Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-14
THE PEOPLES SERVANT.
T-s RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE
Z Fen Facts Relative 10 lts Early His
tory. Growth and Present hsgnl-
tuoe Something OF the Em-
ployes and Their Duties.
81 O. Hosn

encounter every slyle ana vSrletY Of pen.
maustlp and orthograIhy IN their work, aud
they become more OF less e1pert IA decipher-
ing and translating sddresses that, 10 mOsi
people, would be as meaningless a. the
Chinese alphabet. The writer recalls few
rather unique specimens which have fallen
under h.s observation, such a. Mould
Leak, for MOod Lake; 'Hnree." for Her
sey; 'GOsian,' for Groshen, etc. But that
which beat EN- ALL was a superscription
Oh postal card be came across III Texas 4
year ago. a. follows: "3gup cofmen co."
The penmanship Was simply hOrrid. but the
writer's addition OF the county rendered a
solution of tie problem comparatively easy.
lt meant Kaufman county, and calling 10
mind the offices IN that county, il Was not
difficult 10 read, Egypt, Kaufman Co. Z"
But heedlessness OH the part of writers
causes postal clerks quite much annoy
ance a. poor penmanship and bad spelling.
one of the most common blunders l. putting
ON the wrong State. The writer recently
found IN his mail two letters addressed as
follows: Kirkland, Lake Co, Mich" and
West Mansfield, Logan CO., Mich" Now
there = Lake county, IN Michigan, but
there Is no post Office, village or township in
it-,alied kirkland" Ohio. however, has
not only a Lake county," but there Ii
post Office called Kirkland" IN il, and as
that l. the only post Office by that name IL
the United States. AZ II quite probable that
the writer of the letter IN question intended
IL 10 20 there. But postal clerks are not
permitted Ia alter or a Id anything 10 the
address upon mail matter. The reason for
this Is obvious. II alterations or additions
were attempted, they would often be inaccu-
rate, being made 10y guess: besides that II i
The duty of the sender Of mail matter to
address II properly, and not expect postal
clerks 10 bring light out of darkness 10y
supplying what he or she has carelessly
omitted. Instead of attempting 10 cor
rect imperfect or faulty addresses, the clerk
forwards II 10 the Superintendent of ms
Division, and that official sends IL 10 the
Dead Letter Office. In the case of the other
letter. there Is no Logan county, nor
any post Office called West Mansfield" IN
Michigan. SIX States have each county
named Logan" and Logan county, Ohio.
has q post Office called West Mansfield. ,"
bat the letter had 10 20 TO the Dead Letter
Office, all because Of the heedessLess of the
person who addressed II. BlunGers of this
kind are not confined TO the correspondence
of illiterate people, by any means. They
are often found upon letters from banks and
business houses, where great care II sup
posed TO be exercised Ia the transaction OF
business. Not long ago a banker reported
10 the Z. @. Department that letter con
tanning a draft for 500. mailed by him, bad
failed to reach It's destination, the same
being a village IN New York: and he also IN
dulged in a professed expression of belief
that some thieving postal clerk had stolen
II. 4 post Office Inspector. detailed 70 IN
vestIgate the matter, had an interview with
the complainant, and inquired particularly
II II were not possible for bim 10 have made
a mistake in it, address. The banker SAID
ne wrote il himself; that he was very particu-
lar about such things. and knew positively
that he was correct. The Inspector prom
ised TO give the matter early attention. and
10 inform the complainant a. soon A. he had
any thing TO report. Upon consulting the
directory, the Inspector ascertained that
there were four post offices IN the United
States bearing the sane name a. that 10
which the bankers letter was alleged 20 Lave
been sent. lie immediately wrote the post
master of each. describing the missing let
ter, and requesting that. II found.
II be forwarded 10 him. Three
of the postmasters replied that no
such letter was then III their offices, nor had
they any recollection of it, having been re-
ceived and delivered. The fourth. whose
answered by forwarding the letter in ques-
ton. The Inspector notified the banker that
he was ia receipt of important information
re,ative TO the missing letter. and the man
of money FASTENED 10 ascertain what u was.
Instead of Immediately informing him the
Inspector repeated his inquiry whether II was
not possible for him to have made mistake
IN the address. The doughty banker was
almost indignant: said he had answered that
question once. that be came 10 ascertain
What the officer had learned relative 10 the
the theft Of his letter. and not 20 be ques-
toned as to his methods and manner 81
doing business. 1bereupon the Inspector
pro,frc u the letter. when 10 and behold /,
II was addressed to Michigan instead Of New
York II il sand that the iufaiiible money
lender could easily have dropped through the
smallest knot hole ever eeen in n hemlock
board. The incident shows how easily a
person may be mistaken. and that even tho-e
accounted shrevd and careful are not exempt
from blunderS Of thus kind. Half demeuted
people some times indulge IA poetic efusiOns
IN addressing letter. and II there = any
thing that III ] make p postal clerk tired
II il 70 ~ Obliged 90 halt. when be il IN .
great hurry and seconds Of time are pre-
ci0us. and wade through n batch Of d0gverel
spread over the face Of an envelope. in order
70 ascertain where 10 send It. Poets Of
this kind would confer q great favor by
envelope and q legibie. common sense nd
dress on the face of r.
The careiessDe~s - come Tostnasters IN
mailing their registered letters ~ frequently
tie scource Of no little annoyance. They
drop them into an empty popch icoSe and
thro9 their other mail ou toT. and II the
pouch be one 81 the smaller size the corners
- The stiff r, zlster enveioTe are very sYf to
/ catch M the zs>uns ~ fsie bottom IN such =
manner a. - re.gsin there sheu thf T0uch
f is euptie-d. 50 common - tins that q tas
I become fxed habii witt almost every clerk
4 who has been iouz Iu TIE service - sTinc
every F0nch ~ 60 81 - adut hEif and eu.
able hif0 - disflnrfiY =ee ftie bottom imrne
dietely after emEtying - c1TlterIts upon hi.
tseIe fostaI clerks - I1oTo Ilece relIsterf.c
+ leftsr- in TIE bottom ~ q frueh. ard viieE
E there is faf suaH srnDunt - lnsl f07
en- DH~e tfE really ce1tfp1s ent
rruderf eifrk setnfs-g fie. the whole fss
f pe-s. ord naxF ieftsr- ard rt1ri-teres1 ieftera
into ouf turdle utief ren5ers if moral
rsrfslr fsst II ths qs5efrsasse opening tHf
F pouch Fsts arr msu st SO from - hs 81
f0l ff,s registered nsstter