National Republican., 1873-12-18
Jaek Stump,
InrsIid,
Sailors SRGg Hdrhor.
StdttH I'idHd, n. Y.


Across this direction written, with rcd ink, IN
fair, round busincss.haEd. the one word
DEADl
Truly, this letter had a right to be here.
We shall now see what IL done 10 the letter.
amer they have been assorted. In the irst place
Ali donttfie letters e. letters orig mating In this
and r Sts SS o OSn
u opee, In large baskets, Ike elothcrbaskets to
tee Table OF the openers" already spoken Of
snis. Such iettsfs ii ths class, however. which
xri,iss On tho outside arc not opssea' sGi i once
=. ,,Aa,si@s . he .Rs,uIn .is HaIl.Is r'ss. nr
Aaifs. A similar course takes all letters wH,,,,
are "frankcd " by the signatures OF members Of
Congress, or Other persons enjoying that Prist,
the various departments, None Of them usc
opened, but returned according to the name and
other class Of desd.letters escape opening, viz!
all foreign letters, or letters which, orlp1nat-
ing IN iorsign sountries are addressed to persons
In the United States These are at the expira-
uon Of Q certain time, during which they have
been advertised, sent. from the post.oiiee In this
dead-ictter ONCE, from which they are again, at
stated periods, according to the international
Pcstal arrangements, returned TO the General
Il then becomes the duty Of thai foreign oltice TO
Ind out, BY opening the letter or otherwise, the
writer, and return IT. with statement OF the cause
81 lie non-d delivery in the united States, All pos
thse which, on unpaid foreign letters, IL charged
against the United states, Is again credited for
snch OF these as are returned are dead " letters,
and rice rersa WIKI regard TO letters from the
United States, unPrcpaid, which return here
Thus, II Will be seen. that the whole system, so
TAR as we baye yet observed, Is cn.inentiy busl-
ness-lke and well arranged, each clerk having
enables the whole huge machine to work with the
precision and accuracy Of elockwork. Iui, 10 far,
we have only seen half OF what there It to see and
are only beginning to understand
TnR NYsTERiEs OF THE oTrIcE.
A great many letters received here contain money
or yaluabes In the shape Of bonds, drafts, checks
receipts, deeds Of property, mortgages, coupons
More numerous, even, are the letters which con
taIh fractional currency In small amounts, from
ten or niteen cent stamp up TO dollar and also
or TO secure an answer. In order to give an ade-
quate idea Of the Importance Of this. the money
lei oihce, shall here give few figures which
wiz serve 70 illustrate 4 During thS year d is7o
the total number Of letters received Of tbe Dead.
Letter Once, In Washington, amounted 10 I152-
zoo. or this number, 1878, none OF which were
registered, contained money to the amount Of
sT2 90 In sums q one dollar and upward; and,
OF the registered letters received here, 25ss con-
containing te2,sc7,s2 But for The Dead.Icttcr
Certainly iost to the senders, who now, in nearly
all Instances, have It returned. The number In
closing fractional currency in sums les. than one
amount, 4505s.72 1.-THE contents Of 30 $50 letters)
was returned to the writers, while the rcmai inder,
2ess letters, containing sTsl S. were hed for re.
clRmation, there being no clcw 10 ascertain the
names or whereabouts of the senders Finally,
asregar,is postage and revenue stamps, these were
found inclosed, in various amounts In 45,457 let
ters; while the number Of letters containing
bank cheeks, drafts, coupons, deeds, kc sc., was
1850, Of the nominal value Of s3,05, ,bI49o
"But," II will very naturally be asked,
"how comes II that there are so many dead
lettersEwhat T. the cause Of it9n The an
meas, however, being the principal one. 1t Is
really surprising how careless some people
are " addressing and posting their or other peo.
contain money and papers Of value An instance
81 this kind came before my notice while was In
already said that letter was handed me at the
asserting table bearing only the name wv. q.
nha,mnesil ~. ssg and no iarthsr address When
tain n certified check for the sum Of slo2 36 drawn
upon bank in indianapolis, Indiana, from which
addressed to Warsaw, In the same State; but the
sender had neglected to write the address In full
sss Gs 20 s
collected on delivery, every domestic letter must
@ fas or e soss r
Office Yet, during last year, not less than 3l2, ,os4
ss ss n,G ,hs post se boxes
Of the proper kind. They were either wholly un-
paid, were not prepaid one fuli rate, or were
cannot be used for postegei esl2s letters were
.inisdirected" the post Office State, or some ne.
cessary part Of tho address being omitted; and
3,0lo had no address whatever, not even the name,
hut had been mailed with the envelope in blank
Only a small portion tSoIl were addressed to
places where there Is no mall service, which Is .
Eood Indication OF tho yastness and perfection Of
the postal Iamhcations In this country.
Perhaps II would be proper also to include under
the head OF earelessness or negligence the depor.
able fashion Of certain class Of writers 10 address
their letters from some country seat or other, with
q fancy or aristocrntlc name, without giving the
post Office address. This silly and absurd prac-
lice has Of late obtained to a very great extent
The Post Once Department, In Washington, is In
sf these fancy names to which letlers are daily
ionnd directed without any post office address;
and almost every day adds tothis
'Lisr oY BoTurRATIoS.n
Parties receiving letters which are dated simply
Locust Hill," "Sunnysido Farm" Myrtle
drove" "Rose VIVA, kc., &c, eighty thousand
Of them take no heed Of the stamped post mark
upon the envelope, but naturally direct their re.
piles to the place indicated at the head Of the
from one part Of tho state to another until, by
accident, n reaches the right place, or more ne
qncntly, IL sent 10 the dead letter Office, from
which again II ID, In due time, returned TO tho
writer. fhese letters, which are not "unmail.
abls bs,sE ssdFs.ssS and prepaid cannot how
proportion Of the four or Ave million letters which
are received at this ofice. Now, when
70 have called attention 10 II, let us hope that
change In this respect may be wrought by
vhieh people who arc In the habit OF thuh
IslInE tbslr letters viii save ihemselyes much
sfsff change o. neglect, besides, 70 q eonsidera.
V degree. Issssnins the iabors Of the clerks in