West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-03-19
AT THE POSr-oFFICG.
some "f thc TrialS aud rrlbulatiuu,
the Retail stamp CLERK.

the po>t-oilicr, "wu>t bc very SMALL
Why. there j. not unc person ia i've
hundred who has gumptiou enough 10
put "a stamp ON letter | see thcpro
cess gone through with about thou
sand times "a day. and ought to know.
All tho people al my window begin hN
putting the stamps into their mouths.
closing their mouths, rolling their c,c-
hA" man irving &! swallow pin
and moving the stamps around m their
mouths until thrl are perfectly sat
uratcd with saliva. Thcu they laN
them on the corner OF their envelopes
and bring their clcnchcd fists down ON
them lik" hpilc-dr,cr. Then comes
the profanity See here. clerk, they
say. this stamp Is nu account. Won't
YOU please put a little mucilagc on il
30 strange that they can't put enough
mucilagc ON the stamps to make them
stick. Now, the trouble is that these
people lick and chew all the rum on
the stamp before they, tr, To uni\ il;
and it the gum were an inch thick. il
would meet with the same fate The
way To put a stamp ON Is tu muistcu
Tia" gum very slightly and then
lay 1t on the envelope. and with the
end of the furclingcr slip il back and
forwards once or twice until the saliyn
and the gum are mixed. have been
licking stamps for forty years, but |
have never Vet met with one which
would not adhere. If it was treated i'm
this way Another thing people like
To kick about Is the refusal of the clerks
To take torn notes and great piles OF
nickcls and pennies i'm payment for
stamps
Are they not bound 10 take thcm?"
Not much The Government has n
ircasurN for the redemption of mutt
lated currency, and there is no more
sense in expecting the post-oiliCc to re-
deem II than in expecting the pavmns-
ter of the navy i'm doing So. II II was
once understood that we would take
torn bills. we should have no other
money to handle and nothing else to
do. We would embark i'm the banking
business. and somebody else would
have To he hired To attend To the post
office. Then, ~ to niCkcls thrcc-ccnt
piece, and pennies. the post-ollicc rcy-
ulationS expressly provide that we are
lot bound 10 take over twcnS five
cents worth from one person But
they keep bringing them 10 use i'm
large quantities, sometimes rolled up
IN paper and sometimes slung i'm nm Old
lankcrchicf II is all in vain, how
ever. Then, how they do kick against
telling what is m their package and
against directing them before they are
weighed. ~
What, the use of thatr"
Why. all the use i'm the world. If
We didn tcNcrciSc any supervision over
what was put into thcmail-, every bag-
ful of mail that left here would be-
Soilcd with nasty ointment or hair oil.
even If the po-t-ollicc were not blown
mp with some explosive Now. we do
not require people to tell us exactly
what they have got in their parcels.
but only lis general character. such ~
dry goods. leather wearing apparel
and 50 on, but they stick like blaze,
even against that Then as TO ad-
dressing their letters and parcels be-
/ fore they bring hem tO us TO hc
weighed, that Hlsp T. -pcn,ublc. In
, order TO avoid @i,u. misleading infur-
nation. We -omctimr- weigh some
thing in an rl-ralrd envelope. and
tell the postage. ou the theory that il
j. unscIlcd Then th" man "Ocs on.
puts that amount OF postage on il. and
seals it, thereby doubling the rate. The
consequence is that his letter i, re-.
I turned to him for want of sufficient
postage Then hc goc- to- the pO-tmaSt-
or and hOwl-: aud -Wcar- that hc put
exactly the amount of postage on the
letter that we told him tO put on il.
Again. we weigh q parcel Of mcrchan-
disc that is not directed. and sell the
man Inc stamps forit Wca-k where il i,
going. but the man H. >ullcn and makes
some answer that we do not catch. We
/ take IT for granted IL b. going TO some
place ion the United States. But hc
goes on and directs IL TO Belgium II
get, stopped and returned 90 him Of
course. a- no merchandise can be- sent
10y mail tn amy place outside Of the
United States Then thc man goc- to
the postmaster and howl-. and saws
! That wc expressly told him that the
parcel could go to Belgium Scc2
Have YOU seen thr Annual Postal
Guide for 1886. Just OUT II announce
some raihcrintcrc~ting change in post
al rates.
What arc they"
One relates to photographs. You
would bee surprised 1T YOU knew what 70
large percentage of thr mail matter
weighed by as b. photographs Here
'oiorc strange anomaly h8- existed
n The postage ON them We have been
charging 20 cent an ounce for them
when sent 10 amy place u thi~ couutr,
and only cent for ctrr two ounces
when sent abroad tIHi - to -n,. DO
cost two cents t0 send $3.50 ounces OF
photographs. uu-oIicd tu ibc West side
0i The city, and one cent to send fhr
same pack9go to Turkey. India and
Arabia Now however Photographic
'rr ruled Dos thr department to Boz
printed matter and the, go. when uu-
sealed. aiI over fho civilized world
nearly. at tho rate of twD ounces. ur 20
fraction thereof for tao cents.
What else ha- been rhaugcd9
some change hutc been made boz
the ruling concerning mmailablc mat
trr The rule ha- been. for louo
Time. tbat candy and cake could not br
sent hN mail unless iuciu.od boo a fu or
wooden hON. These articles ar ycr,
troublesome in tbc mail 81 candy can
go, amy Kind of candy rau go. and
candle, aro sent that melt mJ run aud
dohIc and glue together aIl ihr other
m'II matter Boo thc same pouch with 10.
CABS. be- worse -fll Hnd strange Eos b.
may seem. gives H. department more
trouble than amy ofH,r kind of mail
matter III De- lIWrt u.IIfu,,.,.L. q.