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

pasteboard box. holding half a dozen mi
croscopic mounts
And thus this official conglomeration tells
us story daily, in paragraphs and sentences,
mute, but most expressive, the stories of ali
klnds or people In all parts OF the country
LOCKS or curly golden hair, tied with baby
piue, lie by the side Of a few silver threads
OF age, which are coiled upon a card of
black-hints from each extreme of life Here
Is dried hard and dark piece Of wedding
cake, note from one measure in hfe's great
etude and adjoining 1t. as Its foil, Is box
containing half a dozen rubber nipples
Then comes a pair Of baby Shoes and next
a pair or spectacles and a snuff-box.
Sometimes Not Death but Suspended
Animation.
In brief. the story is almost endless in its
Incidents; an epitome of birth, Of death, Of
JOY, OF grief Of poverty, Of wealth, Of all
there Is In life, and yet It's business, all
business!
Why? 1t Is business because 1t bears on
each component part the seal Of the gov
eminent, and because that seal announces,
practically, II have done the best could
Tor you, so far, but wait a while, something
may turn up" That is to say, when the
United States government has utilized to
the last limit dts postal resources In an effort
to deliver package or return 1t to the
sender. and when it has failed in the effort
then each package is carefully examined
and inventoried. A record Is made as to the
post office at which 1t was mailed and the
various steps taken to deliver 1t. Then it ds
classified and numbered and placed away in
Its numerical position and in its especial
class. Thus any package may be immedi-
ately found upon application. Even then.
however. they are not considered hopelessly
dead because 1t quite frequently happens
that such packages are restored to the per-
son owning them.
L. 1al1 L., o.
at least two years, and packages Of jewelry
manuscripts or other especially valuable
articles are held as long as three years for
possible identification. II, at last, they are
not claimed. then they go permanently into
the universal hopper which carries them to
the block of the auctioneer. Once each year.
usually about the middle of December, the
Post Office Department conducts an auction
sale of the unbelievable goods. While this
Is done for the purpose Of getting rid Of
the accumulations and with a view to real
izing something therefrom toward the cost
of doing the work. the auction serves also
as final opportunity for the appearance Of
claimants. Previous to each auction, a
complete catalogue is published. giving the
classification. the number and a list of the
contents Of each package In this way
many packages are reclaimed and in this
way, also. intending purchasers may learn
exactly as to the contents and approximate
ly as to the value of any package they may
wish to buy.
From the foregoing one may readily ap-
preciate the enormous amount of labor per-
formed by the government-and paid for
by taxpayers-each year In consequence Of
the carelessness or indifference Of those
who use the mails; also that the postal au-
thorities have absolutely no use for nick
names. pet names. authorizations or jokes.
II Wasn't Green Goods.
Speaking of Jokes an especially good one
upon the Post Office Department was re-
vealed at the dead letter Office the past
week. and 1t Is interesting as a revelation
| of the integrity, watchfulness and industry
Of postal employees in general. AS is we'll
known. lottery literature, the devices of
green goods operators and saw-dust
schemes are prohibited the use of the
United States mails. There came to the
dead letter Office from as many postmasters
In different parts of the country half q
dozen small and neatly prepared packages
Each package was correctly and legibly ad-
dressed, and each postmaster expressed the
opinion, In forwarding the package that
the postal laws were being violated. The
suspicious seemed well founded and with
visions of green goods revelations before
them. Superintendent Bernard Goode and
his assistants proceeded to open the pack
ages. The wraps had been carefully re-
moved, revealing neat and well made little
wooden boxes. when 1t was found that they
were sealed. Then the seals were broken
ana the boxes, as expected, were filled with
saw oHe OF tne oIncers STUCK one nm
ger into the saw-dust,and moving 1t around
observed: That's all, just saw-dust" How
ever, each box was emptied and upon the
bottom. carefully folded, was found q print
ed circular. 1t was an advertisement of a
large, reputable and well-known establish
ment, entirely legal and proper and decided
ly novel as a device for securing attention
to an advertisement Silently the postal
employees refilled and repacked each box
! and they were returned to the respective
postmasters with orders to forward them as
per addresses.