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

the same time, all Of the things composing
the contents Of the blind bundles are duly
cataiogued by the post Office officials so
that the buyer mas a rough notion of what
he is bargaining for. though having no op-
Portunity for inspection. Cheap jewelry"
ngures largely in the stock offered. The
original parcels. numbering 10000 or more
are all unwrapped, and the merchandise
they contain is condensed into about Coco
packages. All printed matter Is thrown
away, excep. books. Most of these are
SOFA the residue going TO the library of
Most numerous among the articles dis
posed OF at post office auctions are hand
EsIc.'eIs- Next come mems neckties
in'r0 IN point OF number strange to say
are catholic medals and rosaries 1t would
De interesting to know why SO many OF
tnese pious emblems are continually travel
ing about In the mails. Among other things
razors. dark lanterns, packs of nlayine
earus poker dice. cigars. poker chips stog-
les nair curriers'. wire carriers. pads bum
ION piasters trusses. dental forceps electric
nor,sr hypodermic syringes. abdominal sup
por.ers, COILS artificial birds eyes mos
quito bars. artificial whiskers. coffin plates
ana Hawaiian stamped envelopes
~, o, the things thus gathered at the
before being sold They are stored away
Oh sheiNes in several rooms beneath the
fost ONCE Department building Much
ITO, truao.e used to be had with rats. which
~
ate up the contents They would reduce
COTTON cloth to small scraps for their nests
while silk handkerchiefs were rega rdad ~,
n I'LL as particularly eligible for the same
1859 -. Jose boxes of wedding cake. which
,requentiy find their way to the dead Je,.
yer once they soon emptied Rut tbay
stprfe e, mn 1.s fond of pincushions and dolls
rodents were destroyed and driven ; NO., t he
means of ferrets and since that ,i,,e ~, ~
sort or mischief has ceased -'e LILLE
MnSnxfnes by the TbOu.uua
nc oeao letter office gobbles thousa nds
vi magazines. If such publications are inn
properly directed or lack sufficient nos,aya
siiiau trouble is taken to deliver them They
are distributed among the charitable insti.
tuoohs or Washington. In the same wav
great numbers of Christmas cards nnd
'neir way into the appreciative possession
vi me charity children of the District Most
vi 'iie packages go astray about Christmas
time. They lack postage. are misdiractad
are Wholy blank on the outside or have
iost thelr wrappers. At the same cheerful
season thousands OF letters come into the
aeau letter office addressed to Santa Claus
North Pole, or Santa Claus, Arctic Re-
elon Some have stamps and others not
They are mailed by children in good faith
conveying requests for such gifts as are de-
sired On one such note. addressed to Kris
kringie. Hartz Mountains" came back
from Germany while ago, scrawled ali
over by sixteen different postmasters with
statements to the effect that no such per-
son could be found.
Only the other day a lost letter reached
the department which was addressed TO
Marshall q Son, Ltd, Gainsboro" 1t
was from St Petersburg and contained a
draft for $4,000. Instead of coming by way
of Europe IL had travelled across Asia to
Washington via San Francisco. The Ltd"
showed that II was meant for a firm in
England, where business concerns common
ly put Limited" after the commercial title
Accordingly. to wind UP its journey around
the world, II was sent thither.