El Dorado News-Times from El Dorado, Arkansas • Page 23

Australian residents resorting to private means of mail service By THOMAS KENT Associated Press Writer SYDNEY, Australia (AP) Some 2,000 private courier trucks scurrying around the streets of Sydney and Melbourne testify to frustrations with its government mail system. Mail users pay the private couriers the equivalent of $2 and up per letter for guaranteed delivery on the same or next day. flushed with success, the couriers have expanded their operations to the point where they can get a document 440 miles from Sydney to Melbourne and back the same day. the government mail service were better we certainly wouldn't have expanded so said Fred Keoghan, managing director of the Sydney courier service Tip-Top Transport. "People might have taken a chance on the regular mail system when there was a 99 per cent chance of delivery in one day.

But now, coming to According to government statistics, 92 per cent of mail now gets the 150 miles from Sydney to the federal ital of Canberra without delay. The figure was 97 per cent two years. From June 1973 to the past Christmas season, unions forced a major work stoppage nearly every month somewhere in the country. In two weeks of rolling strikes last December called over overtime and part- time worker disputes 14 million pieces of mail backed up in Sydney post offices. The Sydney Sun-Herald commented editorially during the strike that the postman was becoming "such a stranger that he is in danger of being bitten by even friendly In another strike, last June, 40 million pieces of mail stacked up nationwide while postmen and the government battled over wage claims.

The mail service lost $72.4 million in 1973-74, despite an over all profit for the Post Office because of revenue from telephone and other services it runs. The price of an ordinary first-class letter within Australia rose last October from nine to 13 cents. There were only about 200 private courier cars on the roads in Australia 10 years ago, compared to the 2,000 now. Experts estimate only about 15 per cent of the market for couriers has been tapped so far, and that the market is growing by 15 per cent a year. At present, the services have an annual turnover of about $22 million, representing about six million pieces of mail carried every year.

The whole postal system carries 2.5 billion items annually. The Post Office now plans to start its own courier service to compete with the private carriers. The operation will begin in July or August with 50 delivery trucks in Sydney, Melbourne and the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Rales yet been announced but will be competitive with the private companies. But the Post Office service will begin under a storm of criticisms from the private courier services.

think a government should conduct a minimum of said John Lance, managing director of Flyers, a major Sydney courier service. the country can conduct something through private enterprise, so much the OMAHA, Neb (AP) Creighton University will bestow five degrees on the Bresnahan clan May 17. Dennis Bresnahan 27, and John, 25. get medical degrees Pat, 24, will receive a law degree, and liberal arts degrees go to Tim, 22, and Bill. 21.

The five brothers are the sons of Mr and Mrs. Dennis Bresnahan of Oak Park, 111. Tne family also is helping put another brother, Bob, through St Thomas College of St Paul, Minn JOHANNESBURG. South Africa The man accused in the seizure of the Israeli consulate that left one person dead and 37 injured has tried to kill himself twice in his jail cell, authorities say. Police say David Plotter, 24, Found in old newspapers Continued from Page 17 lust floor of the Union County Courthouse.

Its organization had been authorized by Judge George S. Tatum. Mrs. Morene Smith, the first librarian, started with a stock of 1,200 books. Others serving as county librarians included Mrs.

W. C. Ware. Miss Leila Heasley and Miss Lucille Slater, who retired as Barton librarian last August On the first County Library Board were Sewell, P. E.

Murphy. W. Rogers, Perry Little, J. Berry and E. L.

Compere Others serving later were Marvin A. Green, J. E. Callaway, B. Wilson, Horace Williamson, Joe K.

Mahony, S. P. Portis, Mrs. W. C.

Thompson, Mrs. Daisy Bozone, F. D. McNutt, M. W.

Phillips, Mrs. Paul- Muse, Mrs. J. F. McKinnon.

Homer T. Rogers, Mrs. O. B. Clark, Mrs.

W. H. Guinn and James Sinnott. In 1955, Col. T.

H. Barton met with the City and County Library Boards and presented a plan whereby he would provide a new library building if County and City Library Associations would consolidate their efforts toward its upkeep. The result was the present Barton Library building, which is generally accepted as being one of the finest in the South. Miss Nancy Am was selected last fall to head the facility. Perhaps those hardy souls of 1887 better than they when they set out on that long road leading toward bringing libraries within the reach of all of El Dorado and Union County.

