Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1879-12-11
,~. I'm. sn. 6 M. | VI.

| hau ColuHn..... NU bU UUIlUO Oh 100 QOI22S
0ne column ...... IS 0O Is 0I $50 O0I 2OJ 1870
Special contracts will be made with yearly sd
vertisers.
A Curious Part o the Postofiice.
| The amount of carelessness which abound
10 human nature is nowhere better illustrate
than IN the mlssleg letter aud inquiry depsr
ment OF the General Postofice 10 this city. Tb
| failing ia not found to exist solely among peopl
unaccustomed to the ways OF mercantile lite, bu
the records OF the department show that some q
the leading business men of tho country are tn.
greatest offenders. OF course, whom a lottc
goes astray in the Poslofics, the officials aro q
once blamed, but investigation Invariably show,
that the fault does not lie with them. Misdi
rectlon Is fruitful source of trouble, but ii frf
quently hsppeDs that the persons to whom IL
ters have been intrusted to be mailed, eAer
| witully or through forgetfu!ness. fail t..fut
them IN the Postofics. AS rule, whs 80 %
suggested 10 sender of letter thai :1s nas
possibly made an error in the address suI a" ,uu'
Is secuted as absurd, but few mi osau ,a'e,, M
| when the letter is produced aud ,io;nan, o ho. U
his part is demonstrated, the co.-'alnau' o''
| comes the embodiment of polites::. A. NJ.
A record Of ell complaints isJ,p' Ia ohsa sns Mu"
or < office, and the result is u ou'on''n, ~ tnc
Such entries as Found in g pooket OF inc ~,
sender" Found 10 the II, ,S OF DeTSpapee.
Found in desk unope;;,ui. aShsse ..S.a sGn.
by express" "Nllsdirered ana oso'rn oy
party to whom intruste for mailing, 90 TO
make up the record. lo fact, 1t seldom oc'
ours that no trace . letter can be FUND
Some of the entrie in the the book are very
funny reading. Tke for instance TINS one' ,gr'
nished by a coutrY Postmaster: II mfi
Smith calls agair to complain OF tnls omuS S.l 1
should like him % know that "nen neq "tlSo
to grass widowsas ofteo as ne a'&s..S s.s no mas
done they bad setter have the boz nrea. 10
this case Mr.. Smith had grg';n ;n,ot, op soes; tbe s
one of them admitted hsoomonIa;n. bsa Ipttf hoen
letters about which tf
made. ,or 10 tho o;s- writes fhe
from A1 ,ba eoyetope POsp just been setr'nod to US
pea 10 oy MISTAKE oy 20 of our messeLycrs.
This gives me an opportuall3 to express our
appreciation of the honesty aod reliability OF
your employees. G.. 6. WILLIAMS,
Cashier Chemical National Bank, n. Y"
There is spice Of romance in this one from
a country postmaster:
"Respeotfully returned with the information
that yesterday called upon Miss OIL vary, and
it ls somewhat singular fact that she iaflrn
ed me that she bad received all three OF the
letters. l would state further that was in
Yis.' by the lady to stay to tea, which invita-
;iGn .3 nsI ~,nted, aud had very tue time, as
very best of company
The complainant 10 the aouro --.o WV do.
jected lover whose letters the lacy bad received
with silent contempt. The sequel of the aft sir
was the marriage of the gsllant postmaster aud
the young lady about four mouths ago.
The number Of curiously addressed letters
coming into the department is very large, but
as rule they are the work Of ignorant per.
sous. The lrishman who addressed a letter to
"Sscrety Seward, Sacrety of War, Care An.
drew Johnston, To Washington, America.
United States" was quainIly defoite in iudi
eating the desired destination Of bis communl.
cation.
One of the apnoyapces 10 the Department il
| a practice iaduIged 10 by dishonest persons Of
making bogus complaints. AS rule, these
people tell story of letters sent containing
money, which have no. reached their destina-
| ton. In nine cases out OF ten the complain
| ants are little better than trsmps, and never
owned bill Of larger denomination than SlO
| Still they will claim that they have enclosed 9
| $50 bill to relative 10 one OF the far Western
States and that it has either been lost or stolen
| An irquiry as to where they obtained the S5C
| bill usually ends the compsint. Others WI,
complain of the loss of large SUNG of monay
some excuse for delay, and after leaving tn
window are never seen again. One peraon
last week, when the affidavit was presented 1
him, asked if be would be charged fee. O.
being informed that he would have to "settie
with the notary public, although he claimed +
have lost $470, be swore at the clerk mos
vigorously, aud went away declarlog that b.
would never pay another dollar toward tn
supper of the republican party.
The Dead Letter Office has become place q
inquiry for persons vino have los. thsir pccke
books, Pickpockets do not care 10 retain
a pocket book after they have secured wha
money it contained, ard not unfrs queDtly the
d. post the rifed purse 10 the nearest lcttc
| box. When the book contains eDy means {
identifying it's owner the authorities give motto
to the losers where their property can be fount
In this manner many valuable papers hav
, been returned. On Saturday, November q
five pocket books were brought into the otht
, from the lamp post letter boxes.
Not only has the department. to deal vii
missing letters but it is called upon, especia!
: at this holiday season, to take charge ct iun1
merable parcels whion are deposited witbo1
addresses. Saturdays collection of th
kind of matter filled two immense basket
and among the articles were dress, baby
ti.cket, q pair Of boots, several dolls, numb
! of b xes of toys, pair of very handsome 20
D bracelets and quantity of fill work. WeddiI
o cake arrives 10 the Office daily, and as it
against the law to send it through the mail
s the clerks of the Department have become 9:
perts in deciding the quality of cake, Abo
= 40 per cent Of the ARTICLES without address
sre either returned to the senders or forward
to the owners on instructions from the sender
, who discover their error. The remainder
the stuff is sent to WASHINGTON and there 8;
by auc!ion,-N Y Tribune
You CAN FIND A LARGE ASSORTMENT
=. Tin w are, such ss Baking Pans, Pie Pa