Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-11-07
How People Direct land Misdirect
their Letters.


their Letters.
Postmaster Burt of Boston, delivered
lecture on postoffice mat ers, in that
city, recently, which contained some in
teresting things. He said:
In other matters we do things very
much alike, but every man has his within
and his fancy about the form of his let
tiers. About 10000 letters are daily
handled in the Boston Post Office, and
stamps cancelled on them. If they could
be written plainly on envelopes of UNI
form size, with stamps on the same cor
ner and in such a form that the clerk
could utilize them at once, it would be a
great help. The simplest device should
be used to have the letter go. People
are needless in this regard, and then
charge the post office with carelessness.
He then explained the work of the office
in deciphering the superscriptions and
comparing them with the directory, and
the care necessary in keeping list of
changes in addresses. He kept direc-
tory of every city in the Union, and
more than fifty business letters day
are dropped in the Office directed to Bos-
ton when they were intended for New
York or some other city, and his clerks
had to hunt up the address and forward
the letters. Letters come directed to
such name in Boston, and they find
three or four of the name. 1t is taken
to one and he opens it and finds it is not
for him, and it is taken to another and
he complains about its being opened, and
then PUSHES to a newspaper and makes a
complaint that there is something wrong
in the post Office. He dwelt thus at some
length upon the carelessness which peo-
pie display in the superscription of their
letters and the embarrassment to the ov-
erworked post Office officials in couse,
quence. He narrated one instance of
bank cashier who was particular to send
letter, as he thought, plainly directed
to Detroit, Michigan, which was not re-
ceiyed, and after the officers had spent
six weeks in trying to hunt it up came
back from the dead letter office directed
to Detroit, Illinois. In another case
missing money letter, after it had been
given up as stolen, was returned from a
paper mill, and after careful examina-
ton showed that it must have been de-
liyered to the person to whom it was ad-
dressed and accidentally dropped into
his waste basket. He related a number
OF instances of people who had carried
letters in their pocket for weeks, and
supposed they were mailed and lost, and
other innocent mistakes, for which COM
plants were made, as we'll as the COM
plants which arise from persons who
claim to send money, but fraudulently
neglect to do so, and then charge the
post ONCE clerks with stealing. He then
appealed to business men to transmit
money properly by money order. He
exhibited a package of nearly hundred
business letters which accumulated in the
Boston office on Saturday and were i'm
properly directed or on which the post
age was not properly paid, some having
two cent stamps, some revenue stamps,
and some none at all. He also exhibit.
ed lot of postal cards, some five hun
bred in number, which had accumulated
in few days with no superscription
another lot was directed to places that
were not in the postal directory third
lot of postal cards was directed 10 Cana
da. All these had no name or possible
clue by which to return them to the writ
err"
Such facts as these seem incredible to
all but postal officials, but every post
master, in offices of any size, can match
them from their own experience.