Wichita eagle., 1888-06-05
TRAITS OF NATIONS.
DISPLAYED BY PEOPLE WHO SENC
REGISTERED LETTERS.

Agreeable of All Writers-Russian SIN
Observation-Disclosures and Money Packages.
The registry department. Of the Chicago
| postotfice Is a little coop OF place, but you
will never know what quaint blending Of
nationaiities it takes to make up q big hamlet
| like Chicago unless you visit the coop some
| day. Tie fun commences about O'Clock
| Monday morning. At that hour the pale,
shadowy clerk with the dark, mouruful eyes
| looks out of his little window At long line
of men, in which there are Cinnamon, ne
| groes, Germans, Frenchnlen, and goodness
knows what all This particular morning
| the Chinaman happens TO be the first Gus
toner. He has his letter properly addressed
| to some person in Shanghai who wears q
large portion of his anatomy in his name.
The ananuensis has, however, neglected to
| properly indorse the letter writer own name
On the envelope.
~ QUILL have to put your own name and
address there, john" the clerk says.
Tie Chinaman smiles like one of these
wooden josses and answers: Hip Lung,
Shanghai"
mo, no, John; youree ownee name, alice
same, the clerk explains.
the Chinaman smiles innocently again,
points his long finger at the envelope, and
says: Hip Lung, Shanghai"
The clerk, 20, rassl"
After the Chinaman has gone the clerk
says; They are usually very easy to deal
with, because they come here with their
letters properly addressed, Endorsed and
stamped. Nine out OF ten of them know the
rules and live up to them. but the tenth man
may be tartar, as this one was. The ltai-
ians next after the Cinnamon have TO be lee
tUred least, and that's because they know
they're not smart enough 20 direct their let
ters right, and they get somebody who can
write well to do it for them. The Germans
are different. They hand IN envelopes that
look like dress pattern supplements, and they
think there's nothing III q copybook TO equal
their writing. But for stupidity a Rus
siann-
And it so happened that just as the clerk is
about to make some startling assertion re-
garding the obtuseness OF the Russian man
with a staked and ridered beard comes i'll
and furnishes burning example of the sub
ject under discussion. He is Russian with
a low brow, small eyes, and one Of those
funny looking peaked caps that you see in
the Union depot after an e1nigrant train has
come in. His letter is horribly addressed
and not Endorsed at all
What's that Nance asks the clerk.
The Russian grins like the Lincoln park
bear when peanut hits him on the nose, and
ne blankly replies: Don't know"
II would like to find out where they got
that trick" says the clerk, motioning the
Russian away. ''rhey all have it They
don't know anything. Must nave picked up
the habit in Russia"
Nearly everybody who comes to the win
low has forgotten somethiug-the stamp or
the address or the Endorsement. One busy
man darts in, throws out an envelope that
hasn't a mark on it, and hurries away before
the clerk can stop him Several people hand
ID the stamps and the letters, and expect the
clerk to put the stamps on the letter. He
declines, because one of the rules of the office
is that letters must be properly stamped be-
fore they are handed in at all
There used to be clerk here who
wouldn't stand that" he says. 'One day
big German roughly told him to put on the
stamps This clerk said: Put out your
tongue The German stuck out his tongue
and the clerk mopped it with the stamp till
he was tired. we can't always get even
with people that way though. Just for the
sake of accommodating the public we used to
buy stamps and keep them for sale here.
When we'd run out of any particular demon
nation how we would get roasted"
bright young man puts stop to ttS
clerks remarks by dumping large package
On the desk.
Anything valuableY" asks the clerk.
stVa c,6 81 NOT SANDING baoS-
her letters, that's all Cold shake last week"
and the young man goes away whistGng
The clerk resumes: Lots of people tell ME
their secrets that way You'd be surprised
to know how many ii,oed young men there
are in Chicago Great Scott there're hun
;lIeds Of EN-, and they nearly ell use the re-
gistered mail to send the letters back Then
they know they have arrived safe. Most OF
them tell me to be sure aud see them through
quickly; but that's a common suggestion
Nearly everybody does that as though | had
charge of the running of all the trains ond
steamboats, between here and Connaught.
The people who send small sums to friends
or relatives abroad are the most anxious, and
| remember one poor chap who was intrrlst-
ing with the government the money to bring
his old mother from some forloFn cabin in
Ireland Coulu udlU Wy oo inuhC'7o W ieaFe
the window, he was SO much afraid that the
letter might be lost.
People who send big sums and valuables
are not SO particular They're not afraid to
trust the government. Now here picking up
a small brown paper parceD is $40 worth Of
diamonds ] wasn't asked TO keep my eye on
that. One day we had S450,0oo worth OF
bonds from the sub-treasury. They were
bound for Washington. and the government
had to pay ten cents for stamp to carry
them through Funny, isn't ita Uncle Sam
carving bonds to himself and charging him
self ten cents for doing so, chr
And the clerk turned to wait and smile on
a pretty woman, who broke all the regula-
tons of the Office, and was as pleasantly re-
ceived as though her letter had been as cor
rect as her Partisan gown-Chicago TiIneS