Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-10-04
Information About Dead Letters.

OF the unclaimed and undelivered
mail matter received at the Dead
Letter Office during the past fiscal
year, four hundred and fifty-one
thousand were letters misdirected, or
only partially addressed-that is, not
addressed to post office, or. addressed
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 correspondence of business
men, of which IL large portion con-
tanned Enclosures of money, drafts,
checks, etc.
Ninety-eight thousand We're letters
to domestic addresses. ''held for post
age" together with letters. ETC.,
addressed to Canada and Mexico,
matter to these countries being unmail-
able except upon full prepayment of
postage.
One hundred and sixty five thousand
were letters mainl Y 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 post office
by the hotels and thence sent to the
Dead Letter Office.
Forty-two thousand were letters
to fictitious, and principally correspon
dence 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 unlawful enter.
prises invariably do so under an as
sumed name, and when the character
and business of such persons is dis
covered by the postal authorities, such
matter addressed to them is declared
Fictitious" and delivery withheld.
Eighty thousand We're parcels of
merchandise, books, clothing, needle
work, Jewelry. ETC., ETC., many of
which were misdirected, while others
were without wrapper, having been
insecurity inclosed, and others from
which the address had become sepa-
rated and lost.
A large proportion We're those upon
which the required amount of postage
to entitle them to transmission through
the mails had not been prepaid, in
sufficient payment being due to i'm
proper inclosing, whereby a higher
rate Of postage was required.
Twenty-eight thousand contained
money amounting in all to Sis, 642 90.
Four thousand had Enclosures of
postal notes in small sums under So,
aggregating So, 300.
Twenty-seven thousand were found
to contain drafts, checks, notes com
mercial paper, ETC., ETC., in the sum of
$l,471 ST. 90, while forty -eight thous,
and contained paid and cancelled
obligations, receipts evidencing pay
ments of money, deeds, mortgages,
general miscellaneous papers, etc.,
etc.
Forty-two thousand contained pho
tographs, one thousand contained
articles forbidden to be transmitted
through the mails and eleven thous-
and upon being opened were found to
the terms of the law, are declared I'M
mailable.
One hundred and sixty-two thousand
contained postage stamps, and We're
Enclosures to secure return answers to
the correspondence which they accom-
panied, or were the remittances in
payments of small balances, or accom-
panying orders for small purchases of
merchandise, subscriptions, ETC.,
Five hundred and thirty-one thous-
and were letters, and forty-one thous-
and parcels ofprinted matter, samples,
ETC., which had been mailed in foreign
countries to post offices within the
United States and failing of delivery
at their destination, were sent to the
Dead Letter Office, and thence re-
turned to the postal administrations of
their respective countries of origin,
unopened.
Two hundred and five thousand were
letters, and forty-seven thousand were
parcels, books, samples ofmerchand!se,
etc., which had been mailed within the
United States addressed to foreign
countries, and having failed of de-
livery at their destination, were sent
to the Dead Letter Office by foreign
postal administrations.
Over five million of the letters re-
ceived at the Dead Letter Office con-
tanned no inclosure of obvious value,
although doubtless many of them We're