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

essential that those employed in this
be versed in foreign lam
guages as well as in the p~ost-ofice no.
menclature of our own country. Very
many letters from Germany France,
Spain, Italy and other countries in
which the English language is not
spoken are utterly beyond the power
of human skill to decipher. These.
with all dead letters mailed in foreign
countries. are returned unopened to
those countries Letters from Italy are
said to be more difficult 10 correct than
any others, owing to the il~literacy of
the people, and q greater portion have
to he returned as illegible.
Here are also received the pouches
of letters mailed in the United States
to foreign countries, undelivered. and
returned here as dead. These are
treated the same way as other dead
letters-opened and returned, as far as
possible, to the writers. 1t is a fact
which might at first excite surprise that
more than three times as many dead
letters are returned from the United
States to other countries as are received
from them. This is due to the moving
of emigrants from place to place before
they get finally settled. The same dis
parity exists in the number misdirected
and illegibly addressed. The superior
intelligence of our people will, in a
great measure explain this. Dead let
tiers are returned to and received from
seventy six different countries. With
the fifteen principal countries these ex-
changes are made weekly, and with
the others once a month.
Upon the floor of the room are a large
number of pouches that have arrived
by recent mails, and many of them have
made long Journeys. We notice sacks
from Chilli, Persia, China, Java and
New Zealand, There is a grim humor
in the fact that the pouches used for
dead letters in all countries under the
British Government are black-the color
| that is always associated with death.
Each month about II, 900 letters are re-
ceived from and $4,000 returned to for
eign countries.
We will pause just for a moment as
the lady clips the string around a pack
age of INSTRUCTED foreign letters just
arrived from New York. The first one
is addressed only ''923 Charlotte Street,
America" The next one is but little
less vague, "Conn. Box 40, q. S. A"
Another, marked urgent, is addressed
''Trumbull County, o." and nothing
more. Here is one with a heavy mourn
ing border, mailed at Bristol, Eng, adj
dressed, s.Mr. Luke Tucker, between
Burwell Street and King, on York,
344." After consulting the directory
the lady thinks this should be Cleve-
land, and so marks it.
The experts here employed work in
the same manner as heretofore de-
scribed, with the addedperplexity of the
mixing of languages equal to the "con
fusion of tongues" at Babel. As may
be imagined, their skill is more often
bafied.
THE "RETURNING BOARD"
One other department will entertain
and amuse us, but our stay must be
brief. Ascending to a sort of gallery
that extends entirely around the main
office, we see sixty ladies at their desks.
| Their part in this wonderful machine
is to examine the opened letters and to
possible. Observation-Disclosures of them
are so returned. The remaining TWEEN.
tieth-amounting to about 300,0 900 per
year-are destroyed. The ~''openers"
make no examination of letters, except
to see at a glance whether they contain
anything of value. This is all done by
these lady clerks, who dispose of from
two to three hundred letters each per
day.
In the great majority of cases the
date and signature of the letter give all
necessary information, and the letter,
with its original envelop, is soon ready
for its return trip. There are many in
which the post-office is not given in the
heading. In business as we'll as social
letters the writer often uses perhaps a
name by which the neighborhood is
commonly called, or some romantic
name which he chooses to apply to his
farm or residence. In such cases the
lack is frequently supplied by the post
mark on the envelop. In thousands of
cases when the letters are between rela,
tives and friends the signatures are OF
the familiar and affectionate sort, such
as "Dick, ".'Sallie," Mother, ".'Sister,'
or "Ducky"-all proper enough in their
way, but quite too indefinite to be of any
service to the examiner.
Such letters are generally of n o real
value, and are of necessity consignedto
the flames. When the heading and sig.
nature are sufficient the letter is not
read, but the class mentioned are ex-
amined, as the body of the letter some,
times supplies the missing link. Il
found to be only a letter of friendship,
and containing nothing of Importance,
it is quickly cast aside to meet its doom.
If it relates to business affairs, or con.
tains information of important social
and domestic affairs, such as deaths,
marriages, etc., all reasonable effort j;
made to discover either the writer OF
the person addressed. Frequently let
tiers of inquiry are written by the clerks,
and information thus gained may be
the ear of the letter reaching its DIES
tination. But in case the letter fur
nishes the writer's name and address!
no distinction is made as to whether /:
letter is important or not, all are re
turned. 1t is considered that if a person
writes to his friend and gets no answer
it will be a satisfaction to him to know
that his friend did not receive it. In
deed the administration of the Post-of
flee Department in every branch is gov
erned by the idea, to its fullest extent
that it is wholly for the benefit aud con
venience of the people.
i. QUIPS AND CRANKS.
EYES," says lady with whom we ar
permitted to converse, 1--WE see man,
very touching letters that make US re
greet the impossibility of sending then
to either party. Letters between par
ents and children, brothers and sisters
husbands and wives, often appeal to on
sympathies. We are really sorry to SCI
d.. - A. -,~. - e
lection, maternal love, admonition
sympathy or gentle reproof lost forever
We see many things also that are yer.
droll and amusing.
mot long ago I had a letter, the
only address upon which was this: IT
the Widder of Patrick Murphy, VIII
Died sometime In The War;
"Another supplemented old mothe
n,oi1aI a 1aftar ,fir.oataI y, -, - fo sAT,e