, 1888-08-05
A LITERARY MORGUE.
Temporary Abiding Place of Un-
called for Letters.
The System by Which the Work is
Managed.
Romanees That the Busy Clerks
Cannot Follow Up.
speciaI Correspondenee Of Tnn LEAprr.

Special Correspondence of THE LEADER.
WASHINGTON, Aug THAT the dead
letter office is the place to which all un.
claimed or misdirected letters which pass
through the mail in the United States are
sent, is known by everybody; and the
manner in which such letters are restored
to their writers is also known by not a few
people, but the inner workings of that
office, and the vast amount of business
transacted there, are known to
lively few.
Like all other government offices, order
reigns supreme, and considering the kind
of work done there, that in itself is saying
a great deal. To properly classify and
record a great mass of correspondence
relating to every imaginable subject and
written by innumerable persons and in
every known language, is indeed no slight
task.
To begin with, the manner in which a
letter reaches the dead letter office must
first be glanced at. Postmasters are in
structed to hold letters thirty days, and if
not then claimed. to send them to the ma
tlonal "morgue." These instructions do
not, OF course, refer to any class of letters
except those on which are no return cards.
ALI letters having return addresses on
them and not called for by the persons to
when they are directed, are returned to
the writer's; so that the letters which
reach this office are those unclaimed after
thirty days and which have not the name
of the writer placed outside.
To deal in round figures, the number so
sent to the dead letter office during the
year just ended was about 5000, 900. an
increase of some 20 per cent over the pre-
vious year. OF these, about 100000
were sent here because they were not
called for at the post Office to which thew
were directed; 200, 600 were returned to
post Offices by hotel keepers and thence
sent to the dead letter office because the
departed guests for whom they were in
tended failed to leave a new address; 200
900 were sent here because they were in
sufficiently prepared for mailing; 1000
because they contained articles forbidden
to be transported in the mails; 500, 900
because they were enormously or illegibly
addressed; while 20, 900 bore no super
scription whatever. The number of par
cells of merchandise, books, clothing,
needlework, jewelry, etc. received during
the year was about 70. 900. The total
number of dead letters and samples of
merchandise which were mailed abroad
was about 500 1000. These are all re-
turned to their respective countries of
origin unopened. OF the domestic letters
opened 20, 900 contained money amount.
ing to $40, 900; $4,000 contained drafts,
checks, money orders, ETC., representing
over 81, 750, 900; 100. 600 contained post
age stamps; 10000 contained receipts,
paid notes, etc. &C 5000 contained photo
graphs and 10000 merchandise Of all
kinds.
The letters first go to what is known as
the passing table, Here they receive
their first classification. All letters from
foreign countries are taken out and after
ward returned to the postal authorities OF
the countries in which they were written,
to be dealt with there. The unavailable
letters, or those which are misdirected,
are also taken out and dealt with in the
unavailable branch of the office. The re-
mainder of the letters, after being com
pared with the returns sent in by post
masters, are tied up in packages of 100
and sent to the opening table. At this
table are about ten clerks, armed with
nimble fingers, sharp eyesight and keen
knives. Their work consists in opening
the letters and quickly CHANGING through
them In search of anything valuable
postage stamps, checks, drafts, money Or
ders, receipts, legal papers, merchandise,
photographs, money-in fact, anything of
value or which may be inquired for by the
sender, constitute "valuables." These,
when found, are separated from those let
tiers containing nothing of any worth, are
marked and then 20 to other sections of
the office. When all the valuables are
picked out what remains of a bundle of
100 Is again tied up and in the course of
a day or so reaches the returning depart
ment.
From the opening table, then, it will be
seen that the letters go in a dozen differ
ent directions. Those containing money
are sent to the money department, and
the amount contained in them, with the
address and signature, if there be any, re-
corded. In case OF a signature with the
address of the sender, the letter is at once
returned; but where there is neither, as is
often the case, the letter is held subject to
reclamation at any time within a year. IF
not then claimed it is turned into the
treasury. Of the money received, about
go per cen is finally returned to the
sender.
All letters containing papers Of any
pecuniary value such as drafts, money
orders ETC., are sent to the minor depart
ment, and treated the same as money
letters; letters with papers of less value,
such as receipts, go to the ''sub-minor''
department, those with merchandise in
them to the property branch, and those
with photographs to the department of
that name.
Letters are only read to ascertain the
name and address of the writer, or to see
if anything which was originally enclosed
is missing, Information obtained from
letters in the oourse OF their official treat
ment in the dead letter office, is never de-
vulged. While the clerks read few things
personally interesting to them, they new
ertheless come across some very curious
epistles. At the opening table not much
time is devoted to following out a romance
which may be suggested by some love let
ter, for by the time a man (for only men
work at this table, has opened and exam
ined from 1000 to 2 500 letters in six and
one halt hours, not much time ia left