In addition to the central library on West Fifth Street, branches are maintained in Smackover, Norphlet, Strong, Huttig, Junction City and Parkers Chapel. Those founding library users in 1887 may have debated the merits of the printing press, but never for one moment did they doubt its worth. This area continues to 4iave a "reading and may it ever be so! SHARDIK (by author of Wattrthip Down first tried to cut his left wrist with glass his from his eyeglasses and then tried to hang himself from his cell bars with a blanket. He was not seriously injured. Police add they are holding Protter, who was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly holding 21 persons hostage in the consulate, is being held under the which provides penalties ranging from five years imprisonment to death He has not been official charged with any crime.

Authorities said they also are questioning brother, Charles. 19, in connection with the attack. Father Sinnott, 45, said his deportation was almost a foregone conclusion after he spoke out "against the travesty of justice which exists there. I spoke my mind and I was thrown The priest was the second American missionary ordered out for anti-Park activities. Methodist minister George Ogle was deported last December.

NEW YORK (AP) A Maryknoll priest deported from South Korea for opposing President Park Chung Hee said Saturday that Park backing into a Communist hope the United States will realize the Park government has lost credibility among the the Rev. James Sinnott, of Brooklyn told reporters after his arrival here. Priests and seminarians carrying placards welcomed him at John F. Kennedy airport. FALL RIVER, Mass.

(AP) The Roman Catholic bishop here has criticized Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, for leading a successful fight in the Senate against a measure which would prohibit using federal funds for abortions. In a letter sent Saturday to Kennedy, copies of which he sent to priests in the 113 parishes of the Fall River Diocese, the Most Rev. Daniel A.

Cronin said he deplored the leadership role which he said Kennedy assumed in a recent debate on the amendment proposed by Sen. Dewey Bartlett, R-Okla. The bishop wrote that "as a moral leader in this community, I cannot remain silent about this vital issue of the defense of innocent and unborn Pi 1 1 FAVORITE PIZZA. Pizza i AFP 2 Bring this coupon and racaiva pizza with purchase of of equal coupon visit, him i it t.It 1.41 I I I It MM I I ON 1M IN S.M IN III IN IN IM IN IN Mmfcnw lit IN Nwirwl lit IN IN 4 IN IN IN IN IN IN IN IN I IN Ml IN IN IN IN ft Valid Thru Thursday 5 May 8th CkNM. I tNf OMm A I I I I A IN IN IN IN IwuK IM i IN IN IN IN II IN I ft MM It II ImiNIWh til ANN ItiM CNtM flMM.

AT THE REIMS BOOKSTORE 3-3S5A 1326 N. WEST AVI. 862-7974 Valid thru Thursday, May 8th Pi inn Pres. Ford commissions U.S. warship By FRANK CORMIER Associated Press Writer NORFOLK, Va.

(AP) President Ford, helping to commission the largest warship, looked beyond the Vietnam debacle Saturday and declared, will keep our commitments and we will remain a great Old sailor Ford participated in the festive commissioning of the $690 million U.S.S. Nimitz, the second nuclear- powered aircraft carrier, with a flight deck more than three times longer than a football field. In addressing some 10,000 guests, Ford did not directly tie in his latest pledge of maintaining overseas commitments to the retreat from Vietnam, but his meaning was clear. The President departed from his prepared text almost at the outset to assert: are strong. We will continue to be strong.

We will keep our commitments and we will remain a great Returning to his text, Ford described the massive Nimitz as solid symbol of United Slates strength and United Stales and said: I see the United States Ship Nimitz as a symbol of the vast power, productive skill and economic strength of America, so will others around the world. To all, this great ship is visible evidence of our commitment to friends and allies and our capability to maintain those Ford served on the carrier Monterey as a Navy lieutenant in the command of the late Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz in World War II. Before Ford spoke, the new vessel became recognized under international law as a sovereign part of the United States in a stirring martial ceremony.

