The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1851-01-26

Post Office Department in this city are four rooms,
occupied by thirteen skltul and industrious clerks.
in which @ welSi!sd d mail alb bags, ss Of
| goodly size, are piled ceiingward. We often see
clever wagon load of them there, and man busy
carrying them into one Of the rooms but the pile
appears TO grow no less Whether the faithful por-
ter Is condemned to the fate Of Ssyphus, and made
to toll forever in the removal Of burden that as
constantly fegains its place, is subject worthy
the inquiry of the curious. Moved by a desire for
the acquisition of useful knowledge, we entered
the extreme corner room the other day, and were
not little surprised to find a. lofty pile Of stuffed
mail bags on the insde on the outside of the par
ht'on Mr. Hoover was very hard at work in en-
deavorng TO reduce its altitude untyng the strnp
and tumbing the contents into great large trough
| We asked him what the sacks contained, and were
informed that il was dead letters A silent 'sh" being
the nearest approximation to dead letter Of which
| we had any knowledge, we resolved on still fur
ther prosecuting our investigations and soon aseer.
tanned that any sealed package for which post
master csnnot find proper claimant, within three
months from the time Of advertising il, lie called
dead letter and that the aggregate Of all such from
the post offices OF the United States constitutes the
eAhaustless heaps that had so perPexed US. The
trough sometimes gets heaping full, and then Mr.
| Hoover assists Mr.. Shedd. And what does Mr.
Shsdds HIS duty . to separate the dead letters
and their winding sheets, the post bills tha are
wrapped around them from the quarterly returns
1 that accompany them from nine,een thousand one
hundred and hty six postmasters, and then to pase
the letters in basketsful to Mr.. Reed What does
| number OF the letters and their rates correspond
| with the marks in the post bills accompanying
| them, and thus detects any errors made by the
postmasters. He also separates the letters origi-
Daly mailed in certain foreign countries with which
we have r. clprocal postal arrange ments from all
others. The former are set aside, while the latter
are ps seed to Messrs. Hamilton, Horne, and Ross,
in on odloining room, by whom they are opened.
MI Shehey has desk in the first room, and,
guided by The post bills, keeps accurate accounts
between the Post Office Department and the post.
masters who send up the de ad letters.
Mr.. Schwarzman also has desk here, and per-
forms variety of important duties. In the first
place, the letters originally mailed from the post
offices OF certain European countries, viz Eng
| land, Ireland, Scotland, and the city Of Bremen,
are by him returned to the central post offices OF
those Countries respectively, from which letters
| are IN like manner by him received Refused let
ters, sent by our postmas'ers without awaiting the
| process Of advertising, &c, are taken cognzance
OF BY him also, and accredited 10 them in their ac
| counts When postmasters omit 10 send up their
quarterly retuine il is his duty address them cir
| culars OF inquiry; and other correspondence OF
| miscellaneous character is committed TO him.
Into the opening room, IN which Messrs. Harui-
ton Horne, and Ross operate, the letters are all
brought These gentlemen open them with great
| dexieriry; and such as have no enclosures they
drop 10 The floor unread, while such contain any
description OF property, are, with their contents.
registered and then rtfolded, and conveyed 70 the
| third room. The empty letters are by the messen.
ger or porter cremmed into sack, and conveyed 10
the cellar end al the end Of every quarter taken to
suitaDle pluce and burned.
