The morning call., 1891-01-04
OPENING UNCLE
SANS MAIL BAGS.
The Dead Letters in a Single Year
Amount to Six Millions.
Reasons Why People Do Not Rsos;n. rs.:.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, Misdirectes
and Undirected Envelopes.


in general have Il vague idea of its import
anee and Of the amount of work done in
| that apparently insignificant branch of the
Postoffice Department. But they have no
conception of the wit and wisdom inferred
in that little cemetery of Uncle Sans in a
! twelvemonth.
More than 5000, 900 letters drifted into that
ofhce of buried hopes in single wear, and
something over 100000 magazines, papers
and packages. The daily supply OF dead
letters is about $4,000. :" Not so very
many" some one remarked, when you re-
member that there are more than 60, 900
postoffiees to be heard FROM" But enough,
surely, TO prevent there being many idle
hands in the dead-letter office, as most of the
letters have to be opened. a. those contain
Ing money are sent to one clerk who keeps
record OF the amount receiye ed each day.
by the eud of the year it sometimes reaches
the snug little sum of $50, 600 or $4,000,
which shows that there people who have
faith in the postal arrangements of our
country. And their confidence is not usually
misplaced, as most of the money is restored
to the owners. However, when there is no
| clew. and it cannot be returned, the United
States Treasury is the gamer In 1883 over
$4,000 was thus added to the much-talked-of
! surplus"
Why nail matter goes astray is accounted
Tor In various ways, although many persons
are inclined to hold Uncle Sam responsible
Tor all mishaps. No doubt Postmasters are
sometimes at fault, but sins of omission on
the part of the senders are more often the
cause of loss and delay-thousands Of letters
are not stamped, while others have no ad-
dress. Of course,
NO ONE WILL BELIEVE
There are many of the latter, nevertheless,
in one year 1910 Of those blank envelopes
were sent to the dead-letter Office. Then again,
people are careless as well as absent
minded, and often mSdirect, or only par
tally address letters, which never reach
their destination, unless the clerk in the
dead-letter office can supply the missing
link In 365 days over 100000 such epistles
were received. So it would seem that a
thorough knowledge OF cities and towns, as
well as patience, practice and considerable
shrewdneSs, is necessary to correct the
plumbers of the writing public. VINO but
dead-letter Office clerk with all her wits
about her-for woman has charge of that
branch of the work-would imagine that
bill Town." Kansas, was intended for
Williamstown, in that enterprising State?
In the foreign department letters are not
opened.
at would be impossible" said the brisk
little woman in charge. you see, we re-
ceive thousand letters week from Italy,
about 2000 from England and the same num-
countries. We look them over, and, if we
have any information that furnishes a cleW,
try again to find the owners; otherwise they
are returned unopened 10 the postal admin
stration of the country from which they
come"
Foreigners have a way of ignoring the
States that causes dire confusion. letter
directed to Fairfield. America, is as many
sided as the tariff question, and about as
hopeless. st DuSkin, America" was
easily located q >auduSlV Ohio hmE m
letters become :" all tattered and torn" in
going to and fro throughout the States
seeking an owner THE Russians give us
the most trouble" volunteered a bright
woman who for thirteen years has been de-
| ciphering foreign hieroglyphics, and under
| stands all languages, except Chinese, sutfi-
| clently Tor her work. Who would Imagine
| that it required such linguist to straighten
! out the tangled web of foreign correspond
| ence? Considerable general Information is
| also needed, knowledge OF many countries
| and nations, and of the various States where
the different nati0Daities most do congre-
| gate-and even then eternal vigilance Will
| not insure success.
| WHAT BECOMES OF ALL
| The dead mail matter?" is often asked
| The thousands of magazines, illustrated
| papers, picture cards and valentines that
| cannot be returned to their owners are dis
| trlbuted' by order Of the POStmaster-G GEN
| eral among the inmates of the various hos
| pitfalls, asylums and other charitable insttU-
lions of the District of Columbia" So thew
! are made to serve a good cause by carrying
| brightness and change into many weary
| lives and happiness TO the little waits with
! out home.
| Although every effort is made to find own
| ers for the various things that drift into the
| dead-letter office, so many packages remain
unclaimed that an auction is held at the end
| OF each year. 1t is sort of departmental
| house-cleanng. No other sale in the city
| draws such crowd of Uncle Sans annual
| sale of dead mail matter" The packages
are sold unopened, and although the con-
| tents are known, the value is not. 1t is
| what an lrishman would call "buying a pig
! in q sack
OF course it is a heterogeneous collection.
as in these days almost everything goes by
| mail, from tuning-fork TO wedding trous-
| seau- which latter was bought in New York
several years ago and sent in the mail-6ags
across the continent to the pretty bride on
| the Pacific Coast.
The museum of the dead-letter Office al
ways interests visitors. There they see
what extraordinary things people try to
send through the mails, and many interest
ing relics. There are two big axes on exhi
bition, which look formidable enough fol
administration weapons and cause the prac
teal sight-seerS TO wonder whose purse was
long enough to pay postage on such weighty
articles.
hitching- post, loaded revolver and
sleigh bells form trio of curiosities most
unexpected among mail matter. An Indian
scalp and 8 skull are very appropriate relic
for Uncle Sans cemetery, but they must D(
uncanny objects to find in a mail-pouch
Among the odd things which attract general
attention is letter from the Far North
west, where lumber is evidently more
abundant than paper, written on large
shingle. 1t has long been
AN OPEN SECRET
| That alligators, horned toads and all sorts of
| reptiles are Smuggled through the mails if
possible, and Uucle Sam has on exhibition
several specimens OF the animal kingdom,
which he has confscated
Surrounded by many strange and incon-
| gru0us things is an old mailbag stained with
| blood, which tells q story of brave mans
devotion TO duty-even unto death-an Ari-
IONA mail-carrler. who was killed by the
| Apache Indians in 1885. Another interest
| ing relic is the ancient leather-bound vol
ume of fifty-three pages, in which Benjamin
Franklin kept the accounts of the Govern
ment when he was Postmaster General. In
a still smaller book is a record of the un-
ealled-for and misdirected letters during
eleven yearS-from 1777 to 17SS-whieh num-
bered 365. We have made rapid strides in a
century to reach an average of 1900 dead
letters day. Although many of those let
tiers are reSurrected, sent out into the world
again, and finally reach their destination,
there are multitudes, of course, beyond the
| ken even of a dead-letter office clerk, that
cannot be returned to their owners. Alas
what misery and misunderstanding may
have been caused by the loss Of some OF
these letters The happiness of lifetime,
perhaps, or the success. Nevertheless, do
not lay all the blame at Uncle Sans door,
for you know not what you may have left
undone that you ought to have DONE
George Canning once said: 81 can prove
anything by statistics except the truth. u
Those people who are of his opinion may
still have doubts, in spite of q peep behind
the scenes, of the efficiency of the Dead
| Letter Office. as the public No longer az