Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-05-24

aid him In bidding IOr the routes passing
through their respective sections. The en-
ye,opes containing the circulars were sealed,
and required from six to fifteen cents postage
each. Tie sender placed three cent stamp
the postmaster from whom the unpaid po t.
aee would be due, would never charge himself
with a debt for which he had received no
equivalent, which was put upon him by the
would never call upon him to pay. There ~ e
numerous other methods OF getting ahead of
the government In similar way. the new
special design stamp which VIII soon become
familiar to the public by general use and
through the stamp. collecting 1end VIII, how
ever, go far towards remedy1ng the evil.
SUPPRESSION OF VICIOUS MAIL MATTER.
Another cause which brings or did bring mat
ter to the dead letter Office is the unmailability
of obscene ana scurrilous matter. II Is note
worthy in this connection that no OBSCENE oook
and only few obscene pictures nave come TO
the Office within three years; before That tim
the mails were flooded with them. This result
is ascribed to the labOrS OF special agent Com
the suppression Of vice. Mr.. Comstoek In the
work which has, rather strangely, made him
unpopular, seems to have behaved With great
discretion and to have Kept carefully within
that he has never In single instance Violated
the sanctity of sealed matter 10 the mails. He
has frequently been arrested, but never con-
victed; and. as the records of the dead letter
Office, show his labors have been effective.
RATTLEsNAKEs AND OTHER CONSTRUCTIVE MAT
TER"
No one who has attended a sale Of unclaimed
packages at the dead-letter Office, needs to be
told that the articles received are as varied in
character as the letters. Everything under the
sun that can be brought within the weight
strangest articles are the ones most likely to
come to the office as unmailable. "Destructfye
matter cannot be forwarded. A vigorous rat
tlesnake, ,swell shaken before being TAKEN is con-
sidered among postal clerks as highly destruc-
tive matter. Bottled specimens OF some that
have been mailed alive are on exhibition at the
oHice. The sharp teeth Of moving machine,
iateiy Ia M mailed, ranked high as unmailable mat
ter In the minds OF the clerks required to handle
them. The package, however, to which strong
est objection has been made contained COM
pl1cated instrument Of torture, with sharp pro-
nose to prevent her from drawing her own milk
REPOSITORY OF SECRETS
AS specimens Of all kinds OF correspondence
reach the dead-Ietter Office, the new clerks
sometimes read things that cool their blood In
the warmest weather, or make them hot with
excitement though the thermometer is at zero
dnsended or committed murder, burglary, and
Other crimes OF violence; treason, conspiracieS
70 defraud the government; political secrets,
0omeStlc secrets, information OF every variety
OF wrong. doing, when they become the themes
OF letterS, make thrilling reading for a dead.
letter clerk: But il this Office is not the grave
yard Of letters,t Is t-,e graveyard of secrets
Iney are buried acre. No use can be made of
information thus obtained. Letters are per-
sonal matters between the writer and addressed
ana the Office Is supposed to know the contents
OF those received only so far as will ensure the
forwarding or the return of them. Il is only by
q strict observance OF the sanctity of sealed
matter, that government can retain the confi-
dence OF the people as safe medium OF com.
mun1cat1On. Not every matter that writer's
would wish not to be known Is Criminal. and
the same rule OF secrecy must apply to ALL
PROPOSED MULTIPLICATION OF DEAD-DETTER
OFFICES.
The necessity OF treating information obtain
ed in the Office as If it had never been acquired,
furnishes reason for comforting the power to
obtain such knowledge upon the fewest possible
persons, and upon those WhOwOuld have the least
temptation ana opportunity to make use Of the
secrets OF others. 1t thus constitutes strong
argument against the proposition now before
the House to establish branch dead letter Offices
In the principal cities. A man would prefer
that bis correspondence should be exposed to
strangers in Washington rather than that it
should be read by his neignOors Ia the local
post onice. This plan OF branch offices, which
Was tried once, as far as San Francisco iS con-
cerned, and abandoned, is Objectionable on other
sire rapid return OF failing correspondence put
theit name and address on the envelope, or use
the Spec1al-reQuest envelope. 1t appears from
an examination made day or two ago, that
much more than half Of the letters received at
the New York Office, give information on the
envelope which ensures their prompt return un.
opened to the sender. This multiplication of
fuses one In the search for misdirected letters,
and involves an Increased eyDenditure