Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-04-13
TIE MoRouE OF LETTERS.


II
Letter Office at Washington.
Twenty thousand letters received
here daily"
This was the information given by
the bright and courteous lady who
presides over the curiosity room. "And
nearly one-half of them can never be
sent on or back, because of illegibility
of the address or some other cause"
The Enclosures are kept two years,
then, if still unclaimed, are sold at
auction. The room is lined with cases,
in which the curiosities are very artist
ically arranged.
Here was fireman's ak. Improper
weight and a. sharp instrument not
properly protected were the reasons for
its detention There were number of
revolvers arranged on the back of the
case. 1t is contrary to law to send fire.
arms through the mail.
''Oh! here is a human ear,m one re-
marked, wondering at the singular to-
ken.
''Yes, that came in a newspaper. We
do not know by whom it was sent.
Herei an asp, and that is tarantula
both quite startling creatures to find
upon opening box. They both came
through alive" said the attendant,
''and that is against the law, you know.
We always have live curiosities chic
reformed and preserved in liquor. We
are quite careful IN opening packages,
for we never know what sort OF pets
we are going to find.
"Snakes!" exclaimed one of our
party. pointing toward some large glass
cans. did they come through alive?"
Yes, indeed"
En- PEASANT. it is very amusing to
hear Washingtonians say Eyes, in
deed with the emphasis on yes"
and the indeed sliding along as
though the expression were one of the
pleasures of life.
Yes, indeed she answered.
There were sixteen of them, sent from
Texas en- route for Heidelberg, for sci
entific purposes. They were in per-
forated tin cans, were detected and
sent here. A boy brought the cans in
a bag, but one snake got. away. A
lady at the chiefs desk, three days
after, felt something about her feet.
Looking down, there was the snake.
He had been 10 one of the drawers of
the chiefs desk for those three days.
Was she frightened? Well, there are
few things that we ladies dislike more
than snakes, you know"
Here is a scalpr'
Yes; it is the scalp of young In
dian girl about Is to 20 years old. We
were told so by an expert in such
things-the hair fine and black and
straight, you see, prepared with care
to be fastened to the belt
Here are some balls of opium. You
notice they were disguised in cover
ing of candy. And here is beautiful
large etching, exquisitely done. It
seems a pity that it should not have
reached its destination, but we could
not help it"
She stepped to the desk, and took
from one of the drawers a book, OPEN
ing it for our inspection. In it were
pasted the addressed sides of envelopes.
Some of these addresses indicated a
close acquaintance with photographic
spelling, as I'll III, Ca" was spelled
Tight /, Ga, and "SpriDgeryille, Ari-
iona, " was spelled "Spengel Bill, Ari.
IONA" Again, others were of a poet
zeal turn, and fame doubtless awaits the
composers with open arms. Here are
four Of them:
snow come, locomotive, and get on your
steam,
And speed me away ore valley and stream,
And carry me safely to John James, State Of
Illinois,
And tell him / have twins, and both Of them I
boys" II
Garry this letter over valley and ridges,
And deliver safely to A. v. Hedges"
~
POSTMASTER run with speedy feet
To 1911 North Third street,
Care Of Danier Winforth,
For Frederick Aranouth.n
~
ITO Jack Smith, the web foot scrub,
To whom this letter wants to go,
Is cutting cordwood for his grub,
In Boise City, Idaho"
Detroit Free Press.
Uniformed School-Boys.
Another metamorphosis is about To !.