Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
Image provided by: University of Utah, Marriott Library
Newspaper Page Text
truth: I about $47,000,000, was paid over to tlic railroads of the country for trans it?, '. portatiou and the rent of special pos ' ," tl L-ars. Il is believed that the first Kreat cut could be made here. In- deed, it has been definitely charged . before the present commission in- , vestigating the jiostal revenues for Congress, that the private express companies arc getting practically I the same service from the railroads at a third of the cost. That is, .-;qual I , " accomodations would cost them over $30,000,000 a year less, a sum rcprc- , ,, senting more than one-sixth of the jfa' total expenditure of the Post-Office I ri Department. We pay our postmasters $23,000, 000. The private corporation would cut down this total by millions and ,&', secure much more efficient local 1 ' managers. The rural free delivery is calculated to be operated at a loss of $.o,ooo,ooo; the private corporation would plan to make this self-supporting by uniting with the routes a par cels express not parcels post, to which the country merchants object, but a lo,cal express service, carrying goods only along the routes on which I ' they are received. The $25,ooo,ooo's worth of mail, now carried free every year under government frank, would he paid for, under private managc I ment, by the Government, the cor- ! poration in the meanwhile paying 4" . rent for its use of government build- it 4 . ' - HIES. -1 $& . 'a', It is scarcely news that the Post- .' "f , Office Department is an extravagant ; .' ' ' and wasteful institution. The man "V agemcut is p'oliticnl from the top down; a system whose whole ten f . , dency is to make two office-holders , grow where one was before. Its working force has the negative virt ,'f ues of the civil service. Its whole j management is bound by the still un- 1 adaptability of official methods. That j " the Government pays high for every f :,l , dealing with a private individual or 5 V-'i' corporation is commonplace know- t f '" ledge; but is the proportion of inef , ficicncy so great? Do we pay twice . ' as much as we should for our post age? Plans for the private opcra , tiou of our national post-office are scarcely likely to be carried into practice certainly not in the near future; but the charges against our' present system which arc involved in this episode arc too serious to be ( k ' overlooked. We must know wheth- er they are true, not merely because of the great financial loss involved, but because every check or hindrance to our postal service means a great and certain loss to our civilization. This is, of course, the thing ot present practical consequence, but 1 beyond that is the light thrown upon .' the general theory of the re-forma tion of society of which we are all thinking so much nowadays. The post-office is the greatest and most -, familiar example of public ownership. 51 Is it true that governmental manage ment of business is in its essence so ineffectual and unadaptable and futile? If so, or if this is nearly so bad as it is painted, is it to be believed that Z. C. M. 1, CLEAN-UP SALE OUR ANNUAL MAY SALE HAS LEFT US WITH A NUMBER OF II, BROKEN LINES; WE ARE DETERMINED, HOWEVER, TO RID '! OUR STOCKS OF ALL ODD LOTS AND ACCUMULATIONS BY ACTUALLY CUTTING PRICES TO EXCEPTIONALLY LOW FIG- , URES COMMENCING MONDAY MORNING. TO MAKE THE , SALE ADDITIONALLY ATTRACTIVE OUR ENTIRE LINE OF ' f LADIES' AND MISSES' CLOTH SUITS WILL BE SOLD DURING THE WEEK AT HALF PRICE, AND FOR MONDAY ONLY ALL J DARK COLORED MILLINERY WILL BE SOLD AT HALF PRICE. .1 WATCH FOR ITEMIZED ANNOUNCEMENTS. Z. C. M. I. I WHERE YOU CET THE BEST ' . Q f. I. OUR DRUG STORE IS AT 112-114 MAIN STREET society is tending to such a form? or is it rather to move toward some other plan of organization some compromise which will combine the level justice of state control and the elasticity and aggressive self-interest of private enterprise? It should be said that Mr. Cortel you could in all likelihood, with pro per cooperation o'f the other depart ments of the Government, put the. post-office on a very sound basis. He has laid the foundations for great improvement in the public service, lie has greatly reduced the so-called deficit and the pcrccnttagc of in crease of expenditure. lie has been alive to the necessity of making the postal service a business institution. The