great Interest is felt In the subject
it rural free mail delivery, and we hare
yet to hear of a farmer who doe not
favor It. Indeed the only objector, ac
cording to the official reports of the
special agents of the rural free delivery!
ystem, are the postmasters at smalt
offices, some country storekeeper la ,
hose places of business the office 10
kept and saloonkeepers whose buslne
s reduced when the necessity for fre
quent visits to town is taken away. Ot .
the 1st of November last, rural free
delivery was in successful operation
from 383 distrlbuUng point In forty)
states and one territory. Indeed, taej
only states where there wa no rural
delivery were Idaho, Mississippi, Mon-j -tana
and Wyoming. We are in receipt
of a considerable number of inqulrlea
in regard to how a rural community
should proceed in order to secure frea -
delivery. One correspondent writes
follows:
'I have noticed a number of times la
your valuable paper items and article
referring to rural free mail delivery, ai
subject of special interest to me. There)
s no question but we will get it In time.
but life is too short to wait long for
Improvements. It is every man's duty;
to help make and get Improvement.!
What would be a greater improvement :
n this country that rural free mail
delivery? I have talked to a great
many about it, and all are in favor ot
it, and when we all want it I can see
no good reason why we should not have
it, except, perhaps, that we are una
bashful children, who, when asked it
they would like a piece of cake, though
the cake may be very tempting, are
afraid to say yes. That seems to be
the way with us. Our Uncle Samuel
has been offering it to us, but we don't
seem to get after It. I would like ta ,
see the question, "Free Rural Mall De
livery; Would It Be Beneficial to Far- ,
mers, and in What Way?" discussed in
the Special Farmers' Institute edition.
I can think of no improvement that
would meet with more favor, unless It
would be the telephone. The farmer
walks after his team all day, and when
he goes, in for the night, feeling the
need of rest, he often rinds ne musi go
to a neighbor's on an errand, or per
haps to town, when, if there was a ru
ral telephone system he could stay at
home and rest. Is there any reason wnyj
the farmer should not enjoy these con- ,
veniences? I would like to write more ,
on this important subject, but will only,
ask a question or two and close. How
are the trial delivery routes arranged c
Must they start from some large town
and end at another? Do they take in m
certain prescribed territory? What
would be the proper way to go about it
to get one established?"
We cordially coincide with this corre
snondent In his advocacy of increased
facilities for communication in the rural
districts, both by free delivery ana dji
the telephone. As to the method by
which the routes are established, the
regulations of the department require
that all service of this kind must be
originated upon petitions, presented byt
the people desiring it, through their
senators or representatives in congress.
Wherever it Is practicable to do so the
petition must be accompanied by a
rough map showing the country to be
traversed, with a general statement a
to the number and avocations of the
people who are to be served. Where
roads are good no rural route should be
less than twenty-five miles In length,
and there should not be less than one
hundred families within eash. reach of
each, route. As the purpose is to fur
nish rural free delivery, the petition
must not be for service that would b
a mere adjunct to city delivery, by giv
ing a suburban service to resident
wjthin two or t-hree mijes of the post
office in the city. The route must start
from a postoffice, but does not neces
sarily end at one, though it often passe
by country postofflces ana renaers serv
ice so good as to lead to the discontin
uance of such offices.
When the petition and may have been
presented through the congressman, as
above indicated, the department di
rects a special agent to examine the
proposed route, map it out more exactly
and bond the carrier. The special
agents have no authority to lay out
route without previous Instructions to
make Uie survey, and no route must be
put in operation after survey without
specific instructions.
When the order is Issued for its es
tablishment the postmaster of the dis
tributing office Is advised of the length
and boundaries of the routes which the
carriers must follow. The carriers are
placed under his control, and their pay.
is $400 per annum. The postmaster 1
also directed to see that boxes are put
up by the patrons of the delivery at
convenient points, so that the carrier
can place mail matter in them and take
it from them without alighting from
his vehicle. This Is the substance of
the regulations for establishing free
rural routes.
Another correspondent raises the
question of rural mall delivery in con
nection with star routes in me ioiiow
Ing letter:
"What method should one take to
procure rural mnil delivery? Could it
be carried In connection with a star
route, or would it have to be alone?"
The first inquiry In this letter has al
ready been sufficiently answered. Under
present regulations the rural delivery
route Is wholly independent of star
routes in the same territory, and fre
quently leads to their discontinuance,
as well as the discontinuance of small
postoiHces, because furnishing better
service. A bill was Introduced in con
gress February 13lh, however, to extend
free delivery of mall along star routes.
The first section provides that all con
tracts for carrying mall on star routes
made after the passage of the act shall
Include the deposit In proper boxes,
placed along the line of the routes fot
this purpose, without charge to the ad
dressees of any mall matter that may
be entrusted to the carrier for such dis
tribution, by any postmaster on the
road. The remaining sections of the
bill consist of details, merely, as to
how It Is proposed to carry on the free
rural distribution In connection with
star routes. Should the bill pass, It will
at the next letting of star routes, estab
lish free rural delivery very generally
all over the country.
While the dress skirt still fits smooth
ly about the hips, the marked advan
tage of graceful lines Is not Ignored.
The skirt Hares out prettily, but not
abnormally on the best French models.
Skirts In pleated form will have un
questioned reign for two seasons to
come, and In tho hands of various
noted ateliers they arc Increasing with
extraordinary rapidity.
Next summer will wV.ness at Newport
the society debut of Miss May Goelet,
who Is heiress to (20,000,000 in her own
:lgnt.
The Butter and Cheese Makers' asso
ciation of Minnesota has adopted reso
lutions nsklng legislation establishing
a board ot examiners whose duty It
shall be to examine all butter and
cheese makers as to their qualification.
The resolution Is based on the allega
tion that Incompetent men are Injur
ing the reputation of tho state a s
"gilt-edged" butter state. It I said
that t hero are men In the state who
are taking charge of factorle for IX
a month.
