The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-12-05

A'NOhNVAAb AoOfit III oIShip viz
following passage in the chapter on the
Blind-Letter Office :" /" Many coun-
try gentlemen would seem to cherish
the idea that the names of their man
sions should be known equally far and
near from their manorial acres, and
somehow they seem to inoculate their
correspondents with the same absurd
notion !"
But it is not always carelessness on
the part of the writer which prevents
letter from reaching its destination
in many cases nobody is to blame,
and letter brings up here simply
through the agency of destiny or accl-
dent. Thus, glancing over the Post
master-General' 5 report We find 1t therein
stated that ~, 40 letters were received
from hotels to which they had been
sent, the persons addressed having left
for parts unknown. Likewise, thou
sands of letters are received because
the persons TO whom they are addressed
have moved away from the house or
residence Indicated on the letter with
out leaving notice OF where they could
be found, etc. Sometimes the address
is so badly written or spelled that it
cannot possibly be made out, although,
for that matter, / have seen the officials
in the postoffice decipher addresses
that would remain conundrums forever
to anybody else but professionals.
Who, for instance, would ever suppose
that "AIac Hannahs lie" stands for
Mechanicsville, y. Y, or "Squill'
or "Sqweile" for Schuyllkill, Pa. ?"
Schenectady" New York, is fearfully
mutilated in some addresses; and Key
West, Florida, / saw myself written as
"Kivvist." Such minor variations rs
"Siikago" for Chicago, and " Kessel-
garten" 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
letters to the Dead-Letter Office, we
will now see in what manner they are
disposed Of At the outset, we were in
formed that one of three things would
invariably be the fate of every letter re-
ceived in this Office. the first of which,
although the least probable one, was the
delivery of the letter to the person 70
whom it is addressed, after merely a
temporary delay. Sometimes the Off
cials in this office succeed in deciphering
addresses which have been given up by
the less expert officers in the other de
partments of the Office, or outside post
offices. Again, in the case of letter
imperfectly 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 exceptional, as, in the ma
jority of cases, letters cannot be mailed
TO the persons for whom they are intend
ed, but only returned to the writer's.
Only when the name and address OF the
writer cannot be ascertained by opening
the letter, or when it is found 10 be
"A printed circular of no value, is
is consigned to the waste basket, and
subsequently To the paper mill. Thus,
the number of letters without Enclosures
remailed to the writer's in 1870 was
|, $40, 32J, of which ! ,4S7, 02l were de-
iivered, and 355, 301 returned TO the
Dead-Letter Office for the second time,
after having remained n month in the
postoilice from which they were sup
posed to be mailed in the first place.
Returning here for the second time,
they are killed, and consigned to
the paper basket and the mill.
This business Of returning letters to
the writer's gives occupation TO about
sixty lady clerks in the = Return-Letter
Department, in the gallery up stairs
TO them belong the duties of re-envel-
oping the letters in the well-known,
yellow, dead-letter envelope, by which,
under an act of Congress approved June
u, 1866, these are returned to the
writer's free Of charge.
at another desk is a lady who tends
exclusively to the return of all re-
quest letters, by which, in postoffice
parlance, is understood such as have the
card or address of the sender printed or
written on the outside. These are re-
turned accordingly, in their original en-
velOpes, unopened and free of charge.
Another lady is engaged i'll returning
letters containing postage stamps and
small amounts of fractional currency
and close by, is seated quite bevy of
fair clerks industriously engaged in
rewrapping and mailing photographs,
and the letters containing them, to their
sendcrs. And the number of this kind
of letters and Enclosures is very great.
Thus, for instance, last year there were
returned to the senders IS, 009 letters
containing photographs, of which
-, 97S were duly delivered while ., lS1
were again returned to the Dead-Letter
Office, and there "tiled for reclama-
ton. Since photographs have become
SO cheap, the number which daily
passes through the mails is enormous.
Especially during the war, Photographic
cards were sent by millions, and the re-
ceipts at this office were correspondingly
increased, necessitating the employment
OF IN extra force to return such of them
as could not be delivered. Thousands,
however, came back to the Office for the
second time, and these were ali inserted
in an immense album, containing sew
eral thousand portraits, which is kept
in the so-called museum attached 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 heterogeneous and curious col