The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1876-09-14
DEAD LETTERS.
A Pathetic and Ridiculous Ar.
ray Of Stray Mail Matter Love
Mtssiycs, AlligatOrs, Locks OF
Hair and Snakes.

AhS P"a"o'SS Va Aooiss W iCW uu-
known" is the mental comment as
one sees the many evidence Of peo-
Piles carelessness, foolishness and stu
pidity which are displayed at the
Dead Letter Office Museum. Ar
ranged in glass cases on the four
sides of the room are all these waits
of trave', displayed with a view
to their respective attractions,
and suggestive Of the treachcry
of postage stamp and the adverse fate
which sometimes overtakes even
mail-bags. There is everything
known to the useful and ornamental; !;
everything not smaller than a thin.
ble or larger than stovepipe hat.
Such pathetic array of might
have-beens, SO eloquent Of disappoint-
ments and blighted hopes! Locks Of
hair-there are whole switches of
,hem-and as for photographs, we are
told that there are forty bushels of
them in the basement or the building.
But fancy yoursilf the recipient Of a
nice parcel from the hands of the
postman some morning, which upon
being opened discloses live snake.
Whether one would go into raptures
or Mysteries at such a treasure would
be a matter of taste, suppose. But
then, people do send snakes through
the mail, and sometimes they come
back to the Dead Letter Office for
want of claimant, and we see them
leading serenely spiritual existence
in glass jar among other stray pos
tai curiosi,ies. |, is a fact that
Postmaster once found live alliga-
tor aisporiing among the letters and
papers in a mail bag.
There was also a boquet of fresh
flowers, which had slipped out Of its
box; and couple of empty boxes,
very similar in s,z, and shape, and
both addressed to ladies, left the poor
man in doubt as to which the alliga-
tor belonged aud to which the low-
ers. Imagine the fair recipient Of the
flowers finding monster in her box,
instead of the delicite Offering which
she had expected. But the Post,
master made no blunder; he put the
flowers in one box, the alligator into
the other: notified the ladies of the
slight confusion Of property which
had taken place, and directed each to
exchange with the other If she should
receive the wrong article. But he
was gratifed to learn shortly after
wards that there had been no mis-
take made. Jewelry is one Of the ar
,icles most comm ,nly intrusted to
letters and postal packages.
One can hardly realize that there is
daily average Of $4,000 or $4,000
dead letters or about 400 900 month.
Allowing one person to letter, there
are 100000 persons every month who
undertake to send letters either with.
out stamps, without addresses, or
with Cancelled stamps, insufficient pos
tage, or ill"gible or incorrect address.
es. Many Of them are without eth
er stamp or address, and often with
no signature which gives the slight
est clew to persons sending them.
There are 10000 month received
that either lack postage or address,
or else have insufficient or Cancelled
stamps; and, strange rs il may seem,
these are sometimes the most valua-
BILE letters, often containing currency
or drafts for large amounts Of money.
1t is estimated that there is about
100000 in drafts and $4,000 in
cash received yearly through dead
letters. This is all returned, If posi-.
bic, to the persons sending it; but if
any portion of it fails to find claim
ant, it is turned over to the Post
Office fund.
Very little difficulty is experienced
in restoring the checks and draft. 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 carelessness with which they are
launched upon journey represent a
deal Of suffering and disappointment.
Some hard working man may send
$50, the savings of u months labor,
to his wife and little ones, whom he
has had to leave behind him; but,
alas, he is one of forty thousand who
trust to Providence, without stamp
or address, or else his writing or
orthography are beyond mortal ken,
and SO the poor wife never gets the
pittance, which is her all.
1t is very amusing 10 see the let
ters opened, and guess at their con-
tents before they are brought to
light. Three out of five from bun
die of unaddressed letters contained
money, one of them IS note. Then
there are such quantities of dress
samples in letters. One would i'm
agine that all womankind had dis
covered a language in the inter-
change of these scraps of dress
fabrics. One half show their pros
perity in bits Of silks and satins, and
the other half in slips of six-penny
calico, and it is only in the Dead
Letter Office that they meet on COM
mon ground. Certainly every fifth
letter contains q photopraph. and /