Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-06-11
ABOUT BLIND LETTERS
HOW ADDRESSES AND NAMES PUB
 zLE POSTOFFICE CLERKS.

Tho Strange Ways Some Correspond.
 ents Have of Writing the Directions |
 on Their Letters-Examples of Some oi |
 Them-Guessinx Brought Into Play on |
 Occasion-Directoriesn as Helps.
 When one considers tho large number | of letters which daily pass through big | post office, it is surprising that so few 1 are miS-Sent; and when the illegible | writing and incomplete addresses are taken into account, the promptness and intelligence of the clerks in correcting the carelessness or ignorance of corre- l spondents deserve warm praise. In some instances 1t is almost impossible to decipher the writing upon an envelope, and only by practice, combined with what seems almost an intuitive knowl- edge of the writer's intentions, can the intended destination of letter be ascer tained. In other cases the several letters arc distinctly written, but the writer has used a phonetic or some uncommon sys- tenn of indicating the town or city to which he desires his letter shall be sent, and it is only by shrewd guessing that the clerk can decide in what direction to forward it. For example, letter addressed to ''Partic, K. c. in K. c. R. R., was sent to Paris, Kentucky, which is on the Kentucky Central railroad. Another,
  promptly forwarded to Leavenworth. stood to be Lndlow. ''Beechan Cave"
 was Pigeon Cove, and 'Roces Point" was found to be ''Rouse's Point. New York. A letter addressed to "Nortiston" was intended for North Easton, and it was
 necessary to use the phonetic system to interpret ''Fladel Fla" as Philadelphia. It did not take the trained clerk long to decide that ''uuaterbury, Conn.," was intended for Waterbury, Conn.,, ''Man- jesteur, Noennchhis," was quickly read as Manchester, Now Hampshire. "Tan- ton Oclinne Millse Masse," was the ad- dress of one letter intended for Oakland Mills, Taunton, Massachusetts.
 A letter for "Leor grove Ellinoise w. County" was sent to Deer Grove, Whiteside county, Illinois. ''Cytimil Mass" was understood to be City Mills, Massachusetts. Hero is an address found frequently on letters: 'Ectt Har- rifvill, New Hampshire, where there are cotton factories in which good many foreigners are employed. The following unusually blind address was recently found on a letter: "Uts Mass Est Uts piles No. IT," After much guessing and examination of directories the letter was forward to it's destination, IT Worcester place, Worcester, Massachusetts.
 Shrewd guessing may be of assistance in cases where the writer has adopted an original way of spelling some well-known city or town but where the writing Is legible, but the address incomplete, a 1 systematic way of learning the intended destination is followed. The inquiry de- partment of the pOstotfice, to which all ''bl1nd" letters, papers and packages are sent has directories of about all tho prominent cities and towns of tho coun- try, and also several directories prepared l especially for use In work of this nature. One of these is a street directory. It l has the names of the streets in all the I cities and many towns of the country, 1 and after each name is given a list of the cities in which a street of that name may l be found, and also the range of numbers | in each case.
 1 Another directory has list of all the | hotels in Now England; the Bankers ] Almanac" gives list of all the banks
 and cashiers in tho United States; and 1 all the railroad officials in tho United
 States and Canada are given in another ] directory. A unique directory Is one with the local names In use in towns in | Massachusetts. Letters are frequently addressed to these local names, and by the aid of this book it Is pos sible in many instances to forward the letters to the proper postof1ice. Some 1 of these names probably found origin in l the circumstances of condition of the To-
 cality; others were, perhaps, the desig- nation of some whimsical person. A
 glance at the book shows such local
 names as Acre, California, Duck Harbor, Quaker District, Tatnuck, Lower Factory, l Nine-Acre Common, Horse Neck, Grab 1 Village, Cedar Tree Neck and Grasshop- per Plain. It is estimated that there are 1 twelve hundred of these places to which ] letters are liable to be addressed that have no DoStotfice.