The Dickinson press., 1888-05-19
A City Postmaster Tells About the Harm,
1t Docs-SOIne OF the Good.

A City Po%stniaster Tells About the Harm
1t Iocs-Some of the Good.
The postmaster of one of the three great
cities that practically compose New York
was spoken to by the father uf q modest
young girl, but n little inclined toward rebel
lion because forbidden to correspond with u
young man of her acquaintance. The par
ents, seeing no more letters come to the
house, supposed their daughter was all ODE
dionce, but she had confessed that she was
still exchanging letters.
well, said the postmaster, there it is
again-that satanic ladies' window. You do
not begin to appreciate the harm it does. But
what can we do. There must be a window,
call it what you will. where men and women
and boys and girls having no permanent ad-
dress can call for letters addressed simply in
the care of the postoiilce. 1t is necessary and
good that the convenience be kept NJ, my
dear sir. The clerk at that window in this
Office is trying to lessen the harm of that
window, and what lie is doing has my up
proval, but every such effort is unwarrantcl
in NV. He says to the girls and married
women who give different names to different
persons as their own names: 'Yeu can nave
the letters for Sarah Stewart, but You must
always be Sarah Stewart after this if YOU
take them. You cannot colne tomorrow and
ask for letters for Sarah Watkins He does
that, and he holds back lots of letters, but he
has no right to. In your relatives case, if
she is under age and her parents or guardian
ask us not to deliver letters to her we can
hold them back or deliver them to her elders,
but all the women who are Of age can keep
OH misusing the governments service, and
there is no lawful way to stop them.'
The ladies' window also accomplishes good
in many cases. Woman are apt to make
confidants in the strangcst quarters, and the
consequence is that the grizzled men at those
windows hear many queer things when the
callers are few and there is time to talk and
to listen. One Of these condolences was that
OF a sad visaged wife who asked that her
letters never on any account be given to
any one else, because" she said, they bring
me the only money that stands between
starvation and my children and me. Ny
husband does not work, but drinks up ali
l can earn with my needle, even collecting
my earnings before l can go to get them
My brother in the west sends me what
he can spare, and with that l make III
the rent and get food and clothing 70,
my little ones. l do not want to desert
my husband, but he must never know
Of this extra money that 1 get Thel
there are the wolnen who are secretly en-
gagged or even secretly married, who tel
the man at the ladies' window all about VIII,
they have taken the step, and what terrible
consequences would follow il it were eve
found out. Il tell you this, though l hav,
never told any one else" one of them ex
claimed, because l must tell some one.
had to talk to some one about it, and l com
/, to You, because you are the one l get his lie,
tiers FROM" One young wona on securin
/. a regular weekly letter remarked one day t
+ the clerk: what a jolly row there woul
!, he il my folks Knew l was getting these LEI
. tiers. My sister has married a Christian, an
/, we arc Jewish, you know. She has been +,
n nounced by all my family, but she and l kee
t each other posted every week, for she is IN
/, sister Just the same, and all she did was
l. marry the man she was fond Of, after all
G Thus the ladies' window lends itself to IL
q best as we'll as to the weakest and the wor
!. impulses and motives, and thus, so far ms ar
l. one Can ~foresee, it must continue to do
v long as postofices are public institutions.