Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1846-04-30
The Dead Letter Office.

ton Of the operations OF the branch Of the General
Post Office Department, TO which are transmitted
all the uncaed for letters remaining IN the various
Post Offices throughout the Union:
Among the places which have visited, is the
Dead Letter Office, in the Post Office Department.
|, is certainly interesting part OF that building
You would be surprised at some facts learned there.
The business of the dead letter Office alone employs
four clerks all the time. One opens the bundles
containing the letters scnt to Washington, from
the several Post Olces, after they have been adver
tsed, and no owner found for them lie passes |
the letters over to two other clerks. who open them
all, to sec it they contain any thing valuable. ri
they do not they are thrown on to the pile on The
floor. No time is allowed to read them, as that
would be impossible, without a great addition Of
help.
The number Of dead letters returned to the Cen
eral Post Office is ssionishingly large. You will
be surprised when tell You that it is fourteen hun
drcd thousand year, and under the cheap postage
system is increasing Hence it requires swift
hands to open 50 large a number without stopping
TO read word AIRY one who is so silly as 10 write
mess Of nonsense TO any imaginary person, sup
posing 1t will be ultimately read by some one, may
save himself the trouble hereafter lie may depend
upon it, not a word will be likely to be read Of the
letter, unless he encoses something valuable in ii
aud that would be paying too dear for so small
whistle At the end Of each quarter, the letters
that have been opened having been accumulated to
a huge mass, and having been IN the mean time
slowed into bags, are carried out the plains, and
there consumed in bon fire. The huge bags
make FIVE OF six cart loads each quarter
The letters containing any thing valuable, or IN
fact, atty matter encosed-are passed over to the
fourth clerk, who occupies separate room Tor
the purpose and there are canvassed by this gen.
tleman II is vrrv iutefesfing IN examlne the hc-
ierogeneous materials of this room, that have been
extracted FROM letters and accumulaiing Tor years.
Here YOU the singular matters that are some
times transported through the Post Office. The
amount of money that at various times has been
found in letters, is very large. When any thing
Of value as money, drafts, &c. is found, the rule
is to return 1t to the Post Office, whence II came,
and the Postmaster Of that Office must advertise IT,
or use any other means hes, calculated TO find the
owner. lfa his efforts fail he returns IT TO the
General Office, aud 1t ir labelled aud filed away
Sometimes as much $500 are found in a week,
in dead letters. | think within this month several
hundreds have been found. An iron chest IS kept
for the purpose ofthese deposites In looking over
the files in that chest, was astonished at the a.
mount OF money there, and the sums contained IN
some Of the letters. Some single letters contain.
ing $50, 40, 10, and down to 81. One letter con-
tanned itI0 note-very likely the property Of some
poor emgrant INTENDED for his wife or children,)
who had made mistake in sending it, and no own
er could be found.
Among this money is good deal of counterfeit.
The letters arc all labelled not only with the sums,
! but also whether containing counterfeit or good
money. There were many bad small bills, scat
tered through the piles. In case there was a
bad halfeagle, in another were two letters, each
containing $500 counterfeit money! 1t was on a
New York Bank, new, and very nicely done-and
was, no doubt the remittance OF one counterfelter
TO another who had been in the meantime appre-
hended, or was suspicious he was watched, and
hence had been too cunning TO call for the wicked
deposite OF his confederate. In the strong box,
also, was box OF change, OF all kinds and large
string of rings of various iancies aud value taken
from the dead letters. Many love token OF this
modest kind enyeloped in letter couched IN most
honied words, and intended, in the mind oil the
writer, for the dearest girl in the universe had
instead of reaching its intended destination brought
up in the dead letter office, passed thrugh the prac-
teal hands of these cold, grey-haired clerks, who
never stopped to read the tender efusion that cost
so much racking of The heartstrings and the deli
cate pledge Of affection had been tossed into the iron
chest instead Of encrcling the taper finger OF "the
love for whom it was purchased.
But passing out of the chest. the matters that
meet your eye on the shelves and in the cases are
equally interesting. Here arc books, and rlblns
and gloves, and thousands other things. saw
one specimen Of a most splendid ribbon, of several
yards, that seemed very much out of place here
when il was intended TO adorn the bonnet Of some
LADY, A package lay near that had not been open
ed II was from England The postage was SO,
g. Ii had been refused at the office when sent
because Of its enormous postage, and was sent tC
, the dead Office in due course Of time. Now, sale
: the Superintendent, will show you what val
ueless things sent through the mails, in com
parison to their expense. do not know what is II
this. but we will see So he opened it, and behold
il contained about yard Of coarse CLOTH like crash
worth prehaps shilling, which had been sent Il
some dry goods house in this country as specimen
Of the manufacture Of the article, by some factor
in England. OF course the postage being THIRTY
T. times It's value it was refused by those to whom
was directed | saw tarO night caps that wer
: taken from a letter only few days since II tn
poor fellow TO whom they were sent does not slee
in night cap until he gets these, his head will b
n cold. II is impossible for the Department to at
tend to finding owners for the comparatively val
ueess things that arc received as night caps RIB
> ms garters, stockings, stays, bustles, &c &c
and they are therefore thrown into the recepta
Gle Of "things lost to earth" and pretty "ketll
of fish, there is in that receptacle, you may dc
pend
n In cases arranged and labelled for the purpose
l. are the legal documents found in letters, Thes
# are numerous, and run back for long term q
y years They are most carefully preserved IN
beneficial policy of this preservation has been one
/ illustrated and most sirikingly so, only the olht
/ day. gentleman in distant State wrote ti
e superintendent that some seven or eight years ag
II large package of most valuable papers had bee
h lost through the Post Office They involved u
h right 10 large estate II he could not find the
d he would be irreirieyably ruined and begged hi
J. TO search in the DEPARTMENT for them. He did s.