Mail not to be 7. Letters for delivery shall not be carried by carriers in their pockets.

carried in pockets.

Carriers not to

leave routes, nor

stop for meals.

thrown away.

8. Carriers shall not deviate from their respective routes nor stop for their meals while on their trips.

No matter to be 9. Carriers shall not throw away or improperly dispose of mail matter, however trifling or unimportant it may appear to them.

Stamps not to be removed.

Delivery of mail by mounted carriers.

Delivery at houses where

kept.

10. Stamps shall not be removed from mail matter intrusted to carriers for delivery or collected by them for mailing.

See sec. 666, as to demanding fees for delivery of mails.

Sec. 709. Mounted carriers shall dismount and deliver the mail at the doors of residences, or into receptacles, except in cases where the patrons on their routes consent to respond to their call and receive the mail at the sidewalk.

Sec. 710. Carriers are not required to deliver mail at vicious dogs are residences where vicious dogs are permitted to run at large. Persons keeping such dogs must call at the post office for their mail.

Collection postage due.

of

mail matter

Sec. 711. Carriers shall collect and promptly return to the postmaster all postage due on mail intrusted to them for delivery, as indicated by the postage-due stamps attached. Such mail matter must not be delivered until the postage due shall have been paid.

See sec. 587, as to penalty for failure to collect or to account for postage due.

Collection of Sec. 712. When carriers, making collections from receiving letter boxes, find that it will be impossible on any one.

from boxes.

Preference matter of first class.

trip to carry to the post office the contents of all the to boxes on their routes, preference shall be given to mail matter of the first class. Newspapers and packages placed on the tops of letter boxes should be collected when it can be done without overloading the mail sacks and preventing the prompt collection of mail matter properly deposited in the boxes.

ceive matter for

mailing.

Letters.

Carriers to re- Sec. 713. Carriers, while on their routes, shall receive letters with postage stamps affixed, handed them for mailing, but they should not delay their deliveries by waiting for such letters. Money to pay postage on letters tendered to them for mailing shall not be accepted.

2. Carriers should also receive other small articles of Other matter. mailable matter with postage properly prepaid, but they should refuse to receive packages that are cumbersome on account of size, shape, or weight, especially when the carrying of such packages would interfere with the prompt delivery of mail and the collections from letter boxes.

register first-class

3. Carriers shall receive and register all letters and To receive and packages of first-class matter that are not cumbersome matter, when. on account of size, shape, or weight, and properly offered them for registration, and shall give the regulation receipt therefor.

See sec. 666, as to carriers demanding fee for letters collected; sec. 1066, as to registration of mail by letter carriers.

Matter collect

ed or received by

carriers not to be

returned to send

Sec. 714. Carriers shall not return, under any circumstances, to any person any letter or letters said to have been deposited in a letter box, or which have come ers. into the custody of the carrier in a regular way. An applicant for the return of such mail should be directed to the postmaster. (See secs. 552 and 553.)

livered mail,

office at night.

Sec. 715. After the last daily delivery carriers shall Return undereturn to the post office or station with which they are satchels, etc., to connected their satchels and all mail that can not be delivered, except that when, in the opinion of the post-except. master, the interests of the service will be promoted thereby, carriers may be permitted to take their satchels home with them direct from their routes, but undelivered mail matter remaining in satchels shall first be deposited in the nearest letter box.

CHAPTER 2.

RURAL DELIVERY.

I.-ESTABLISHMENT OF SERVICE.

Sec. 716. The Postmaster General is authorized to tablish free-delivery service in rural communities.

See 1893, Mar. 3; 27 Stat., 732. Petitions for es

2. Petitions for the establishment of rural-delivery tablishment. service should be made on forms furnished for the purpose and sent to the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Rural Mails.

Conditions precedent to estab

lishment.

Patronage prerequisite.

stricted.

lines.

limit.

-exceptions.

3. Roads on which rural-delivery service is established shall be in good condition and so maintained, unobstructed by gates, and there shall be no unbridged streams not fordable at all seasons of the year.

4. Service shall not be established on any rural-delivery route until not less than three-fourths of the heads of families and others to be supplied thereby shall agree to patronize the service and provide boxes for the reception of their mail.

See sec. 824, as to patrons' boxes.

Service re- Sec. 717. Persons residing within the corporate limits -corporation of a city or town having a post office, or within one-quarter-mile quarter of a mile of post office in a locality where no corporate limits exist, shall not be served by rural carrier except by specific order of the department. But persons who reside within the corporate limits of a city or town where city-delivery service is in operation, and outside of the limits of delivery by the city carrier, may be served by rural carriers, provided they will erect approved rural-delivery boxes on the route in the required

manner.

II. CARRIERS, SUBSTITUTE AND TEMPORARY CARRIERS. Classification Sec. 718. The Postmaster General is authorized to classify the and compensation. Rural Delivery Service and fix the compensation to employees in such service.

1902, Apr. 21, ch. 563; 32 Stat., 113.

