The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-11-22

STAMPED cn,c-
l9Ie,' .pee'.. s5,o24,ooo s0e4Asl 10
y ~ ,,s y a per- s5751.75o 4sl,154 90
oi Z, lsp. postage oo1c544 Io7777 80
Ofirid stamped
enye,2is :. ana o.s25.50O 34I55 30
Acr-e-atinq. i .5O4.sll.542 ss4,625.4s5 81
The first increased - pei cent; the Sc
cond. ll.G: the third, plus; the fourth,
u plus: the fifth, plus; and the seventh,
12.G.
or the 379,sG2 registered packages in
closing postaec-siamIs. stamped envelopes,
ana postal-cards 20 the value Of S34,C2j,-
1891. not a single package was lost in
transit. These were sent to the various
pasi-ofices for use and sale.
BY careful reckoning, based upon an &C
tnal count made in every post-oiiice in the
United States during the first week in De-
cember. 1859, il has been ascertaiucd that
the whole number OF letters mailed in this
country i'm the last fiscal year was l,0iG,-
107,3fS. The number reaching the dead
letter Office during the same period was
3,32SG2l, or one in every 3ij. We quote
o.hc. interesting statistics:
"Tbe total numloroi letters and Of pack
aQe, that were OF sufficient value 10 be re-
corded and fled. received during the year
ended June 80. ISL, was 3,G1i,20j, an in
crease a. 3jl.G23 over the number received
during the preceding year. For COVE
niencc Of treatment they were classified ~
. 4 q ffss fr.tf
0jJ: held for postage. 20 PA; misdirccted,
2f8.5J6 mot Including 81. lSl foreign letters
with imperfect or erroneous addresses);
without any supcrsCrirtion whatever. (le
majority Of them bearing stamps TO pay
postagc.) $40; letters addressed tOforcign
countries, and containing articles ,cOin,
jcwe'Iy. &c.) which are forbidden 10 be
sent in the international mails. l,2J2: let
tiers q foreign origin, 2Si, l27 Of which 81
Isl were sent 10 the Dead-LetteT Office on
account OF erroneous or imperfect adj
drcsses); foreign parcels unopened, 10
sec: and domestic packages, j2,jJl.
"Of the letters and packages opened,
1s.Cl7 were found 10 contain money
amounting to $40, $3.50; 22,0l2 contained
drafts, mOney-Orders, checks, notes, &c,
the aggregate face value Of which was
81, $50. O62.5l; 1873 contained receipts,
paid notes, and cancelled obligations Of all
sorts: 80, 73l contained photographs
1856 contained small remittlnces OF post
age-stamps; and in -, 2l3 there were found
valuable articles OF third and fOurth-class
matter i'm endless variety. The amount OF
money separated from dead letters for
which no claimant could be found was
S6.5Sl. 40, which was deposited in the Urea
suTy. The amount OF postage collected
upon short-paid matter forwarded to desti-
nation, and upon unclaimed packages OF
third and iourth-class matter returned TO
owners, was S3,109.34. The records Of
the department show that S,33S,9lS regis
tered letters and packages were mailed in
this country during the year. OF this
number only 2,Gl4 reached the Dead-Letter
Office; and OF these 2,13l were finally de-
liyered to the owners. the balance being
placed on file awaiting Identification by the
parties interested"
The excess OF receipts over eXpendi-
lures OF the money-ordr system was
S2j2,3l4.64.
On The 3oth day Of June, 1880, there
were in the United States 1Sj Swiss, 1,19S
British, FOG German, 43j Canadian, 143
Italian, and 1,193 French international
money-order offices. At present 1,347
offices are authorized to transact British,
German, Canadian, Italian, and French
international money-order business, and
IS5 the Swiss business.
Editors particularly, and retail merchants
mere particularly, will be glad to learn that
the Postmaster-General recommends Plan
of sending safely through the mails sums
less than five dollars. 1t is not necessary
10 state here the details Of that plan. II
will prove 10 be great convenience to the
public at large, and especially to persons
living in the country. Another recon-
mendation Of the Postmaster-GeneIalm may
be mentioned in this namely,
that merchants be allowed TO mark sample
goods sent by mail with the ordinary marks
required by commercial usage.
And this last statement reminds us that
the Postmaster-General desires that the
charges upon merchandise sent through
thu mails shall be increased to the paying
point. He considers it doubtful whether
such things ought to be allowed in the
mails at any price.
The report is a long ono. We have re-
ferrsd TO only few OF the many topics
discussed, but have selected those which
we suppose to be Of the most general in
ttrest.