way they were behind the times, and they all expressed themselves as not only ready to learn and adopt newer methods but pleased with friendly criticism. The post offices of Essex County were marked: 3 perfect, 26 excellent, 24 good, 14 fair and 3 poor.

The Columbus, Ind., postmaster, Amos E. Hartman, sent fine photographs of all the post offices in Bartholomew County. The postmaster at Pomeroy, O., Walter W. Merrick, did likewise. So also did the county-seat postmaster of Branch County, Michigan, Albert A. Dorrance of Coldwater.

A. A. Thomson, postmaster at Carlisle, Pa., reported upon Cumberland County. He visited fifty-one of his fifty-seven post offices. They were all conveniently located. Forty-six were well arranged, clean and orderly, and five were not. In thirty-seven the books, accounts and reports were properly kept and correctly written up, but in fourteen the stamp books were not posted nor the registry books properly checked. Twenty-one offices were not used as loun

ging places. In thirty lounging was allowed, but it could not well be prevented as the offices were principally shops or ticket offices. In five the anti-lottery law was not found to be posted; in thirty-six the Postal Laws and Regulations were in use, but in thirteen they were not; though in these thirteen their other business mostly engaged the attention of the postmasters. In twenty-five offices the postmasters gave all their time to their public duties; in thirty-five the efforts of the postmasters were divided with private business, and in four the work was done by proxy; twelve

had no other business or office, and, although thirty-nine did other things, the revenue of these offices did not justify making the postal work exclusive. There was no savings bank in the county.

CRAWFORD COUNTY (PA.) SCENES.

Mr. O. H. Hollister, postmaster at Meadville, Pa., enclosed his eighty-eight reports in a fine, soft calf binding, and the last page of the cover contained a pouch with the map of the county. Postmaster Hollister said:

The change of star routes which I have indicated with the change from triweekly service to a daily, are the most important. I find that offices with a daily service are more appreciated and usually better equipped than those with a triweekly service. Complaint has been made by the patrons of tri-weekly service offices that other offices in the county have a daily mail, which have no more claim to such service

business hours and is no detriment to the service. More efficient service could be obtained by increased compensation.

Postmaster Hollister reported that he traveled five hundred miles, and that the ten hundred and six square miles of his county contained a population of 65,324 persons, and that of the eighty-four offices visited he found eleven perfect, eleven excellent, forty good, seventeen fair and five poor.

Postmaster Jas. M. Brown of Toledo, Ohio, inspected the offices of Lucas County, and he accompanied his report with neat pictures of all the offices reported on.

The postmaster at Valparaiso, Indiana, Mr. Mark L. DeMotte, reported upon the offices of Porter County. He submitted fine photographs of all the offices in his county; and he took them himself, because on the last page of the report appeared a picture of his horse, carriage and camera, and the postmaster himself.

The women postmasters came grandly to the front in the countyseat inspections. A recent computation made out that there were 6,335 postmistresses in the country, distributed by states and territories as follows:

It fell to the lot of sixty-one of these women to make the countyseat visitations, and they displayed enterprise and determination in this work, and tact and judgment, too, of rare, though not surprising

degree. Almost all took pains to report that they had been very courteously welcomed; indeed, they probably surpassed the men in this respect. They travelled about with the same success as the men. In Idaho, one woman covered almost 300 miles on horseback, and in Mississippi another visited almost all the offices in her county in a sailboat.

A whole book could be written about the many admirable women who work away with all their tact and business prudence, and with a loyalty sometimes more loyal than a man's, trying to please their patrons and the Department alike, and pleasing both because they try. Sometimes they are popular and successful politicians in their way. Sometimes they are the most important persons in their towns. They know what is going on without reading all the postal cards that pass through their offices. They keep their books neatly and accurately, and having, usually, less of outside business than the average man, their time is less divided with other duties. They

deserve to be known outside of their own localities.

-

Mrs. Lucy S. Miller of Mariposa, California, inspected the offices of Mariposa County, all but two or three of them, which were too far away. She reported that the postmasters were very critical and interested, and that most of the offices were in good order. Mrs. Miller was appointed after the man first recommended had failed to qualify. "I have learned much of patience, forbearance and policy," she wrote, "and have acquired some knowledge of human nature, which should be in itself an education." The morning mail reaches Mariposa at five in the morning, summer and winter, and before that hour Mrs. Miller is faithfully at her post and has the mail in readiness for the different carriers as they call.

Miss Mary I. Grow, postmistress at Colfax, La., reported upon Grant Parish. She found many postmasters who did not understand how to keep the postal account book; but she gave them advice and instruction, and was cordially thanked for her visits.

Mrs. Mary E. Jones, postmistress at Downieville, Cal., inspected the offices of Sierra County. She gathered her information personally from the business men. A few of the offices in the mountains she did not visit, as it would have taken two weeks of travel by stage through three or four other counties. She insisted that the postmasters were above the average in intelligence and business capacity. Mrs. Mary Green, postmistress at Warrenton, N. C., had to travel for many miles in private conveyances in order to reach all the offices in Warren County. Miss Annie Mountien of Vernon, Florida, reported that it would be inconvenient for her to inspect all the offices in her county, as it would require journeys aggregating 320 miles and mostly in private conveyances, and as the salary of her office was only $40 a quarter, she hardly felt like undergoing the expense. But she suggested that two other postmasters be called in to her assistance; and the county was so divided.

Mrs. E. A. S. Mixson inspected Barnwell County, S. C. She is one of the