Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-02
LETTERS THAT NEVER CONE.
The Writer'S Generally 10 BIsms-Acci.
dents That Make ssns Missivss MIS-
Ros. = . a.. 1...<.f. R,otb

denrs That Make Some Missivss MIS-
! carry-Hsw Others Go Asrray-The
Fate OF the AssassIu Booth.
iooRREsPoSDENcE OF THE DIsPArcH.l
WAsHNGToN. August al-A letter reached
me last week which had been addressed to
New York" instead Of "W ashingtonr 1t
had been held over one mail and then for
warded to me by the New York postofiice with
out being sent to the Dead Letter Office. as I
should have expected. l showed it to the
Superintendent Of the Railway Mail Service,
]. Lowrie Bell, and asked him how it happened
that it was forwarded so accurately and so
promptly, and how it had escaped the
''morgue." THAT said Mr.. Bell, 'is what We
would call mike matter. The Railway Mail
Service and postofices Of the country handle
an enormous amount Of it every year. When
ever letter comes into the hands Of q postal
clerk insuficiently or incorrectly addressed. he
throws it aside for future examination He
can supply the address himself If he is certain
Of it; but he is not allowed much discretion.
The clerks Of the Railway Mail Service are in
structed to turn this matter over to the Super
intendent at the headquarters Of their divis-
ion- If any of the clerks in the mailing di-
dress or supply needed deficiency in il, the
letter is forwarded. 0nlya small proportion
Office.
Mistakes Of the Public.
'The mistakes that the railway mail clerks
make are very few compared with the number
that the public makes" continued Mr.. Bell.
The service is not perfect ltnever viii be per-
feet. Wecan only hope to reduce the number
OF mistakes to minimum. We expect GER
tain number of mistakes to occur in each divi-
sion every month. We look for them SO regu-
larry that when no errors are reported we look
ho n Iarlr orrff1 a.. kaxrn
Just finished signing number of letters to
clerks asking why no reports Of errors have
come from them in the month of July. Each
clerk is ordered to report the number of errors
committed by other clerks and discovered by
him. If clerk reports no errors, the conclu.
sion is that he is trying to screen other clerks
from blame. believe that under my prede-
cessor there had grown up o system of this
kind, by which, OF course, a good showing was
made for the service in the reports, but which
necessarily encouraged carelessness. The men
had Understandings With each other that they
were not to report each others faults. Now,
when q man does not report any errors ask
him why not / know that errors must have
been committed, except in very rare cases. and
wish to have these men understand that they
must report all errors that occur.
vi you could 60 on the cars as have, you
would understand what mean when say that
there must be errors. / have gone through the
packages of letters before the clerks have ham
died them and tried to read the addresses, and
it has surprised me to see with what rapidity. and
yet what accuracy, the clerks perform their
work. II the great public would only under
stand that the clerk makes very few mistakes
compared with those that are made by the
senders OF letters, there would not be so much
1mpatience over yn exceptional error when it is
discovered. When man Is handling letters at
the rate of II minute for hours at time. and
deciphering with almost unerring accuracy
hieroglyphics that an expert would be puzzled
over. it Is not surprising that he should make
an occasional slip"
Only Oficinl Complaints Noticed.
Some time ago there appeared in a Western
paper number Of complaints Of merchants
about letters mishandled. l asked Mr.. Bell If
they had been investigated. For reply he took
from his desk a bundle of little slips, all type
written. Here are the reports on all Of
them," he said. 1--WE do not answer newspaper
charges unless they come to US In official form,
butI instruct the superintendents of divisions
to investigate all Of them thoroughly. The
only way for us to learn what defects exist IN
the system is by tracing every mistake to its
source. Many appearances Of error are de-
ceptiye. One of the cases brought to my atten-
ton by this paper was that of aletter addressed
by the AnheuserBusch Brewing Company TO
town in Texas, and which was finally delivered
at its destination after voyage to Belfast.
Now, that looks like pretty bad case does it
IL
the following facts developed: The letter was
one OF a number of letters addressed at the
same time, and as it was placed under another
letter while the ink on it was still
fresh, and as the ink was rather thick,
the two letters stuck together. Their union was
so close that 1t was impossible to tell without
close examination that there was more than one
letter there. The letter was thrown into
closed pouch. 1t was attached to a letter
which bore the address of a Belfast firm. and
SO into the Belfast pouch it went undiscovered.
The pouch went through to Belfast without
being opened. When it reached its destination
the letter was taken out with its companion
and with it was delivered, without the knowl-
edge of the Belfast postoffice. 1t was not until
the man to whom the letter was addressed
opened it that the presence of the Texas letter
was discovered. Then it was returned to this
country and in time reached its proper destina-
ton. Now in this instance the letter did not
pass through the railway mail clerks hands
at all. The mistake, if any. was that Of the St.
Louis Postofhce, and / do not think anyone
would claim that that office was responsible for
the miscarriage of the letter"
The Fate off. Wilkes Booth.
There has always existed in the minds of
thousands of people serious doubt as to the
fate of ]. Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Presi-
dent Lincoln. Although history states that he
was found in barn at GannelPs farm, about
20 miles from Fredericksburg, Va, II days
fatally wounded, and although the remains
were brought to Washington. identified and
buried by the United States authorities. there
has been lingering suspicion in the minds uf
many Americans that the Identification was
not complete, and that ]. Wilkes Booth sue
ceeded in evading entirely his pursuers Sen
sational newspapers publish perenially inter-
views with people who are quite sure they have
seen Booth in the flesh, and many people |
are found to believe them. bit of
testimony which came to my attention this
week, and which am told has never been pub |
lshed, may serve to convince the doubling
Thonases. In the city of Washington lives DR.. |
May, the father of Fred May, of New York, |
who attained notoriety some years ago by fight |
ing duel with James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the
proprietor of the New York Herald. AT the |
time of the assassination of President Lincoln |
DR.. May was one of the leading physicians of |
Washington. It was known that he had been |
treating Booth shortly before the assassination |
occurred, and when the remains. supposed to |
be those of Booth, were brought to Washington |
and placed on board the United States steamship |
Monitor he was asked to assist in their identi- |
hcation. Judge John A. Bingham, of Pennsyl- |
vania Judge Advocate. and afterward Solici- |
tor of the Court of Claims, had been appointed |
special Judge Advocate in the trial of the as
sassins and it was under his guidance that q |
small party of those interested in the identit- |
cation went aboard the Monitor. When DR.. |
May was brought to the spot where the remains |
lay he said:
on the back of the neck Just before he shot Pres
ident Lincoln. l performed an operation on it |
so successfully that told him there would be |
no scar remaining. He went away. A short |
time afterWard he returned and showed me the |
spot where the operation had been performed. |
There had been serious rupture and the |
wound was in bad condition. asked him how
it had occurred. He was playing with Char
lotte Cushman at the time, and he explained to
me that in the course of q performance it had
become necessary for her to throw her arms
violently around his neck. In doing so she |
had ruptured the wound, which had not had
time to heal thoroughly. When had exam
ined the wound told Booth that the promise |
had made him before could not be fulfilled, |
and that the wound, as it would heal then,
would undoubtedly leave a scar. If this is
the body Of J. Wilkes Booth that scar will be
found on the back of his neck. Furthermore