Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-09-29
HELP TIE NAIL SERVICE.
Where Some Of the Letters 70 aud
Why-Rew to Insare Safe and
Prompt Delivery.


Over six million pieces of mail
matter are sent annually to the dead
letter Office by reason of incorrect,
illegible or deficient address, INSULT
cient postage, insecure incicsing,
whereby matter mailed becomes
separated from the envelope OF
wrapper, or the failure to be called
for or delivered to the person ad-
dressed. This is a daily average Of
over twenty thousand pieces.
Matter seut 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
II the name and address of the sender
be not shown ar cannot be ascer
tained from the contents, and 1t
contains no valuable inclcsure it
must be destroyed.
Letters opened and found to con-
tain any inclosure of value are en-
tered upon proper records, and, Of
such, those which do not disclose
sufficient information TO enable
them to be returned, are filed, sub
ject to reclamation upon proper ap-
plication and Identification.
Packages and parcels are recorded,
and where they do not disclose the
name and address of the over are
filed; If not called for or claimed
within two years they are disposed
of at public auction and the proceeds
covered into the United States
treasury.
A large proportion of the pack
ages aud parcels sent to the dead
letter office fail to be restored to the
owners because of the absence on
the wrappers or Enclosures of any
thing to indicate ownership thereof.
Information as to the character
anu DatuIc vi TIC hidttci tuuc iN-
ceiyed at the dead letter office, and
the conditions and influences which
occasion its failure to reach the per-
sons to whom the senders designed
it to go may be of interest, and the
mere statement of 1t carry with it
suggestions which may serve the
public in its exercise of postal privil-
eyes.
or the unclaimed and undelivered
mail matter received at the dead let.
ter Office during the past fiscal year,
four hundred and fifty-one Thousand
were letters misdirected, or only
partially addressed-that is, not ad-
dressed to postoffice, or, addressed
to postoffice without the state be-
ing given. or, addressed to pest
Office not In the state named, etc,
while twenty.fOur thousand were
entirely blank, bearing no address
whatever. Among the latter were
frequently found the correspondence
of business men, of which a large
portion contained Enclosures OF
money, drafts, checks, etc.
Ninety-eight thousand were let
tiers to domestic addresses, SHIELD for
postage" together with letters, etc.,
addressed to Canada and Mexico,
matter to these countries being un-
mailable except on full prepayment
Of postage.
One hundred and sixty-five thou.
sand were letters mainly addressed
to persons in care of hotels.
Forty-two thousand were letters
to fictitious addresses, and principal.
ly correspondence 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.
Eighty thousand were parcels OF
merchandise, books, clothing, needle
work, jewelry, etc, many Of which
were INSTRUCTED, while others were
without wrapper, having been inse-
curely inclosed, and Others from
which the address had become sepa-
rated and lost.
A large proportion were those up
on which the required amount of
postage to entitle them to transmits
sion through the mails had not been
prepaid, insufficient payment being
due to improper inclosing, whereby
higher rate Of postage was re-
quired.
2S,OOO contained money amount
ing in all to $4s, ,642.OO.
1000 had enclosures of postal notes
in small sums under s., aggregating
$500.
27,OOO We're found to contain drafts,
checks, notes, commercial paper,
ect., etc., in the sum of II, All, ,S7l.0O
while 5000 contained paid aud
cancelled obligations, receipts evil
denciDg payment Of money, deeds,
mortgages, general miscellaneous
papers, ETC., etc.
42,030 contained photographs, one
thousand contained articles forbid
den to he transmitted through the
mails, and ll,0OO upon being opened
were found to contain lottery
which under the terms Of
the law, are declared unmailable.