Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-08-01

VI >IlrttltN L'Itt.s.
Attention vas recently attracted in
New York, hy rh- faiiure of two impor
taut letters To- reach Philadelphia when
the sender. xpcc,td. To- the large number
e INSTRUCTED ~ partly directed letter
Inch verr daily ar'lp-d into the New
lork postoii.cr. Tie numier, Post
L. asi.r jane SAY. T. 'e:Wtcu - .Ul
and 100 .ach uAy. AID they inclu lee
AL m4nEer "t mist dis aud errors. In
some cases the surcT-cripii rs migL;
veil s'iyc for prizr ju2z,rs, - adroitly.
though uni trbiIonaIly, las the writer
concealed his Thoughts. Ia other case
the Lack of any direction whatever
makes the officials minds as blank as the
envelope; IN Others still the omission OF
lac name Of the city or village leaves
the ppstoilirc oil .ILls pOwcrless. rs a
rule, to forward the letter TO its destIna-
ton, though in many instances, OWN
to the skill and knoWledge of the cX-
prrt> t. y HON the work Is conti!eI, they
are able to supply the omission. Bu.
not the least source Of trouble, and one
which finds its origin che ily IN the me-
lIycnce OF business men and others WHO
| ought to know better, is that whicl.
| arises from a faIlur" attach the name
If the State 10 the address of the person
! for whom the letter l. iit"nded. In the
! two cases which have brought tue sui
! pee! into some prominence, the letters
! were simply ,iir' ctei 10 their proper Il !,
, dress, Philadelphia, the State being
omitted. Uutll Within short time
since the distributing clerks had been
permitted to guess at The State meant by
| the writer; but some mistakes having
| been made, and much trouble caused
thereby. the postmaster gave orders TINT
| letters thus imperfectly addressed should
| be turned over to the experts, so as to
insure greater accuracy. Consequently
| the two letters Ill question were delayed
mail or two, anu by reason Of the de.
lay cash transaction involving $50, 900
Was Imperfect in one case, and an i'm
portant order lost in the other.
All postotlices of the tirst-class eX.
| perience in less degree the difficulties
and perplexities which the New York
| Postotfice daily encounters ;and although
mistakes are frequently made, the Won
der is that they are not far more numer-
Gus. Most readers would be astoDished
if they examined the official list of post
offices, and observed how comparatively
few places there are which do not have
one or more duplicates in name. The
failure to remove doubt as to the lOcali-
ty of place, by giving at least the name
of the State, compels postoilice officials
| to resort to guesswork; and while this
| proves to be correct in nearly every case
when an important city is involved, the
! al, tina
the places of the same name are obscure,
and there is no certainty in any case.
To show what q wide field there is for
mistake, it may be remarked that among
the leading cities of the country, San
Francisco. New Orleans ami Jersey
City are the only ones without dupli-
Gates in names. There are no less than
Twenty-Five Washingtons. besides fif-
teen places in which Washington forms
part of the name. There are three New
Yorks, seven Philadelphias, eighteen
Brooklyns, four Chicagos, four St.
Louises, eight Cincinnatis, twelve Bos-
tons, five Baltimores, five Detroits, be-
sides one Detroit City and one Detroit
Junction. eight Pittsburghs, besides
three Pittsboroughs, fifteen Louisvilles,
fourteen Newarks, sixteen Buffalos and
twenty seven places which have Buffalo
| as Il portion of the name, sixteen
Albanys, ten Clevelands, two Indianapo.
Uses, three Milwaukees and one Mill
waukie, thirteen Providences, and eight
cen Charlestowns may be added.
Most of the important towns in
Michigan have their duplicates. Thus
there are twenty-six Greenvilles in the
United States, twenty.three Monroes
and twenty-one Jacksons, while there
are forty-eight other places with jack
son as the principal part of the name.
There are thirteen Hillsdales and as
many Albions; fourteen which rejoice
in the name of st. Joseph; eleven called
Coldwater, nine Masons, eight which
are plain st. John, and five which make
the name st. Johns, seven Lansings,
six Ionias besides an Itnia City, and six
each respectively called Hastings, Char
lotte and Adrian. There are tive cities
each going under the name of Battle
Paw Paws, besides Paw Paw Ford and
a Paw Paw Grove, and there are four
Grand Rapidses. There are three each
called respectively Bay City, Calumet,
Lapeer and White Pigeon. There are
two Fentonvilles, and, closely allied to
them, three Fentons. There are two
Allegans, two Grand Ravens and two
Kalamazoos. The list of Michigan
postoffices which have their "double,"
and in some cases their double several
times over might be continued at great
length; but the instances we lave given
are sufficient to show how essential it is
that the name Of the State should follow
the name of the postoffice in an address
on letter.-Detrou Free Press.
! How TO CHOOSE SILK.-Many la
dies do not know how to choose a good
| black silk but we'll informed women