The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1878-01-10

II is sadthougbt when one srsflects
apon sthcsSast mount of sufgcring in
l,nanx cases tbateeomes from this neg.
lect: Here, for instance, is an ilus,ra.
tlonr---7a'nn exact copy of letter rccciv-
ed at tho Office not long s,hcc: ~ I
"My Dear Mag resieved your
Eer'Y wilkim letter yestpday it, gave.
me 'gratc ease of mind TO fhoar that
'59'o''H'aA'sa amelLas this Leaves mo in u
present, thank God"
The writer then adds sad story of
disappointment and disaster, and fin
ished BY saying:>"I send 5.ou ten dol,
lars for'you need it more than do.'
Poor Mag! The $40 for which she
has longed and waited has gone into
Uncle oSam's rich pursc--mot from
th"icc? but from necessity. ..4....
"koreign letters arc treated in a a,very
diplomatic manner, and arc in all cas-
7s- returned across the water without
being opened. America seems to be
perfect geographical enigma to for
elgners when they direct letters to
trends here. They mix all tho
States and cities up in one grand mess
and then put considerable amount
OF tho mixture on each letter. Fer
instance, one address reads as fellows:
"Ole Anderson, Rockaway citi Pa
North Amtrka, Now York." Who
will undertake TO forward that letter?
And yet the dwellcrs across tho sea
probably make no more mistakes of
this kind than we Americans, for how
many of us fully understand all the
geographical localities of the minor
cities and provinces of Germany or
Sweden, or, in fact, any country on
the continent?
IN tho gallery there arc seated forty
or fifty ladies whose business it is to
return the lcttors in official envelopes
to tho writers when their address can
be found. Every day the hugo sacks
which go forth from that place cram
med with letters show the amount of
work " hich the ladies do. One hand.
somo yourg lady is kept busy all The
day i'll stamping envelopes and she
does it with lightning rapidity. 1t is
said that these ladies arc tho Best
readers of bad writing in the country
and tits not TO be wondered at when
one secs some Of The specimens of
their work. The average lady reader
probably will think that it must tc
100 tunny for anything" to Lc CON
t'nualIy reading other peoples love
letters; but even gold tarnishcs with
much handling, and so i. is with read.
ing other folks letters when it has to
be done at the rate of from twenty to
fifty an hour, day after day and month
after month.
"A few months ago an application
was received for a.lcttcr which had a
fa,hous History. Forty-twn years a 90
1t missed its destination and landed in
tho Dead letter Office. No call YVES
made for it, and there it remained in
tho archives till tho defendants cf the
writer, wishing to prove their right
to his property, obtained from old
Journals tho information that the deed
had beon mailed at such time to
such person, but had mover reached
its, destination. They tEen made ap-
.plication to tho Department for the
letter. The odds were so greatly
against them that their surprise must
have been boundlcss when the old
yellow document was returned to
them just as it had been mailed over
forty years ago.
Many will remember the great SEM
sation caused by the account of the
marriage Of Don Cabral, the Diamond
King IA fictitious character created
by Mr.. William II. McEroy, of the
Albany Eveniug JournaI) Papers
all over the country published the
accounts, and as consequence hum
dreds of letters addressed to him came
10 the Dead Letter Office, and were
afterward returned 20 Mr.. McEroy,
as the only living representative of
the OfOrcSaid Don Tn his annlioo inn |