Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 155, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1920 — Page 3

BLIND WOMAN VETERAN U. S. MAIL BAG FIXER

Miss Pattie Maddux Sets New Record for Work at Washington. Although blind. Miss Pattie Maddux is the veteran member of Unele Sam’s force employed in repairing “bum” mail bags that have been incapacitated for service by the wear and tear in hauling letters and parcel post. Her job is replacing new cords in salvaged mail containers, for which she is paid $3.60 a day. Miss Maddux is sixty-two years old and has been in the employ of the government for 32 years. She is only one of an organization of 285 men and women assigned to the task of manufacturing, and repairing the mail bags and locks used in the postal service throughout the United States. The post office department is in the manufacturing business, as witnessed by the output of the mall equipment shops in 1919: Made 472,350 new sacks at a cost of SBO,OOO under the lowest bid received from commercial concerns ; produced 10,368 pieces of equipment and attachments for other government departments and for the postal service in the Philippine islands; repaired 2,532,632 bags at a cost of 7.4 cents apiece; and salvaged 13,900 old pouched by- fitting them with new heads. Then, too, Uncle Sam manufactures and repairs his own mail locks. The cost of repair has been reduced from 18 cents to less than 8 cents apiece. Approximately 1,000,000 locks of lighter weight have been placed in the service. Manufacturers formerly rented the post department various parts of machines, the rental amounting to $300,000 a year. Today, housed, in a new $200,000 fire-proof, concrete building, the mail equipment shop is a complete manufacturing establishment —from a carpenter shop to automatic, labor-saving machinery. And, finally, did you know this shop consumed 70 carloads, or 2,100,000 pounds of twine during the fiscal year?

GIVE FREE DENTAL TREATMENT TO POLES

Americans administering free dental treatment to needy Poles at the American Red Cross headquarters at Warsaw, Poland.

STRANGEST PETS KNOWN.

Cat, Canary and Goldfish Get Along Well Together. Mrs. Thad Tillery of Geneva, 0., Is believed to have in three pets the strangest friends known. They are a goldfish, canard bird and cat. All three get along In perfect harmony and show deep regard for each other. Every time Mrs. Smith feeds the cat it. saves a few crumbs for the bird, which hops to the top of the goldfish bowl and tosses in a few for the fish. The favorite restingplace of John, the canary bird, is on the neck of Freddie, the cat. < All three friends seem to grieve greatly that Pete, the goldfish, is unable to hop out of its bowl and gambol around on the floor with the other two. Pete, however, swims around and around close to tEe glass sides of his prison, while John and Freddie play about, when the fish bowl Is put on the floor.

Syndicate Buys Government Homes.

A Philadelphia syndicate has purchased all the houses built by the United States shipping board near the Hog Island shipyard during the war. The bid was $5,541,000 for 1,471 houses.

Hydrophobia Sufferer Shot Dead.

Bunning wild In a hospital at Birmingham, Ala., James Tolliver, suffering from hydrophobia, bit nurses and cajtsed several to faint from fear before he was shot dead by an attendant.

Job printing at On BagnHtean • I ■-

- * I ■ "J' , II *| l - , H I \ 111/ I Ji*® _ - — — - - iFJWHprff " 1 " l " — i 1 % \ Jr'Z pi JR bi ■ MtrnT lij lt H/H / Il I V—— jhk ■ iSffr 1 Hi Lz f ouring Car

Not Only Here But Abroad As WeU “Travelled to the Barrage on the Vaal River and back last Sunday, 129.5 miles, on 4} gallons of petrol. A fine -average which certainly proves the makers* claims for the Franklin. “The roads were for the most part underwater, and counting - gates, about 13 stops were made. Yet we maintained an average of 28 miles per hour tJHPughout, including stops.’’ —Fmtitne Jthanntiburgy (St. Africa) Taw.

ft t || ill

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

THIS is the car that gives to owners the following evidence'of economy, reliability and comfort: . _ 1 20 miles to the gallon of gasoline — 12,500 miles to the set of tires 50% slower yearly depreciation (National Averagei) And this is the car that has also established these unchallenged records of road performance—one- driver continuously at the wheel on each run: Portland, Me., to Top of Mount Boston to Syracuse and return (693 Washington, N. H. (98.2 miles) miles) in 24 hours, 20 mm., with a non-stop, low-gear run — Woman driving New York to Boston and return New York to Montreal (398 miles) in (458.8 miles) in 12 hours, 5 min.— 9 hours, 59 minutes— Indianapolis to Syracuse and beyond Waterloo, la., non-stop, dirt-road re(832.6 miles) in 22% hours— cord, (865.4 miles) in 24 hours— ; Cincinnati to Cleveland and return (553 miles) in 15 hours, 45 min.— • The Franklin is not handicapped by heavy weight and rigidity nor hampered by cooling troubles at any season. It is light, flexible and direct air cooled. We like to give demonstrations of what it can do.

THOMPSON'& KIRK Rensselaer, Indiana