35 years. It is therefore apparent that the Egan name was linked with the functioning of Mount Stewart Post Office for upwards of a century and a quarter. A list of postmasters since 1901, together with their years of tenure, follows: 1902-1912, Montague Pigot 1912-1917, Hamilton Coffin 1917-1929, Mrs. Henrietta Coffin 1929-1932, William McKenzie 1932-1936, Miss Catherine Timmins 1937-1954, John Joseph Mclntyre 1954- , Mrs. Evelyn MacDonald Many other Post Offices were located in the Mount Stewart area. These with their dates, to the extent that these are known, are Fanning - brook (1904-1913), French Village ( ?-1926), Pisquid ( ?-1913), St. An¬ drew's ( 7-1912, Savage Harbour (1893-1913), (1902-1912), Clarktown (1891-1915), Dromore West (1894-1913), Dromore (1875-1914), Head of Hillsborough (1883-1913), Point de Roche (1900-1913), and (1874-1913). In 1912 the number of Post Offices in the Province reached a record high of 472; however, with the introduction of rural delivery, their num¬ bers had been reduced to 150 by 1915. As might be expected, the inaug¬ uration of rural delivery met with a mixed reaction from the public. Com ¬ menting on the establishment of No. 3, which included East, Dromore , Monaghan , Auburn , and a portion of Pis- quid West, a correspondent in the Examiner of December 13, 1913 declared that, although it had been established only a little more than a month, nearly every householder in the circuit was taking advantage of rural delivery. The service, he continued, "is satisfactory — one of the best in any part of the country." He concluded by remarking that it was an "additional factor in promoting the comforts and conveniences of country life." The January 7, 1914 issue of the Examiner carried a letter which told a different story. "Not 25 per cent of the people have taken boxes," the correspondent remarked. He suspected that the entire issue was a plot on the part of the Mount Stewart officials "to draw more water to their own mill." However, in spite of his admonitions that "they should be careful, lest the water may over run the waste-gate and terminate in an avalanche someday," by 1915 there were only two Post Offices in the entire area, those located at Mount Stewart and French Village . With the inauguration of No. 4 on May 3, 1926, the French Village Office passed out of existence. Of all the couriers who have carried mail from Mount Stewart Post Office, none was more efficient and reliable than Mr. Percy Affleck . An instance of his willingness to oblige occurred in April, 1926, when, due to some recent thaws, the roads had become seas of mud. On one par¬ ticular morning, having covered eight miles of the twenty-eight mile -Auburn route, Mr. Affleck found future progress by horse and sleigh to be utterly impossible. Leaving these in the care of a nearby farmer, he walked the remaining twenty miles, carried his sack of mail and made the complete delivery. Prior to 1965, the postmaster or postmistress of a locality was required to provide the necessary space for the receipt and delivery of —59—