Omaha daily bee., 1884-05-16
LETTER RRIERS SECRETS.
Regulations of the Government
Which Contribute to the Sanctity
[ofthc Mails
Philadelphia Record.

Philadelphia Record.
There is not n letter carrier in the
city but who is the custodian of the BE-.
crets of some one ON his route" said a
~well-known postal official yesterday.
"What a sensation they would create if
what they knew could be revealed at one
time! The divorce courts would be over
crowded, and rivals for maidens' affections
would be parading tho streets, armed to
the teeth, looking for the other follow.
But there is a barrier to these revelations
The postal laws strictly provide that a
carrier must never tell of what no sees,
repeat what he hears nor make public in
any manner tho address upon u letter.
When notified to deliver letters only to
the person to whom addressed it is en-
Joined upon him to remember this rule,
especially as regards members of the
same family. Well do | remember when
| was a carrier a certain maiden on Broad
street was receiving letters from n father
aud son. Whether one knew that the
other was writing to the girl l do not
know, but this | say several times;
When she received a note from the old
gentleman she was very deliberate in her
movements, but when | handed her II
from tho son she was out of the house in
a jitty.
zone OF the most annoying things to
the carriers is tho impudouce of mash
ers.' | have had these fellows intercept
me and offer So or SO if | would tell
who such a lady was, and whether she
was married or not. l remember one
lady in particular, who came here from q
neighboring city and stopped at the resi-
dence of a millionaire. She was n mag
niticent woman. A man would hardly
pass her without turning around to take
a second look. The Washers nearly
o crazy over her, and one met me at
nearly every street corner on my route
with some question regarding her. /
came near getting into half-a-dozen fights
over her, and was glad when she went
home. But the devices of married men
and women who are holding claudestine
correspondence are ingenious. All such
people stand upon q volcano, not know
ing the minute it will begin to send forth
fire and n ruined reputation. One man
used to beg me every day for Gods
sake don't let my wife got hold
of my letters. The woman
was as smart ms her husband. She was
also holding a secret correspondence, and
| was in that too. She did not want her
husband to know of it. took good care
of both, and they enjoyed cheating each
other. At one time 1 have known on
my route half a dozen ladies who were
bands were holding correspondence
,,h,,1, .l.,,1l ...l l.. zul NH
II would give me the most minute di-
rections that if l received a letter from
such and such a place to be sure and hand
it to her, as it was important and inter
ested both. No doubt it did, but then ]
didn't think three should take n hand in
the business; only the husband received
the dainty epistles.
"But tho increased facilities of the new
office offer the most extended opportuni-
ties for sly work. Boxes are cheap, and
the latest trick new is for husbands to
have their tender epistles sent to these
boxes. They have tho key, and no one
else can get into it. If the wife happens
to find the key why she is easily satisfied
by being told it belongs to a door at the
store or the safe, or something of that
sort. You see, only n clerk knows
anything of your letters No one has an
idea where you live or anything else. But
then, postal clerks and letter carriers
learn quickly. Travelling statesmen are
becoming heavy patronizers of the boxes
since they have become cheap. The ex-
cuse for these gentry is that they receive
letters they do not wish to be sent home
or to the store. So the envelopes are
dropped into the boxes, and when they
return they find bundles of letters and no
one to ask questions that might bother
them to answer.