Richland Demands Better Mail
After the river froze, stopping boat deliveries, Richland residents held a mass meeting to protest their isolation.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Ever since the change in mail from the auto-stage way to carrying it by boat, there has been dissatisfaction among patrons of the Richland post office. With the freezing of the river and stopping of boat service, the mail of the day before reaches Richland about 1:30 p.m., with the result that the height of indignation has been reached by the citizens and ranchers, culminating in a mass meeting Tuesday night. A resolution of protest was unanimously registered, demanding immediate investigation by postal authorities. This petition is now on its way to Washington, D. C., and copies have been sent to Congressman LaFollette and U. S. Senator W. L. Jones.
“the height of indignation has been reached by the citizens and ranchers.”
Infrastructure reliability has always been the lifeblood of Eastern Washington's development. This 1914 protest over mail speed mirrors modern-day frustrations regarding rural connectivity and service gaps in the Tri-Cities region.
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