Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-11-27

/ York, is fearfully mutilated in some adj
dresses; and Key West. Florida, / saw
i myself written as "Kivvest." Such minor
/ variations as .Sjikago'' for Chicago, and
| eKesseIgartenv for Castle Garden, are
| only amusing, and not troublesome, while
they are easily excused and accounted
for by their evident Dutch or German
origin.
Having thus enumerated the causes
which consign this vast multitude Of let
tiers TO the Dead-Letter Office, we will now
see in what manner they are disposed of.
At the outset, we were informed that one
of three things would invariably be the
fate Of every letter received in this office,
the first of which, although the least prob
able one, was the delivery Of the letter to
the person to whom it is addressed, after
merely temporary delay. Sometimes
the officials in this office succeed In deci-
phering addresses which have been given
up by tie less expert officers in the other
departments of the Office, or outside post
offices. Again, in the case Of a letter i'm
perfectly addressed, the full address may
be ascertained upon opening it, when It
can be forwarded accordingly, after the
necessary delay by passing through this
office. These instances, however, are ex-
ceptional, az, in the majority of cases, let
tiers cannot be mailed to the persons for
whom they are intended, but only return
ed TO the writers. Only when the name
and address Of the writer cannot be as
certained by opening the letter, or when
il Is found to be merely printed circular
of 10 value, Is it consigned to the waste
basket, and subsequently TO the paper
mill Thus, the number OF letters with
out Enclosures remailed to the writers in
1870 was 1,842,325, Of which Las, 021
were delivered, and $685. returned to
the Dead Letter Office for the second
time, after having remained month in
the post-ofIice from which they were sup
posed to be mailed in the first place. Re-
turning here for the second time, they are
KILLED" and consigned to the paper-bas-
ket and the mill.
This business Of returning letters to the
writers gives occupation 10 about sixty
lady clerks in Che Return Letter Depart
ment," in the gallery upstairs To them
belong the duties of re.enveloping the
letters in the well-known, yellow, dead
letter envelop, by which, under an act of
Congress approved June 10, 1866, these
are returned To the writers free Of charge.
At another desk is a lady who tends ex.
clusively to the return Of all request"
letters, by which, in post-ofiice parlance,
Is understood sucn as have the card or
address of the sender printed or written
on the outside. These are returned &C
cordingly, in their original envelopes, un-
opened and free Of charge. Another lady
is engaged in returning letters containing
postage stamps and small amounts Of
fractional currency; and, close by, is
seated quite bevy of fair clerks, indus
triously engaged in rewrapplng and mail
ing photographs, and the letters contain
ing them, to their senders. And the num-
Der of this kind of letters and Enclosures
is very great. Thus, for instance, last
year there were returned to the send
ers $4,000 letters containing photographs,
of which 32,978 were duly delivered,
while 2181 were again returned TO the
Dead Letter Office, and there "filed for
reclamation" Since photographs have
become SO cheap, the number which
daily passes through the mails is enor-
nous. Especially during the war, pho
tographic cards were sent by millions,
and the receipts at this office were CORE
spondingly increased, necessitating the
employment OF an extra force TO return
such Of them as could not be delivered.
Thousands, however, came back 10 the
all inserted in an immense album, con-
tanning several thousand portraits, which
is kept in the so-callcd "museum" at
tached to the Dead Letter Office, and
shown to visitors as one of its curiosities.
In this museum, which is located in
room adjoining the main hall Of the Dead.
Letter Office, is stored away multitude
of articles which form one of the most
4 nd x,r;c
that / have ever seen. If the objects
greater part new, they would remind one
more Of pawnbroker shop than of any
thing else. There are rings, watches,
brooches, earrings, chains, eyeglasses,
lace collars, cigar holders, embroideries,
fancy slippers, neckties, gloves (by the
gross, babies dresses, bOnnets, Lome-
made socks, pocket handkerchiefs, fans,
meerschaum pipes, and articles of byou-
terse without number. There is scarcely
an article that can pass through the mails
that is not represented here. There were
even sewing machines, razors, models,
mantel.clocks, and books by the hundred.
All these things are here stored away un-
der lock and key, awaiting to be reclaim
cd by the sender. If no reclamation has
been made for certain number of years
they are disposed Of at public auction, and
the proceeds deposited in the United
States Treasury. In like manner all mon
ey not reclaimed at the expiration Of three
years is transferred to the Treasury; still
subject, however, to the cali and DISPOSE
ton of any claimant who may appear and
prove his identity.
It may not be unintcresting here to
give some of the experiences of the Brit
ish Dead Letter Office in regard to these
so-called property letters. While with us
there can scarcely be said to exist any
certain section Of the country from which
letters containing money or articles of
property come in greater numbers than
from others excepting in the large cities,
whose quota of these, as of all other let
tiers, is, of course, at all times preponder-
ating over the rural districts), the London
Office has q different experience. In the
interesting work on "Her Majesty's
Mails" already quoted, Mr.. Lewins says:
ave are assured that the letters them
selves, and the articles found In the
Scotch and Irish dead letters, illustrate no
little the character, the feeling, the habits
OF the two peoples, The Scotch have,