The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-03-06
DEAD

The child that in this she lost.
Mrs E.V.W wilson, IN Chicago Inter Ocean.
DEAD LETTERS.
Queer Freaks of the writers-The
.~sopeners" at W0rk-An Hour with
Experts-The Returning Depart
ment-Some Odd Notions.
In my last letter we stood for half an
hour at the sorting table of the Dead
Letter Office and listened to our guide
as he told us of the different classes of
letters that are sent here from all the
post-othces in the country. We will
continue our stroll and note what is
done with these fugitive letters.
THE ssoPENERs."
"Here is where the opening is DONE"
saws our courteous attendant as we ap-
proach a long table around which are
seated eight men. Each has a pile of
letters before him and is armed with a
thin, sharp knife. With a rapidity ac-
knife through the fold of the envelope
and takes out the letter. A glance
shows whether it contains an Enclosure
of any kind. If it has money or any
thing of value it is laid aside and passed
into the hands of a clerk whose duty it
is to take charge of such letters. Those
which contain nothing, II only photo
graphs-as $4,000 every year do-locks
of hair and such articles, are carried,
each with its own envelope, to the re-
turn department. which we will visit
before we get through.
sit keeps the boys pretty busy" says
the guide, ..to open letters as fast as
they are carried in. In fact we are
running behind in spite of all we can
do. Each man opens from 1900 to
1900 letters a day. That mani
pointing to n who seemed to handle
knife and letters with a singular adroit-
ness-"has opened 5000 in a day, but
there are not many who al do that.
A VETERAN.
.You see that old gentleman at the
Aead of the tablet His name is F. S.
Evans. He is nearly eighty-three years
old, but he is just as spry as any of
them in opening letters. He was ap-
pointed to the Post-office Department
by Andrew jackson in 1929, and with
the exception of two or three year that
he published the Baltimore Patriot, he
has been here aver since. He has served
this department for more than fifty
years. He was editor of the Patriot
when the war broke out. He was strongly
opposed 3 slavery, and during the ex.
element, early in 1861, a mob COM
pletelv destroyed his press, types, ETC.,
and he very narrowly escaped with his
life. MIR. Evans has seen some changes
since he first anne into the post-ofice."
"Yes," remarks the p~leasant-faced
patriarch, laying down his knife for a
moment, 81 was here when two men
did all the business that now keeps two
hundred busy"
I may remark in passing that the en-
ployes are not permitted to converse
with visitors. One of the clerks did
speak to me and 1 replied briefly, or
rather started to do so, when the at
tendant gently took me by the ear, fig
uratively speaking, and politely in
formed me of the existence of this rule.
I begged his pardon, remarking that
was but answering q question by the
clerk TO me. '.Of course it's all right
as far as you are concerned" said he.
''but lat clerk knows what the rules
are"
AT THE DESK OF A .GUESsER."
"An the letters opened at this table, .
he resumes, s'are dead. They have
been advertised according to law atthe
various offices where received and re.
turned here as uncalled for. Now
will introduce you to n of our ex-
perts, who I I'M sure will be able to
interest you. She is the most skillful
of those who correct, as far as it is pos.
sible to do it, the misdirected letters,
and deciphers the awful penmanshir
that has tioored the postmasters from
Maine to Texas. l will leave you with
her for a little time. All! I see what
you are going to ask. You may talk
with her as much as you please; We
make an exception to the rule in such
case."
regarded in the highest degree possible,
in all departments of the Dead Letter
Office. No letter is opened if it can be
delivered without it, to either the writer
II the person addressed. In the case
OF dead letters there is no alternative
they can only be opened and returned
to the senders. But those bearing in.
complete or erroneous addresses, or SC
badly written as to almost set human
skill at defiance, call for different treat.
ment. Many of the errors are easily
corrected and the letters immediately
forwarded to their destination. Others
tax to the utmost the ingenuity of the
experts. Sometimes a guess is made
and the letter is sent off to try that adj
dress. If this fails it comes back anC
another is tried. There have been case:
of letters sent out four or five times
the result of as many different guesses
and finally, after months of wandering
about the country, being delivered t.
the right persons. Clerks are forbid
den, on pain of instant dismissal, tt
divulge the material contents of any
letter opened and examined.
But the lady to whom we have beer
introduced invites us 10 a seat beside
her. We are soon convinced that she
is most truly an expert" Her pleas
ant face betokens the quick intelligence
necessary to success in such perplexins
employment. She retains in her mint
the names of post-ofices, the counties
and States in which they are situated
and streets in the various cities to al
extent that is almost marvellous
Thousands of these are at instant com
mand, while for reference when neces
sary, she has a library of directories
Before her is a pile of letters gone
astray for lack of legible or sufficien
address.
''They call us the 'guessers,'" sh,
saws '.but it isn't all guess work
Every day a thousand of these letter
come in for us to correct or deciphel
the address. Let us look at some o
those that have just been laid on m,
table"
A FEW
Here is one directed to ''Mount Isel
ia" She chances at it for ar instant
picks up her pen and writes in RET
INK, 'MonticelIo." There can't b
much cIestion about that she saYs. a