The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-06-11
DIDYOURLETTER MISCARRYf
1OU CAN FIND OUT <BoUr IrhTRooM
n, GENERAL POST OFFICE

/ HhesN
| Probably Await Tou ., This Receptacle.
nsny friend In Florida has posted you live
alligator and neglected to write your full ad-
dress upon the containing vessel. word OF
inquiry at room IA. second floor Of the GEN
eral Post ONCE. will probably bring your prop
| erty to light It 10 because most persons have
never come 70 know the tireless and thorough
going methods OF the inquiry department
that 20 many interesting and curious things
sent By post never reach their destination.
| Everybody has heard OF the blind" reader
at the Poat office. q man who 10 not
| in the least blind, but whose keen
eyes and quick brain cnn guess out
apparently hopeless photographic puzzles upon
the backs Of postal packages. Everybody does
not know. however. that o corps Of eager and
intelligent huntsmen 10 forever busy In the
General Post ONCE. intent. with sleuth-like
| pertinncity. upon the trail Of missing mall
matter. It 10 true that the New York Post
ONCE despairingly sends to Washington every
year 100000 packages OF matter rs undeliv-
cradle. Il IL equally true. however. that sew
enty Per cent OF all mplaints turned In to
room II are followed up with succesa Tho
New York Post ONCE sends out every year more
than $4,000 ''tracers" in search OF missing
matter. II every man who loses anything
in the mails would take the trouble to send an
would have ut least seventy chances in 100 Of
recovering tho object The work Of the In
curry division would be enorm ously increased.
however. for at present only small percent
age OF missing aud misdirected matter 10 In
Quired after. When an envelope protesting to
contain an enclosure OF money reaches the re-
cipient minus tho money the chances are that
unless the sum lie considerable he contents
himself with grumbling privately. and for the
rest OF his life believes the Post Office den OF
thieves. A prompt word OF inquiry would
probnbly bring the money to light for sums
big and little turn up loose in the mails at the
General Post ONCE every day. ana are duly
cared for.
Tho way In which the Inquiry Department
LOOKS after loose change found in the mails Is
q fair sample OF its work. II you'l put coin
along with an ordinary letter into an envelope
OF the usual flimsy sort. and then shake the
package few times. the coin will begin to
break out to tho light. Coins sent thus through
the mails are occupied during their journeys
in trying to burst the bonds OF their imprison-
ment. Whenever an honest railway mail
clerk finds q coin that has thus made its
escape he takee care Of 1t. makes note OF the
time and place and other circumstances.
and II New York be his division head
quarters. sends it on to the General Post Office
Arrived here. It goes to room II and 10 put up
In q special envelope marked with the time.
s SSEs H SR the name Snd ocia title Of lie
finder. Such discoveries are made every day
Of the year upon every mall route; ana dd ne
eagle. Probably 81 per cent of the cash turned
into the Treasury every year BY the Dead Let:
only they would take the trouble to say some-
thing about their losses
takes the. same elaborate care with the penny
as with the double.eagle. One OF the clever
That il is Of unss
Of small things. He was new to the, business
then. and whom an every day Irish potato
IN one day with its address missing he tossed
It carslessly. into the waste basket. But 1t hap
was astonished in q few hours to find himself
confronted by man IN towering rage who
s Sample Nova seots potato forwarded By mail
and needed a. ths e IN
to 'h tn
never rutSiessiy destroyed anything Tor which
he could find storage room. and at this mo-
sns tx and esf S shs
wreck OF q misaddressed green box. All sorts
Snd hsn o.
ONCE to be treasured for months. The Inquiry
ai h in
put ever io.ie1 q
awful responsibility Of DESTROYING Or selling it
ouiry Department more trouble than these
sr aHd The e
aimslest Of wrappers for matter sent by mail;
anS ss.9 Ss 81 n sfs French ssfa Dos d
authorities to this fact but nothing has been
done in response to these protests. and after
two two or three tubs full Of newspapers and peri
odicais that have burst t!eir bonds. Every
regularities. Perhaps few persons know that
Hen Che naair, ee
hopsiaI hint Of it, own destination the In,
but COMM anicates with the. addresses Or the
sender; Four thousand packages dissociated
month. The articles themseiyes are wrapped
in paper and laid up like pledges in q pawn
Sssn entered e! saf bir SianE
beck, 4 note a Of the TraRGer is 3 also So taken
sddressee, With the request that he deseribs
L he can the article which It had contained
rier s and L eorrsspouds VIII A one q he
packages, that package is, sent to the ad-
tan Fl: pc Sssns signed
ceip. that shall Be the defence Of the depart
meut In case any mistake mas D0en mao0.
The Inquiry Department more than any
other In tho General Post ONCE attracts the
addressed letter almost every day for at
least eleven years to one Of the wealthiest New
Workers. Long ago the addressee notified the
postal authorities that he would not receive
these com municattonsi but they keep on com;
p now abroad. but three or four Letters from
the department to be sent eventually to the |
Dead Letter Once. These letters are always
opes. and addressed IN red Ink. The writing 10
careless. though not illlterats. Whether fem
Gustav Kudiger has ceased to trouble the |
Inquiry Department Gustav's way was to
write In clear. beautiful hand long articles |
upon ali sorts OF abstruse que.tiona He used |
scraps OF wrapping pansT the n backs sS 81 old
lseiple character could 10 inscribed. These
he folded and dropped without address or en- |
xelope into any pillar boz that came handy. |
He must have spent Q considerable part OF his |
time In writing all this, for his letters were |
always voluminous and he sent from one to
three week. He wrote sometimes In Ger |
tp,A In Enuliah and his atVla in |