Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 February 1918 — MOTOR TRUCKS TO CARRY MAILS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MOTOR TRUCKS TO CARRY MAILS

New Routes for Parcel Post Expected to x Lower Food Costs

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ITHIN, perhaps, the next few months motortruck parcel post routes will be in operation in various parts of the country, aggregating between 3,000 and 4,000 miles. One chain of motor routes will extend from Portland, Me., to New Orleans. Another will cover much of a large stretch

of territory in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia. On the Pacific coast routes will be established between San Francisco and Sacramento, Cal., via Stockton and Fruitdale, a distance of 125 miles, and - between Redlands and Los Angeles, Cal., via Ontario and Pomona, Cal., a distance of 76 miles. It is the belief of the post office department that the operation of these routes, and others to be established, will materially aid in the distribution and in lowering the cost of food products. The existing law does not provide for the employment of governmentowned motortrucks or rural delivery routes, nor does ‘ it require the rural carriers to use motorvehicles. In the star route service, however, where the mall is carried under contract, a recent law permits the post office department to designate the sort of vehicles to be employed, and in awarding new contracts the department will specify that motortrucks shall be employed on all routes where the roads are such as to admit of their use. These contracts are advertised for bidders, and where payment asked for the service is deemed to be excessive the department is authorized to provide government-owned motortrucks and to employ drivers for the operation of these routes. > A further extension of the employment of government-owned motorvehicles by its adoption for the parcel

post service of the rural routes, will be made whenever congress enacts a law now pending for that purpose. Operating under the law as it now stands as applied to the star route service, motortruck routes, some under contract and some operated with government-owned motortrucks, are in process of establishment as follows: New York city to Port Jervis, N. Y., via Belleville, Montclair and Dover, N. J 7, ficllSjan^eeach way of 86 miles; New York city to Hammonton, N. Y„ via Mount OHVe, Bordentowq, Trenton, Princeton and Elizabeth, N. j., a distance each way of 114 miles; New York city to Easton, Pa., via Montclair, Morristown and Spmervllle, N. J„ a distance each way of 94 miles; New York city to New-Milford, Conn., via Pawling, Yorktown Heights, Briar Cliff Yonkers, N. Y., a distance each way of 91 miles; New York city to Hartford, Conn., via Whiteplains, R. Y., Danbury aqd Waterbury, Conn., a distance each way of 105 miles; New York city to Port Jervis, N. Y., via Goshen and Suffern, N. Y., a distance each way of 84 miles. Other routes being established are: Philadelphia, Pa., to Easton, Pa., via Hallowell and Doylestown, Pa., a distance each way of 56 miles; Easton to Reading, Pa., via Bethlehem and Allentown, Pa., a distance each way of 51

miles; Pottsville, Pa., to Easton, Pa., via Orwigsburg and Danielsville, Pa.; Harrisburg, Pa., to Reading, Pa., via Lebanon and Robesonia, Pa., a distance each why of 51 miles, and Harrisburg, Pa., to Hagerstown, Md. Routes extend from Cincinnati to Springfield, Ohio, via Dayton and Miamisburg, a distance each way of 76 mists; Portland, Me., to Nashua, N. H., via Portsmouth and Exeter, N. H., a distance each way of 105 miles; Nashua, N. H., to Hartford, Conn., via Stafford Springs, Conn., and Worcester and East Pepperell, Mass., a distance each way of 127 miles; Hagerstown, Md., to Stapnton, Va.; Staunton, Va., to Roanoke, Va.,; WinstonSalem to Charlotte, N. C.; Concord to N. C.; Charlotte to Camden, N. C.; Camden, N. C., to Columbia, S. C.; Florence .to Columbia, S. C., via Darlington and Lydia; Columbia, S. C., to Chapin and Lexington, a distance of 70 miles and return; Charleston, S. C., to Columbia, S. C„ via Somerville and Orangeburg, S. C., a distance each way of 126 miles; Orangeburg, S. C., to Augusta, Ga., via Langley and Williston, S. C., a distance each way of 77 miles; Savannah to Statesboro, Ga., via Pooler, Bloomingdale, Marlow and Brooklet, a distance each way of 55 miles; Augusta to Macon, Ga.; Macon to Columbus, Ga.; Columbus to Montgomery, Ala.; Greenville, S. C., to Atlanta, Ga.; Atlanta, Ga., to Montgomery, Ala., and Blrminghant to Montgomery, Ala., via Verbena and Marbury, Ala., a distance each way of 106 miles. With the exception of a branch between Washington, D. C., and Richmond, Va., the course of which has not yet been decided on, a chain of routes has been adopted Unking Portland, Me., with Nashua, N. H.; Nashua with Worcester, Mass.; Worcester with Hartford, Conn.; Hartford with New York

city; New York city with Easton, Pa.; Easton with Philadelphia; Philadelphia with Oxford, Pa.; Oxford with Baltimore, Md.; Baltimore with Washington, D. C.; Lynchburg, Va., with Winston-Salem, N. C.; Winston-Salem with Charlotte, N. C.; Charlotte with Greenville, S. C.; Greenville ■ with Atlanta, Ga.; Atlanta, Ga., with Birmingham or Montgomery, Ala.; Birmingham or Montgomery with Jackson, Miss. Routes will be established Jackson to New Orleans, La., and Jackson to Mobile. These routes are now surveyed and are being advertised for bids. Where* satisfactory bids are not received gov-ernment-owned trucks will be used. These routes already in operation with government-owned trucks are from Washington, D. C., to Leonardstown, Md., a distance each way of 54 miles; from Annapolis, Md., to Solomons, Md., a distance each way of 65 miles; frbm Washington, D. C„ to Baltimore, Md., via.Ridgeville; from Baltimore to Philadelphia, Pa., via Belair, .Md., Oxford and West Chester, Pa., a distance each way of 110 miles; and from Baltimore to Gettysburg, Pa., via Westminster, a distance each way of 53 miles. Routes in the middle states will form a chain from Indianapolis, Ind., to Columbus, Ohio; Columbus to Zanesville, O.; Zanesville to Wheeling, W. Va.; Wheeling to Pittsburgh, Pa.; Pittsburgh to Uniontown, Pa.; Uniontown to Cumberland, Md.; Cumberland to Hagerstown, Md.; Hagerstown to Staunton, Va.; Staunton to Lynchburg, Va. Further extensions contemplated but not yet surveyed are from Charleston, W. Va., to Columbus, O.; Columbus to Cincinnati, O.; Cincinnati, 0., to Louisville, Ky.; Louisville to Chattanooga, Tenn., and Chattanooga to Atlanta, Ga.