Captain OBrien, in the third room, 10 which
the letters with enclosures are conveyed, and
Messrs. hlikn and King, in the fourth room, are
constantly engaged in Efforts 10 find the persons for
whom such letters are intended, or by whom they
have oesn mailed. The failure Of the outer direc-
ton 10 accomplish the former, renders exsrliaa-
tion OF the inside necessary. Nina euths Of such
letters are thus usually sent to their Intended ces
nauop, or restored 10 their writer's. When the re
ntsnce Is less than one dollar. trouble Is taken
with il,
The Systematic means used by these officer. 10
ascertain the proper owners OF effects coming iafo
tht possession and respond TO INQUIRIES Tor let
tiers, is almost incredible 10 one unacouairted with
the operations Of their Office. They have printed
forms Of inquiry respecting persons; circulars 10
| poemas'eis whose OMISSION 10 send up dead let
ters has been detected, with reproof for the came,
| and directions as 10 the right mode cs procedure;
circulars 10 postnasers enclosing letters of value.
with general directions, form OF receipt 10 oe takea
ana returned TO the department, &c circulars in
response 10 spphcatons for letters not received az
the dead letter oifce; and many others, adapted 20
alricet every case that can arise.
Mr.. Byingtcn, il the third room, Is occupied
chiefly in keeping an sccount Of all letters and val
uabies other than money received, and Of all for-
warded 10 their destined places; and BY reference
TO his books, any important fact connected with
this branch OF the service can sc az Ill times clear
N escertsine3.
Mr. Wallace has committed to him the duty Of
registering and sending letters originating in the
executive Offices, to those Offices respectively; OF
returning TO the House Of Representatives during
ite sslor, oil free letters snanstinv from the cap
ito!, and OF receiving al appiicatIons tor loe or
missing letters, searching fer the same, and an-
swerng inquiries. These duties a, times involve
q reference the burt Of depred1:icne, crduct-
Cd by MAJOR Trcit, Of which We shall hereafter
have occasion 10 speak.
Tins whole diyison Of the poat Office Depart.
msn "a, In connection with other important duties,
under the supervision and control Of j. Marr0n,
Etq Third Assistant Postmaster General; and all
the officers we have named, operate under his spe-
cial direction. IL 10 TO him IN 4 communications
in relation 10 the dead-e,ter office are addressed
The dead letters containing no Temirances are
never read; and those cont-inlng enclosures are
locked into only far ss Il " necessary TO obtain
q clue 10 their proper ownership.
The whole number OF dead leiters returned To
the department We can onlv vaguely estimate.
Thus, in one quarter, TIE bulk Of opened letters
equaleo about g. 600 bushels cTammed; each buehel
u supposed to contain go letters The number re-
turned in quarter Is, therefore about Slx millions.
or TIVE nty. four mslliCns year
Unclaimed moneys, less the discount, are hand
Cd over 70 the general treasury, eInect % the de-
msnds Of the rghtful owners; but We believe that,
fo- the hnlf.yesr ending June 10, 1870 the amount
oi these was not more than about 700.
Drafts, aeedr, and other papers OF vaue, and also
jewery, memsntceF, &c, ARE preserved "a the
dead-leitsr Office. 1heee are often recovered ~
their owners Ia one instance, rot great while
nincc, a gentleman, for want OF certain documents
believed 10 have been lost from the mail, tound
himself Ia the power OF interruptions perscn, IN
q metier IN whth rropetty 70 the amount OF TIN
thousand dollars (all the gentleman was WORTHY
was involved. As a possible means OF obtaining
the pepcrs he applied 10 tho dead letter Office and
in about three minutes they were produced The
package had been improperly addressed.
Dead letters are usually unpaid letters. The
custom of prepayment has become vastly mere
general since the reduction Of postage 70 FIVE and
ten cents. Ir the fourth quarcr Of 1850, the num-
/ Ter cf dead letters received from Cincinnati, not
prepaid, was 500: The number prepaid, 30 In
thc third quarter az 1850, the presald letters from
the Boston Post Office numbered ,6l2. cfleiers act
preraid q i0l These instances arc taken a'rendo N
| We have necessarily abridged our narrative of
the opt raiions az the dead. letter office; yet we
| doubt not We have eup2ltd facts both novel sod
/ interesting TO the puh'ir
/ Apyoin am. nss ny the Pfssi0ert,
~ o,,a ,euk ne ar#trt sET cgnsruT N fhe Stusfe