Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-10-28

!. !. ! !:
street level and un-
der the groined cell
ings of the basement
of the Post Office De-
Ezm partment building
are a lot of cool. dark
"A vaults and corridors
which, perhaps,
eoun tenanced as
architectural results.
were not expected to
serve otherwise The
fact remains, how
ever, and it Is an
aged reality at that, that those vaults
constitute a most important feature of
that goal of all Washington sightseers
the dead letter office-and that 1t is
one of the capital curios of the coun-
try; governmental bric-a- brac shop, where
no good sold except at auction, and
where each article offered for sale Is &C
curately and truthfully described that pur-
chasers may only buy with their eyes wide
! open.
AS rule that man or woman who, after
long waiting and more or less anxiety and
curiosity, has one Of his or her letters re-
| turned to the writer from the dead letter
office, enjoys a feeling of satisfaction, relief
and thankfulness. But while trying to con-
Gals read the letter through carefully, all
gratitude Is forced aside in wonderment as
to how in the world the postal authorities
can be so lax or careless. Thereupon a
verdict is rendered that there are altogether
too many letters sent to the dead letter
| Office.
Wonderful Feat.
Therefore the average citizen will be
| much astonished to learn that less than
one-half of one per cent of all the letters
mailed daily in the United States fail of
| being promptly and correctly delivered Now
then, take this less than one-half of one
| per cent and you will find that 1t approx
mates. daily. about 1900 letters and pack
| ages.
| Think of sending out 1900, 900 letters in a
single day and Of having every letter, save
paltry 1900 delivered promptly and
! correctly; yet the delivery feat is performed
| day in and day out. from one years end to
| the other, by the United States postal off,
! Gals. More than that, IS per cent of all
I letters received at the dead letter office are
! ultimately delivered to the addresses they
bear or returned to the writers.
| Thus we find that the aggregate Of final
ly dead mail matter is by comparison
with the total business done, infinitesimal
in quantity. Small as it is. however. about
| UDVVV pachdSeS OF mail WHICH cannot De de-
| Hvered or returned have accumulated in
the bric-a-brac department of the dead let
| ter Office during the past twelve months.
| OF course it is very exasperating to have
! a letter or other package remain Unac-
\ knowledged for months after 1t has been
mailed, but this evaporation is quite apt to
| evOlute to a form of deep chagrin when one
/ discovers (after the lost package has been
returned to him from the dead letter office
! that the anxiety. anger and general dis
/ his or her own. And yet ninety-five per
| cent OF the mail matter which fails of de-
| livery has been Incorrectly prepared for the
post by the writer's or senders.
Frequent Errors.
[ Perhaps the most common error Is the use
of nick-names and terms of endearment in
! stead of signing ones own full name
J Yours truly, Dick, or affectionateiy your
mamma" do not signify anything definite
when looked at from the practical stand
point of the dead letter examiners, however
pleasing they might have been had they
been received by the persons addressed
Another very frequent-and 1t Is somewhat
/ excusable-mistake is pressure of business
| and preoccupation of mind. This error
| shows itself in the form of a letter intend
| ed, for instance, for some one in Chicago
The writer. resident of New York, full of
business, unconsciousy writes the name of
\ his own city upon the envelope instead Of
that of the whirlpool of the west and does
not learn of the mistake until he receives
the letter from Washington.
From Red-Headed Hal.
| One young man. evidently student. un-
| doubleday enjoyed his careful preparation Of
a fish which he sent by mail to someone
whom the postal authorities could not find,
and If he is still wondering why his friend
did not get the specimen and why 1t was not
| to he he
that 1T is because he signed his name:
| with comps. of Red-Headed Hal, your old
| roommate"
| There Is probably, somewhere in this
country, very much g.ieved young lady
because of the loss of a silver-mounted
razor strop which she sent to a wandering
brother who could not be found at the ad-
dress given. 1t would have been returned
to her had she given a more definite sigma
! ture than: AnectoEately your sister,
| Sara"
And so it goes daily at the repository of
the finally dead mail matter without fur
| nfshing any accurate method for reaching a
! certain estimate in detail as to the cause
| thereof. From year to year the accumula-
ton increases about In proportion to the
country growth in population, and with all
| and through all but one conclusion is posi-
| tive and unanswerable. The people of the
| United States do not fully appreciate the
| purpose and value Of their complete names
/ VI the AdiSS VI StESetS ana the street num-
! bers of houses; they do not know that a re-
! moval on their part without giving notice
to the local post office authorities means
| certain increase in the labors of those off,
! Gals. 1t is estimated that the business of
| the dead letter office would quickly become
/ thing OF the past If law were enacted
| compelling all persons putting packages in
! TO the United States mails to write or print
their own names and addresses upon the
| outside Of each package. Possibly this es-
| innate Is correct but 1t is not practical Bile
] and would work hardships upon the masses
which are now borne by the few-at an an
nual salary per capita therefor.
Silent Witnesses of Interesting In
| cidents.
Besides 1t would abolish one of the most
interesting Of the many entertaining sights
| IN Washington. And what a sight Il Is.
| this unbelievable department of the dead
! letter Office
Here is package Of soiled linen care
| iessly started on its way by mail for the
laundry, perhaps to at last land on a shelf.
| urlaundered and unowned letter up
| braiding person who moved out of a house
between two days, and signed Your indiC-
hant landlord, accompanies this package.
ana, as 1t tells a story of unpaid rent. it
may solve the secret of its non-delivery
Another package contains the dried ana
shrlveled hide and the long black linen
thread-ilke hair OF an Indian scalp, which
i u