The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-24
MAIL SUNK IN DEEP WAFER.
DIVERS WILL SEEN THE ELRE's
LETTER-BAGS.

Transatlantic ships.
From the Hartford Times.
twenty-five thousand letters at the bot
tom of the sea. No fewer and possibI,
twice that number went down with the
Elbe. OF these at least "a couple of thou
sand Were registered. and perhaps as many
more contained money and other enclo-
sures of value. though not registered. The
damage and distress Involved 10y the loss
OF those ID sacks of mail matter may
hardly be calculated. How often do lie
and death hang upon The prompt arrival
of a written message, The delay OF such
a communication for week may cause
the failure of nrm. Drafts and other
paper representing large sums are i'm some
Of the missing letters. only the other day
a man wrote from Germany 20 the Post
office department al Washington. inquir-
ing about missiyo containing $1,000 i'm
greenbacks. which he had sent by post 10
this country. Fortunately 10 had ale
ready been returned 10 him, the adj
dress being defective.
Divers viii seek Tor the mail of the
Elbe. Presumably only part of g will
he recovered. The ship sank in water not
so deep as TO make the quest for the
missing letter-bags a hopeless one. but
some of them are not unlikely to drift
away with currents OF the tempestuous
North sea. when the oregon went down
in the harbor of New York, skulful men
in diving gear had no difficulty in fetch
ms up from the wreck 2l5 Of the bags of
mail which she carried There were 5sS
sacks in all. but most of them noatcd off
and out to sea. They We're picked up dur
ing the next six months at various points
along the Atlantic coast from Portland.
Me. to Cape Hattaras.
Such mail as may be recovered from
the Elbe Will be forwarded Immediately
TO New York whore 10 viii be examined
with "a view 10 its delivery to the addresses
at the earliest possible moment Much
of IL will be reduced 10 the condition OF
papier mache. wrappers viii have disap-
pearcd, and addresses will be beyond de-
ciphering. What cannot bc made out VIII
be forwarded TO Washington, where IT
will bc treated by experts who have had
experience in this sort Of business. They
accomplished wonders with the stuff that
was brought up from the Oregon, but few
OF the letters recovered fuling to reach
their intended recipients. The letters were
first dried by furnace heat while the pack
ages and printed matter We're spread out
in the sun.
The oregon disaster occurred on March
Z, 1856 All but 1874 of her sacks Of mail
were saved by divers or recovered as hot-
sam and jetsam. incidentally to their in
spection of the watcr-soalSed stun, &c was
discovered that the smuggling of jewelry
ana other duuable articles in newspapers
was being carried on to an extent previ-
ously unexpected. Laces. fine handker-
chiefs, and more particularly gloves, We're
being sent across the water in this fash
ion iu enormous quantities, evidently No
doubt the same sort of practice goes on
to-day. for the pOstofice authorities can
do very little toward preventing it. ~ is
not possible to examine every newspaper
and parcel Of printed matter for contra
band goods. Furthermore the mails from
abroad addressed 10 Chicago st. Louis
and other cities, are made M on board
of the steamships and go straight through
to their destinations, without undergoing
inspection in New York.
Another great loss Of mail at sea Oc-
Cured in 1892. when, on The o1st day of
January, the steamship Elder was wrecked
Off tho Isle of Wight. She carried three
hundred and eight-seven sacks of postal
saved probably but fer the heroic beha-
vior of William II. Hall, the postal clerk
IN charge. While the vessel was sinking
and all was confusion, the passengers TAX
ing to the boats. and anxious only to pre-
serve their own lives, he stood at the post
of duty and got out all the mail bags all
of which, save forty-seven were safely
landed. For this act Hall received q testl-
mOnial from the German government.
fTtu1. 11f,lfa1 clerks their. Ifgae on
board of the Elbe. The men vino do tins
kind of service for Uncle sam have no
easy life. They are chosen from the rail-
way mail service, or sometimes from
among the clerks who have had experience
at postofiices in the handling and sorting
of foreign letters. The space allowed for
them on board snip is usually ill-ventilated
and too small for comforts room over
the screw or opposite the steerage kitchen
Perhaps the quarters will measure 1JNl0
feet, with a case Of sixty boxes for dis
tributing mail al either end.
Every ship that carries the mails across
the ocean has a completely equipped post
office. Though crowded into small space
It is provided with everything of impor-
lance that IS to be found IN q postohice
on land The clerk in charge Is the post
master of The sea pOstofiice. He must be
proof against seasickness, and it is pre-
ferred that no shall be unmarried. on an
average trip he has to sort 1900 letters
and in addition the contents of perhaps
fifty bags OF printed matter. With plenty
OF room and better facilities he could
accomplish this task in day or two, but
conditions being unfavorable, more time
is required. The sacks, on being placed
aboard the ship, are put in the storage
rooms, from which they are brought by
the dec5hands as they are wanted.
The sea postofice on board OF ship
Of the North German Lloyd line, such as
the Elbe, has two clerks, one an American
and the other q German. on the voyage
to Europe the postohice is called q United
States-Gerinan postofice, ana it is under
the direction Of the American clerk On
the way back IL is termed q Deutsch-
Amerik postofiice and IS under the charge
of the German clerk. The latter is quite
an impressive parsonage, wearing a uni
form Of blue, with brass buttons and a
sword The American clerk has no such
distinctive costume nor regaha, but only
a regulation cap.
The Elbe, on her Inflated voyage, car
ried mail not only from Germany. but also
from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia
and Austria The British stuff was not
to be taken on board until the ship reach
ed Southampton, and thus IL escaped
1t was the business Of the Clerk Hall 60
sort all of the letters and other material
making them up in packages FOR the vari-