Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1846-03-28

S5} one square, ~ Do. s.rnH hsifiqH aa W st.t
Advertisements left without directions as to the
length Of time they are to be published, will be
continued until ordered out, and charged accofd;
ingiy. - haa le,i7 llei af seR asail aotl Ell
CJSixteen lines or lees make square. .t,ssrr
the amount Of money there, and the large sums
contained in some Of the letters Some single,
letters containing $50, $40, $10. and down to
81. One letter contained q clio note--very
likely the property Of some poor emigrant, Gin.
tended for his wife or children,) who had made
mistake in sending il, undno owner could bs
found. Rlis1 aa q gr has2ci s1i'1s's saeHog
Among this money is a good deal Of counter
feit-The letters are all lllabeled, not only with
the sums, but also whether containing counter.
felt or good money. There were many bal
small bills, scattered through the piles. In one
case there was bad half, eagle-in another
were two letters, each containing $500 conn
terfeit money! 1t was on some New York
Bank, new, and very nicely done-and was, mn
doubt, the remittance of one counterfeiter to an.
other--who had been in the meantime appre-
hended, or was suspicious hs was watched, and
hence had been too cunning to call for the
wicked deposite Of his confederate. In the
strong box, wasa box of change, Of oil kinds,
and large string Of rings Of various fances and
values, taken from the dead letters. Many a
love token Of this modest kind, enveloped in a
letter couched in most honied words, and in.
tended, in the mind of the writer, for the dear
est girl in the universe, had, instead Of reach.
ing its interesting destination, brought up in
the dead letter office, passed through the prac.
tical hands Of these cold grey.haired clerks,
who never stopped to read the tender effusion
that cost so much racking Of the heart.strings
and tho delicate pledge of cffection had been
tossed into the iron chest, instead Of encircling
the taper finger Of the love- for whom it was
purchased. ,,...r.l.-f.. s.,.,a, ...
| y, But passing out of the chest, the matters
that meet your eye on the shelves, and in the
cases are equally interesting. Here Gre books
and ribbons, and gloves, and hosiery, and
| thousand other things. l saw one specimen of
most splendid ribbon, of several yards that
seemed very much out of place here--when it
was intended to adorn the bonnet Of some lady.
A package lay near that had not been opened.
II was from England. The postage was S., ,63.
It had been refused at the Office where sent be.
cause Of its enormous postage, and was sent to
the dead Office in due course of time. Now.
said the Superintendent, I will show you what
valuoless things ore sent through the mails, in
comparison to their expense. do not know
what is in this. but we will see. So he opened
it, and behold, it contained about a yard of
coarse cloth, like crash, worth perhaps shil-
ling, which had been sent to some cry goods
house in this country, asa specimen Of the man.
ufacture Of the article, by some factory in Eng.
nd.--Of course, the postage being thirty times
it's value, it was refused by those to whom
it was directed. saw fro night caps that
were taken from letter only few days since:
If,he poor fellow to whom they were sent does
not sleep in night cap until he gets these, his
head will be cold. II is impossible for the De.
partment to attend to finding owners for the
comparatively valueless things that are receiv.
ed as night caps, ribbons. garters. stockings.
stays, bustles, &c, &C., and they are therefore
thrown into the receptacle Of things lost to
EARTH and pretty kettle Of fish there is in
that receptacle, you may depend. ,9r., ~, ..s,
In the cases, arranged and labelled for the
purpose. are the legal documents found in let
tiers. These are numerous, and run back for a
long terms Of years. They are most carefully
preserved. The beneficial policy of this pre-
servation has been often illustrated, and most
strikingly 20, only the other day. A gentleman
in distant State wrote the Superintendent
that some seven or eight years ago large pack.
age of most valuable papers had been lost
thro' the Post Office. They involved the right
to large estate. II 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 description. He took
ii out, and it was the very papers wanted. They
had slep. there quietly for years. The postage
was about Sl0-snd they had originally, by
some mistake, failed of their rightfnl owner.
The package had been carefully preserved, and
the owner was pecuniary saved.
Ihuve given you but faint description, af-
ter all, Of this interesting portion Of the Gener-
al Post Office operations. My letter, however,
has reached prudent length, and must stop.
| The rentleman who s,Iperintends this WING Il,