The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-29
DEAD LETTER OFFICE.
Masses Of Mail Matter Consigned
to Destruction.
LETTERS THAT NEVER CAME.
Over Six Million Pieces for Whom m
Owner Could Not he Found-Care-
lessness Of writsrs.

foesnaster Brookes has just received circu-
l -. ilom tho DEAD letter ONCE ct Washington
C.ty, nvng some very interesting information
~ regard " the disposition made OF the i'm
meme amount o. DEAD letters aud packages re-
ceiveo ~ Warrington City yearly. There are
over 6.ooa0Co pieces Of mail matter sent annu-
ALI. 10 Inc dead letter Office by reason Of incor.
tecs, Aaesioie or deficient address, insufficient
Poetsse. insecure inciosing whereby matter
Maiieo becomes separated from the envelope or
wrapper Or the failure 10 be called for or d.liv.
eted 70 the person addressed. This 10 . daily
aseIase OF over 1000 pieces. Of these the
s1eeseL portion either are not called Tor at the
pOstemce to which they are directed, or, in case
OF Tree delivery offices. the addresses cannot be
iouno, Notwithstanding every known means ID
resorteo to on the part Of the postal officials TO
eneet delivery.
VI the unclaimed ana undeiiyered mail mat
ser received At the dead letter Office during the
past nscai year, $4,000 were letters INSTRUCTED,
VI ohiy parnaiy addrsssed-thst u, not aa-
dressed to post0fiice, or addressed to post
once without the state being given. or addressed
70 postomce not in the state named, etc.
while ~, GOO we're entirely blank. bearing no ad-
Dress wnateyer. Among the latter were FREE
qaeuuy found the correspondence of businesk
men, OF which large portion contained inclos.
ures OF money, drafts, checks, etc
Sineiy-eignt thousand were letters to domes-
tie addresses. held for postage" together with
Letters, etc., addressed to Canada and Mexico.
matter 70 these countries being unavailable OK
ccpt upon full prepayment Of postage.
one hundted and dxty-ive thousand were
iestefs mainly addressed to persons ia care of
notelA Inc guests to whom the letters belonged
having departed without leaving their address
or forwarding orders Tor their mail. they were
returned TO the postofice by the hotels and
snence sent to the dead letter Office.
forty-two thousand wore letters to fictitious
addresses, aud principally correspondence re-
laung 70 what u koown Is green goods" or
'sawdusr' swindies. ETC.. many of them con-
tanning money with orders for the purchase OF
these fraudulent goods. Parties engaged in
these fraudulent and unlawful enterprises inva-
napiy 90 80 under an assumed name, and when
the character ana Dusinesso such person 10
discovered oy the postal authorities, such mat
Ter addressed to them - declared Fictitious
ana delivery withheld.
Eignty Thousand parcels were OF merchandise,
oooks, clothing, needie-work, jewelry, ETC..
many OF which were misdirected. while others
were without wrapper, having been insecurity
lncioseo, ana others from which the address
nsd become separated ana lost.
i large proportion were those upon which the
required amount OF postage to entitle them to
tansmislon through the mails had not been
prepaid, insufficient pay being due to improper
inci0sing, whereby higher rate of postage was
Iwenty-elght thousand contained money
amounting III all to 1850
Four thousand had Enclosures OF postal notes
In small sums under % aggregating $500.
Iwenty-seven Thousand were found 70 con-
tain araits, cnecks. notes. commercial paper,
etc., IN the sum OF $l,A1lsS1l, while $1,000 con-
tsineo paid ana Cancelled obligations. receipts
evioenciue payments OF money, oeed, mort
cages, general miscellaneous papers. etc.
FoEty-tWO tnOuSsuO contained Photographs,