Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-23

~ Congress. for the sake
MT w. Of making small re-
MZ6SY " mittances by mail.
WI Supplied with cash in
n [&~Mj that shape they could
{NGWNM, deal conveniently at
~ W// city shops, thus set
Fl ting better opportun-
tiles for choice and
lower prices than are found at village
stores Even now dry goods establishments
IN the great towns respond to requests for
samples from remote agricultural regions,
forwarding goods in return for money or
deSs To such an extent does this system
prevail that the New York post office rays
out $4,000 q day on money orders, while
receiving only $4,000 per diem for those Sc
curfties. 1t Is the same way with all other
great centers of population.
Country people constantly have occasion
to transmit fractional sums by mail. Post
age stamps are only sometimes accepted
for money; postal notes are not safe nor
readily negotiable, and coins are apt to be
lost Accordingly, 1t Is proposed that the
government shall issue scrip in denomina-
tons of s. 10, Is. so and 70 cents. to be kept
for sale and to be redeemable at all post
ofhces. Naturally. the shopkeepers IN cities
strongly favor the plan which would facili-
tate their sales On the other hand, pro-
vtncial dealers generally oppose 1t. know
Ing that 1t would work great damage to
their trade.
The problem of conveying money by post
has never been solved by Uncle Sam to
his own entire satisfaction. Considerable
sums go astray in the mails every week.
Every year from 1000 to $4,000 in actual
cash miscarries in letters and reaches the
dead letter Office, not to mention hundreds
Of thousands of checks and drafts. OF loose
silver and gold found in mail pouches about
$500 month is turned in. Most of that
stuff comes from New York, Cincinnati
nd "a doll ut
the headquarters of the railway mail serv-
Ice In those cities by mail clerks. who pick
1t up on the various routes running into
the centers mentioned. The pouches are
taken on board by mail trains running at
full speed, which, by means Of hooks,
snatch the letter bags off cranes at the sta
tons passed. Often the shock breaks pack
ages containing money and the latter falls
out. 1t Is put into official envelopes and
forwarded to the department at Washing
ton.
Coin Lost by Postmasters.
Postmasters send the money which they
receive for stamps and money orders to the
nearest government depository. Some Of 1t
is usually in coin, and frequently 1t gets
shocked out in the mail pouches. OF course.
statements respecting such losses are i'm
mediarely sent to Washington. The dead
letter office hands the cas- over to the
chief Inspector OF the depar ..nent, who in
vesugates the claims and reimburses the
losers.
Some Of the methods adopted for trans
hitting cash by post are extraordinary.
Only the other day letter addressed to
Ireland was opened In the dead letter office.
The red wax seal was an unusually large
one. and the clerk took a notion to break
1t IN two. If he had not done so, he would
not have found the $3.50 gold piece which
was hidden beneath the wax. on the outside
of the envelope. Evidently this was done
by some person cognizant Of the British law
vxvh tf,1n fnr he
mail. Most European countries enforce the
same legal restriction, the object of it being
to avoid placing temptation in the way Of
POSTAL officials.
from Minnesota to Rome reached the eter-
nal city, but the authorities there instead
OF delivering 1t, returned ii to the dead
letter Office at Washington. having dis
covered that 1t contained 500 in gold This
sum was In $40 pieces. which were fitted
In to holes punched out Of a card the latter
being then wrapped In folds of cloth and
inciosed In large envelope. new regula-
ton permits the sending of metal money
as well as jewelry and gems, by mail to
Germany. at letter rates.
. In the United States money is concealed
IN all sorts of parcels sent by the post. es-
pecfally at the Christmas season. The fin
gers Of gloves are favorite hiding-places for
cash thus transmitted, and likewise are
candy boxes. Coins are frequently mailed
In newspapers. which are folded both ways
tiers are often wrapped up in the same fash
Ion. to save postage
Handling Lost Money.
Each one Of the clerks who handle dead
letters at the department here has a pass
book for cash. When he opens a missive
that has money in 1t, he writes the amount
and his own name on the envelope At the
same time he enters in his pass-book the
address of the letter and the sum Of money
1t contained. At the end of the day all the
money letters which have come into his
hands are turned over, together with the
pass book. to the chief of the opening d.
vision who locks them up in a safe.
Next morning the chief takes all the pass
books and money letters handed him by
the clerks the night before, and turns
them over to woman, who goes through
the letters and books. verifying the ad-
dresses and contents. II mistake has been
made. she goes at once to the man whose
book is wrong. and has the error corrected.
No slip can get beyond her.
The woman clerk finally gives all the mon
ey and letters into the hands of the chief
OF the money division, who receipts for
them to her. That division is fenced Off
from the rest of the office by an iron graf
ing. and the head of it is under very large
bonds. He divides the cash and letters
among his clerks, each one of whom receipts
to him for so many letters containing so
much cash.
Every possible effort is then made to find
the owners OF this stray wealth. No at
tempt Is made to discover the addresses,
the presumption being that all means to
that end have already been tried The let
tiers have only become dead" after being
advertised, which was the last resort in
that direction. What the clerks try to do is
TO get at the senders There would be no
difficulty If people would only put their full
names and addresses inside Of their letters;
but most persons do not make a habit Of
taking this simple precaution. So in each
case a circular is mailed to the postmaster
in the town from which the missive is post
marked, asking him to hunt UP the individ-
ual to whom the money belongs He is
obliged by law to do everything in his power
to find that person. When discovered, the
latter Is informed that his cash Is held for
him by the Post Office Department and he
gets 1t back by signing receipt.
Ninety Fer Cent Restored.
How earnestly and thoroughly this work
is performed may be judged from the fact
that of all the money that flows into the
dead letter Office more than 80 per cent is
eventually restored to the owners. Letters
for which owners cannot be found are held
for three months. Then the cash is sepa-
rated from them and they are filed indefi-
nitely, the money going into the treasury.
to the credit of the Post Office Department.
At any time within the next four years the
he