The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-08-25
FUN In THE POST OFFICE.
Tricks of Uncle SANS Employees
To Recall o Mailed Letter.

When q hundred or more men are
thrown together daily In the pursuit Of
their vocation there IL plenty OF oppor-
tunity for the practical joker n be sell
dom falls to develop. He can be found
In the Jersey City Postoface in all his
glory. The little tricks played upon eacn
other by the carriers are many. though
invariably harmless and therefore always
taken in good part.
When the carriers sci up their mail
preparatory to delivery they use paper
weights. weighing all the way from one
pound to ten. Now, 1t 10 n favorite trick
of the carriers to manipulate those
weights aud place one, and sometimes
two in the owners pouch. The hapless
wight will stagger to his routa groanin q
over his heavy load. aud when his mail
Is pretty nearly all delivered he will mud
about ten pounds OF iron or stone tucked
away snugly in the bottom OF his pouch.
1t is easier TO cart it back TO the poxt-
Office than 1t Is 10 procure new weights.
and, therefore, thu victims generally
bring IL back aud get much sympathy
from their fellow carriers.
Another diversion is the tying together
OF IL mans coat sleeves at the wrist. This
little p~leasantry Is generally worked on
a busy morning, when the prospective
victim Is head over heels in work. and
has but little time to watch his coat
hanging on the rack. When the signal
Is given for the carriers to leave the
Office for their respective districts, there
Is truly u tug-Of- war, but there is always
n friendly pocket knife to sever the bands
thai would keep the victim from looming
his street apparel.
TO RECALL A MAILED LETTER.
To recall a letter once mailed Is almost
as difficult a task rs to take back AN as
sertion once uttered. The sender must
blank to fill cut. In this he must state
wEea ana where he mailed the letter,
how it was addressed, must describe the
envelope, state the amount of postage
prepaid, and testify "tnat the above
mentioned letter was written by me or
by my authority. and | desire TO rsca Ii ii
for the following reason and then
state the reason, which Is usually mailed
by mistake"
He must then sign his NAME, SO that
tho handwriting may be comparsl with
that on the letter, ana sign q receipt. II
the address mo be shown to be in his
handwriting. or IS printed or ty pewrlttep,
he must describe some peculiarities OF
the envelope sufficient TO identify 1t. II
he is unable to co this the letter is re :
fused, unless the ~posttnasteS knows the
applicant, aud Is satisfied concerning its
contents, aud the applicant Is then OBJ
liHsd to open the letter, aud read Dor
tiaps OF it in the postmaster's presence TO
prove it is the one he described.
Buff the letter has bssn sent away the
process of recalling il is srlil more diGi-
cult. A similar blank has to be filled
out. and a minute description telegraphed
at tho sender's expense to the post
master at the office OF Its destination. II
discovered in time the letter Ia then iD-
tercepted aud sent TO the department. at
Washington with a statement of the
case. Why should. any one want TO recall
q letter SO much as to Lake this trouble
Well, take for interest a case where a
valuable deed was mailed aud the sender
received information that satisfied him
that the sale should not be NJ ade. Ia
another case "a important contract was
sent, and Information received immsdi-
ateiy after made 1t imperative that IL
should be revoked.