Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-08-09
ODD THINGS IN THE MAIL.
a MUSEUM OF oURIosITIEs IN THE
DEAD-LETTER OFFICE.
About $4,000 Lottcrs G o Astray Every
Day-ABox OF Lively Rattlcsnalcs
I'm n COnsipnmenf


um in the world, for there are daily re-
ceived tho queorcst things imaginable.
Everything that goes astray in Uncle
Sans mail goes to that office, and in tho
course OF year every conceivable kind
OF an article is received. Once each year
tho Department has clearance sale of
the miscellaneous articles which have nc
cumulated during the twelve months,
and about $4,000 arc disposed of at each
sale.
1t is estimated that every day in tho
year about $4,000 letters, parcels and
packages go astray in tho mails, nearly
all of which find their way to the Dead
Letter Office. AS fast as received this
great mass of mail matter is assorted,
opened and classified. Tho Dead-I.ettcr
Office is not very large, but it is one of
the busiest places in the National capital
ut any hour of the day. The operatives
employed are nearly all women, as they
arc more accurate and skilful than men
in opening, asserting, correcting and re-
turning the stray mail matter.
All about the room arc tables piled
high with letters, parcels and packages.
About twenty-five men and women arc
engaged here. In the gallery above,
seated ut tables, arc sixty women, who do
nothing but read the letters received. in
order to determine if they arc of sufficient
Importance to be returned to tho writers.
All kinds of letters are subject to their
perusal, from the daintily pcrfumcd bill
lct-douX filled with love and endcarinr
terms, to the brief and prosaic business
letter of tho hurried commercial man.
Many are the ardent messages breathing
the hearts sweetest emotions that nro
pcruscd by these unscntimentnl women
and then consigned to the flames, for all
letters that are not returned to the writer's
are burned. If these women were given
to gossip, many are the mysteries they
could unravcl, the tales they could tell,
and i'll many cases perhaps explain the
reason "that the letter that he longcd for
never came"
Nlisdircctcd and only partially addressed
letters arc turned over to n woman who
from long experience has acquired great
skill in studying out addresses and who
knows every city, town, village and ham
let i'll the country. She also knows the
names of the streets in the different cities
and is, in fact, n veritablc United States
Gazetteer. From her almost infinite
knowledge of names and places, the
faculty of dcciphcring all kinds of illcgi-
bic chirography and her familiarity with
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
md Russian she is enabled to send to the
| rightful claimants, unopened, about fifty
per cent. Of the misdircctcd and partially
| addressed letters received
AS rule, English, German and
French are the prevailing languages used
in addressing letters, although those in
scribed in Italian, Hebrew, Spanish
Arabic, Persian, Russian, and, in fact
every other tongue, reach New Yorl,
from sea voyage, and many Of them are
sent to the Dead Letter Office TO be de-
ciphered and rcaddrcsscd in English, so
that the postmasters, whose linguistic ac-
complishmcnts are limited may deliver
them in the good old Anglo Saxon.
All letters which cannot be tleciphcrcd
by the expert arc turned over to force
of clerks, who open them and remove all
valuablcs. They are then put ,lp in
packages of 100 each and sent to the
sixty readers. Money, checks, drafts
and all valuablcs taken from the letters
are returned to the sender, unless the
party for whom they are intended can be
found. Last year nearly $40, 900, 600
was taken from letters, all of which was
returned except about $4,000, the owners
Of which cculd not be found.
Connected with the department of the
Dead-Lctter Office is n museum where
the many curious articles that come in
the mails and cannot be restored nrc
placed OH exhibition. All about the
room are upright cabinets in which the
articles are displayed. Here can be seen
toys, jewclry and pictures of every de-
scription. One of the rarcst curiositics
ever received and now on exhibition, is
sheet Of parchment on which is penned
the Lords Prayer, in fifty-four different
.angiages. 1t came to New York in
1912 in the mail from England, and as
no trace of the owner could be discov-
cred it was sent to the Dead-Lctter
Office. 1t is said to be duplicate of n
parchment which hangs in st. Peters
Mt Rome. A beautiful crucifx of solid
gold rests in n case in one cabinet. 1t
reached the Office marked ''uncaimed''
| from OOutncrn pOStOlHcc, ana no trace
of its owner could ever be discovered. A
lady's fan, made of stork feathers, the
plumes being richer and rarcr THAI the
finest ostrich plumes, is without question
the handsomest thing in the whole collcc-
ton. 1t is n magnificent fan and no
doubt graced at some time the costume of
court beauty of the Old World, for it
was received in the foreign mails. In
one of the cabinets is lock of dark
brown hair, partly concealed by an en-
velope, on which is the inscription
"rhis is lock of my hair. Charles
Guiteau." 1t was put in the mail by the
assassin of President Garfield and il due
time reached the Dead Letter Office.
A human skull grins at the visitor from
one cabinet, where it has lain for several
years. 1t is brown with age and came
through the mail several years ago. The
only thing to tell its story was the name,
"Jimmy McDuif," engraved on the from
tai bone. Whether this is the skull of
Jimmy McDuff, murderer who was cx-
ccuted in the West, can only be coniect-