Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-09-29
DEAD LETTERS.
ASTOUNDING STATISTICS FROM THE
WASHINGTON OFFICE.
Over Six MiIlion Letters Go Astray An
nually Through the Carelessness
of Senders.


D. P. Leibhardt, Superintendent of the
Dead Letter Office in Washington, has IS
sued a circular which contains a vast
amount of information, as well as being
deeply interesting to the general reader.
He says that over six million pieces of mail
| matter are sent annually to the Dead Letter
Office by reason of incorrect, illegible or
deficient address, insufficient postage, in
secure inclosing, whereby matter mailed
becomes separated from the envelope or
wrapper, or the failure to be called for o.
| delivered to the person addressed. This is
daily average of over twenty thousand
pieces.
| OF these the greater portion either are not
called for at the Postofice to which they
are directed, or, in case of free-deliyery
offices, the addresses cannot he found, not
withstanding every known means is re-
| sorted to on the part of the postal officials
| to effect delivery.
| Matter sent to the Dead Letter Office,
which cannot be delivered to the person
addressed, is required to be opened in its
| treatment for the purpose of return to the
sender, and if the name and address of the
sender be not shown or cannot be ascer-
| tanned from the contents, and it contains
no valuable Enclosure, it must be de-
| stroyed
! Letters opened and found to contain any
Enclosure of obvious value are entered upon
proper records, and of such those which do
not disclose sufficient information to enable
! them to be returned are fled subject to
reclamation upon proper application and
| Identification.
Letters which contain no Enclosure of
| obvious value are not recorded.
| Packages and parcels are recorded, and
where they do not disclose the name and
address of the owner are filed if not called
| for or claimed within two years they are
| disposed of at public auction and the pro-
| ceeds covered into the United States Treas
ury.
a large proportion of the packages and
| parcels sent to the Dead Letter Office fail to
| be restored to the owners because of the
absence on the wrappers or Enclosures of
anything to indicate ownership thereof.
Information us to the character and ma
ture OF the matter thus received at the
Dead Letter Office, and the conditions and
influences which occasion the failure to
reach persons to whom the senders de-
signed them to go, may be of interest, and
gestions which may serve the public in its
exercise of postal privileges.
Of the unclaimed and dndelivered mat
| ter received at the Dead Letter Office DUR
ing the past fiscal year, 451 900 were letters
misdirected or only partially addressed
that is. not addressed TO postoffice or, adj
dressed to a postoffice not in the State
named, etc.-While $4,000 were entirely
blank, bearing no address whatever.
Among the latter were frequently found
the correspondence of business men, of
which large portion contained Enclosures
of money, drafts. checks, etc.
Ninety eight thousand were letters to do
mestic addresses, "held for postage" to-
gether with letters, ETC., addressed to Cana
da and Mexico, matter to these countries |
being unavailable except upon full prepay
ment of postage.
One hundred and sixty-fve thousand |
were letters mainly addressed to persons in |
care of hotels. The guests to whom the |
letters belonged having departed without |
leaving their address, or forwarding orders
for their mail, they were returned to the
Postoffice by the hotels and thence sent to
the Dead Letter Office.
Forty-two thousand were letters to ficti-
ticus addresses, and principally correspond
ence relating to what is known as green
goods" or saw dust" swindles, etc., many
of them containing money with orders for
the purchase of these fraudulent goods.
Parties engaged in these fraudulent and un-
lawful enterprises invariably do SO under
an assumed name, and when the character
and business of such persons is discovered
by the postal authorities, such matter sd
dressed to them is declared fictitious" and
delivery withheld.
Eighty thousand were parcels of mer-
chandise, books, clothing, needle. work,
jewelry, etc., ETC., many of which were mis-
directed, while others were without wrap
per, having been insecurity inclosed, and
others from which the address had become
separated and lost.
A large proportion were those upon
which the required amount of postage to
entitle them to transmission through the
mails had not been prepaid, insufficient
payment being due to improper inclosing.
whereby higher rate of postage was re-
quired.
Twenty-eight thousand contained money
amounting in all to $4S642.
Four thousand had Enclosures of postal
notes in small sums under S., aggregating
s., 800.
Twenty-seven thousand were found to
contain drafts, checks, notes, commercial
paper, ETC., in the sum of $1,471,S71. while
forty-eight thousand contained paid and
payments of money, deed, mortgages, gen.
eral miscellaneous papers, etc.
Fortytwo thousand contained photo
graphs. one thousand contained articles
forbidden to be transmitted through the
mails; and eleven thousand upon being
opened were found to contain lottery
tickets, which, under the terms of the law,
are declared unavailable.
One hundred and sixiy-two thousand
contained postage stamps and were inclos-
ures to secure return answers to the cor
respondence which they accompanied, or
were the remittances in payments OF small
balances, or accompanying orders for small
purchases Of merchandise, subscriptions
etc.
Five hundred and thirty-one thousand
were letters, and Al 600 parcels of printed
matter, samples, etc, which had been
mailed in foreign countries TO Postoffices
within the United States and failing of
delivery were sent the Dead Letter Office,
and thence returned to the postal admins
trations of their respective countries of
origin, unopened.
Two hundred and five thousand were
letters, and 1900 were parcels, books
samples OF merchandise, etc which had
bsen mailed within the United States ad-
dressed TO foreign countries, and having
failed Of delivery at their destination, were
sent to the Dead Letter Office by foreign
postal administrations.
Over FIVE million of the letters received |
at the Dead Letter Office contained no in
closure of obvious value, although doubt |
less many of them were quite as valuable |
and important to both sender and ad- |
dressee as thousands of other letters con-
tanning money, checks, stamps, ETC., and |
yet of this immense number of letters over |
three million bore within either no def
mite or sufficient address of the writer-in |
most cases no address whatever-or there |
was no signature whereby the writer might |
be identified or determined, without which |
the Dead Letter Office could not make re-
turn.
Misdirection, incorrect, illegible aud de-
hcient address are given as the leading |
causes which occasion the failure OF mail |
matter to reach its proper destination, and |
affect alike that which is so addressed to |
either city, town, or village.
In addition TO these, in the case OF mat !
ter mailed 10 cities or free-delivery offices, |
are the failure to give street or number, |
business or occupations; or some designated |
place OF delivery Of the person addressed; |
inability to find transient people, and their |
neglect to give forwarding orders for their |
mail; the neglect of permanent or tempo !