West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1891-06-11
DEAD LETTERS.
HOW THEY ARE HANDLED BY
POSTAL CLERKS IN WASHINGTON.
Valuable Ariicloi Frequently Found
in Letters.

the great attractions to people Wis
ting the Capital. 1t is in large
room in the Postoffice Department.
Over 100 clerks arc engaged in this
room handling the 1000 letters
which come to the Office daily from
about $4,000 postofficcs in this
country, and from foreign lands.
The number OF letters and pack
ages of merchandise disposed of by
these clerks is matter of surprise
to the uninitiated.
One section Of the office is called
the ''opening branch" Ten
ctrks a'e arranged around a
long table which stands in the CEN
ire of the big room, whose duty it
is to open the dead unclaimed letters
with sharp knives of peculiar pat
tern which are furnished by the
Government.
Each clerk opens on an average
about 1000 letters day. These
letters after being subjected to what
the clerks term the Opening exer-
cises" are sent to different branches
OF the Office to be treated according
to the character of their contents.
About so per cent of the letters
having no valuable Enclosures are
returned to the writer's, the remain
der being sold as waste paper.
Many of them cannot be returned
on account of the failure of the wri-
ters to sign their names, give their
postoffice addresses, eligibility and
other causes. A great anyarticlcs
of value are taken from letters, such
ms money, drafts, postal notes,
money orders, photographs, postage
stamps, etc. Records are made of
all valuable letters before they are
returned to the senders. Last year
over $40. 900 IN money, 95 per cent.
of which was successfully returned
to the owners, was found in dead
letters.
Hundreds OF letters addressed to
green goods men in New York con-
tanned sums ranging from So to $50.
Before the concern in New Orleans
was broken up the Office was daily
Hooded with letters containing lot
terry tickets and circulars. For the
last few months, however, this class
of correspondence has been very
light. Lottery tickets have almost
entirely disappeared from the Dead
Letter office. Bat there is another
class of letters addressed to tho pa
irons ~ various matrimonial agen-
cies which give the clerks consid-
cradle trouble. The writer's Of
these letters seldom sign their full
names, and as they nearly all in
close stamps the letters are classed
as valuable aud placed en- record.
Many curious adore are found
on letters. The following is fair
specimen
Over the hill and across the level,
Send this letter like the devil;
At Chapel Hill, Tenn, leave it,
SO Miss Kate billiard may receive
it.
Attached to the Office is museum
in which are kept many curiositics
which went astray in the mails.
In a couple of glass jars on the
shelves of this museum are two large
rattle snakes, which came to the
Office allvein tin boxes. A panic
was created among the clerks when
the package containing these deadly
repIlies was opened. The snakes
we're chloroformed and placed in
the jars filed with alcohol for pres.
eryation. The museum contains,
among other things, several heather
gods, Indian relics, coins Of all
descriptions, small firearms and
ammunition, stuffed birds and in.
scets, young alligators and horned
toads. In fact there is not such
another collection Of cRriosities in
the world. One who has not seer
it cannot possibly form an idea Of
it.