St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-06-15

-oseaid Z Asossass. u n Z. Nan end II
THE INQUIRY OFFICE.
Inner woekings of This Important
foseal Dspartmsnt.
0olaa 90 DaAy.DlroossA Leeases n.
elSAsee1 ~ oAasp-EyeA. Qsaes.Wlessa
CassaD-Csss - sAs Many Daabe-
sas ots0ps ExPaalasA
One Of the most interesting depart.
ments In the post-ofaces OF oil large
cities is the Enquiry ONCE" To this
division are sent daily moro thaa Z
thousand letters which the careless
public have misdirected, not directed
at Ill. failed to stamp. or have left out
name Of State. county or town. At the
Chicago Post Once last year 9. .l23 in
quires were received for missing let.
ters. 90.S62 letters were posted with
out stamps. 265. l42 letters and IS. .6Ss
postal cards were misdirected. and
81. .624 letters and lis. .952 postal cards
were unclaimed In addition 70 this
vast mass there was . large quantity
Of second. third and fourth class mat
Ter misdirected, unmailable or un-
claimed, making the grand total
amount to 3.059. 42S for the year.
These startling figures show how
much OF sheer carelessness ignorance
and inattention prevails among the
letter writing public. Il Il IL
most inconccivable how per-
person writing N important lot
ter. oftentimes containing val
uables, and carefully worded. seems 70
allow caution to take . vacation whea
Il comes to addressing tho envelope.
How much Of annoyance. heartbreak.
severance Of friendships, disaster In
business. and other evils have ensued
from sheer carelessness after the letter
has been signed will never Be known.
Il l. like solving . series Of puzzles.
The argus-eyed clerk may immediately
discover tho writer's concealed inten-
Hons, or he may have to conjure with
Il for some time and then eventually
have to give It up In despair. There
u . tremendous amount OF phonetic
spelling Of names Of places, and each
nation has its peculiarities In this ~
spect. Every day the two clerks In
this department have about two hum
lred tough letters to puzzle over. In
oaking out the town or State they
compare tho handwriting with other
oarts OF the letter and often unravel
the mystery in that manner. - many
make their KS. Rs. Us and VS. in
such = hieroglyphic way that whom they
write down Solomon It looks moro like
Nebuchadnexxar. Tho clerks are often
pushed BY the abbreviating habit Of
our hurried people. Here. for iastance.
y case In point:
''Wmsport."
Il looked like Jonespork but no such
place could be found, and after some
thought the clerk concluded that tho
writer meant Williamsport; sent it
hero and found that his eurmise was
correct
Another class which gives annoyance
= the .-smart Aleck" who writes in .
back hand. The clerk places such let
ters before mirror and is able at once
70 ascertain tho address. Then again
. lamb's-wool poet attempts TO write
the address In meter and takes the
poetic license Of getting the wrong
State In II it rhymes better. Il has
been suggested 70 the authorities that
the name Enquiry Division" b
changed to something moro definite.
y rural strangers In tho city take too
broad . view Of it. duties and imagine
that IL ID n Institution organized Tor
the purpose Of giving Intelligence - to
the arrival and departure Of trains,
the location Of streets. hotels. public
buildings. and so-forth-
Now" said the clerk, ''the best
cay to get at the workings Of this
ONCE IL to study these thirty-seven
stampa This one written on . hand
with index finger:
RetuTDod 70 Ouoee.
Can not b Sossd
By CAicaso r. e..
March n. ld1A
ID stamped on unclaimed card letterA
We use the term card letters 70 such
ss have tho printed or written address
Of firm or individual n ono corner.
These letters arc held according e the
number Of days specified q the card.
When the time expires this hand II put
On. obliteratiag the addresa and points
70 the printed address which might
road: II not called for after ten days
return 10 John Jones. 10 Cherry street,
New York
Il might hero add that II al writer's
Of letters win only afRx their address
70 the envelope. much valuable time
would be saved. for thsn. II the letter
V not called for. il Il cent % the
writer's address. and not 70 the Dead
Letter Once at Washinstou. vhera IL
may remain for mouths.
''On Ill correspondence reoelved -
put this stamp:
Rsceivsd,
March -. lsn
Inquiry DIV. CAicaeo r. o.
Which shows that Il haa enma ma.
our sapsrvisioo. and the stawp