Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-20


parcels, which they feel obliged to investi-
gate with caution. Perchance the torn
wrapper of suspected bundle reveals a
cylindrical box covered with tnfoil inside
OF which ticking sound is audible The
sender If known. is notified that he may
nave the article returned to him, Ii he likes,
b. express. Otherwise it is put where II
can do n harm.
one day not long ago a box frankly
labeled Dynamite" reached the dead let
ter office here. A messenger was ordered
TO take it out into the courtyard of the
Post ONCE Department and open it gently.
presumably the notion was that one small
boy more or less was not of much Import
lance. The package proved. as had been
Imagined, sell OF articles suspected TO
be explosive which come through the mails
many are fluids. They ere promptly dis
posed of, even innocent liquids being ''uu-
malable' under the law. The postmaster,
after destroying the contents Of a parcel,
forwards the wrapper to Washington,
where it is placed on file for record. Thus,
Ii inquired about, the fate of the Enclosure
can be determined.
Sacred Packages.
However no amount of suspicion would
warrant post office official in breaking the
seal of a package on which letter rates are
paid. 1t is absolutely sacred Accordingly,
II would appear that the proper way to
send explosives by mail is at full postage.
Uncle Sam cannot prevent that, though
every year large quantities of firecrack.rs
and torpedocs, shipped as fourth-class mat
ter. are seized, as well as numberless boxes
Of cartridges, percussion caps. &c. A six
barreled revolver at full cock. with every
chamber loaded. once came into the dead
letter office. 1t was addressed to a lady in
Springfield, ILL.,, who could not be found.
The dead letter clerks are not astonished
at anything. They have got beyond that
In the packages which they open they be-
come accustomed to finding such things as
rattlesnakes. centipedes, tarantulas, ella
monsters and alligators from Florida, all
alive and squirming. They classify with
composure such Enclosures as petrified
frogs. stuffed gophers, Toltec idols, gold
nuggets, spirit photographs. skulls. Indian
scalps and human ears. A common occur
renee IL bundle of old letters tied with a
ribbon, usually containing a finger ring, and
last note, saying: Il return herewith
your letters; all is over between u.s." This
excites no sentimental feelings on the part
Of the hardened postal employee. Rather
will he pause for second to tickle the
horned toad found in the next parcel
Dead Letter GMce Stories. ca.
Many romance is worked out through
the dead letter Office. The following story
is merely the narrative of a coincidence.
which is surely one of the most extraordi-
nary ON record. On April II last a letter
was mailed In New York city. addressed to
Mrs. Jones. Ludno Lodge "a Church Walk
l-iandudno Now, this place is In Wales
but the "Llandudno" was SO illegible that IL
was taken for Honduras" Accordingly II
went to Tegucigalpa. Honduras. Formerly
there had lived in Tegucigalpa one Philip
gone to Santa Clara, ". " The letter was
forwarded to him. 1t proved to have been
actually intended for his dead Wife
Speaking of condolences here is another
true story Once upon a time a girl bought
very peculiar moss-agate ring She sent
II by mail to a friend as a Christmas pres
ent. The gift never reached its destination
Three years later, while visiting another
city, she stayed at a boarding house On the
opposite side of the table at dinner she saw
4 man who wore his necktle through ring.
1t was the missing moss-agate She asked
MN where he got 1t, and he explained that
he mad bought 1t at dead letter Office sale
in Washington. In some manner II had
found its way into Uncle Sans waste has
ket and had been put up at auction among
me IN. to,oo articles which thus accumulate at
The Department Museum
The most extraordinary OF the things
which thus drift in are preserved for exbfb,
ton in a little museum at the department
Among them are several sets of false teeth
On one occasion not long ago, an elderly
couple, evidently from the rural parts was
examining the curiosities The old man af-
ter gazing for some time at the teeth, be-
came much excited. A vigorous discussion
arose between himself and his wife. she
nudglng him and trying to restrain him
from speaking. But he would not listen IN
her. and iinaliy broke out with:
They are my teeth! l would know 'em
anywhere!"
lie o. plI med that one of the sets of teeth
had beionsed to him, but had been lost in
the mail. That he was not mistaken he
pres ghJiy proved by putting them into his
iioIth, which they fitted perfectly Having
given receipt for them, he walked away
with them in triumph.
on another coca sion, a man who had lost
his false teeth in similar fashion suspected
that they had found their way to the dead
letter Office. lie made application for them
through has postmaster, to whom were sent
from Washington several pairs which SEEM
Cd t. CorrespJ nd in a general way to the
description furnished. They were all re-
turned 10 the department with an indignant
letter. saying that they were lust common
stSre teetn and could not by any possibili-
ty belong TO So refined mouth" as that of
the writer.
An article which excited no little sur
prise at the dead letter Office some years
ago sort of Mardi Gras garment
covered all over with pictures of playing
cards. 1t was finally ascertained that sucn
gowns were made in this country for ex-
portation to the Hawaiian Islands. Ma
tiSes of more less distinction, il ap-
peared, were in the habit of wearing them
on occasions of ceremony, considering them
both digniiied and becoming.
In 1850 the steamer Oregon sank in the
harbor of New York. Divers fetched up
from the wreck such valuabes as they
could find together with many sacks of
mail. In the sacks were found hundreds of
pairs of kid gloves wrapped in newspapers
This is common method Of smuggling
Another favcrite way of cheating the Gus
toms through the trans-oceanic post is to
do up dutiable articles in bundles of herbs
which are supposed to be samples.
Thousands of articles are found every
year in the mails without wrappers. Not
very long ago a handsome gold watch was
to its owner was ever obtained. One the
DRY suggested was that 1t might have been
dropped in by a pickpocket anxious to get
rid of spoils that would betray him. An
other possibility was that a gentleman of
a convivial turn, instructed by his wife to
mail a letter. might have INDUCED in a few
drinks, then suddenly remembering his err
rand and dropping his timepiece through
the slot in place of the epistle.
The Auction Sale.
An auction sale Of accumulated dead
packages is held annually by the depart