The Democratic advocate., 1895-07-06
Safety in the Mail.
From the Washington star.

orders. said the woman 10 the clerk at
the branch office. How much is it. 10
cents
BY dint Of considerable questioning the
clerk ascertained that the customer wanted
10 send small sum Of money in a letter
and knew that the United States govern
ment had provided some means by which
she could insure its safety in its course
through the mails, but her mind was in
hopeless confusion as to the nature of this
device for every friend she had consulted
had called il by different name. and she
had conceived that all the names referred
to the same things II took the clerk
some time TO explain.
You can take your choice of four ways
ma am, according to just what you want,
said he. .lf you are going to send only a
little money less than So, and your only
wish Is to avoid inelosing coin or postage
stamps OF paper as soft and bulky as a
greenback which may be felt through the
envelope We can give You postal note for
, cents. This is printed on a thin, stiff
paper of size which will lie fiat in an
ordinary folded sheet The clerk and let
ter carriers might handle your letter all
day and they would never guess from the
feeling what was inside of il When your
correspondent receives it. he can take it to
the postmaster aud get it eashed, or bank
il as he would piece of money. or use it
to pay his grocer, or send it away in let
ter himself, for it is good at any postoflice
in the United States and in anybody 5
hands 50 long as it Is presented for re-
Jemption within three months from the
day Of issue But this very convenience
is the chief drawback of the postal note,
for if any dishonest person should get hold
Of it 1t would be the same as money in his
hands
II absolute safety Is what You are most
anxious 70 secure we can give YOU mon
ey order. This Is pretty nearly as good
as a bank check We send from here a
private letter Of advice containing your
name and when your correspondent re
ceiyes your order he can collect the money
on it only by telling who sent 1t to him
and by being himself identified aS the per
son in whose favor it Is drawn or else by
indorsing 1t 20 somebody who Is known at
the poStotice This you see, Is a decided
advantage ON the score If safety. But.
more than that. if your order should be
stolen or destroyed the government holds
itself responsible. and if you comply with
certain requirements viii issue you a new
order This l. something II viii not do for
you il anything happens to your postal
note The bad feature about the money
order however, Is that 1t can be caShed
only at the one postofhee on which ii is
drawn On account Of the additional Sc
earity surrounding the money order We
charge mare for it than for postal note
4 s. order would cost yon ) cents and a
sl0 order 5 cents. sl5 orier ia cents.
and 50 on upward
Then, again there Is the registered
letter You give us your envelope sealed
and indorsed in your own handwriting.
We know nothing about It's contents You
may have put cnly love letter in IL or a
5 000 government bond il Is al the same
Ia us, aud the price Of registry Is uniform
for everything, : cents This process Ia.
the advantage Of absolute secrecy, for YOU
don have 20 take q single soul into Your
confidence li has the further advantage
ai assuring von that whatever you send
reaches it, destination. for we refuse te
deliver 1t ,o ans oue exoep, the person adj
dressed. who must either present himself
in g.erson and be identified OF give " his
authority in writing 10 deliver il 10 some-
body el~e. whose Identification we require
in the same way, and whoever receives it
Is obligei TO give us written receipt in
hi- own handwriting, which we send back
to you without expense This makes a
good deal Of difference If YOU are making a
payment 70 slippery creditor or If you are
sending q bin to q debtor, who might want
to make believe he had never heard from
you In any such case you have his own
signature to confront him with The
safety of the registered letter Is pretty well
guarded Esery pastofice official through
whose hands it passes has To account for
i, 10 the one from whom he received il 50
that il Ii Is lost II can be traced by our
voucher, 90 the very point where 1t disap-
peared even into the hands of the carrier
who took it ou, to deliver Registered let
ter- DO sometimes 20 aStray, but the risk
attending loe- ur theft IS ton great TO make
either eaFelessuess or dishonesty profitable
The government does not hold itself re
sponSible to you, bui the last postmaster or
clerk or carrier who Is found to have had
your letter in his possession is likely TO lose
his official head and If the evidence Of
crookedness Is strong against him is liable
10 90 to the state prison for a term Of years
Finally, If your great object Is speed
You may dnd it best to use the special de
livery We sci son peculiar kind of 10
cent stamp, which You put on your letter
besides its regular postage The instant
the letter is taken out Of the box into
which YOU drop it it Is hurried into the
trst mail on top of the whole pile Of other
letters, with the stamp sticking up, 50 as
to catch the eye Of every clerk who han
dies the package, When It reaches the
town 10 which /, Is addressed, it is picked
out without an Instant delay and sent TO
your correspondent by a special messenger,
so that if the ordinary carrier deliveries
are infrequent il may reach its destination
one, two three or four hours before it
would if left to take the usual course
The messenger who delivers it takes with
him book. in which the recipien; Of the
letter signs a receipt, noting the hom and
minute, 50 that IL any question ever arises
aiterward you can have the messenger s
book hunted up.
SO. you see, we have something to
meet every need, and the way to make
sure of the best results is TO choose just
the right thing. II you are sending some
thing whose value YOU don t care much
about, but which you are in great hurry
to push through, don register. but use
the special delivery. If YOU are sending
something which you are in no haste about,
but You want to make absolutely sure with
your own eyes that the right person has re
ceived it, don I bother with money orders
or special delivery letters but use the reg
istry. Ifyou are sending sum of money
simply and find it inconvenient to use a
check or draft. but want to assure the same