Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-02-21
A DEAD LETTER AUCTION.
CURIOSIrIES OF UNCLE SANS
POSTAL MORGUE.
Sold After Two Years-Contrab band
of the Mails-Queen Bees the Only
Live Mail.

certaln numDer OF people IN Washing
ton. 1t is even more amusing than
the sales of dead matter by the ex-
press companies or the storage ware
houses in large cities, because the
goods which come under the hammer
from those institutions usually have
some value, while the "dead horse"
from the Postof1ice Department is com
posed very largely of the most trifing
and valueless articles. Still the sale
brings to the department nearly $4,000
year. which helps to pay the ex-
penses Of the Dead Letter Office.
The articles just sold have been in
the hands of the Dead Letter Office
for two years or more. This is III ac-
cordance with the postal regulations,
which require that parcels matter
shall be held so long q time if its
owner cannot be found. 1t must be
remembered that all diligence is ex-
ercised by the postal authorities to
find first the sender and then the ad-
dressee of package, and that it goes
to the auction room only after effort
has been exhausted and after it has
remained unclaimed by the owner for
two years. Under these regulations
it would not seem possible that great
quantity of matter of any value would
accumulate during a year. Yet of
seven million letters and parcels sent
to the Dead Letter Office during
year as insufficiently or incorrectly
addressed, only three million reached
their destination after investigation.
Doubtless a great number of these
we're in the list Of unstamped letters
or parcels.
One of the most remarkable things
about the Dead Letter Office records
is the number of people who send
money by mail in badly addressed en-
velopes. The amount thus sent indi-
Gates that there are enormous sums in
transit in the United States mails
during the year. Last year $38, 900
in loose money was found in "dead"
letters which it was necessary TO open,
and of this S28, 900 was restored to its
owners. More than q million dollars
in drafts, money orders. checks, ETC.,
was found in undelivered letters; and
S967, 900 this was restored. Postal
notes of the value of $500 we're found;
and $4,000 worth of these found their
owners in time.
Letters containing money which
come to the Dead Letter Office ard
are not delivered to their owners are
held subject to reclamation for three
months. Before the expiration of
that time, inquiries concerning miss
ing remittances are likely to be made,
and perhaps they get to the Postoffice
Department and the owner of the
money on file is thus identified. At
ihe end Of three months the money Is
turned over to the Third Assistant
Postmaster General, and he turns it
into the Treasury. But the sender or
lddressee can recover this money at
.ny time within four years by making
,laim and proving property. Letters
containing drafts, money orders
,hecks and valuable papers are filed
tor reclamation. They can be of no
value to Uncle Sam. An unendorsed
iraft would not bring much at an auc-
tion. All letters containing salable
valuables land all packages as wel)
are held for two years for reclamation.
At the end of that time the articles are
catalogued and sold; but record of
their selling price is kept, and the
owner by making application within
four years can obtain the amount from
the Postofiice funds. Postage stamps
in q letter, exceeding two cents in
value, are filed away for reclamation
for reasonable time and are then de-
stroyed. The Postoffice Department
destroyed last year $676 worth of
stamps found in dead letters. Uncle
Sam has pretty big revenue alto
gether from the stamps which are de-
stroyed in various ways and are never
used to pay postage. He also makes
pretty fair income from money sent by
mail which falls into the hands of the
Postoffice Department. The amount
turned into the Treasury last year on
this account was $4,000.
The Postoffice Department DESTROYS
in a year four million letters contain
ihB ho ohoioSuienJ WulCu CuuuOU De re-
turned to writer's. 1t destroys also a
great quantity of letters and parcels
containing matter classed as unmaila.
BILE. Before the passage of the anti
lottery law great many of the letters
opened contained lottery tickets.
Now there are not SO many of these,
but there are many hundreds of sealed
envelopes under letter postage which
are found to contain lottery circulars,
and these, of course, are destroyed i'm
mediately. Green goods circulars are
found in some envelopes, and these, if
they cannot be of value to the police
in tracing the swindlers. are destroyed
also. Then there are animals and
bugs and bottles of liquid and all sorts
OF things which come under the postal
regulations are not to be carried in
the mails. There Is one living thing
that is mailable, and that is a queen
bee. But there are alligators and
snakes and butterflies and bugs of oil
kinds constantly coming and going