St. Landry democrat., 1890-11-08
DEAD LETTERS.

ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM THE DEAD LET
TER OFFICE.
Over six million pieces of mail matter
are sent annually to the Dead Letter Office
by reason of incorrect. illegible, or &c
6cient address, insufficient postage, inse-
cure inclosing, whereby matter mailed be-
comes separated from the envelope or
wrapper, or the failure to be called for or
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 post Office to which
they are directed, or, in case of free
delivery offices, the addresses cannot be
found, notwithstanding every known
means is resorted 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 it's
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 1t contains
no valuable inclosure, it must be de-
stroyed,
Letters opened and found to contain any
Enclosure of obvious value are entered up
on proper records, and, of such, those
which do not disclose sufficient information
to enable them to be returned are filed,
subject to reclamation upon proper apph-
cation and Identification.
Letters which contain NO inclosure of
obvious value are not recorded.
Packages and parcels are recorded, and
where they do not disclose the name and
- he Glad 9f mt
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 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 as to the character and
nature of the matter thus received at the
Dead Letter Office, and the conditions and
influences which occasion its failure to
reach the persons to whom the senders
designed it to 60 may be of interest, and
the mere statement of it carry with it sug-
gestions which may serve the public In its
exercise of postal privileges.
OF the unclaimed and undelivered mail
mAbt6I 10COlVcA eAO OO0A 4]OVsOA ~AAASo
during the past fiscal year, four hundred
and ffty-one thousand were letters mis-
directed, or only partially addressed-tbat
is, not addressed to post Office, or, ad-
Dressed to post Office without the State
being given, or, addressed to post Office
not in the State named, ETC., etc.-while
twenty. four thousand were entirely blank,
bearing no address whatever. Among the
latter were frequently found the cor
respondsnce of business men, of which q
large portion contained Enclosures OF
money, drafts, checks, etc.
Ninty -eight thousand were letters to
domestic addresses "held for postage"
together with letters, etc, addressed to
Canada and Mexico, matter to these coun-
tries being unavailable except upon full pre-
payment 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 with.
out leaving their addresses, or forwarding
orders for their mail, thew were returned
to the post Office by the hotels and thence
sent to the Dead Letter Office.
Forty-two thousand were letters te
fictitious addresres, and correspondence
relating TO what is known as green
goods" or "saw dust" swindles, etc., many
Of them containing money with orders fol
the purchase Of fraudulent goods. Parties