The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-01-14
REGISTERED LETTERS.

THE SAFETY BUREAU OF THE POST OFFICE
FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM
The civilization OF every country is determined
by the amount OF liberty and domestic happiness
enjoyed by the Inhabitants, and certainly one
OF the foremost promoters Of the latter Is the
pos al service, which enters 80 largely into the
comfort ana happiness Of each member OF society.
Comparing the rude service OF former days with
the SAFETY, speed and convenience OF the present,
leads certainly to o contrast In favor of the wis.,
DOM which, among other improvements, has
blessed the nation with q Department. OF Regis
tration. In most cases OF depreciation charged to
the Post once shrewd special agents discover
upon investigation that the thefts occur In busl-
ness offices, or by the clerks OF business on1ces,
who handle the mails. In the Registry Depart.
ment theits of this kind are almost I'M
known, and the checks upon the employees
are OF such a character that detection
would almost Immediately follow crime. Consult
ing the British Postal Guide, high authority,
these lines Occur:-"The registration OF packet
makes It's transmission much more secure and
the loss Of registered packet Is a very rare oc-
currence." And also the following excellent ad-
wee, which Will apply to persons using the post in
this country as well as In Great Brit ain :-"Never
send money any other article value through the
post, except either by means OF money Order or In
u registeg ed letter. Any person who sends money
or jewelry In an unregistered letter not only
runs risk OF losing his property, but exposes 70
letter passes, and may be the means OF ultimately
bringing some clerk or letter carrier to moral
rum" The German government, however, gives
ABSOLUTE SECURITY BY INSURANCE
to senders OF registered letters by the payment OF
q small extra fee. II this insurance plan should be
adopted by the United states there is no question
but that 1T would yield an enormous revenue to the
departments The Post ONCE, under the present
system, gives receipt Tor the letter to the
person sending 1t at the date OF mailing,
wnicn receipt bears certain NUMBER q
IN hinh 10 nina
the letter. This letter, after going through the
various checkings In the sending office, is for
destination to the postmaster at the place OF de-
livery; after which duplicate receipt Is returned
To the sender OF the letter, as proof positive that
his letter mas been safely delivered.
Inc registered package envelope Is not the least
Is large, Stout envelope OF light color. wts
large red letters printed upon the back, as fol-
lows: -"Reglstered Packagem and addressed to
tongue on the back OF this envelope, and over this
Is "a large United States stamp and secure seal,
with whcn 1t is impossible to tamper without de-
lection. On the front OF this envelope 10 the
"kecord OF Transit" with the following rules
plainly printed tnereon:-
age must keep record Of its nupber postnark, with
4 GATE he Of rn na IL made Of T.
desnation, always taking reeep! it when praet
@ alien D Dc S SI ~ the
% Se % the nd % @
returned the forwarding route agent or railway
- Third Assistant Postmaster General.
But 1t ia scarcely necessary to dwell upon the
transfer agents through whose hands registered
lettey passes, and the multlorm checkS, seals, re-
celpts, &C., which make the abstraction Of such a
that tue sum charged for registration, only eight
NEEDLEssLY EXPENDED
A terror much feared by rogues in the Post
Oflice Department and Dy delinquent postmasters
is "traceru which is sent out for missing regis.
tered letfera which officer handling
package makes Endorsement as to what he did
with 1t and sends the "rracer' to the person
Chie OF the Division OF Mail Depredations have
cou .ons attached, which the person indorsing the
same time That he sends the searcher ahead, so
that, should the tracer be suppressed at any
once. So careful are the heads of the Registry
Department in the New York office that eacn clerk
can only enter by Key OF mis- own, winch bears
number and Tor which he receipts. ii this Is found
in any other hands ne Is called to account From
the time each letter cutters the registry offices
until 1t leaves complete checks and entries are
kept OF it, and before each relay OF clerks depart
o balance is struck on the check list OF packages,
made up OF letters handled for delivery, regis
tered at u public desk and made up for despatch,
domestic and foreign In this review 1t may not
be without interest TO give an exhibit OF the work
OF TINS bureau Tor l874:-
Reg.ste red received for New York.. 1900
IN iSl
Registered letters received for distribution 2!i65
Letters. &C. gstered at New YORK Post Office 4s $50
Stamped envelope packages reg lstered AMI dis
Postal card packages distributed ............ 3O32
Registered made up aud despatched. 22779
Total registered packages and letters handled. l3Os3l
On the I'd of January the force worked double
time and handled 1892 letters and packages,
which exceeded everything In the annals oil regis.
try business. In the month oil December 80, 800
registered letters were delivered In this city, and
49, 500 were received Tor delivery during the first
ten days OF the present month. This shows to
what an extent the registry system Is appreciated
bv the people at large. Inc greater portion
the United States UOnds held in Europe went over
In registered mails One firm alone IN this city
registered over 500 letters containing bonds In
three days.
the superintendent OF the Registry Department
FORESTER, Jr.
In 1S72-73-74 only twenty-one letters were miss
ing, of which three were known to have been
"A mail