Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-01-26
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
They Ire Read at the Washington
Dead Letter Office.
Absui 80 Per Cent. 81 All illegal Nail Il
Never Delivered.

w AsjHbbIOs. A. a siI J.-tDpcCiidl
CrankA hre more numerous this winter
than at 3hy time since the word came into
commdQ use, SO the chief inspector Of the
postofice department says. There Is no
place, Ire declares, like the dead letter Office
- get u clear and accurate idea Of the pulse
Of til people Mental disorders, like those
OF tAe flesh, come often in epidemic form.
and IKE disease of the body can usually be
traced directly to some unhealthy condition
/, 81 the body polite. The present epidemic
6f cranks now running riot all over the land
islne largely, If not wholly, to scarcity OF
wdFA,xbich means scarcity or food and
cIotai. land much consequent suffering
anffla3 be poor of all large cities Accord
ing to the prophet OF the postal service, the
signs of the times as read by the mail
dumped daily into the dead letter office
here are quite alarming.
Never in his experience. he declares, have
so many internal machines and high cx
plssiyes been detected and destroyed.
About 30 per cent Of all Illegal mail matter
is never delivered to the party addressed,
but instead finds its way to the postal grab
baa.i officially known as the dead letter Of
flee. Just how the officials arrive at this
estimate Of an altogether unknown quan
LILY III ~ w buc 'h'Sy g.
tho figure quoted with a calmness which
Is Thoroughly refreshing if not altogether
convincing.
s.H{ Lovesick EpistIes.
The dead letter Office is one Of the most
interesting places in Washington to visit.
Many a romantic tale is brought to a sue
cessfIii finish there 1t is by no means in
frequent that through the intelligence OF
- GapNts
service long separated lovers are brought to
gether. The most distasteful work of a
clerk in the dead letter Office is reading ovel
these lovesick epistles of the forsaken
They have to read them, and have to read
them carefully, in the hope that some clew
may be found therein by which either the
writer or the person to whom it is ad
dressed may be traced. An outsider really
has no conception of the diligence exercised
by the postal authorities of this country tc
reach the party to whom q letter is adj
dressed, and failing in that to find theparty
who Ant it. 1t is this very diligence that
maSoysthe postal service of the United
StatAsthe equal If not the superior of any
in the world.
But the work in the dead letter office from
which all the clerks shrink is the opening
Of suspicious packages. A day or two age
"a package addressed to Springfield, Ills,
was returned to Washington because no one
Of the name to which it was addressed could
he found. 1t was marked dynamite 1t
had most terrible look, so much so, in
fact, that no one seemed willing to take the
chance of opening it to find what it con
tainedI Finally the Office boy volunteered
to undertake the job. The clerks went on
the theory apparently that the Ioss of "A
mothers pride more or less meant little
or'ffothing. At any rate the usher stood at
Il aafe distance, while the lady clerks all
stuffed their fingers in their ears. But the
expected explosion did not come, and the
boys life was saved. 1t was not flake"
however 1t was bona fide Internal ma
chine and was evidently constructed to do
harm 10 some one. But the mechanism was
faulty, fortunately for the intrepid messen-
ger lad.
Auction Sale of the Mail.
Every year there is "a sale of the articles
which have accumulated in the dead letter
office, and from it Uncle Sam makes quite
snpgs sum. Everything is wrapped in
brown paper and no onc--not even the auc'
tioneer-knows what is being sold, nor does
the bidder know what he is bidding for. 1t
is n matter of pure guesswork. That is
whyn is called Uncle Sans grabbing. You
may bid 81 for brass breastpin worth per
haps 10 cents, or you may buy in SO ring
for 54cents. 1t is the fortune Of war.
1t is at Christmastide that the dead letter
office reaps its harvest. Uncle Sam may
forget to hang up his stocking, and thepeo-
Pile may forget him, but the weakness OF
humanity gives him ample return to make
the occasion the merriest in the year. Mag
azines by the thousand, misdirected or
fromswhich the covers have been torn in
transit, find their way there las do Christmas
cards galore and now and then presents of
much greater value. Kris kringle may
forgel to call at some households. but he
neyeP gives Uncle Samuel the go by.
Il The Odds and Ends.
As: result of all this accumulation of
odds. and ends the postoffice department
has established museum, and it is a won
der sThere is really nothing like it in the
world. You can find pretty much every
thing the sun ever shone on in that some
what pretentious establishment. AS to
,pclained love letters there is such q ire
niendpus batch of them that few visitors
eser have the hardihood to attempt an en-
animation. Altogether q visit is well
worth ones while.