Connecticut western news., 1888-06-20
MAIL ODDITIES.
Some Curiosities That Lodge ill
 the Postal Pouch.
Animate Objects That Come
 Under Postoffice Ban.

Many queer things pass through the mails. Some of thom afford amusc- ment for tho clerk, and others for time cause them to forget their religious Training. Every conceivable thing that comes under the rules of mailable mat ter, and many others besides, is daily received at every large postcffice in the land. Many packages are stopped because of violation of the law and are coufiscated, whi,e occasionally an unmailablc article slips through under the guise of something else. Speaking of the matter to a Herald reporter, a Baltimore postoffico off ial said: The mailing of merchandise, samples and other things has reached such aa extent that l wouldn't be surprised at any time to see a man come in and ask if ho can mail ton of coal to San Francisco. A great many things are sent by would bS' jokers. A short time ago fashionable uptown lady re ceived neatly done up and perfumed package from a point in Virgiuia. On opening it garter 'nake jumped out and ran across the floor. Tho lady screamed, and when some of tho other members of the fam fly wont to her rescue sho was standing on a centre table and the snake was soiled up on sofa. A few days ago when mail pouch was opened small diamond back terrapin crawled out. Tho little reptile was carried to MT. Gus War6cld, who placed it on his desk. It crawlcd about quite actively for while, and then pulled in its head and feet and went to sloep. MI. War field placed it on the desk of one of the clerks who had gone out for lunch. When the clerk returned he noticed the !errapin and thought it was paper weight, and went on working. In few minutes the terrapin awokc, stretched out it's head and crawled over on the clerks paper as if to see what he was writing. The young man had never seen 1.-Two torrapiu before, and, still thinking that it was new fanglo pa. per weight, ho picked it up to make closer inspection. Somehow his right thumb got caught in the terrapin's mouth, and part of it stayed there. He now knows what tcrrapin is, but IS very careful about inspecting new de- signs in paper weights. On recent occasion box full of lizards was found n one of the pouches. They were thrown out.
 Vory frequently commission men re- ceive samples of all kinds of grain and other farm prod ucts, with inquiries con- corning their value. Often in the spring samples of strawberries are sent this way, but on their arrival they are gen. erally smashed into pulp. Handsome bouquets frequently make their way through the mails. but on arriving at their destination, they are usually crushed and worthless. A watermelon camo from Florida few days ago ad- dressed to man on Pratt street. The carrier who took it down had the mis- fortune to drop it just as he entered the owners door, but it made no difference, as it was green anyway. Small orders of all kinds of goods arc sent in every direction all over the country. The meanest tricks ever played in this direc- ton was when the envelopes for hospital day wero collected. Many of them were not stamped, and as the depart ment had been requested not to stamp worthless ones, they wcro opened and found to contain peanut hulls, bugs, sand, pieces of matches, potato parings, scraps of paper, pieces of bacon rind, horn buttons, tin, etc.
 One of the most annoying things to the officials was candy, and recently Q line was drawn there. That is, rule was adopted th.t candy should be put up in such a manner that it could ot get loose among the other matter. For mcrly, nearly every pouch contained broken box of candy and lot of sticky