Appointment of rural carriers.

Information regarding rural-car

2. Rural carriers shall be appointed by the Postmaster General upon certification by the Civil Service Commission from registers of eligibles resulting from examination.

3. Inquiries relative to the examinations for the posirier examinations. tion of rural carrier should be addressed to the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C.

Transfers.

-authority required from the department.

-application for transfer.

4. Carriers shall not be transferred from one route to another without specific authority from the department. 5. A rural carrier desiring transfer from one route to another shall make application therefor to the postmaster, stating his reasons for desiring the transfer and his willingness to accept the salary prescribed for the route to which he desires assignment. The postmaster shall transmit the application with his recommendation to the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, Division of

Rural Mails. Transfers will not be made for trivial

reasons.

See sec. 253 for transfer of postmaster to rural carrier.

-postmasters to

Sec. 719. The resignation of a rural carrier or substitute Resignations. shall be made in writing and forwarded through the post-forward. master to the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Rural Mails. In transmitting the resignation of a substitute carrier, the postmaster will furnish the name new substitute of some suitable person agreed upon by himself and the regular carrier for appointment to fill the vacancy.

to be named.

Continuance of

service required.

2. A rural carrier who has tendered his resignation is required under his bond to see that service on the route -how long. is performed until his successor shall have been appointed and qualified.

may serve more

none

3. If deemed advisable by the postmaster, a substitute Substitute may be assigned to two or three routes, but not more. than one route. 4. When a substitute is no longer available for service, when the postmaster shall promptly report that fact to the department.

available.

transferable

or

Sec. 720. A rural carrier has no right or advantage in Position not his position which is transferable or salable. An offer salable. to resign for a consideration subjects a carrier to removal and an applicant who offers a consideration is barred from appointment.

Substitute car

riers.

Sec. 721. Under such regulations as the Postmaster General may prescribe, a substitute carrier may be employed at the expense of the 1902, Apr. 21, regular carrier to temporarily perform service on any rural-delivery ch, 563; 32 Stat.,

mail route.

113.

-report of.

2. Postmasters shall make prompt report to the de- Vacancies. partment of the occurrence of a vacancy in the position of rural carrier, stating the date on which the carrier last served the route, the name of the substitute performing service, and what arrangement has been made for the continuance of service.

Sec. 722. Every rural carrier, temporary carrier, sub- Official oath. stitute carrier, and temporary substitute carrier shall,

before beginning service, take the official oath prescribed

in section 153, and no person who has not taken the pre

scribed oath shall be given custody of the mails.

Sec. 723. Each rural carrier and substitute carrier Bond required shall, upon being appointed, execute a bond in the sum

of $500 with acceptable sureties, the bond to be for--amount of. warded to the department when executed.

-where filed.

nies or personal.

-surety compa- 2. Bonds to be acceptable must be signed by two personal sureties, each of whom is worth the sum of $500 in property over and above his debts and personal liabilities, or by an indemnity company that is authorized to qualify as sole surety on an official bond.

Note.

-report of death,

NOTE. For a list of such companies see Official Postal Guide. Bondsmen. 3. When a person who has qualified as surety on a removal, insol- bond of a rural carrier dies, removes from the locality of the route, or becomes insolvent, the postmaster shall at once notify the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, Division of Rural Mails.

vency.

New bonds.

-may be required.

Carriers' sala

ries.

Sec. 724. The execution of new bonds for regular, substitute, or temporary rural carriers may be required by the Postmaster General whenever it is deemed necessary or expedient.

Sec. 725. Letter carriers of the rural delivery service shall receive 1912, Aug. 24; 37 a salary not exceeding $1,100 per annum. Stat., 553.

-how and when paid.

Temporary car

riers. -payment of.

Pay of substi

tute carriers.

2. Rural carriers shall be paid monthly at a rate of pay fixed by the department, through certain designated post offices, upon presentation by postmasters at rural-delivery offices of properly executed vouchers.

3. Regularly appointed temporary carriers shall be paid for service at the same rates of pay as regular carriers.

Sec. 726. •*

*

* Substitutes for rural carriers on vacation to

1907, Mar. 2; 34 be paid during said service at the rate paid the carrier. Stat., 1215.

Temporary substitutes. -payment of.

2. A substitute rural carrier who performs service during the leave of absence, without pay, of a regular carrier shall be paid by the regular carrier at the per diem rate of pay for the number of days on which the substitute serves. If, during the carrier's absence without pay, it is necessary for the substitute to report at the office on Sundays or holidays in accordance with the provisions of section 774 the substitute shall be paid for those days. If the substitute performs service for an entire calendar month he shall be paid the full salary for that month.

3. Substitutes who perform service for regular carriers absent with pay shall be paid at the per diem rate paid the carrier for each day's service exclusive of Sundays and authorized holidays, and shall sign voucher Form R. D.--4. 4. Temporary substitute carriers shall be paid at the same rates and in the same manner as substitute carriers.