Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-01-06
AT THE LADIES' WINDOW.

A City Postmaster Tells About the Harm
1t Does-Some of the Good.
The postmaster of one of the three great
cities that practically compose New York
was spoken to by the father of a modest
young girl, but a little inclined toward rebel
lion because forbidden to correspond with
young man of her acquaintance. The par
ents, seeing no more letters come to the
house, supposed their daughter was all ODE
dience, 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 dol There must be a window,
call it what YOU WILL where men and women
and boys and girls having no permanent adj
dress can call for letters addressed simply in
the care of the postoffiCe 1t is necessary and
good that the convenience be kept up, my
dear sir The clerk at that window in this
office is trying to lessen the harm of that
window, and what he is doing has my APP
proval, but every such effort is unwarranted
in law. He says to the girls and married
women who give different names to different
persons as their own namcs You can have
the letters for Sarah Stewart but YOU must
always he Sarah Stewart after this if you
take them. You cannot come 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 hcrelders
but all the women who are of ace can keep
on misusing the governments service, and
there is no lawful way TO stop them.n
-
in many cases. Woman are apt to make
confidants in the strangest quarters. and the
consequence is that the gr2zlcd 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 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. My
husband does not work, but drinks up all
l can earn with my needle even collecting
my earnings before l can go to get them
Ny brother in the west sends me what
he can spare and with that | make up
the rent and get food and clothing for
my little ones | do not want to desert
my husband, but he must never know
of this extra money that | GET Then
there are the women who are secretly en-
gagged or even secretly married, who tell
the man at the ladies' window all about why
they have taken the step, and what terrible
consequences would follow if it were ever
found out. II tell you this though l have
never told any one else" one of them ex-
claimed, "bccause | must tell some one. |
had to talk to some one about it, and come
to you, because you are the one get his let
ters from One young woman on securing
a regular weekly letter remarked one day to
the clerk: 'Nhat jolly row there would
be if my folks knew | was getting these let
ters. My sister has married Christian, and
we are Jewish, you know. She has been re
nounced 10y all my family, but she and | keep
each other posted every week, fcr she is my
sister just the same, and all she did was to
marry the man She was fond Of after all. -
/ Thus the ladies window lends itself to the
best as well as to the weakest and the worst
| impulses and motives, and thus, SO far as any
one can foresee, it must continue to do as
| long as poStOfiiCes are public institutions