The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-05-15
TRAITS OF NATIONS.
DISPLAYED BY PEOPLE WHO SEND
REGISTERED LETTERS.

neutrality-suspicious. Love
Icttcrs-vaiuablcs aud Money Packages.
Tho registry department OF tho Chicago
postoilice is little coop Of place, but You
will never know what n quaint blending OF
nationali,ics it takes To make upa big hamlet
like Chicago unless you visit the coop some
dav The fun commences about o'clock
Monday morning. At that hour the pale,
shadowy clerl; with the dark, mourniul eyes
looks out Of his little window at a long line
Of men, in which there are Cinnamon. ne
grocs, Germans, Frenchmen, and goodness
knows what all This particular morning
the Chinaman happens 10 be the FIRST Gus
toner lie has his letter properly addressed
to some person in Shanghai who wears a
large portion Of his anatomy in his name.
The ananuensis has however, neglected TO
properly indorse the letter writer's own name
on the envelope.
You'll have TO put your own name and
address there, John" the clerk says.
The Chinamau smiles like one of these
wooden losses and answers: Hip Lung,
Shanghai"
NO, no, John, yourec ownee name, alice
same" the clerk explains.
The Chinaman smiles innocently again,
points his long finger at the envelope, AMI
says: Hip Lung, Shanghai"
The clerk, 80. rats"
After tho Chinamsn has gone the clerk
Says. "They arc 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
., bYf tho fpufh
may be a tartar, rs this one was. The ltal-
iaus next after the Cinnamon have TO be lee
inrcd least, and that's because they know
they're not smart enough % direct their let
tiers right, and they Get somebody who can
write well 20 90 il for them. The Germans
are different They hand " envelopes that
look like dress pattern supplements. ana they
think there's nothing in a copybook TO equal
their writing. But for stupidity Rus
.ian'-
And 1t so happened that just as the clerk is
about to make some startling assertion re
garding the obtuSou,,- of the Russian man
with staked and rilered beard comes in
and furnishes burning example of the sub
ject under discussion He is "A Russian with
a low brow, small ewes, and one of those
funny looking peaked caps that you sec in
the Union depot after an emierant train has
como in. His letter is horribly addressed
and not indOrsed al ALL
whats that name asks tine clerk.
The Russian grirs like the Lincoln park
bear when peanut hits him on the nose, and
he blankly replies Don't know"
Il would like to find ont where they got
that trick" says the clerk. motioning the
Russian away. The all have 1t. They
ion't know anything Must have picked up
the habit in Russia
Nearly everybody who comes t. the win
dow has forgotten somcthins-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 Iurries away before
the clerk can stop him Several people hand
in the stamps and the letters, and expect the
clorl; to put the stamps on the letter He
declines. because one Of the rules of the Office
is that letters must De properly stamped be-
fore they are handed in at all
There used 10 be a clerk here who
wouldn't stand that, no says. zone day a
big German roughly told HIM to put on the
stamps This clerk said. Put out your
tongue Tho 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 usodt to
buy stamps and keep them for sale here.
When we'd run out Of any particular demon
ination how We would get roasted
A bright young man puts stop to the
clerks remarks by dumping a large package
on the desk.
Anything valuablef asks the clerk
valuable. | sh'd say not. Sending back
her letters, that's all Cold shake last week"
and the young man goes away whistling.
The clerk resumes: Lots of people tell me
their secrets that way You'd be surprised
to know how many Tilted Young men there
are in Chicago. Great Scott there're hun
drcds Of 'enl, and they nea"ly all use the re
gistered mail 10 send tho letters back Then
they know they have arrived safe Most Of
them tell me TO be sure and see them through
quickly: but that's Il common suggestion
Nearly every body does that as though had
charge of the running Of all the trains and
steamboats, between here and Connaught
The people who send small sums to friends
OF relatives abroad are the most anxious, and
L remember one poor thdp WHO WIS nltlll>l-
ing with the government the money to bring
his "A mother from some forlorn cabin in
Ireland could hardly be induced to leave
the window, he was SO much afraid that the
letter might be lost.
People who send big sums and valuables
are not 50 particular They're not afraid TO
trust the government Vow here picking up
Il small brown paper parcel is $40 worth of
diamonds wasn't asked TO keep my eye on
that one day we had $4,000 worth of
bonds from the sub-treasury. They were
bound for Washington, and the government
had TO pay ten cents for a stamp 10 carry
them through. Funny, isn't III Uncle Sam
carrying bonds to himself and charging him
self ten cents for doing so. chr
And the clerk turned TO wait and smile on
IA 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 Times
A Few Fresh Partiugtonisms.