various divisions in the Depart ment have been overhauled; attempts have been made to secure a body of accurate statistics which would be of great value, and it is probable' that if the Department could secure wlia the Pos.tmastcr-Gcncral recommend ed in his last report, millions of dol lars could be saved, and a greattly increased service rendered to the peo ple. Mr. Coltelyou has come very near being thc'ideal postmaster. It is like ly that with a completely free hand he could have brought about still greater improvements. But there is apparently no assurance that men of his caliber will of'cn be found in his position. The operation of the post office ought certainly to secure the services of men who would, at least, be able to operate a great railroad system, and it is to be hoped that the people will demand permanent and efficient offic'als in charge of this great business. McCIurc's. MAUD ADAMS TELLS HOW SHE SAVED AN ENTHUSIASTIC YOUNGSTER. There is never a matinee perform ance of "Peter Pan" without its side show. These latter occur among the audiences. They arc either delight fully humorous as when some little shaver of six or eight years carried away with enthusiasm at the exploits of the pirates, leaves his scat and rushes down the theatre aisle and to wards the stage, or perhaps they are touchingly pathetic, as when a little girl of golden locks worked into a fever heat of excitement lest Peter Pan may not rescue the Lost Boys from the pirate ship, cries out, as did one recently, " Hurry up, Peter Paul" But Miss Adams herself tells the most interesting anecdote of the per fect self loss in the illusion which a blackhaircd little chap experienced at a recent matinee performance of "Peter Pan." "lie sat beside his mother in a stage box," she says, leaning very far forward over the edge of the box and eagerly drinking in every incident of the play. His eyes bulged with amazement at everything that went on before him. He did not move, save for an occasional further nudg ing forward on the edge of his chair, lie did not applaud. It was too real for him. He simply stared at the sight of a stage vision which was doubtless, giving palpable form to the substance of many of his boyish drcapis. Everyone of us upon the stage could not but feel his presence. The indefinite something which pas ses between the actor and the auditor and conveys more surely than the clapping of hands, the sympathy be tween player and playgoer, was so direct as between us and the little blackhaired chap in the box, that we all felt that we were playing oui best exclusively for delight, but it was a bit tantalizing that he said j never a word or made no movement. Usually children continuously ana ' very audibly pester their parents with , questions at a " Peter Pan " perform ancc, but this little fellow stared on in complete amazement, but at last j the silence was broken in a very dc- f ' cided and unexpected manner. : "It is at the moment when Tinker S Bell having drunk the poison left by 1 the pirate Hook, is thought to be dy- iilg. Nothing can save the perishing fairy but for the audience to show by some sign their belief in fairies. This day, as at times during all our per formances, I felt the audience, as the saying is, overwhelmingly 'with me." Hence, sure of saving Tinker Bell's life, I rushed to the footlights ex claiming, 'do you believe? Oh, say quick that you believe ' But I got 1 no farther. The little chap in the j audience interrupted me by crying out 'Ilil I do!' And the audience burst into a thunder of applause. But that was not all, nor is it to the point of the incident. The little fellow's ! mother evidently, cmbarrascd by at- I trading so much attention, gently chided him for his spectacular out- burst, and at her words his little face puckered up into something which , very seriously threatened to end in tears, but he did not cry, I saved him, as he had saved Tinker Bell " I Wc received the usual curtain call; j as I stepped out front I stood be- 1 fore the box in which my little ad mirer sat and deliberately tossed a kiss right into his lap. Then a won derful thing occurred. The down cast mouth, the damp eyes, and the guilty look all vanished as if by magic :.nd my little friend broke out into I hearty laughter. j Miss Adams' local engagement in "Peter Pan" at the Salt Lake theatre 5 is limited to five nights and a Wed- ' nesday matinee, beginning Monday, j June 3rd.