Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-02-23

II think so, in the case of so large
sum. But we are not always success
full, for with all our efforts to find eth
er senders or receivers for I'LL the
money passing through our hands. last
year alone we turned over to the Gov
ernment eight thousand dollars.
'And speaking of carelessness," he
added, '"What do you think of thisP"
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 check.
"Well,' said lady of our party,
'ft is evidently masculine bit Of for
gctfulness. / am 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 tsem 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 a catalogue.
Here is sample of the motley collec-
ton sold last year:
Zone dozen jew s-harps; seven dam.
aged handkerchiefs; map of New
Jersey; eleven undertaker's embalm-
ing-needles; hair wig;s six tin teaspoons
and a butter-knife; child's damaged
calico apron and sliced map; six
cheap finger-rings;" and so on through
a list of more than six thousand separ-
ate packages, each package contain
ing several articles.
Passing OH to the misdirectcd-letter
department, we were perfectly amazed
at the wonderful acuteness displayed
by some of the ladies at these tables.
Here are few addresses, as they were
written, and as at last correctly de-
ciphered and forwarded to their desti-
nation:
MRS LuxIA WAGY, MRS. Lucy wAGY,
| Yowne towne, Uniontown,
Kns. Kansas.
Mr.. j. Il. RICE, Mr.. j. r. RICE,
Neurcespring, Eureka Springs
Ark. Ark.
| HENRY SMITH, HENRY SMITH,
p 20. Ill. Peoria, Ill
Prisner. Prisoner.
As last example, letter all the
way from England addressed to
"Horsewigger Co.," and deciphered at
last as 'Oswego, Oswego Co."
Thus you see an expert at reading
illegible handwriting becomes doubly
expert at 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-directing
and 'jacketing' more letters. This
last process consists of making care
full inventory of the points in letter
inquiring for lost mail matter, writing
these points on the outside of a sheet
of blue paper, which is then folded
around the original letter - the
Jacket" you see-and pigeon-holed.
Thus the task of such correspond
enee 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 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, as 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 sponge slightly wet is passed
over the whole fifty. and, with the dex-
terity of machine. each letter is
whisked over once, which seals it, and
there stands the package of half hun
dred 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 a record
of patience and faithfulness!
There are one hundred and ten
clerks employed in the Dead-Letter
Office alone. of whom sixty are ladies.
The work done in this department. so
we are told, is not as well known as
that of others. and its usefulness and
really wonderful system are not fully
appreciated; but when l add that in
every year about a million and half
of dollars pass through this Office, its
great service to the American people is
easily seen.
1t was noon when, with many
thanks, we bade our polite host good
morning, and left this most interesting
of buildings with the remark that it
was miscalled, as so vast a number of