Reprinted in part from a 1937 article.
About the year 1897 you had a regular carrier in the person of B. Foster Burley, at present residing in Pittsburgh. At that time Mr. Burley and I were classmates in the Logan Avenue school. About that time boys were wearing sweaters, and, like most of the boys, I felt that I wanted a sweater. Mr. Burley possessed a blue sweater that he had worn some, and he, learning of my desire to have a sweater, discussed the matter with me which resulted in a deal. I was to do so much carrying of his Tyrone Daily Herald route after which the sweater would be mine. This seemed to be about the only way I could honestly become the owner of a sweater at the time, so I did the extra carrying and received the sweater.
Having then done the extra carrying, when Mr. Burley discontinued his route in probably 1898, I became the regular carrier. Mr. Ben Hiltner operated the old press, which then had to print both the Tyrone Daily as well as the Tyrone Weekly Herald, and the press in use at that time could print but one side of a sheet at one operation.
Counting papers in Mr. Jones’s office
After school dismissed at 4 o’clock, we carriers all hastened to the office and Mr. Claude Jones would count for us the number of papers required for our routes after which was delivery. As a carrier boy I soon learned to recognize the fact that most subscribers anxiously awaited the receipt of their daily paper, and they learned to expect it about the same time daily. If for any reason a delivery was late it seemed the natural thing for most subscribers was to attribute the delay to fault of the carrier, which sometimes was correct and sometimes was not. In those times boys were frequently detained by their teachers after school if conduct or lessons did not meet with their approval.
Mr. Albright’s forty cents
I recall that Mr. Frank G. Albright owned and operated a grocery store at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Twelfth Street. His office was well to the rear of the store room and elevated about three feet. Mr. Albright, as a rule, was presiding at the right hand side of his principal ledger, when I called to deliver his paper. Unless someone took delivery of the paper before I reached Mr. Albright’s desk I would carry the paper to his desk. I did this because I felt I wanted to be a good paper carrier. About this time the Tyrone Daily Herald Co. decided to reduce the monthly rate of subscription from forty cents to twenty-five cents. Each carrier was given sufficient papers to give one copy to each home on his route. This reduction of rates added to our subscribers and the increased business did not curtail our earnings since we worked on a commission basis.
The point I want to make is that Mr. Albright continued to pay me the forty cents each month even after the reduction, and one other subscriber, Mr. Frank J. Miller, proprietor of the Keystone hotel also continued to give me the forty cents. That extra thirty cents in those days was an amount not to be sneezed at and it was so greatly appreciated that I have a vivid recollection of the whole matter after a lapse of probably thirty eight or nine years.
My commissions, along with my thirty cents extra, plus a little extra Mr. Jones would sometimes hand me amounted to about $4.50 per month. The first purchase I made after receiving my commission was an extra heavy and soft leaded pencil from Mr. A. M. Wooden, which I liked to use in working algebra problems on the soft yellow paper that students were supplied in the old Logan Avenue School at that time. My teachers at that time were Prof. H. S. Fleck and Prof. I. C. M. Ellenberger.
I enjoyed my work as a carrier. I could make good use of the money and my association in this small business with many of the now honored businessmen who helped in a large way to make Tyrone what it is today, created memories that I continue to cherish to this day.
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