, 1880-02-15
ST. VALENTINE.
The Work Done Yesterday by the
Chicago Letter-Carriers.

Absurd Instances Of Misdirected En-.
velopes-Dropping OFF into
Poetry.
The PostOfice authorities struggled val.
fantly with yesterdays flood Of valentines,
and when evening came and the last carrier
returned after his last trip fully three-fourths
of the tender epistles had been distributed.
In conversation with Mr.. John II. Hubbard.
Superintendent Of Carriers of the CHICAGO
PostrOfce.' TRIBUNE reporter yesterda dav
CLEANED some interesting facts in connection
with the additional work which the sending
of valentines causes. He estimated that the
total number Of valentines received for dis
tributlon by his force up to yesterday after
noon was
NOT LESS THAN 100000,
OF which about three-quarters were Of the
sarcastic and the remainder Of the senti-
mental description. Of these fully, Is GOO had
been delivered to the parties to whom they
were addressed, and the rest, including the
new arrivals, would be distributed Mon
day. The average distance covered in his
daily walks by one Of the suburban carriers
Mr. Hubbard stated to be seventeen and two
thirds miles, but yesterday the number of
Letters carried by each was so largely in
creased that the additional stoppages would
Increase the distance at least ten miles, so
that the delivery Of the St. Valentines Day
packets involves display of pcdestrianis1n
on the part of the carriers Of no ordinary
nature.
With regard to the certain amount Of delay
necessarily Incidental to the delivery of such
an array OF letters in addition to the usual
quota, Mr. Hubbard stated that there was
much less complaint than would be antici-
pated. In preparing the mail for delivery
the preference was given to the commercial
and other ordinary every day letters, but even
after these had been disposed Of the office
clerks, by dint Of working extra hard and a
tride longer than usual. managed to have
the valentines ready for delivery also. In
fact, the principal cause for delay in their
reaching their destination lay with the send
ers who, from number OF reasons, failed to
prepare the tender misslve properly for its
voyage.
a total lack Or an insut1iciency Of postage,
and an obscurity, intentional or otherwise, in
the address, were the principal reasons
WHY TIE POST-oFF1CE WAS NOT ABLE TO
FORWARD THEM.
Hundreds Of unstamped envelopes whose
doWery surfaces Indicated their nature lay
undeliyered in the Post Office yesterday be-
atiix the necessary stamps. The number re-.
tanned for surrender to the dead-letter office
on account Of the obscurity Of the direction
was even greater, and the explanation of the
fact that the valentine is more prone to be
lies in the desire to disguise their
handwriting, which animates many of
the senderS and in the extreme youth Of
others. The reporter was shown number
Of letters both in the carriers department
$~~% + fS41- -fF F~~&% Af-T
tendent of Nails exelnplyfying this fact A
maiden OF kalamazoo, yearnlng to give
gentle hint of the true state of her feelings
towards a young man OF whose whereabouts
she had very, vague idea, had Invested in
h haa aRpargR5 xefy Segfhht h
names given are, of course, 6ctitious) John
Doe, Lake Michigan the letter, of. course,
had to be sent to the dead department. A
young man from the central portion Of Wis
consin was found to have addressed his love
nlfssfve simply
miss ARABE1LA JONES, COOK COUNTY, ~
altogether insufficient data for the Post
master to 20 by, Another, from the city, had
lnclosed a very large valentine in very
large envelope, had placed nine cents worth
Of stamps upon it, and then spoiled all BY ad-
dressing it Miss Pattie Perkinson, Valen-
WIG wras Should st HGU had s wrtten
both the name and address on the envelope
but had done it so badly that
even with the aid Of a lookingglass it was im-
possible to make out more than the front
lame of the young lady. 4 Chicago young
ady sent q OFT very talrly-slzed valentine to
CCRR1E MuER1E,
,ut, as the Post-Oftice people are not aware
# the existence of any pOstof1ice of that
1ame, it is feared that the Intended recipient
will meyer become. one in reality. There
we're " M any number OF valentines which =. bore cn
person addressed, all of which will of course
lave to be sent to the Dead-Lctter Depart
nent. 4 young lady OF this CITY, utterly OBJ
iviolls of the fact that the Hoosier State is !
Gd yst sSd Sat 9ys5 $sHt E%es, ySsnas Ne
Welding street, Indiana"
Not unfrequently the valentine-sender, the
printed poetry Of the inclosure not filling
he measure OF his soups desire,
DROPS INTO VERSE
himself, and confuses vilely-written super
c1ption with an original dosgerel, or an
Among the valentines received yesterday BY
lressSsd L Ss to "afiss caty o'Strike, Nc -
Tohnson streat - which, in addition to the |
bove, which was all that was really neces-
ront a number Of words that, when care
ully and painfully picked out, read:
Miss Caty, the roes Is read /
the wilut is blew !, !
hunney is sweat
an SO ire from ]. s., Yure owen Valen- !
tin.
Another, desiring to be as facetious on the
utside as he WAS fond OH the inside Of his
alentine. addressed it as follows:
To West Lake street let this trot,
At No - please let it stop.
And when Miss comes walking In
Please hand it to her without grin.