COUNTRY LIFE CONVENIENCES 



345 



daily newspapers, and but few letters were written. To remedy this 

 situation the first step was taken by the establishment of the first 

 rural free delivery route at Charleston, West Va., in 1896. This 

 was undertaken as an experiment, but such a generous response 

 was given it by the people that the postal authorities decided 

 to make it a permanent feature of the postal service. In 1897 

 there were .83 carriers maintained at an approximate expense of 

 $15,000, while in 1908 there were 39,339 carriers, necessitating an 



Class in corn judging, Weatherford, Okla. 



expense of about $35,573,000. Rural delivery is now established 

 on about 1,000,000 miles of roads throughout the country and has 

 a patronage of nearly 20,000,000 people. 



Rural mail service has done much to improve conditions in the 

 country, and the possibilities of the good it may accomplish in the 

 future are vast. 



When the people of any locality desire to have a rural route 

 established, the heads of families living along the line of the pro- 

 posed route sign a petition which is filed with the Fourth Assistant 

 Postmaster-general. An inspector is then sent out to look over 



