The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1888-02-17
DEAD-LETTER OFFICE.
An Interesting Account Of a Re-
cent Visit.
The Museum-The Fate of Lost and Mis-
directed Letters The Package De-
partment-The Labors OF Faith
full and Patient Clerks

OF all the Government work done In
Washington, none is more interesting
than that which we saw going on at
the Dead-Letter Office during recent
mornings visit. Our i.tle party
reached the office about zen o'clock,
and sent in a fortunate note of intro
duction to the head of one of the depart
ments. He soon made his appearance,
and constituted himself our intelligent
and trustworthy guide.
Our first pause was made in room
known as 1.-THE museum" and it GER
tainly looked like museum on q
small scale. No one would have sup
posed it to be any branch Of the postal
service Its walls were lined with
glass eases, containing the most re-
markable conglomeration of articles,
all of which are classed under the head
of "confiscatcd matchmaker" There
were bottles of medicine, Indian dag
gers, cutlery of all kinds, a huge new
axe, loaded pistol, Il centipede,
horned toads, wedding-cake, box of
raisins, and, most dreadful of all, a
rattlesnake five feet long! When we
saw the latter he was safely coiled up
in bottle of alcohol, where his six or
seven rattles showed off to fine effect;
but when confiscated by the United
States Government he was alive, and
travelling in state in perforated tin
box on his way to some London
museum.
We next passed into q long apart
ment, filled with busy men and women.
At the first tables where we paused sat
eight or ten clerks, opening letters
with sharp. slender little knives,
searching in them for any Enclosures,
and if any are found, placing those let
tcrs in different packages from the
rest. Among these clerks was one
aged man, who has occupied his posi-
ton since President Jackson admin
istration, with the exception of one
term of four years; but even with all
this experience, the rapidity and dex-
terity with which he sorted and al
ranged his letters was wonderful.
There" laughed lady in our
party, 'you see the fate of lost letters!
BE careful what you write, my dears."
Our guide smiled.
"My dear madam" said he. 1T is
the safest depository in the world for
secrets! We see and read so much,
and so much passes through our hands
unread, that it becomes simply mat
ter of routine.
For instance: yesterday read one
hundred and fifty letters containing
cheeks, and to-day l can not tell you
so much as the name of the writer of
one of those hundred and fifty letters.
You see. one days work pushes out
even the memory of the last, and the
labor becomes almost mechanical.
Letters containing cash, checks or
drafts pass through the hands of three
people before being sent back to the
post-oilice from which they are mailed.
Thus the amount is vouched for as it
leaves the Dead Letter Office. and the
local postmaster becomes responsible
SOt lAc HiOhcy'
Some months ago letter contain
ing "a small sum was sent back to a
town in Oregon. No receipt return
ing from the postmaster there, inquiry
was sent out, and he replied that he
had never received the letter lie
also suggested that it might have been
destroyed in the postal-car which had
recently been burned while passing
.shrough Minnesota. Though the letter
was of insignificant value, it was care
fully traced to that very car. where 1t
must have been destroyed by fire. "Un-
less" added our guide, lit was stolen
from the burning wreck together with
other letters in the registered bag, as
all such letters are registered. and con-
seoucntly supposed To be of value"