Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 226, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1916 — SAVING TRIPS TO MAIL BOX [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SAVING TRIPS TO MAIL BOX

In These Days of Almost Universal Electricity, This Device Should Be In General Use. An invention which will no doubt prove interesting to those who live In rural or suburban districts is an improvement on the rural delivery mall boxes which are so common throughout the country now. In some places the houses, especially on farms,

are at considerable distance from the road where the mail boxes are erected on posts. In order to ascertain whether or not the postman has left any mall it is necessary to make a trip to the roadside and very often ■with the result that no mail is found. Now, the idea of this improved mail box is to save steps, as will be seen. A good idea of the construction of the device may be obtained by the illustration shown. It will be noticed that when the metal cover is lifted it comes into contact with the small brass strip affixed at the rear of the box, thus creating a complete circuit. Wires are run from this contact, and also from the metal lid, to the house where there is an electric bell, fitted with a battery, which is made to ring by the current created by the contact, thus announcing the definite arrival of the mail.