Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-03-03
DEAD LETTER OFFICE.

DEAD LETTER OFE1CE.
The paradise OF fools, "to few IN
known" is the mental comment as one
sees the many evidences of peoples care
lessncss, toolishnoss and stupidity which
are displayed at the Dead Lettor uhice
Museum. Arranged in glass eases on
the four sides Of the room are all those
waits of travel, displayed with n view to
their respective attractions, and suggest
i've of the treachery Of postage stamps
and the adverse fate which sometimes
ovsrtakes oven mail bags. There is oy-
erythiug known to the useful and orna-
mortal everything not smaller than II
thimble or larger than a stovep.pe hat.
Such pathetic array Of might have
beens, so eloquent of disappointments
aud blighted hopes Locks Of hair-therc
are whole switches of them-Nnd as for
photographs, we arc told chat there are
forty bushels of them in the basement Of
the building. Bu, fancy yourself the re-
cipient ofa nice parcel from the hands OF
being opened discloses live snake I!
Whether one would go into raptures or
Mysteries at such treasure would be Il
matter OF taste, | suppose. But, then,
people do send snakes through the mail,
and sometimes they come back to tho
dead letter Office for want ota claimant,
and we see them leading a serenely spi-
itual existence in glass Jar among 9TH
er stray postal curiosilies. 1t is fact
that postmaster once found a small live
alligator di-porling among letters and
papers III mail bag.
There was also bouquet Of fresh low
ers, which had slipped out OF its box /;
and couple Of empty boxes, very SINH
lar in size and shape, left the poor man
in doubt as to which the alligator belong
I'd and which the flowers. Imagine the
:air recipient Of the flowers hndinga mon
ster in her box, instead Of the delicate Of
leri!g which she had expected. But the
postmaster made no bIuader he put the
flowers in one box, the alligator in the
other, notified the ladies oil the Slight con-
fusion Of their pronerty which had lakon
place, and directed each to exchange
with the other il she should receive the
wrong article. But he was grathicd
shortly afterwards that there had been
no mistake made. Jowelry is one OF the
articles most commonly entrusted to let
tors and postal packages.
one can hardly realize that there is a
daily average of l2,000 or 1900 dead
letters, or about 100000 month Al
lowing one person to a letter, there are
100000 persons every month who under
take to send letters either without stamps,
without addresses, or with cancelled
stamps, insufficient postage, or iIeeible
/ incorrect addresses. Many OF them are
without either stamp or address, and Of
len no signature which gives The slight
est clue To persons sending them. There
are 10, 600 month received that either
lack postage or addresses, or else have
insufficient or cancelled stamp and,
| strange as it may seem, these are some
times The most valuable letters, often
containing currency or drafts for large
amounts of money. II is estimated that
there is about %i,000,O0O in dralts
and $4,000, in cash received yearly
through the dead letters. This is all re-
turned, j., possible, to persons sending it
but il amy portion ofiL fails to find a
claimant, it is turned over to the post
office luud.
Very little difficulty is experienced in
returning the checks and drafts to the
righttul owners, but the money generally
comes in small sums, and is usually sent
in the most careless, haphazatd fashion,
and the loss Of these small sums and the
Ignorance or caralessness Wi.h which they
are launched upon journey represents
deal Of suffering and disappointment.
some hald-Worklag man may send $40,
the savings OF "A months labor, to Ill.,.
wife aud little ones, whom he has had
to leave behind him; but, alas he is
one OF the forty thousand who trust to
providence, without stamp or address,
or else his writing or orJhography are be-
youd mortal ken, and so the poor wife
never gets the pittunce, which Is her ALL.
1t is very amusing 10 see letters open
ed and guess at their contents before they
arc brought to light Three out Of i've
from bundle OF uuaddressed letters con-
tanned money one Of them a ~ note
Then there are slch quantities Of dress
samples in letters. One would imagine
that all Womankind had discovered a
language in the interchange OF these
scraps Of dress fabrics. One-haf show
their pro. perity in bits OF silk and satns,
and the olher halfin bits Of six-penny
calico, and il is only in the Dead letter
Office that they may meet on common
ground. Certainly every ith letter con-
tans a photograph, and / don't imagine
that any great care is taken to return
lost photographs, but any one 50 Lereav-
ed has the privilege Of rumagiug among
the forty bushels Of human counter
feits which have accumulated here.
"Y Es," said be, speaking of the Elec-
tora Commission, ''its just like pedro.
The Democrats make high, low, pedro,