Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1846-04-21

any other means best calculated to find the
owner. Ii all his efforts fail he returns il
10 the General Office, and il is labelled and
filed away. Sometimes as much as $4,000
are found in week; in dead letters! |
think within This month several hundreds,
have been found. An iron chest is kept
Tor the purpose OF these dcposites. Ia look
ing ever The files in that chest. was as
ionished at the amount OF money there.
anu The sums contained in some OF the let.
tiers. Some single letters containing $50.
$40, $40, land down TO 81. One letter
contained Sl0 ho!e--very likel, the
property OF some poor erigrant, (intended
for his wife or children, } who had made a
mistake in sending ii, and no owner could
be found.
Among the money is good deal of
counterfeit. The letters are all labelled.
not only With the Sums, bu, also whether
containing counterfeit, or good money!
There we're many bad small bills, scattered
through The piles. In one case there was
a tad half eagle, in another were two let.
'ers, each containing $1,000 counterfeit
money! TWAS on a New York Bank, new
ana very nicely done-and was, no doubt,
the remittance Of ohe cohhetfeiter ID nm
other, who had been in the meantime ap-
prehenoed, or was suspicious he was
watched, and hence had been too cunning
70 call lor the wicked deposi;e Of his con-
lederate. In the stLong box, also, was a
BOX OF change, Of all kinds, and a large
string of rings Of various fancies taken
from dead letters. Many love token of
this modest kind, enveloped ir letter
couched IN most honied words, and inten-
ded, IN the mind of the writer, for the dear
est girl IN the universe, had instead of
reaching ITS intended designation, brought
up IN the dead letter Office, passed through
inc practical hands il these cold, grey
haired clerks, who never stopped to read
the tender effusion that cost 20 much rack.
ing oil the heartstrings, and the delicate
pledge OF affection had been tossed into the
iron chest, instead o: encircling the tapor
finger OF ''love" for whom il was pur.
chased.
But passing ont Of the chest, the matters
that met our eye on the shelves and in the
cases are equally Interesting Here are
books, and ribbons, and gloves, and hosiery
and thousand other things | saw one
specimen ola most splendid ribbon, of sew
eral yards, that seemed very much out of
place here-when it was intended 10 adorn
the bonnet ofsome lady. A package Law
near that had not been opened. Il was
from England. The postage was $780,
1t has been refused at the office where sent.
because OF It's enormous postage, and was
sent to the dead office in due course of
time. Now, said the Superintendent, viii
show yon what valueless things are sent
through the mails. in comparison to their
expense. do not know what is in this.
put we Will see. So he opened it, and be-
mold, 1t contained about a yard Of coarse
cIolh, like crash worth perhaps a shilling,
which had been sent to some dry goods
house in this country, as specimen Of tbe
manufacture of the article, by some factory
IN England. OF course the postage being
thirty times its value:it was refused by those
to whom it was directed. saw tvo nieht
caps that We're taken from letter only a
few days since. If the poor fellow to whom
they were sent does not sleep in a night CAP
until he gets these, his head will be cold.
\ is impossible for the Department 10 attend
to finding owners for the comparatively val
uless things that are received as nigh, caps,
ribbons, CARERS, stockings, stays, bustles,
&c, &c, and they are therefore thrown in
to the receptacle of "ihings lost to the
earth. and pretty "kettle of fish, there
is IN that receptacle, you may depend.
In cases arranged and labelled for the
purpose; are the legal documents found in
letters. These are numerous, and run back
for long term Of years. They are most
Ifsnr fall
cy of this preservation has been often illus
'rated, and most strklngly SO, only the 9th.
er day. A gentlem,n III a distant State
wrote the Superintendent that some seven
or eight years ago large package of most
valuable papers had been lost through the
Post Office. They involved the right to a
large estate. If he could not find them he
would be irretrievably ruined, and begged
him TO search in the Department for them.
He did so; he told me that the first case he
opened, under pile of other papers. he
saw large package, answering the descrip-
ton. He took IL out, and it was the very
papers wanted. The had slept there quiet.
y for years. The postage was about 60
and they had originally, by some mistake,
failed of their rightful owner. The pack
age had been carefully preserved, and tho
owner was pecnniarily saved.
have given you faint description, after
all, of this interesting portion Of The Cone
raj Post Office operations. Ny letter, how
ever, has reached prudent length, and I
mus. stop. The gentleman who supcrin.
tends this wing is Jere. O'Brien ESQ, of
Brunswick, in our county. He has heon
here about ten months. To his poteness
was much indebted, in my observations.
| have heard his gentlemanly department
spoken ofby others in this connection. Ho
is fine specimen of the New England
gentleman, and | am happy to record his
success in obtaining place in this Depart
megt.
CO ana, aint Joe Smlshey counting
our Molly :"
mo, what makes you think SO 2"
"Why, always when he comes near her,
she sorier leans up 10 him, iike kitten to
a hot brick.'
W A correspondent oflhe N. Y. COur-