The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-06-13
BLIND LETTERS.

BLIND LETTERS.
When one considers the large number
of letters which daily pass through big
postoffice, it is surprising that 80 few are
missent and when the illegible writing
and incomplete addresses are taken into
account, the promptness and intelligence
of the clerks in correcting the careless
ness or ignorance of correspondents de
serve, warm praise. In some instances
it is almost impossible to decipher the
writing upon an envelope, and only by
practice, combined with what seems al
most an intuitive knowledge Of the writ
er's intentions, can the intended desti-
nation of letter be ascertained. In
other cases the several letters are dis
tincIly written, but the writer has used
a phonetic or some uncommon system
of indicating the town or city to which
be 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
"Parrie, K. G. in of X. c. r. r." was
sent to Paris, Kentucky, which is on the
Kentucky Central railroad. Another,
addressed to al Worth, Conn.," was
promptly forwarded to Leavenworth,
Kan, "Lud Loft, Mass. was understood
to be Ludlow. "Bechan Cave" was Pig
con Cove, and "Roces Point" was found
to be Rouse's Point, N. Y. A letter ad-
dressed to "Nortiston" was intended for
North Easton, and it was necessary to
use the phonetic system to interpret
"Fladel Fla" as Philadelphia. 1t did not
take the trained clerk long to decide that
"UUATER BURY Conn" was intended
for Waterbury, Conn. "Manjesteur,
Noeunchhis." was quickly read as Man
chester, N. II, "Tauton Oclinne Millse
Masse" was the address of one letter in
tended for Oakland Mills, Taunton, Mass.
A letter for "Leor grove Ellinoise w. S.
County" was sent to Deer Grove, White
side County, Illinois. "Cylimil Mass"
was understood to be City Mills, Mass.
Here is an address found frequently on
letters "Ectt arri S Vile, N. a." They
are sent to East Harrisville, N. H., where
there are cotton factories in which good
many foreigners are employed. The fol-
lowing unusually blind address was re-
Gently found on letter "Uts Mass Est
Uts piles No, H." After much guessing
and examination of directories the let
ter was forwarded to its destination, No.
II East Worcester place, Worcester,
Mass.
Shrewd guessing may be of assistance
in cases where the writer has adopted an
original way OF spelling some well known
city or town. Where writing is legible,
but the address incomplete, a systematic
way of learning the intended destination
IS followed. The inquiry department Of
the postoffice, to which all "blind" let
tiers, papers and packages are sent, has
directories of about all the prominent
cities and towns of the country, and also
several directories prepared especially
for use in work of this nature One Of
these is a street directory. 1t has the
names of the streets in all the cities and
many towns of the country, and after
each name is given list of the cities in
which a street of that name may be
found, and also the range of numbers in
each case. Another directory has a list
of all the hotels in New England the
Bankers Almanac" gives list of all
the banks and cashiers in the United
States, from the several denominational
publication houses have been obtained
lists of all clergymen in the United States;
and all the railroad officials in the 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 possible in many
instances to forward the letters to the
proper postoffice. Some of these names
probably found origin in the circumstan-
ces or condition of the locality others
marianne ha Inainnafinn nf
whimsical person. A glance at the book
shows such local names as Acre, Cali
fornia, Duck Harbor, Brick City, Slmp
sonville, Dresser Hill, Quaker District,
Tatnuck, Lower Factory, Nine-Acre
Common, Horse Neck. Grab Village,
Cedar Tree Neck and Grasshopper Plain.
1t is estimated that there are 1900 of
these places to which letters are liable to
be addressed that have no postoffice,
A list of the lighthouses is kept, to-
gether with the location ard postoffice,
for many people do not know how to ad
dress letter to the keeper of a light
house, which is generally some distance
from postoffice. But, by means of this
list, the postoffice clerk would know that
a letter for the Keeper OF Wood Light"
should be sent to Saco, Me.
A list of hotels is useful, because it
frequently happens that the name
of the town is omitted and only
the state given. For example Bread
Loaf Inn, VT, is indefinite, but the list
shows that the hotel is at Ripton. 1t is
a common error to write MASS" when
letter is intended for another state, and
there are about sixty card companies in
various parts of the country for which
letters are frequently received with
Mass. instead Of the proper address. A
list OF these companies is kept, and let
tiers are forwarded without delay. In
the summer good many letters are ad-
dressed to "Morrison's Camp" and they
are sent to Coos, N H." The postoffice
addresses of many other camps in New
Hampshire and Maine are kept in book
In some instances. when the clerk is
puzzled by blind letter, he will try to
guess, by the name of the person to
whom it is addressed, the nationality,
and then pronounce the name as per-
son using that language would speak it..
In this way it is, for example, frequent
ly found that in an address written by
colored people Virginia is spelled with F
as the initial letter Boston Transcript.