The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1858-04-16
An Hour in the Dead Letter Office.

A female correspondent, Of Life lllustrnt
ed gives the following account Of a visit tC
the dead letter office at Washington:
We had been fortunate enough 10 pro.
cure the eniree to this place through special
favor and influence, although, as general
thing, no visitors are admitted. IL was a
large, light room, with two or three desks
at which were seated aged officials in silent
occupation among literal drills of letters
The walls were lined on every side with
huge mail sacks which had hcen returned
full Of unclaimed cpistlcs, from myriads OF
post Offices; there might have been fifty OF
a hundred Of these sacks, and each probably
contained thousands on thousands of letters
How rapidly you dispose Of them " said
watching the lightning speed with which
the clerks tore open the epistles, glanced
over them TO see that no drafts, checks, or
other important documents were inclosed,
and then threw them into an immense hcup
of open letters ut their feet.
1T is all in habit ma'am said the gentle
man nearest me. we are accustomed to
open certain number daily, and to those
who do not understand the expedition and
accuracy with which we work, would seem
almost incredible.'
As he spoke, tiny gold ring rolled from
the folds of rose tinted letter, whose pages
were evidently written over by delicate
female hand.
"A child's ring,' he said, taking il up;
would you like to look at 1t, ma'am"
took il in my hand-t was fairy crclct
l,f ,,r ,,,1I ,.,tI tIn xvn,l, lruF,g IN ~
~ engraved within-and wondered who
the Mary was, and whether the little
IL. " who never received the tiny gift, was
dead or living.
Meanwhile, the clerk had been taking q
rapid note Of the signature, direction, etc.
'What will you do with it, inquired, re-
turning the ring to his care.
'Wn lay all such things aside, in case
they should be called for
And are they often redeemed?
'Not olten-not once in hundred in
stances, ho replied, takirg a little gold dol
lar from beneath the seal of another letter.
and laying il carefully on The desk.
We stood in silence, regarding the pile OF
opened letters, which was growing higher
with every moment. Ii was strange med
ley of styles and handwriting. Some were
inscribed on huge sheets OF iooIscup, in
mannc, that conveyed the impression 10 your
mind that the writer must have graspcd his
pen with both hands, and gone at the paper
us he would dig spade into the earth, and
folded with glorious disregard to oil geo.
metrical precision; others, again, were
daintily written on colorcd tissue paper, and
some were IN that easy, flowing hand that
bespc0ks energy and refinement OF charac-
ter in the caligraphcr.
'Oh, how ! should like 10 read these let
ters = said inyolunturly. The official
smiled. THAT is what The ladies say. IL
would be almost impossible to preserve our
charge from the curiosity Of the female sex
il, fortunately, our rules did not protect us
from many visitors
But do you never read them!
'Ncver unless they seem very important,
or contain Enclosures of value. II is all We
can do to keep up with the arrival Of dead
mails now. II we were TO stop ard read
one letter in hundred. we should be lament
ably behind hand besides, the privacy oi
these letters is a point Of honor with US
We have no more right TO read them here,
unless il is necessary, than to pry into any
personal Secrets
Here one of the clerks leaned over and
handed our companion tiny package.
From one of the letters he said; i tho't
the lady might feel interested in IT, :.
II was single curl Of golden hair, tied
with bit of pink ribbon and wrapped in
little piece OF paper, on which was written
'BaLys hair"
| knew the history ofthut letter in an in
slant. Though ! had never looked on It's
folds, could sec the fair young mother part.
ing the sunny tress from the infant head, and
placing il, with half smile and half tear,
within the closely written page that was to
glad the heart of the far away husband
And he never received the letter. Perhaps
he died under the mighty shadow of Sierra
Nevada ; perhaps the turf OF some Mississip.
ri valley lay cold and close on his pulscless
heart, while she, the faithful wife, was
growing more sad, less hopeful with every
day that brought no answering word.
'Baby's hairr could not bear that the
bright curl should be thrown carelessly
among the host of letters it seemed like
desecration.
.Muy l keep this little lock?
Certainly, il you like And placed it
carefully in my reticule with tender hand.
| know not where the sorrowing mothers
heart is breaking, day by day, but certain ]
am there is an invisible bond of sympathy
between her soul and mine, clasped by Il
link of curling silky gold 'BaLy'S hairr
IL would be in vain TO attempt TO chroni-
Gle the numerous Enclosures which dropped
from the various letters which were opened
during the short space Of time We stood
there. Bits Of rainbow. .colored silk, sent
for patterns, Tiny muslin collars, newspaper
paragraphs, bank bills, gold, cards, coarse
y written messages from little ones at home,
whose hands were guided by mother or sls-
ter, so that the absent father, cousin or
brother nigh, havea little letter, and IN
Vulnerable other affecting relics.
where do all these letters 90 when they
have been opened and examincds Are
they burned' h,w
no that was formerly the custom. now, w
ever. We used TO make great bonns. "
them, but aside from that, BITS OF "'e" "
pnper would always escape IRON 'ne names,
,hus destroying all privacy In the letters u
wns found that many people made II ousi-
ness 20 seek among the ashes Tor the gold,
Jewels. dollars, &c, which often escape our