First the commander, Capt. Bryan W. Compton of Demopolis, shouted the command, position ihe first the National Anthem was played and the stars and stripes topped by a thin commissioning pennant were raised over the bridge. Memory of flood still in mind at Kaskaskia By ED SCHAFER Associated Press Writer KASKASKIA, 111. (AP) Early in Mareh two years ago, farmers around Kaskaskia were looking forward to a good year.

There had been plenty of rain and the ground was nearly ready for planting. By the end of April the land was under water and the farmers were gpne, lucky to escape with their lives and a few possessions. Most who worked the 10,000 tillable acres of Kaskaskia have returned and are once more looking forward to a good harvest. But the memory of the flood and worry that it could happen again remain. The land the Kaskaskia farmers live and work on is an island in the middle of the Mississippi River and floodwaters are a constant danger.

Most of the 300 people who called the island home before the of have returned, despite the danger. our home, you said Lee Burch, who no longer is able to farm, but has rebuilt his home and returned to his land. Burch had a severe heart attack fighting the flood. Authorities took him off the island by tugboat and flew him by helicopter to a Perryville, hospital. Here and there on Kaskaskia, evidence of the flood remains piles of debris that been cleared, large holes in the ground, patches where the topsoil has been stripped off, damaged barns, bins and machine sheds.

"The people here, with help from the Corps of Engineers and hundreds of volunteers, worked very hard to keep the Mississippi from toppin the 41- mile levee around the said Earl Lyons, a teacher at Kaskaskia School, as she recalled the 1973 flood. winds finally helped the water go over the levee in she said, tired substandard levee gave way and the water poured Mrs. Lyons is a spokeswoman for a group trying to gel ihe Corps of Engineers to build a higher levee. A Corps spokesman said the old levee was the only substandard area from Alton, 111., to the moulh of the Mississippi and does need improvement It was built in the 1930s and has just been patched and re- paiched since, he added. Asked why they would rather fight to slay on the island than move lo a less threatened area, most island residents have trouble coming up with a clear- cut answer.

think a combination of a lot of said Mrs. Lyons, whose late husband was a farmer. guess tradition has to come first. Most of us here can trace our ancestors back to the people who first occupied the island after the village was founded by Marquette. We celebrate our 300th birthday this spring, you Vera Bauman lost nearly everything in the flood.

a terrible thing to she said. always had a home and then all of a sudden nothing. I even had to borrow a bucket and a rag to clean up. you give up, you have to go on. still fighting for our church and our roads, everything on our Bill to be introduced considering Viet aid WASHINGTON (AP) Sens.

Jacob K. Javits, and Claiborne Pell, said Saturday they will introduce a bill next week to provide whatever funds are needed to help Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees being resettled in the United States. The measure will include educational, vocational and language training, refresher professional courses and transportation as well as food, clothing and housing. 3 Aides said they were unsure what the fuding level of the legislation will be, noting that there have been varying estimates of the amount of money the refugee program will cost, up to $500 million. House leaders have also said they plan to initiate new refugee aid legislation next week after a previous $327 million measure was beaten because of the controversy over its provisions for using U.S.

troops in the evacuation from Vietnam. In announcing the new bill, Javits, the son of immigrants himself, said deeply regret news reports that some of our citizens have expressed concerns regarding the number of Vietnamese refugees coming to the United States. find that attitude he said, citing the U.S. record in accepting refugees. WERE A POCKET OF PROSPERITY" POP CITY! El Dorado Arkansas I have my very own MD Card Decause ray mother said Fm a big girl now fm MBH Mt HICAl HIS I OH MICHO! Il EMERGENCY CARD kelly lellan 123 Main St.

El Dorado, Ark. PENICILLIN ALLERGY My MD Card tells all about me. It tells who my mother and father are, and it tells about the time I had the measles and mumps, and it says I take a shot with penicillin in it. My twin baby brothers have MD Cards, too, but they old enough to carry them yet. You can get an MD Card for your little girl or boy at First National Bank.

All you have to do is put $50 in your savings account. The first MD Card is free, and the others are only $5 for each one. My mother said it was worth it. FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF EL DORADO MEMBER FDIC.