Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-11-28
Curious STORIES About Dead Letters.

Curious Stories About Dead Letters.
sThe subject Ihave chosen" says Mir.
Carlton Hughes, in one of his lectures,
''is a very peculiar rOne-peculiar from its
isolarion- As yet no lecturer has spoken
upon this theme, probably because ne
thought it too dead either to instruct OF
amuse. Yet it is Il subject in which we
all have Il vital interest. l am here to
tell YOU of my experience while a clerk
in the dead letter office, and to give you
an idea of the workings of that lnstltu-
ton" Then, like some literary resur-
rectionist, Mr.. Hughes roamed amid the
great cemetery of the pOstOtice depart
ment, and opened the graves Of long for
gotten and buried correspondence The
corpses which he presented became AMI
mated for the moment with humOr OF
pathos as he showed the light and dark
sides of the subjects of which he spoke,
Commencing with a review of the dead
letter office, the speaker exhibited re-
cord, kept by one Ebenezer Hazard.
from the year 1777 to 17SS. This show
that the first dead letter of which we
have any knowledge, was mailed on Nov.
p, 1777, by John Cogdell, from George
town, S. c., TO the collector of customs,
Wilmington, n. c., containing certih-
Gates from the collector at Georgetown,
S. c., announcing the arrival of the
schooner Dispatch. 1t was held for five
pennyweights, two grains postage. The
workings of eleven years were contained
in little book, now yellow with age.
Contrasting this with the business done
to-day in the dead-letter office, Mr..
Hughes said that 49, 400 pages of ledgers,
each page I6x22 inches, were used an
nuallY in recording the transactions of
the office. About 10000 letters are
opened daily, and the money contained
in these average $S1, 900 per month. Each
clerk can open l 900 to ], 800 letters daily.
In telling how letters came to get into
the dead-letter Office, the lecturer said
that misdIrection and nOn-poStage were
the principle causes. An illustration Of
the latter was given in the caselOf bank
whose whole mail for one day was sent
to that Office because some one forgot to
put the stamps on the envelopes before
placing them in the postofhce. OF the
MANY incidents about dead letters which
the lecturer related, only few can be
presented, and these in the briefest form.
An interesting case was where a gentle
man travelling on business sent letter
containing 81 800 to his wife at home.
By some unaccOuntable neglect he
sealed the envelope and deposited 1t IN
the mail without any address whatever.
After the letter was opened at the dead
office we found that he had written but
a few lines, announcing his determine
ton to 90 further south, not mentioning
any probable destination, and signing
the name George" There was no clue
to trace the wife, and but a small one to
find the writer. The postmaster at the
city where the letter was mailed was re-
quested to have the various hotel reg
listers examined, and report to us the
names of all persons recorded as George"
on or near the day during which the
letter was mailed as recorded in the
envelope. He found thirty-two of that
name, ten of them residents. The re-
manning twenty-five went off in different
directions, while six went south. One
of these merely signed his name, with
out saving where from or whittier going.
From this carelessness it was concluded
that this was the right person, and com
pairing the letter with the writing on the
register verified the conclusion. 1t was
found that the boot-black of the hotel
had been on intimate terms with this
particular George" and it was through
the information obtained from the boot
black that the owner of the letter and
its 81 500 were at last found. Another
case, somewhat similar, was the follow
ing: A letter was written, dated Asto>
House, New York, signed "Chauncy,"
inclosing $1,000 to a lady as a remunera-
ton for the care with which she had
treated his parents. The letter stated he
was just going to Europe. The letter
was misdirected, and when opened at
the dead-letter Office, the postmaster at
New York was instructed to make in
quiries at the Astor House for Chauncy,
who, after some trouble, was found, and
the money returned to him the very
afternoon he left for Europe. An inter-
esting recital was the following: A poor
widow, residing in New York, sent So to
her only child, mere boy of IA, who
had gone to one of the interior towns
of New York state to obtain employment,
and had been taken sick. The letter
was returned to the dead letter Office, in
dorsed mot found" and search was then
made for the mother, whose name was
Smith. This was all the clue to the lady.
The New York postmaster could give
no help. The letter was carefully ex-
amined, and it was discovered that the
envelope used was one which had been
previously spoiled, and when used by
the widow had been turned wrong side
out, and thus directed to her boy. On
this letter was a monogram, and in a
corner a surname carelessly written.
Searching a directory it was found that
the initials and name were that of
well-known New York lady. The en-
velope was sent to her for inspection,
and she remembered that she had
spoiled and thrown it out of the window.
The question was, who picked itup? The
lady told the circumstances to some
friends in the presence of a servant.
The latter told her mistress that she had
seen woman pick it up, and this woman
lived in a tenement near where she did.
The matter was further investigated, the
woman was found to be the looked-for
widow, and her money returned. In the
meantime, her son had been sent home
by some kind friends, and had sickened
and died.
In 1862 continued the speaker, there
was received at the dead-letter Office the
following letter, dated Cincinnati, in
which were inclosed coupons, cut from
a $40 bond, to the amount of nearly
81 1000. 1t was written to "Connor," and
signed "John D. c." Il wish you would
keep these things for me till 1 see you,
as 1 have no safe. place for them, and
there is some people who is hunting me
close as hell" 1t was afterward found
that the writer had stolen lot of bonds,
which were recovered, although the
thief was never caught.
= The lecturer gave also some Ct the
superscriptions on letters. Some of these
showed ingenuity, while others lacked
the first rudiments of common sense.
He quoted as follows: "Please hand to
my mother and oblige, Mary" "Sal, if
you want to hear from your bo, you had
better come and get this letter !" 'In
this letter there IS $50 for Bob, and 1
send it this way so that the postmasters
won't steal it; ;" "Postmasters, please de-
liver this to the young lady living in the
first house beyond the wallet factory,
that wears black dress and sack, white
straw hat, and brown face trimmings.
Now don't make a mistake" Several
letters are received addressed to the
devil, Santa Claus, and other like per
4Iazo 1aFEnv-c NTH f1,air