Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-02-09
yesterday there came ono for one hun
dred thousand dollars"

yesterday tneTe came ono 1OE Ouo Uun-
dred thousand dollars"
We all drew long breatha
.'Will the owner be found? He mus;
with such care as you take here.
Il think SO, in the case of so large a
sum. But we are not always success
full, for with all our efforts to find eth.
er senders or receivers for all the
money passing through our hands, last
year alone we turned over to the Gov.
eminent eight thousand dollars.
"And speaking of carelessness." he
added, What do you think of this?''
holding up FIVE letters just opened.
All were directed in the same business.
like hand to different gentlemen in Ohio.
no other postal address being given.
and each contained a check.
''Well," said lady of our party,
1T is evidently masculine bit of for.
getfulness. lam glad to see it,
Then we passed on to the next room.
where packages were being opened
and their contents examined.
Only gentlemen are employed in
this department, as the packages
sometimes contain dangerous articles.
and Oftener still gross and vulgar
ones. These last are destroyed, but
the rest are forwarded to the owners,
if they can be found, on receipt of
postage. If owners are not found the
articles are sent to the basement
where men are employed to sort them,
tie them in neat brown-paper pack
ages. labelling and cataloging as they
proceed Once in every year these
things are sold by auction. The bid
ders buy rather blindly. as they can
judge of the parcels only by brief de-
scriptions published in catalogue.
Here is sample of the motley collec-
ton sold last year:
''One dozen jew's-harps; seven dam
aged handkerchiefs; map of New
Jersey; eleven undertaker's embalm-
ing-needles; hair wig; six tin teaspoons
and butter-knife; child's damaged
calico apron and a sliced map; six
cheap tinger-rings;" and SO on through
a list of more than six thousand separ-
ate packages, each package contain
ing several articles.
Passing on to the Observation-Disclosures
department. we were perfectly amazed
at the wonderful acuteness displayed
by some of the ladies at these tables.
Here are a few addresses, as they were
written, and as at last correctly de-
ciphered and forwarded to their desti-
| nation:
MRS. Lux1A WAGY, MRS. LUCY wAGY.
YOwne towne, Uniontown,
KnS. Kansas.
MR.. j. r. RICE, Mr.. j. r. RICE,
Neuricespring, Eureka Springs
Ark. Ark.
HENRY SMITH, HENRY SMITH,
p. Ill. Peoria, Ill
Prisner. Prisoner.
AS last example, a letter all the
way from England addressed to
'Horsewiggcr Co.," and deciphered at
last as ''Oswego, Oswego Co."
Thus you see an expert at reading
illegible handwriting becomes doubly
expert ut these tables. Perhaps it is
because of the proverbial patience of
women that they are given this work
to do-at nine hundred dollars year.
while the men who open the packages
receive twelve hundred.
Upstairs. in sort of gallery, and
screened from the lower floor by little
baize curtains, like an old-time church
choir, sat ladies sorting. re-directina
and '.jacketing" more letters. This
last process consists of making a care
full inventory of the points in letter
inquiring for lost mail matter, writing
these points on the outside of sheet
of blue paper, which lie then folded
around the original letter - the
Jacket" you see-and pigeon-holed.
Thus the task of such correspond
ence becomes reduced to the minimum.
But the table where we found our
selves perhaps more interested than
anywhere else was that where letters
re-addressed. and freshly-enveloped.
came to be sealed. To almost any
one of us the sealing of fifty letters
would be no small task. especially
if done in the ordinary way; but we
stood for three minutes beside this
young lady's table, and in that time
saw her seal one hundred and fifty
epistles! She took them up in
packages of fifty. rs they are sent to
her, with the flaps all Tapped on one
side. These she spreads on her table.
with the flaps about two inches apart
Then a sponge slightly wet is passed
over the whole fifty. and. with the dex-
terity of a machine. each letter is
| whisked over once, which seals it, and
there stands the package of half hum
bred done, while you or l would have
labored at half-a-dozen.
The lady in charge of this room told
us that she has been there for twenty
four years, and in that time had lost,
beside her regular annual vacations.
only two days time! What record
Of natience and fsithfulncssi