The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-03-19 00:00:00

POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS: A SUG-
GESTION.

Sir Henry Bessemer, of Denmark-hill, has written a
letter to The Times, which contains the following excellent
suggestion
At certain seasons of the year there is a general
exodus from our large cities and towns, and those who
remain behind and desire to communicate with their
absent friends have to address their letters to lodging.
houses, hotels, and private residences, of which they
have not always a very full or perfect address, nor has
the country postman any knowledge of the names of
these temporary residents to guide him, and thus a
slight error in the address will prevent the letter reach-
ing its destination.
-

Now, it happens that many letters so sent are of the
greatest possible importance; they may contain pri-
vate family matters requiring immediate attention, a
hasty call for a physician, or a summons to friends in
a case of life and death, or perchance nothing more
important than a billet-doux to a young lady; but
the writer in either case is anxious that his letter
should reach its destination with as little delay as
possible.
In the case supposed the writer may be quite
uncertain whether the family have left their apart-
ments since he last wrote to them, and, if so, he will
be equally uncertain whither they have gone, and
even if you have left your address with the mistress of
the house, there is no certainty that letters arriving
after their departure will be regularly and promptly
reposted, and sent on to them. Thus the sender of
letters to his out-of-town friends is at times left in the
greatest uncertainty; and for many days he is
unaware what may have become of his letter, and the
valuable or private makers it may contain.
Now, the simple remedy which I propose as a means
of effectually removing the difficulty is this :—The
sender of a letter to his out-of-town friend will put a
penny stamp as usual in the right-hand upper corner
of the envelope and a second stamp in the lower right
hand corner, and drawing a line with the pen centrally
across the envelope, divide it into two compartments;
in the upper one he will write his friend's temporary
address, say at .6Dighton, and in the lower com-
partment, and opposite to the second stamp, he
will write his friend's usual place of abode, say at
Highgate. A letter so addressed would in the ordinary
course of post be presented at Brighton, the upper
stamp being cancelled at the post-office. Now, if his
friend has left the apartments or cannot be found, the
postman's duty under the Wan proposed will be to put
the letter at once into the nearest pillar-post. It will
thus find its way with all possible speed to the house
of the person at Highgate, the postage for which has
already been paid in anticipation; it will thus escape
the usual delay of several days and the unavoidable
opening of it at the dead-letter office, in order that it
may be redirected and returned to the writer, who will
thus after the lapse of a week become aware that his
letter had not been received. _ _ _ _ _ _

Or, if preferred, the second address may be that of
the writer, which will result in the immediate return
of the letter to him unopened, and will thus apprise
him of his friend's absence from the supposed address,
and permit him to take whatever course he may
deem expedient under the circumstances, instead of
waiting day after day in expectation of a reply which
he will never receive.

And, further, in sending letters to country post-
offices or to hotels for a traveller or friend who is ex-
pected to arrive, the writer may put his own at the
second address, with the words " Return after three
days," or after six days, as desired, so that the letter,
if not called for, may be returned direct to the writer
after the lapse of any speoified interval of time, with-
out being opened at the post-office or figuring for a
month or so in the coffee:room of the hotel and being
finally lost.

No do I think that any one can reasonably object
to this tsmall additional tax of one penny, since it is
purely an optional and voluntary one, to be used on
special occasions and when reasonable doubt exists of
your friend's whereabouts.

The system I propose would insure the absolate
privacy of all correspondence through the post, by
entirely removing the present necessity of opening
thousands of letters at the dead-letter office: it would
insure the rapid return to the writers of letters that
have not at once reached their intended destination;
while it would also remove a great source of trouble
and anxiety from hotel and lodging-house keepers and
their servants. Nor would it be without its advantages
to the Post Office itself, since it would relieve it from
the labour and great responsibility of opening and
redirecting a vast number of letters, while at the
same time it would add many thousands per annum
to its available income.

With reference to the above, "F. R. C. S." writes
to The Times:—

Sir,—A portion of the plan advocated by Sir Henry
Bessemer has long been in successful operation in the
United States. It is there a common practice to have printed
on the outside of envelopes, " If not delivered within
days, return to —." In such cases, I presume, the addi-
tional or second postage is paid by the recipient on the in-
struction being complied with; but the plan saves great
trouble to the Post Office, and renders it unnecessary to
open letters which cannot be delivered.