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

what there is to see, and are only begin
ming TO understand the mysteries OF the
Office. A great many letters received
here contain money or valuables In the
shape Of bonds, drafts, checks, receipts,
deeds Of property, mortgages, coupons or
various kinds, often payable To bearer,
etc, etc. More numerous, even, are the
letters which contain fractional cur.
rency In small amounts, from ten o. fif-
teen cent stamp up TO dollar; and also
postage stamps, sent either in place Of
currency or to secure an answer. In order
to give an adequate idea OF the impor-
lance of this, the 'money-lettero and
property" branch Of the Dead Letter
Office, / shall here give few
figures, which will serve TO illustrate
it: During the year OF 1870 the total
number Of letters received at the Dead.
Letter Office, in Washington, amounted
10 A, 152,46O. Of this number, 10, 733, none
Of which were registered, contained
money TO the amount Of $72, $1,000, in
sums of one dollar and upward; and, OF
the registered letters received here, 2,5SS
contained $20,32773, making total OF
22,32l letters, containing $02, S67.S2. But
for the Dead Letter Office, this money
would have becn-where? Certainly lost
to the senders, who now, in nearly all In
stances, have il returned. The number
inclosing fractional currency in sums
less than one dollar was ~, 044, contain
ing S., 1913 60; and OF this amount, 3d..
05872 Qhe contents of 20, 358 letters was
returned to the writers, while the remain
der 2, 638 letters, containing, 1874 81, were
filed for reclamation, there being no clew
10 ascertain the names or whereabouts OF
q oil ri ufef rn
and revenue stamps, these were found In
closed, in various amounts, in 5,459 let
tiers; while the number Of letters con-
tanning bank. checks, drafts, coupons,
deeds, etc, etc, was 1880, of the nom
inal value Of $685., 54490.
"But," it will very naturally be asked,
show comes 1t that there are so many
dead letters what is the cause OF itr
The answer Is, that the causes are
several, carelessncss, however, being
the principal one. II is really
surprising how careless some people
are in addressing and posting their or
other peoples letters, even If these, as we
have seen above--contain money, and
papers of value. An instance Of this kind
came before my notice while | was In the
Office, which may serve as an example. /
have already said that letter was hand
ed me at the assorting.table bearing only
the name--W G. Campbell, Esq and no
further address. When this was subsc-
qucntly opened It was found to contain
certified check for the sum Of $10235,
drawn upon a bank in indianapolis, Ind,
from which place the letter came, while
il should have been addressed TO Warsaw,
In the same State but the sender had
neglected TO write the address In full, and
consequently the letter came here to the
Dead Letter Office. While letters TO Ger.
tain foreign countries may be mailed I'M
paid, and the postage collected on deliv-
cry, every domestic letter must be prepaid
to secure It's delivery, with at least one full
rate, or II goes invariably to the Dead
Letter Office. Yet, during last year, no
less than 3f2,64 letters were dropped in
the post-oflice boxes throughout the coun-
try without stamps, or stamps OF the
proper kind. They were either wholly
unpaid, were not prepaid one full rate, or
were stamped with illegal or revenue
stamps, which cannot be used for post
age; 8S,123 letters were "misdirected,"
the post-ofiice, State, or some necessary
part of the address, being omitted; and
3,018 had no address scltateUer, not even the
name, but had been mailed with the en-
velope In blank. Only a small portion
(367) were addressed to places where there
is no mailservice, which is good indi-
cation of the vastness and perfection Of
postal ramific atoms In this country.
Perhaps IL would be proper also TO in
clude under the head of carclessness or
negligence the deplorable fashion Of q
certain class of writer's TO address their
letters from some country seat or other,
with some fancy or aristocratic name,
without giving the pOst-ofiice address
This silly and absurd practice has OF late
obtained to very great extent The
Post office Department In Washington Is
In possession of list of upward'o of eighty
of these fancy names, to which
letters are daily found directed without
any postofiice address; and almost every
day adds To this "list Of botheration.n
Parties receiving letters which are dated
simply Locust Hill, ""Sunnyside Farm"
Myrtle Grove" "Rose Villa" etc, etc,
etc, eighty thousand of them) take no
heed of the stamped post-mark upon the
envelope, but naturally direct their replies
to the place indicated at the head of the
letter, and the result is that the letter is
from one part of the State to
another, until, by accident ii reaches the
right place, or, more frequently, is sent To
the Dead Letter Office, from which again
1t Is, In due time, returned to the writer
These letters, which are not "unmailable,n
being addressed and prepaid, cannot,
however, be delivered, and thus form
very large proportion Of the four or five
million letters which annually are receiv.
ed at this Office. Now, when we have
called attention to 1t, let us hope that
change in this respect may be
wrought by which people who are
in the habit of thus dating their
letters will save themselves much
annoyance, and their correspondents from
the apparent charge of neglect, besides,
to considerable degree, lessening the
labors of the clerks in this department.
That our Dead-Letter Office is not the
only one that complains Of this (among
some people) very prevalent. habit, APP
pears from Mr.. Lewin's very interesting
book, Her Majcsty's Mails" (London,
1854 In which occurs the following pas
sage in the chapter on the /" Blind-Lctter
Office" "Many country gentlemen would
seem to cherish the idea that the names of
~ a ., Oh old 1.n