[Deliver the letter, the sooner the better] -- older than the 1961 song?

[Deliver the letter, the sooner the better] ---- this phrase is older
than the 1961 song? ("Please Mr. Postman")?
Deliver the letter, the sooner the better
       --------- Is it possible that this phrase is much older than
1961?

 Written in 1961, Please Mr Postman was the debut single for the
Marvellettes and the first Motown song to top the US Hot 100 charts.

The Beatles famously covered it in 1963, and the Carpenters in 1975
__________________________________(from a magazine (?) in 1914)
Outlook - Volume 106 - Page 196
books.google.com › books
Alfred Emanuel Smith, ‎Francis Walton · 1914
Found inside – Page 196
             >>> ... I'd say post that letter, the sooner the better. If
a man can't control himself before he ... give you the rest of it , Pete
, " and he drew from his pocket a letter ... Send her your sales sheets