The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1890-10-02
postoffice Department-Dead
Letter Office.

letter 01llce ny reason OF incorrect,
illegiblc, or deficient address, insult
Gcient postage, insecure incloslng,
whereby matter mailed become sep.
arated from the envelope or wrapper,
or the failure to be called for or de-
livcred to the person addressed. This
is q daily average of over twenty
thousand pieces.
OF these the greater portion either
or not called for at the ~postonlce to
which they are directed, or, in case
Of free delivery Offices, the addresses
cannot be found, Notwithstanding
every known mesns is resorted to on
the part of the postal officials to ef-
feet delivery.
Matter sent to the dead letter Office,
which cannot be delivered to the per-
son addressed, is required TO be
opened in its treatment for the pur-
pose of return TO the sender, and if
the nam and address of the sender
be not shown or cannot be ascertained
from the contents, and it contains no
valuable inclosure, it must be de-
stroyed.
Letters opened and found to con.
tain 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 filed, subject to
reclamation upon proper application
and identification.
Letters which contain no inclcsure
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 proceeds
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 10 the own
ers because of the absence on the
wrappers or Enclosures of anything
TO indicate ownership thereof.
Information as to the character
AMI natu;e of the matter thus re-
ceived at the dead letter office, and
the conditions and influences which
occasion its failure to reach the per-
s. MS 10 whom the scnders designed it
to go may he of interest, and the
mere statement of it carry with it
suggestions which may serve the
public in its exercise of postal priv
ilcgcs.
OF the unclaimed AMI undelivercd
mail matter received at the dead
letter Office during the past fiscal
year, four hundred and tifty-onc
thousand were letters instructed.
Nincty-eight thousand were letters
to domestic addresses, ''held for
postage"
One hundred and slxty.five thou
sand were letters mainly addressed
to persons in care of hotels.
Forty-two thousand were letters to
fictitious addresses, and principally
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.
A large proportion were those
upon which the required amount Of
postage to entitlc them TO transmits.
sion through the mails had not been
prepaid, insufficient payment being
due 10 improper inclosing, whereby
u higher rate of postage was re-
quircd.
Twenty-cight thousand contained
money amounting in all to SIS, G42,-
90.
Four thousand had Enclosures of
postal notes in small sums under S.,
aggrcgating $1,000.
Twenty-sevcn thousand were found
to contain drafts, checks, notes,
commercial paper, etc., ETC., in the
sun of S1,471,S7l,00, while forty
eight thousand contained Iaid and
concealed obligations, receipts evil
dencing payments of money, deed,
mortgages, general miscellaneous
papers, etc, Etc.
Forty-two thousand contained pho
tog"aps, one thousand contained ar
ticlcs forbidden to be transmitted
through the mails I; and eleven thou
sand upon being opened were found
to contain lottery tickets, which,
under the termf of the law, are de-
clared unavailable.
Five bundled and thirty-one thou.