The Opelousas courier., 1889-04-27
ECElVED UNDER COVER.
A Peculiar Device to Which Some People
Resort In Mailing Letters.

A Peculiar Device to Which Some People
Resort In Mailing Letters.4
While in the postmaster's r5om in
the Boston post-office the writer's at
tention was attracted by an impression
which an official was placing on the
back of a bunch of letters in red ink by
means of a hand stamp. The impress
sion read: Received under cover at
the post-of1ce, Boston, Mass, from =
-, to be forwarded in the mail"
The official seemed to take great de-
light in placing the tell-tale stamp on
the back of the envelopes. When his
apparently agreeable task waSsfinished
the reporter began to inquire into the
philosophy of the thing.
ave receive a great many letters
under cover" began the official, ''to
be forwarded in the mail. Most of
these letters, l suspect, are sent by the
class of people who indulge in anony-
nous communications. Ignorant Of
the regulation of the postal service,
which requires such letters to be
stamped at the Office from which they
are dispatched to the addresses, the
senders imagine the recipients can
Ie deceived by resorting to this
crafty device0 To be sure, all
who send letters in this way are not
prompted by a malicious purpose. Ere
quently the sender incloses a note to
the postmaster, giving his or her name,
and explaining the reason for forward
ing the letter under cover. Many peo-
pie do it as a joke or for the purpose OF
mystifying the receiver"
"Do people at whose expense this
stamp is used ever object?" 6
"Quite often, A person in Portland,
for instance, who sends a letter herb
addressed to a friend-or perhaps IN
enemy-in the same city is likely to be
found out when the addressed is put in
possession of the fact that the letter
originated in Portland. In cases of this
character we have received scolding
letters from the victims, who invariably
regard the use of the stamp as a shame
full outrage. | recollect the case of a
doctor in a Massachusetts city who be-
came so enraged at having his letter
stamped in this way that he threat
ened to have the postmaster reported
at Washington. A short time ago a
woman in New York City did a good
deal of vehement protesting against the
stamping of her letters. She sent a
letter and q postal card to this Office
under cover. and of course each OF
them was regularly stamped as be-
Ing received from New York City.
They were both addressed to persons
living in the same street in New
York. The letter being sealed we
knew nothing of its contents, but the
| postal card purported to have been
written by a mar to his wife. 5'wl
wrote his wife that he had just arrived
at a certain hotel in this city, and this
intelligence was followed by q remark
about some old acquaintance wom-
an-whom he accidentally met at the
hotel. 1t was plain that the purport
of the postal was to create some
trouble between a man and his wife.
In a couple of days a I tier of denuncia-
ton was received Lfrom a person
who was evidently the sender, and
whose mischief had evidently been
traced home. Eothing daunted by her
discontinue this woman afterward in
l ofoco1 n%hnn 1axfnnc RI a honiyinn hnr1co
in this city with a request to drop
| then in the post-office. A representa-
| tive of the firm brought them to the
| postmaster's room, when the hand
writing YVES readily identified. The
| banking house returned them to the
| sender.
t.Another reason for sending letters
in this way is that people sometimes
| like to make others believe that they
are in places remote from where they
actually are. A a wrote from To-
peka, Kas., inclosing SIX postal cards
/ addressed to as many young ladies in
Leavenworth. In an explanatory note
the sender stated that he was a resi-
| dent of L~eavenWorth, was temporarily
visiting in Topeka, and that he wanted
his young lady friends to think he was
in Boston. The postal cards bore the
Inclination that he had assembled
Bunker Hill monument, had seen the
old state-house and tie old South
church. and that he mad acquired a
fund of knowledge about Boston the
recital of which would greatly inter-
ess his friends on his return to Kan
sas. It must have been made pretty
hot for the fellow when he sprung his
~recollections of Bunker FL ill on the
girls on his return to Leavenworth.
We have some regular customers. An
individual in Groton, Mass, sends
regularly under cover letters for the
great and mighty of the earth. He
rarely addresses a letter to an official
ranking lower than q United States
Senator or a foreign Ambassador. He
is evidently a fellow who gives tips in
diplomacy."-Boston Herald.
-.If you mus marry, let common