The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-07-06
DEAD LETTERS.
Queer Collection of Stray Mail at The
Ii Capital.

!
permanent resting place. Whenever it is
possible articles that reach the dead-letter
office, owing to failure of delivery, are re-
turned to the sender, but it often happens
| that not even the sender can be found.
Then the unclaimed article, if it be curious
or interesting, is placed on exhibition In the
cabinet that lines the walls of the museum
There are pictures and toys and jewelry In
profuson.
Several Indian hatchets give to section of
the cabinet an archaeological appearance, and
a pair OF Indian pipes of red sandstone cross
each other in peaceful style. A rare curiosity
| is piece of parchment on which is penned
the Lords prayer in 81 languages. 1T is said
to be duplicate of parchment which hangs
in st. Peters at Rome
1t came to this country in the mail from
Europe in 1872 and as it was never claimed,
and its origin could not be traced, it was sent
to the dead-letter office, where it has been on
exhibition ever since. One of the prettlest
things in the cabinet is a lady's fan made of
stOrk feathers, the plumes being Tarer ana
richer than the finest ostrich plumes.
1t is most magnificent in appearance, and
doubtless graced the costume of some court
beauty in the Old World. 1t came to this
| country from Europe many years ago. but
no clue to its owner or its sender was ever
| found.
| On one of the shelves is box of wedding
| cake, which came to the dead-letter office
! 10 years ago as unclaimed" 1t is getting
| a little old and discolored and would doubt
| less be pretty dry eating. Considering its
present characteristics it might be excellent
wedding-cake to dream on"
Certainly it has all the elements necessary
| to produce fanciful nightmare. Rosaries
| are quite common in the cabinet and cruci-
| fixes are also plentiful.
| Resting in a cornelian case in one corner
of the cabinet is pretty crucifix of solid
gold. 1t was found at one of the Southern
postoffices at the close of the war and was
marked unclaimed" 1t had been sent
| probably by some pious mother to her son,
who perished on the field of battle or In the
| hospital.
There was no name attached and nothing
| to tell its story. Near it in an envelope is q
lock of dark-brown hair. An inscription on
the envelope, in nervous hand, reads:
''This contains my hair Charles Guiteau."
1t was put into the mails by the murderer of
| President Garfield without any address, just
as it appears in the cabinet.
A few years ago there came to the dead
letter Office tin can upon which no address
could be found. The can was opened and
16 lively-looking rattlesnakeS made their
escape. There was stirring scene in the
dead-letter office for a few minutes.
Everybody got upon the chairs and tables,
and the rattlers were left in full possession
of the floor. Finally the snakes were dis
patched, and Is of them were picked in
alcohol. One was missing, though nobody
knew it. i-t
One sunny afternoon few days later a
big, sleek-looking rattlesnake crawled from
among the papers in the chief clerks desk,
and unObseryed made his way to where a
young lady visitor was sitting.
His snakeship slyly crawled to her feet, and
gracefully winding himself about her slender
ankle, tightened its folds. The young lady
noticed the intrusion, and hastily looking
down saw the willy serpent, was Mortified, and
very properly tainted.
The rattlesnake offered no further insult Or
injury, but fled in alarm. He was killed
and artistically encased IN a glass jar which
now adorns the cabinet.
From one of the cases grins human skull.
| It is brown with age having apparently laid
under the clay for a long time before its resur-
| rection and its journey through the mails.
There was no address or postmark when it
came All that it bore was the inscription,
Jimmy McDuff,' carved On the frontal
| bone
Jimmy McDuff is the name of murderer
| who perished on the scaffold out West some
wears ago, but the skull is not believed to be
Jimmy's Somebody evidently sent it as a
joke to some friend acquainted with the cir
crMnstances of Jimmys taking of.
Another exhibit is a negro doll baby, black
as IL. Rider Haggard's African hero, Um-
! slopogaas. 1t was addressed few years ago
4 1oI, ~ No
| Joking friend, but ascertaining the contents of
the package she declined to pay the postage
that was due, and it came back to the dead
| letter office
A huge ak, such as Is used by firemen, came
| in the mails short time ago and landed in
the letter office because it was "un-
mailable" for three reasons: 1t is sharp
pointed, it is overweight, and it is oversize
| Axes are not allowed in the mails, though
some people seem to think no Limit is pre-
scribed. There are persons who would send
a threshing- machine or q sawmill through the
mails if they could only find a Postmaster
reckless enough to give it a start
One of the most curious exhibits is a col
lection of envelopes showing the desperate
but futile efforts made by various persons
to address them properly. 'Pinte rocke,
NJ d., - is pretty fair staggerer for Point of
| Rocks, Md, but III taxes an expert 10 Qeter-
mine that 'St Trailer, IllOnay," is meant for
| Centralia, Ill. There is not much poetry
about "Yummar taller," considering that
the writer meant Umatilla, which is in the
| State of Oregon.
But the sentimental goes all to smash
when we realize that a young lady of pre-
sumably scholarly attainments wrote Sarah
Garder" for Cerro Gordo, an Illinois town.
A foreigner of the Bulgarian pursuasion
made strenuous effort to write ''St Louis. !"
He didn't get it exactly, but when he wrote
"StSokloysz, ~ it was not because he didn't try
hard enough People are sometimes apt to
confuse the idea and the name.
One correspondent who had this failing
wrote "Rising Sun, Colo" for Sunshine
Colo" Another writer addressed letter to
"Rat Trap, Miss" when he should have
written g Fox Trap, Miss.
He knew that it was a trap of some sort,
but he was not quite certain as to the kind
One of the envelopes copied and on exhibi-
tion indicates that some people are very par
ticular
The person who addressed a letter to Fred
Clark South Liberty ST., Hartford, Conn,
wrote "Faird Clark, in the cair of Berry
Clark Hartford, 3 s. Lib. ST., CT, Harf Co. -
Fred got the letter, but it was a close call. i :
| Always Welcome.
Boston Globe