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•4 CF U U 1 /VI
Rural postman: be
part of each family
By BECKY LEAKE
The kids sit fidgeting on the
porch, shading their eyes and bet
ting on who will be the first to see
him. Mom peers frequently out the
window, drying her hands on her
apron and wondering if he brings
news from Aunt Susan and Uncle
Henry. Every once in a while Dad
even interrupts his spring plowing to
look down the road when he reaches
the end of the row.
A clou4 of dust appears on the
road and the kids are off to greet one
of the most welcomed visitors of farm
families, the rural mail carrier.
Ever since 1896, when Rural Free
Delivery was established, the rural
carrier has been an important part of
every rural community. For many
farm families, he was the only con
tact with the outside world they had
for days or even weeks at a time.
For James R. “Jimmy” Earls of
Waco, delivering the mail every' day
was more than just a job.
“You know your people, their
troubles and happiness. You just be
come a part of each family,’ says
Earls, who is retired after spending
43 years with the postal service.
Each rural carrier was appointed
as a civil worker by the governor of
the state and had to be of high moral
character with no black marks
against him.
“Not even speeding tickets,”
Earls said.
Usually, 99 percent of the rural
carriers were involved in community
and church affairs, said Earls, who is
still active in community and church
service around Waco. Each rural
route was 24 miles long, and in the
early days a rural carrier needed two
horses to get the job done in one day.
Rural carriers were expected to pro
vide thier own transportion and
were paid by the mile rather than by
the hour like city carriers.
These “traveling post officers” as
they were called, provided the same
services as the post office in town.
Besides delivering mail and pack
ages they could sell stamps, issue
bonds and insurance and pick up
outgoing mail. A good rural carrier
could always be counted on to bring
up-to-date local news and events, re
cent deaths and births, lend a help
ing hand with chores when needed
and even bring the pound of coffee
he was asked to pick up in town yes
terday.
“I always enjoyed my work,” Earls
said. “It was like going visiting every
day.
Earls has delivered everything
from chickens to queen bees in his
years as a rural carrier. His devotion
to his work started a local saying that
Jimmy would have taken a dress up
to a customer’s door and helped her
to try it on if need be.
“I probably would have, too,” said
Earls with a grin.
_ “Service with a smile” is the motto
of rural carriers and they are well
known around rural communities for
their dependability in providing that
service. Earls described how many
times he and the other carriers deli
vered the mail in every kind of
weather and under trying circumst
ances. About three times Earls
helped farm families fight fire and
always carried a tow chain and extra
gas to help motorists in trouble.
During World War II, the rural
carriers helped keep the nation
together by delivering the mail to
small towns despite low wages. Earls
said he felt it was and still is a real
necessity to keep the mail moving
and to bring the nation’s citizens in
contact with each other.
Today, there are approximately
1,716 rural carriers in Texas alone
and they are still known to be the
most efficient workers of the postal
service. Earls said that in 1926 there
were eight rural carriers to 28 city
carriers in the Waco area. Today
there are only 10 rural carriers to'
over 200 city carriers in Waco.
The standard of service is still high
among rural carriers, Earls said.
During the 23 years he spent as pres
ident of the county chapter of The
Nation Rural Letter Carriers Asso
ciation, only 10 out of the 32,000
rural carriers in America were re
moved from service.
Though the social importance of
the rural carrier may have changed
through the years, they still provide
a valuable and needed service to ru
ral familes today.
Photo by Becky Leake
JarrnesR.'Jiniiny Earls stands b^h^ymbol of his 43 years with the U.S. Postal Service.
New tropic farming course
By MARK PERRIN
Cindy Douglas, a junior bio-medical science
major, takes a close up look at her chicks daily,
to keep accurate progress reports for nutrition
trials. The chicks are used in Dr.Howard Hes-
by’s Animal Science 304 nutrition class.
Photo by Linda Warinner
Calhoun feels these areas will play an increasingly
important role in future world food production.
Farming practices are unlike the United States be-
Wanted: Graduates with a degree in agriculture to cause mechanized agriculture is just now beginning to
work in tropical regions. Average temperature 80 to 85 be utilized in many of these areas. Calhoun said the
degrees, year-round growing season, plentiful rainfall main reason machinery is not used to a greater extent is
and fertile soils. Salary negotiable. because most of the farmers cannot afford it.
Advertisements such as this may become numerous Some of the tropical regions are beginning to use
in the near future as tropical agricultural regions ar cchemicals and fertilizer, especially in Latin America
further developed in Latin America, South America and w j iere p e0 ple have been very receptive to the intro-
Africa. duction of new farm practices.
A new course to be offered by Texas A&, in t e There are two different channels to choose from if a
spring semester, Special Topics in Soi s an ropping p erson wan (- s t 0 wor k in the tropics. Calhoun said there
Systems of Tropical Regions, will help prepare s u ents j s “t remenc |ous opportunity for graduates” in technical
interested in working in the tropics^ assistance jobs, such as in extension and education prog-
The course will be taught by Dr. Frank • a oun, rams f or United States government and for universi-
professor of tropical soils and crops at r exas A&M. (.j es
Calhoun has over six years work experience in the A sea nd channe i would inc i ude WO rking for multi
tropics. He worked for Firestone in Liberia, est Afn- na (.j ona j companies, who have operations located in the
ca, did soil research in Columbia, South America an<; j tropics, such as rubber or farm implement companies,
worked as a party chief for the F nited States Agency of Special emphasis in the new course will be placed on
International Development through a contract with the t jj e mana g emen t and improvement of tropical soils.
University of Florida in El Salvador. Other topics to be discussed will include tropical soil
Tropical regions include areas that have less than a formation, cropping systems in the tropics and food
five degree centigrade difference between the average production potential.
monthly temperatures. Rainfall in these areas may aver- Students interested in international work, such as
age 100 to 125 inches per year, and contrary to popular p eace Corps or USAID, will find the course particulary
belief Calhoun said that about 80 percent of the soils are use f ul It is a three-hour course and is listed as Agro-
very fertile and highly productive. nomy 489 in the spring schedule.
Ag Economics Club
Speech Contest
and Meeting Nov. 27
108 Harrington 7:30 p.m.
Contest open to all club members
for information call
Nick Bambert 779-9428