Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-11
Over Half a Million Came From
Foreign Lands Last Year.
EFFORTS 10 FIND THEIR DESTINATION
Memory an Important Element in
the Work.
Z Z RIO Z S IN CID T. n Z s

ington. The individuals addressed being
rot discovered, i.early all of these missiyes
had to be sent back to the countries
whence they came. Yet the United States
post office is vastly more clever at finding
people than are the authorities abroad
Only a few days ago a letter dispatched
from New York with the superscription
Levi p. Morton, Paris, France" was re-
turned marked 'Irconnu"-i. e. "un-
known" Nevertheless. the ex-vice Presi-
oent was In the French capital at the time
at one OF the great hotels
Inc foreign authorities seem to be stupid
ABOUT such things. Letters from the Unit
ed States addressed to Walter Besant or
Algernon Swinburne, England" are sent
back marked Insufficient address" One
might suppose that English people would
know ebout their own famous literary men
II used to be the same way with Charles
Reade and Robert Browning An Ameri-
can child's letter to Santa Claus Hartz
Unknown" Not found" and "Insufi-
Gent address" stamped all over il by sew
enteen postmasters
Al Christmas time every year children
write letters to Santa Claus and mail them
usually unstamped. II foreign address is
given, the missive is dispatched in the
mails, the rules of the International postal
union not requiring prepayment. Eventu-
division Of the Post Office Department. IL
it contains a petition from some poor child
for a small gift the employees of the office
will occasionally play Santa Claus. making
up purse TO buy the article requested.
Comparatively few Of the foreign letters
which reach the dead letter Office here can
be delivered to the persons addressed, be-
cause It is not allowable to open them. If
one Of them is open when received II is
sealed with a special stamp which looks
somewhat like an ordinary postage stamp,
bearing the words, Post Office Department
officially sealed" The first stamp OF this
kind that was issued had the words post
obitum" on II, meaning after death" A
specimen is worth today SO. The sealing
stamps are hard to get and are in demand
by collectors.
The letters from abroad which have failed
of delivery on account of badly written ad-
dresses are handled by experts, who ex-
hibit wor derful skill in deciphering them.
Miss Clara Richter, in charge of the for
eign division. is a famous hand at such
work. The spelling on some Of the envel-
opes is amazing. For example, SUSAN
meri' is intended for Sault st. Marie. That
is n comparatively easy one. "Schinescham,
Toulocontus," is Chinese Camp, Tuolumne
County. "Grym Pantewnia" is meant for
Green Point avenue.
Memory an Important Element.
Memory is an importan; element in blind
reading" as this work is called. Miss Rich
ter got hold of a letter the other day with a
REGULAR name, and nothing else on ii except
America" She remembered that twenty
years or more ago a person OF the same
rame had been found at Grand Rapids,
Mich. The letter was forwarded TO that
Joint and reached the intended recipient.
On one occasion the local post office of
Washington did not know how to deliver a
letter addressed to 'Teserero General de
Nacion." 1t was advertised as for Gen.
Teserero." Miss Richter perceived at once
that II was for the treasurer of the United
States. II was registered and contained a
considerable sum of money.
All unbelievable foreign letters are done
up In bags or other parcels and sent back
Countries and to Canada. These returns"
as they are called, comprise all mail matter
received at the dead letter office here dur
ing the previous week. But to the other ma
lions in the postal union the dead stuff is
returned only once month. The United
States government exchanges unclaimed
matter with eighty-seven countries and
colonies. Nearly l,00.Uo foreign pieces of
mail come to our dead letter office annually.
great many of these are printed publica-
items. most of which are thrown away and
rot returned.
All printed matter received at the dead
letter office from Canada, Great Britain.
Germany, Switzerland, South American
countries and Australasi STA Is destroyed in
accordance with a special agreement. Most
of this stun consists Of newspapers and
trade circulars. The countries mentioned
do the same with similar matter that
reaches them from the United States. But
France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Portugal Nor
way, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium want
every bit Of their printed matter back, and
IL is returned to them. During the last
fiscal year 59.a35 parcels and printed publ
cations and circulars were returned.
Take Russia, for instance. All unclaimed
matter from that country is sent back to
the Russian post ONCE department at St
Petersburg fod
stun. The material IL done up in bags II
there IL reason to believe that a single
parcel or letter holds anything OF value the
Tag containing IL is registered. Many of
the letters returned to Russia come to
Washington from the post Office at Boston
In which city there is a large Russian
colony. Returns" for Newfoundland and
small dependencies In various parts Of the
world are made in big envelopes, the bunk
Of matter sent being small
Dead Matter Returned
In the same way We get our dead matter
back from foreign countries-weekly from
some, monthly from others. The returns
sent TO us amounted last year to 24l,T19
pieces-only a little more than one-third as
many as we forwarded TO governments
abroad. One reason for this great differ
ence is found in the fact that addresses in
Europe are more certain and permanent
Immigrants coming to the United States
give their first addresses to relatives and
friends on the other side Of the water
Pretty soon they move, and track of them
is lost. Native Americans are mostly edu-
Gated and address letters to foreign parts
with accuracy; foreigners here when they
write home are sure OF the addresses
The number of letters returned to Italy
is very great, most of them for non-pay-
ment of postage. AS has been said under
the regulations of the postal union letters
may be sent unstamped and will be de-
livered. but the recipient must pay double
l. e., 10 cents on an ordinary letter Such
an unpaid letter Is marked with a big T
which stands for the word ''taxee" mean.
ing taxed or extra rate. The Italians
are very thrifty people, and it often hap
pens that the sender in that country pre-
fers TO leave the payment to the ADDRESSED
and thus save 5 cents. The addresses I'm
America is usually of the same nationality
On delivery of the letter he refuses 10 re-
ceive 1t and pay the 10 cents demanded
There may be nothing important in IT and
he is not willing to squander that amount
of money on an uncertainty. His friend or
relative having written, il IL safe to con-
clude that the writer Is well.
Hundreds of letters, though actually de-
livered to the intended recipients are re-
turned to Italy every year. At least *
per cent of the mail matter sent from that
country to the United States is not paid in
advance. What has been said on this poinf
applies in a somewhat less degree to the
Swedes, who are likewise a thrifty peonle
1t is observed that immigrants from abroad
retain their thrifty bpb hits ufso