Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-08-26
POSTAL FREAKS.
SOME OF THE ODD ARTICLES
SENT THROUGH THE MAILS.
The Dead Letter Museum at Wash
ington-Curios, Letters and Pack
ages That Never reach
Their Destination.

The mails of Uncle Sam 1000, 900
eventually reach the hands of Dead
Letter Office Superintendent Leibhardt's
clerks, says an exchange.
When the knowledge is disseminated
,hrourhout the United States that about
81 psr cent. of this 1000, 900 contains
Enclosures Of money and negotiable
papers and stamps; vile it is clearly
comprehended BY the non painstaking
Nblic that packages at the rate OF be
tween %, 900 and 100, 900 are received
per year, and that these are either
eventually sold at public auction or de-
posited to the credit OF Brother Jonathan
then. and then only, will the major
part of the public use pains in their
handwriting aud avoid illegibility,
omissions and incorrect addresses when
sending a letter, paper or package to
friends via Uncle Sans mail pouches.
1t is rare that any substantial loss
occurs, except through carelessue's and
negligence of correspondents, aud it
those who use the mails would conform
to the plain and simple requirements OF
tie postal regulations and would place
name and address OF sender upon the
outside of the envelope or package few
such articles would go astray.
dead letters" are received at the rate
of 20, 900 a day 5000 Of these are with
out address.
Under the watchtul care OF Mrs. A. Il.
Evans a very curious collection is being
accumulated in Washington. All these
articles Except two mail pouches de-
posited as reward for faithful service OF
over ninety years. on exhibition at this
museum passed through the United
States mail a1d have been sent to the
dead letter Office as unavailable, short OF
postage, without address or without
name of sender.
Here is the record OF all valuable
letters in the dead letter Office from
IVY to 1873, covering forty-four pages
and 365 entries. In contrast with this
the entries Of valuable letters received in
the eleven years ending June 30, 1887
600 years later, were 2,660,SS4.
There is large skull in the collection
which was addressed to Professor S. D.
Gross, Philadelphia, and by him refused
on account of the excessive postage due.
An interesting article on exhibition is
a shee: compiled by the Club" post
master, showing 1GO variations in spell
ing the word "Chicopeee, as received
at the Boston Postosi,e. Among this
collection is a piece of cardboard, on
which is roughly scratched poetical
inscription aud a clricature with the
written longing, ~ want to be an
angel" The first verse of the amateur
frontier poetry runs thus
Oh. what blessing railroads areI
How happy felt in the litt.ecar
That waited me onward SO far away
From the man that insisted that SHOULD
pay.
1t is evident that this youth en-
deavored to initiate the cctions OF one
of Drydens characters:
But fagoted his notions as they fell,
And il they rhymed and rattlei all was we'll.
One from the pen of the assassin Of
Garfield, Charles J. Guiteau, runs in a
rambling, semi-soliloquizing manner as
follows:
"She's my darling from this day you
will surely die for the murder of James
A. Garfield on the scaffold high, my
name It's Charles ]. Guiteau, my name
will never deny, to leave my aged
narents in sorrow for to die how little
did they think while in my youthful
bloom, would be taken from the scatfold
TO meet my fattle doom"
In letter deposited here aud written
while in prison was a curl of his hair,
with this inscription: "This contains
my hair. Charles j. Guiteau." Ac-
companying this was request for the
modest sum of $1,000 to aid in the CON-
peusation of his counsel. Needless to
state, the lady to whom this letter was
directed would have, il the letter had
not miscarried, declined the invitation so
coolly made.
The property division OF the deal
letter Office handles all the merchandise
that finds its way to Washington, aud
very motley collection it is. Glass cases
covering three sides of large room are
kept filed with articles to show the
curious visitor specimens Of what Is seat
through the mails.
Among the most curious-5ut which
must have been most uDpieasant-sur-
prises to the clerks who opened the
packages containing them are several
large and ugly looking snakes from
Germany, one large rattlesnake with
four rattles, centipedes and horned
toads, all of which were received alive,
being sent in a perforated box.
Another instance of the abuse of the
mails is the sending Of loaded revolver
TO Springfield, H., and from there to
Havana, ILL.,, whence it was returned to
Washington. This was undoubtedly
sent with the idea that the young lady
who received it would handle it care