The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-09-13
THE REGISTERED MAIL.
How the Government Cares for valuable
Letters aud Packages.

Millions Of dollars pass daily
through the New York post-otfice in
the shape of registered mail matter.
There are several ways of sending
money through the mails. Perhaps
the best known is the money order sys-
TEN. The postal note is comparatively
new, and is, therefore, not familiar
to the average citizen. But when a
man has something valuable other
than money, or a large sum of money
he wishes to send to a distant point,
he awaits himself OF the registry sys-
TEN. This is very simple. He pays
letter postage on the package and, in
addition, a feo Of ten cents. 1t may be
jewclrv or bonds, or even money in
large amounts, but off it goes under
the protection Of the P~ost-office De-
partmeut.
"SuppO5e n man. explained a Post
Office Department official, wanted to
send $4,000 to a distant place in this
country and looked around for the
cheapest method. Unless he is a per.
son with an extended bank account, he
is apt to get ten $1,000 bills. put them
in an envelope, and place on it a reg
istry stamp. Before he intrusts the
letter to- the mails perhaps he asks
himself what will be the result
if this amount should happen to be
lost. He makes some inquiries, and
asCcrtains that the Government would
not be responsible. All that the Gov
eminent engages to do is to exercise
unusual care in the transmission Of a
registered letter. There is nc rcspon-
sibility attached except in that one
particular. Special pouches are fur
niohed, which are locked at one end OF
a through line, and are not opened
until the other end is reached. These
are specially-prepared bags, with com
known only to two persons, namely,
the transmitter at one end and the re-
ceiver at the other. When the regis
tered matter is not placed in a through
pouch a receipt is required and OBJ
tanned from every man into whose
hands it comes. A registered letter is
put on the train at a small town, the
postmaster gets a receipt from the
postal clerk, and the latter in turn
from the postmaster receiving it. A
receipt is required from the person to
whom It is delivered, so that it is a
comparatively easy task to trace a
registered letter or package, and, if
one is lost, to fix the blame or guilt
upon the proper person"
"a rather curious feature has sprung
up" he continued. There + com
panies in existence whose business
consists in insuring registered matter.
They have nothing TO do with its
Transportation. The Government does
that. But they insure the trustworth-
mess of the Government, its accuracy
and the integrity Of its employees.
They take the risks which the Gov
eminent refuses TO take. They guar
antee to a mar that his package or
letter which he has intrusted to the
care Of the mails shall reach its desti-
nation. If through any cause the
package is lost, then the insurance
company pays the loss. 1t may also
be added that the Government catches
the thief, as it is very seldom that the
theft of registered matter is a success.
So you see, when a man has a large
amount OF money to send, If he doubts
the reliability of the Government, or
is afraid OF the casualties of the way,
his fears may be allayed by getting out
an insurance policy which makes him
safe, whatever happens. The registry
system, like the parcel post, infringes
somewhat on the business OF the ex-
press companies, and on this account
their adoption by the Government was
opposed. But it was thought to be- a
service required by the people, and,
as it is cheaper, OF course 1T Is popu.
lar Washington STR