The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1876-10-06
Dead Letters.

The paradise of ools, "to few unknown
is the mental comm ent us one SEES the many
evidences of peoples carele sness, foolish
ness and stupidity which are displayed at
the Dead Letter Office Museum. Arranged
in glass cases on the four siucs of The room
are all these waits Of travel, displ ayel with
IA view to their respective attractions, and
suggestive of the treachery Of postag" stitn rs
aud tAc I'D OF ta'e VI r' sometimes ovei
AXIS oven ma i-hngS. !n re i ,v :. Il ,ng
not -nnil hun :. Il imL.n " arg,rl al II
,tov,-'irc 1T.
Such u pa letc Hrayul M lt.ha, :, Gems,
50 I"qn"nt % 'isn pointlien. and i nted
hopr- LprkS o. u,Gr there arc Nnulc
switches ot them nd - lnr 'hott tra p..',
we ar tod there Nrn 10 ru>hes II IN n
The haS"n, 'nt Of t. buj ding. iut 'anc.'
, urseIf the recil est Of Ice parcel rom
the hand- ni tie = stn.n some n,orn:ng,
which upon herr', ,cncd Il scnvcrs t live
snake Whether &C w"uld 20 int, rap
turcS or Mysteries at 1ch trcasur" world
bs,a matter of taste, ! SUPPOSE. But, her,
people do send snakes through The mail, and
sometimes they come back to the Dead Let
ter Office for want ofa claimant, and we see
them leading n serenely spiritual, existence
in glass jar among otl er stray postal Curl
osities. 1t is n fact that postmaster once
found small live alligator disportng
among the letters and rHpers in Il mailbag
There was als' bouquet of fresh flowers.
which had slipped out of IT'S box nnd a cou-
pie of empty boxes, veryssmihrSi" size and
shape, and both addre sed to ladi.- left the
poor man,in' doubt az 10 which the alligator
belonged and to which the flowers.
One can hardly realize that iherr j. dai-
ly average OF 10000 or $1,000 dea' 'e'ters,
or about 400, 900 t month. Allowing "ne
person for a letter, there are 400, 900 persons
every month who undertake to send lette's
either without stamps, without nddress,!, ar
| with cancelled stamps. insufficient Dos age,
or iliegible or incorrect addresses ManV Of
them are withOulEstump or add ess, and OF.
| ten with no signature which gives the slight
est clcw to persons sending II EN-. There
are 40, 900 a month received that either lack
postage or address, or else have Insufficient
or cancelled stamps and, stra .ge rs it may
seem, there are sometimes the most valuable
letters, often containing currency or drafts
for large amounts of money. 1t is estimated
that there is about 100000 in drafts and
S75, 900 in cash received yearly through
dead letters This is all returned, if posi-
bic, to the persons sending it; but if any
| = -, - c,l al 81, = -
turned over to the Post. Office fund.
Very little difficulty is experienced in re-
storing the checks and drafts to the rightful
owners, but the money generally comes in
small sums, and is usually sent in the most
careless, haphazard fashion, and the loss OF
these small sums and the Ignorance or care
lessness with which they are launched upon
representing II deal of suffering ard disap-
pointment.
1t is very amusing to see the letters OPEN
ed, aud guess at their contents before they
are brought TO light Three out Of five of Il
bundle of unaddresseG letters contained
money, one of them a So note. Then there
are such quantities Of dress samples in let
tiers. One would imagine that all woman
kind had discovered language in the inter-
change Of these scraps of dress fabrics, One
half show their prosperity in bits of silks
aud satls, and the other half in slips of slX-
penny calico, and it is only in the Oead,Lel-
ter Office that they meet on common ground.
Certainly every fifth letter contains photo
graph, and don't imagine that any great
care is taken to return lost photographs; but
any one SO bereayed has the privilege OF
rummaging among the forty bushels of hu-
man "counterieits" which have accumulated
here