The Portland daily press., 1894-02-01

count of some error or deficiency in the
address. or because the writing is illegi-
BILE. The clerks on this work have from
long experience become very expert in
handling these letters. and deliver many
thousands yearly. Very many errors &C.
cur from haste and carelessness, and are
at once apparent to the correction. For
instance, letter may be addressed" 40
Milk Street, Boston, N. H." OF course it
must mean Boston, Mass, because that is
the only Boston we have with named
and numbered streets Often the state is
omitted entirely; sometimes the state is
given and no office; sometimes only the
county, and SO on. Very frequently the
name of the Office is spelled from the
sound as pronounced by some ignorant
person "Senoch, Dickalp Co, Ill, ocurr-
ed on sub letter instead of Somonauk,
De KaIb County, Illinois Hay Sugar,
Miss was intended for Hashuqua.
When letter bears an address Of special
oddity, the clerkssis permitted to attach to
it little printed slip bearing the follow
ing request
Post Office DEPARTING MT,
Dead Letter Office,
Washington, DC. So-
Postmaster: Upon the delivery OF this
letter, please obtain the envelope, II
agreeable to the party addressed, and re-
turn it to the dead letter office. Il the
letter cannot be delivered, you will, at
the expiration of seven days, stamp the
letter with your post-marklng stamp,
and return it and this circular to the
dead letter office, with your next return
of unavailable letters, duly numbered
and entered on the list, Form No. 522.
PLEIBHARDT, Superintendent.
When the empty envelope returns she
has proof positive of the correctness OF
her work. An envelope thus recalled
was addressed Mr.. Brown, Oil Corn,
Miss" There is no such. post once ID
Mississippi or elsewhere, but the clerk
knew that there was an Alcorn Universe
ty, a negro college, located at jackson,
Miss. So she wrote the new address In
full on slip and sent the letter forward.
The return of the empty envelope with
in a few days proved her surmise correct.
Sometimes when the titlenof the once is
a descriptive zone, some curious schanges
of phraseology take place. A letter ad-
meant for Silver Park; .-another written
"Green Mound, Ill.," was Intended for
Blue Mound. Again, BLACK Cock, Col.
was written for Black Hawk. Copper
field, VT. did duty for Copperas Hill.
For instance, letter written in Rhode
Island was addressed to Miss Baylies,
Church Home, corner of HerkImer st. y
nothing more. There are number OF
Herkimer streets and of church homes,
SO the address might have been more
definite. The clerk sent the letter to the
Church charity foundation in Brooklyn.
NY, and delivered it. Another odd
class are those that have only initials to
guide the clerk. One came thus: u:
P.S., Ohio" 1t was correctly interpreted
Upper Sandusky,. Ohio. Still another
the Iowa State Normal School at Cedar
Falls, l. Another read No. 10 3rd st. :,
en-" andssswas safely delivered at Cam
den, New Jersey A letter mailed at
Cedar HILL, O., was addressed to Mr.. J.
r. Dodge, Statistician"-no more. Mr..
Dodge was known to the clerk as the
statistician of the agricultural depart
ment at Washington, D. c., so she was
able of forward the letter.
Occasionally an attempted witticism
like this is perpetrated:-
Sylvester Brown, red faced scrub,
To whom this letter wants to 60,
Is chopping cord-wood, for his grub,
In Silver City, Idaho.
-Harper's Young People.