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


Inns. has obtained worldwide celebrity as
an expert in this kind of puzzle solving
which is technically termed "blind-read-
Ing" She has dark hair and brown eyes
which twinkled yesterday when she said:
Il will not allow that il is by a faculty of
intuition that / solve such puzzles. Men
are always ready TO credit women with in
stinct but with attachments, never. i
claim that do the work by means OF sx-
perience and ingenuity. But I admit that
- Is a mistake for persons of my sex to
possess attachments or originality. In the
Teche district OF Louisiana, not far from
New Orleans. the women do not know the
alphabet Consequently they are wonderful
cooks and have. no wrinkles. When we
learn anything our troubles begin. Women
have not been SO wise as the monkeys,
which refuse to talk lest they be put to
work.
Detection Addresses.
Il can best explain the science of blind
reading by showing YOU few examples at
random To begin with. here is a very
simple one-a letter addressed to Lake
Harder. N. j. Now. that is plainly Loeb
Arbor. so i make the correction and it
goes. This is similar case. You observe
that the superscription reads. No. a Quincy
Steep. y. " The New York post office
could not make IL out and sent IL over to
Brooklyn. Thence it was forwarded to
Washington. As quickly / 1t /
perceived that 1t meant Coenties Slip, New
nounced Quincy AT the New York post
Office they rather pride themselye on their
skill in supplying defective addresses: yet
this one was easy and they missed it,
Here is an envelope with no address on
II whatever. save the word Island OBJ
viously. this is a much more difficult speci-
men, But happened to know that part of
the city OF Wheeling. W. Va Is locally
the letter to Wheeling, which proved TO be
the destination for which it was intended.
i should explain that, when i think Il have
succeeded in decphering an unusually hard
superscriptton. j attach to The letter slip
of paper requesting the mail carrier to re-
turn the envelope to this office in case ii is
not wanted by the recipient Thus 1 get II
back and can preserve 1T as a curiosity il
j wish But many queer specimens ac-
cumulate that have TO throw them away
You must understand that these letters
which / examined are live letters and are
not opened. Letters are not opened until
IL has been found impossible to deliver
them to the addresses, after which they
become dead.
This is an envelope addressed to a per-
son at No Borden avenue, New York
city There is no such street on Manhattan
Island. nor anywhere else in this country,
except in Long Island City. OF course
Long Island City IS the proper address,
That sort of thing is very easy. Through
long experience in this business have be-
come familiar with the names of the streets
In pretty nearly all OF the cities and towns
IN the United States. Mistakes of this kind
are constantly made. and they are readily
rectified. Here. for example. is letter ad-
dressed to South 5th street between
Wooster and Dawson streets No city is
mentioned But / know right away that
while there are hundreds of towns in which
there are 5th and Wooster and Dawson
streets IL is only in Wilmington that there
Is South 5th. together with a Wooster
street and a Dawson street. So the de-
feet in the address is easily supplied
Il have here more difficult example. 1t
n adj <aa1r TO
no direction except the word Allegheny
county The word Allegheny is so queerly
spelled that you would be puzzled perhaps
TO know what IL was meant for but the
trouble lies in the circumstance that there
IL an Allegheny county in each of five diff
ferent states However. l CHANGED to re-
ony at Mansfield Valley. Penn. forwarded
the missive to that post office and IL found
the right man. A letter came here not
long ago addressed simply to 'Sanitarillu
Cedir Creek i recalled the fact that there
was sanitariun at Battle Creek. Mich
which proved 10 be the proper direction
The Phonetic system.
People, particularly foreigners who
misspell the addresses on their letters fol-
low the phonetic system to a considerable
extent OF this fact 1 am able to take adj
vantage in decipherins For instance herr.
Is an envelope addressed to Sarah Garler.
Ark OF course. that was evidently meant
for Cerro GOrdo. Being familiar with the
names OF all post offices in the United
States. / can readily correct such mistakes
as that. Among similar errors which can
recall Were 'TOssy Tanner. Texas for Cor
sicana; 'Cikepu. KOrnsors. Levynwortch
Co. for kickapOo City, Leavenworth Co,
Kansas: Lacy Jane. Kansas for La
Cygne; Reikzbier. Stiejt Kanedika' for
ROXbury, Conn; and 'Onaston Kabri-
siti. go for Cambria City, Jamestown, Pa,
box 20
"A letter reached me awhile ago address,
ell to Miss Isabel Marbury, Stock IL WINS
In cultivated handwriting, and without
hesitation l completed the direction b.,
making it 'StOckbridge Mass Il got the =
1 knew that Narbury was Nassachuss
name People are sometimes facetiouS in
writing addresses. For example a r,is
sive directed TO BigfOot City. Ill. is r,lainIv
Intended for Chicago and is promptly for
warded- 1t IL necessary TO be ACQUAINTED
with the names OF all institutions of any
importance and with the places in which
they are located. If a letter arrives win
no more definite supersc-iption on IL than
'Rialto Building add Chicago at the bot
tom OF the envelope In the same vzv a
an zapH IN, 30 sIDAxx-